By Amaris Cole In a dark hut in the middle of Kachibanda, a small, remote village in central Malawi, a group who have started making banana wine are showing us how it is done. “First, we boil the water, and then let the water cool,” Gertrude Muatcha, a 34-year-old mother of one demonstrates. Sitting on [...]
By Craig Dyer, Christianity Explored 23 January 2013: I was sitting in the departure lounge of Entebbe Airport about to fly home to Glasgow. I’d been in Uganda for a Christianity Explored evangelism training conference. I finished my report of the trip and turned to the next of that day’s McCheyne Bible readings. There and [...]
After three aeroplanes, two cars and 24 hours in transit, I finally arrived in Malawi – and the ‘warm heart of Africa’ did not let us down. Welcomed by everyone and surrounded by lush green scenery, it is easy to see why aid workers who come here spend a lot longer in the country than [...]
By Andrew Goddard On the evening of 4 January, as the BBC News led with a new “civil part- nered bishops” row, Rowan Williams must have powerfully experi- enced how different life had become after stepping down as Archbishop of Canter- bury at the end of 2012. For over 10 years such stories were almost [...]
By Henry Whyte I was in my mid-20s when I was invited to preach my first sermon. I was so nervous beforehand that I was physically sick. I now look back on 42 years of ordained ministry during which I have preached thousands of times. I now listen to more sermons than I preach and [...]
By The Rt Rev James Newcome, Bishop of Carlisle Old age is a gift, bestowing time, wisdom and experi- ence on those lucky enough to live a long life. In many respects, it is a relatively recent phenomenon for our society, the result of improved healthcare, housing and nutrition. The forthcoming Draft Care and Support [...]
A troubling year lies ahead for church and state relations. All the signs are that Members of Parliament are flexing their muscles over the General Synod vote on women bishops. They would like nothing less than to bounce the Church of England into an early decision, and some are actively seeking to interfere with a [...]
By Martin Dales The General Synod of the Church of Eng- land has, unusually, been making the head- lines following its vote that rejected a legislative package designed to allow women to become bishops. The reason that train crash occurred was because of the failure by those who wanted this to happen in not ‘hearing’ [...]
If you and your wallet are dreading your forth- coming Christmas grocery shopping trip, be warned the average person spends at least £169 just on the ‘Christmas food shop’. Fortunately help and advice is at hand. The esteemed Mary Berry – she of great cakes fame — suggests we are too wasteful at Christmas; most [...]
In Febr uar y of this year we cele- brated the 200th anniversar y of the bir th of Charles Dickens. One of the most popular of Dickens’ works has proved to be a novella he pub- lished in 1843 called A Christmas Carol. At the centre of Dickens’ stor y stands Ebenezer Scrooge, a [...]
