As we watched the closing ceremony of the Paralympics with LCpl Rory Mackenzie, an Army medic who lost his leg in a roadside bomb explosion in Iraq in 2007. While addressing the 80,000 crowd, he reminded us of the huge number of severely injured service personnel who have returned from conflict. The courage and inner strength of these individuals shown through sport is inspiring.
Pray: for the many traumatised and injured British service personnel as they come to terms with life changing injures, that they may find inner peace and strength from our Almighty Father and have a new and worthwhile future in Him.
The health gap between rich and poor
02 Aug 2010
The health gap between the richest and poorest in Britain is now wider than it was during the great depression, according to researchers from Sheffield and Bristol Universities. They say that the gap was gradually narrowing until the 1970s, when the trend reversed. Health inequality has grown rapidly in the last twenty years. This reflects a growth in economic inequality over a similar period. ‘Health and wealth are directly linked’, insisted researcher Danny Dorling, ‘Unless we tackle the income gap, we could well see life expectancy actually starting to fall for the first time in the poorest areas.’ Campaigns for economic equality have gained momentum since the publication last year of the The Spirit Level. The book's authors, Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett, use detailed analysis to demonstrate lower levels of crime, unwanted pregnancies and other social problems in more equal societies. This perspective is now promoted by the Equality Trust. Pray: for an understanding that redressing this imbalance will also address other problems in society. (Dt.15:4)
The deployed troops and families back home
18 Jun 2012The demands and stress of deployment in Afghanistan can lead individuals to switch off from thinking and communicating with their families back home, in order to focus on the task in hand. However, this is distressing for the families and leads to fear and worry. Then, in reverse, some children of serving personnel deployed get too upset when talking to their parent on the telephone or video link via Skype and so refuse to do so. This in turn proves to be upsetting and stressful.
Pray: about the needs of both those deployed and the families back home that there will be good communication and support between them and that those deployed and those back home will have the appropriate concern for the other. (Jn.15:12)
More: http://www.army.mod.uk/welfare-support/23208.aspx
The collapse of family life
21 Apr 2011
The astonishing speed at which traditional family life has collapsed is laid bare in a recent report. Shocking figures reveal that births outside marriage are at their highest level in two centuries and nearly half of children can expect their parents to separate by the time they turn 16. Nine out of ten couples now live together before -or instead of – marriage, earlier it was considered shameful to have a child outside of wedlock, now it has become the norm. Some 46 per cent of children are born to unmarried mothers, according to research by the Centre for Social Justice. The think-tank said a child growing up in a one-parent family is 75 per cent more likely to fail at school, 70 per cent more likely to become a drug addict, 50 per cent more likely to have an alcohol problem and 35 per cent more likely to be unemployed as an adult. Pray: for the Church to respond and support those adversely affected and to promote strong, loving stable marriage. (Heb.13:4 )
The Church of England's General Synod
01 Jul 2013Will it be another Anglican bunfight or will new Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby hold the communion together? Asks Sam Jones in last Sunday's Guardian. He writes “On Friday afternoon, the Church of England's General Synod will descend on York to begin the Herculean task of clearing away some of the debris from its last meeting. The synod's failure in November to approve draft legislation that would have allowed female clergy to become bishops was memorably described by one member as "a train crash of epic proportions". Few would disagree. With parliament breathing down its neck and many angered by the church hierarchy's opposition to same-sex marriage, the C of E knows it cannot risk another embarrassing meeting. On Friday evening, Justin Welby, will address his first synod. Even for a man who has travelled to some of the most dangerous places on earth in the hope of bringing about peace and reconciliation, the five-day meeting will be a tough gig.
Pray: for Justin Welby and all attending General Synod that they will be open to God and be led by the Holy Spirit. (Ro.8:28)
More: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/30/church-of-england-general-synod
The Church in Wales unveils major overhaul
26 Jul 2012The Church in Wales has unveiled radical plans to ensure its future ahead of its centenary in 2020. The Church makes 50 recommendations for change in a published report. Recoromendations.include setting up supersize parishes run by teams of vicars and lay people. These would replace parishes with larger ‘ministry areas’ and mirror the catchment areas of secondary schools. Recations are intended to address the problem of small, unsustainable parishes and overstretched priests having to serve multiple parishes. The report also recommends that churches invest in ministry to young people and come up with ‘creative ideas’ to ensure they stay at the heart of their communities. To implement the vision, churches are being asked to allow their buildings to be available for use by the whole community. Other recommendations include: training lay people to play a greater part in church leadership; developing new forms of worship to reach out to those unfamiliar with church services; encouraging tithing.
Pray: for the Church in Wales to rise up and meet the challenge. (Mt.16:18)
More: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/church.in.wales.unveils.major.overhaul/30316.htm
The Christian zoo accused of backing creationism
13 Aug 2010
A kitemark devised to help teachers find suitable school trip destinations has been awarded to a Christian zoo accused of promoting creationism. Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm in Wraxall, near Bristol, is among the latest organisations to receive the Learning Outside the Classroom ‘quality badge’, developed by the last Government. The zoo already runs sessions for more than 15,000 pupils a year from key stage 1 to A-level. But it has attracted controversy for its views on evolution and creation, arguing that science has tried to ‘remove any notion of God from our understanding of life. This is unjustified and we look to put the case for a Creator across to those who wish to investigate,’ the zoo’s website says. James Gray, education officer at the British Humanist Association, criticised the Council for Learning Outside the Classroom, the educational charity that awards the badges, for its decision.The zoo continues to be picketed by opponents who try to discredit its work. Pray: that the work of this zoo would continue to be recognised for promoting God's truth. (Jn.8:23)
The C of E's experimental baptism liturgy
09 Jan 2014The devil, it is sometimes said, is in the detail. But in an experimental service from the Church of England, it is the absence of Satan from the small print which is causing a furore. A trial liturgy for baptising children in church has been making waves because, while parents and godparents have traditionally been asked whether they ‘reject the devil and all rebellion against God,’ the suggested alternative format merely asks them to ‘reject evil’. Also proving contentious is the omission of any question asking whether those bringing a child to be christened are willing to repent – as has been the case up until now. The service is currently being trialled. To come into permanent use, it would need to gain approval from the church's governing body, the General Synod. The existing wording in the Common Worship service book, with its references to the devil and to repentance, will remain in use either way.