St Francis Francis of Assisi (11181/2-1226) is often pictured preaching to the birds. Some then and now consider him as ‘away with the birds’ – but it is perhaps worth noting that Pope Innocent III (probably the most powerful pope ever in terms of political and military power) saw something special in Francis and gave […]

October – Black History Month As far back as we can go in written human records peoples, tribes, countries (or maybe to be more exact their rulers or ruling elite) have tried to tell their ‘story’ in a positive way, sometimes being selective with information, sometimes presenting ‘us’ as the ‘goodies’ and anyone who opposes

We pray for our Church family separated from one another due to lockdown and Covid restrictions; many of us are struggling emotionally and physically. The uncertainty of daily life is something which we are beginning to accept – many of our older members have had to face similar uncertainties before but, that was a long

International Day of Older Persons When are you ‘old’? Some behave as if they are ‘old’ when they are in their 20s, others still have a ‘youthful’ outlook in the 90s. Though they may not have the energy they had as teenagers, nor do they have the angst! Many older people continue making a positive

‘The big ship sails on the Ally, Ally O..’* Back in the days when I studied for Nature of Management exams and went on Management Development courses, we studied things like Maslow’s Pyramid  and Theory X and Theory Y approaches to human motivation. I was reminded of it yesterday when there was an item on

World Heart Day During the early stages of the pandemic the phrase ‘people with underlying health conditions’ was used quite often when describing people who were particularly at risk of severe complications if they caught Covid-19. One of those ‘underlying health conditions’ is cardio-vascular disease (‘heart trouble’) which presents in different ways to many people

Restrictions on students, pubs and restaurants closing at 10pm, fines for people not self-isolating, report your neighbour to the police if they have more than the permitted number in their house or garden, don’t impose new restrictions without allowing Parliament to debate them first. All are issues on which the Governments in Edinburgh and London

This week we heard of the tragic death of police Sargent Matt Ratana in Croydon, London. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and his colleagues; we pray they will know the Lord’s presence guiding and supporting them through this difficult time. Sargent Ratana’s death is a stark reminder of the level of

A new Job Support Scheme was announced on Thursday. Businesses will be working out whether they will take advantage of it to save jobs: some welcomed it and said that it will help them greatly, some said they weren’t sure, others said it would do nothing to help them. There is a great fear that