John Twistleton looks at the spirituality and use of this Orthodox prayer ‘Be so kind, Reverend Father, as to show me -what prayer without ceasing means, and how it is learnt?' ‘The continuous interior Prayer of Jesus is a constant [...]

GOYA National Gallery Until 10 January 2016 According to Simon Schama, Graham Sutherland's portrait of Sir Winston Churchill is one of the greatest portraits of the twentieth century. Shortly after it was displayed in public for the first time the [...]

Take the road south from Llandrindod Wells, and turn right after a mile or so. As you crest a rise, the hidden church with whitewashed walls suddenly reveals itself ahead, in a hollow by the Ithon. Its patron is Cewydd, [...]

Lord Williams of Oystermouth on Laudato Si’: Part 1 Perhaps the first thing that needs to be said about Pope Francis's encyclical on the environment is that it is an entirely natural development not only of the theology of Evangelii [...]

Corinne Smith on ministry to the dying I first met Alice (not her real name) when I was on-call one weekend at the Churchill Hospital, Oxford, where I was working as chaplain. The ward had called me because Alice was [...]

Ross Playle considers the importance of Church Schools to our national life At the start of June I undertook two weeks' classroom experience at St Stephen's CofE Primary School, in Lewisham, South London. Having never made any past observations in [...]

In September Colin Podmore addressed a gathering at St Martin’s, Salisbury. He began by reflecting on the background to the House of Bishops’ Declaration. When I have told people in some other dioceses about this event, organized under the title [...]

David Godfrey muses on the lessons of last year’s Leckhampton Case The Leckhampton Judgement, handed down in 2014 by Chancellor June Rodgers in the Consistory Court of the Diocese of Gloucester, was something of a tour de force – and [...]

Stephen Grainger journeys once more behind the Iron Curtain My second trip of the year behind what was once known as the Iron Curtain coincided with the twenty-eighth anniversary of Ronald Reagan's famous speech at which he demanded: ‘Mr Gorbachev, [...]

Christopher Idle ponders (and marks) some personal pronouns. Yes, ‘standing in the need of prayer'; the old spiritual had a point. When we assemble and meet together, there is a place for the first person singular. ‘The Lord is my [...]