Viewing all items in Resource Category: Editorial

Lord, grant me a simple, kind, open, believing, loving and generous heart, worthy of being your dwelling- place.     By John Sergieff, Russian priest, 1829 – 1908

It was: 400 years ago, on 23rd May 1618, that the Thirty Years’ War (Central Europe, mainly present-day Germany) began.   One of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history.  Millions of people were killed.  Finally ended on 15th May 1648. 200 years ago, on 4th May 1818 that Britain and the Netherlands signed...

If, like me, you wonder how on earth people coped with the sheer horror of the carnage on the battlefields of the First World War, two pieces of writing suggest an answer. One, the poem ‘For the Fallen’, I wrote  about last month. In this article I would like to consider the poem, subsequently an...

Ramadan this year runs from 15th May to 14th June.  You may wish to join in with more than one million Christians worldwide who spend this month praying for Muslims. You can download a prayer guide that provides churches, small groups and individuals with helpful information on Muslims: what they believe, where they live in...

Whoever organised the very first flower festival? One thing for sure – they would never have guessed how popular the events would become.  Flower festivals are held in thousands of parish churches each year, and some have blossomed into floral extravaganzas that can take months to plan, attract large crowds, and raise significant sums of...

Where do you go to hear the terms pettling, flowering, barking or puddling? Derbyshire, or course – where the tradition of ‘well dressing’ goes right back to 1394, when two annual displays in Tissington and Buxton began. Nowadays, there are dozens of well dressings held across Derbyshire each summer. So – how does one dress...

Israel became an independent state 70 years ago this month, on 14th May 1948, as the British mandate in Palestine finally came to an end. The very next day Egypt, Iraq, Jordan and Syria invaded Palestine, and a 13-month war began.  The Arabs and Jews had been in tension with each other and the British...

The Thirty Years’ War began 400 years ago, on 23 May 1618, and ended almost exactly 30 years later, on 15 May 1648. It was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history. Probably eight million people were killed, mainly in what is now Germany. It was the deadliest European religious war,...

I’ve noticed a sudden increase in the number of banns of marriage being read in our church. I suspect that a few couples reckon it would be a nice idea to get married in the same month as Prince Harry and his bride Meghan – at least you’ll be regularly reminded of the date! But...

By Naomi Steinberg, Church Mission Society “Mission is helping people.” “Mission is spreading the love of God in places which maybe are a bit more disadvantaged and they might need a little more help.” These are a couple of the responses we received when we asked the question, “What is mission?” at festivals during the...

This year, we all have the chance to mark the centenary of the end of World War 1. On Sunday, 11th November 2018, people around the country will observe Remembrance Sunday and Armistice Day. As well as reflecting on loss, this year also gives us the chance to look forward as we mark the end...

Our church always welcomes people who want to use our building for their wedding.  But should we ‘charge’ brides who are late to weddings at our church?  What do you think? Most of us will remember the story about the rector in Kent that made the headlines a few months ago:  he charges brides £100...