Margaret Laird on Renaissance, Resurrection and the celebration of Life The Great Forty Days of Easter provide us with ample opportunity to ponder upon what is meant by 'Life' in this context. The Prayer Book Collect for Easter Day explains [...]

Nick Turner on civil partnership, gay sex and tax avoidance Lord Alfred Douglas’s memorable phrase, ‘the love that dare not speak its name’, referred to a silence imposed by the prejudice meted out against gays. It was assumed that tolerance [...]

ONE of the functions of a spiritual director is to help an individual develop, review and maintain a rule of prayer. ‘Rule’ is perhaps too legalistic a term; it is sometimes more helpful to think in terms of patterns. It [...]

George Austin on the good, the bad and the difference Forget the virtual church of the Diocese of Oxford, removing the need to attend Sunday worship; forget the Canterbury parishes’ free tickets for Mel Gibson’s The Passion, encouraging atheists to [...]

Geoffrey Kirk asks whether church First Schools still serve a useful purpose Church schools are in demand. Every Chair of Governors knows the extent to which parents are prepared to perjure themselves to see their children admitted. He also probably [...]

Andy Hawes on broken laws and broken promises ‘Where God is dead, anything is possible’ is a cynical summary of ethics without a Christian conscience, or a religious basis. For over a hundred and fifty years generations of English and [...]

That time of year again! Yes, it is the time of year when we distribute to the membership our Treasurer’s Report for the past year, along with Renewal Forms for all those who pay their subscription other than by Banker’s [...]

George Austin in Sex, Soaps and Serials Unlike the Archbishop of Canterbury, I can’t speak with any first-hand knowledge of Footballers’ Wives. The pre-programme build-up and the occasional clips shown in advance were enough to put me off for good, [...]

Paul Griffin on the religious heart of all vocations If, as the old Greek said, young men are unfit to hear moral philosophy, they are certainly unfit to make career choices. Yet there is a whole structure of Careers Advice [...]

Two books on the Rosary for the month of Mary This is your Mother The scriptural roots of the Rosary Ronald Walls Gracewing, 212pp, pbk 0 85244 403 6, £9.99 Praying alone is not easy; indeed, it might even be [...]