Follow that star tonight, Bethlehem, Bethlehem…
Thousands upon thousands of people will go to church tonight, and that'll be it for another year. They'll hear about Mary and a donkey, a star and three kings, shepherds…
Christmas
Ding-Dong Merrily Online: what can the bust-up over Greggs vegan sausage roll tell us about the Nativity?
In Gilbert and Sullivan's (probably mercifully) under-performed final collaboration The Grand Duke, a group of political degenerates try and bring down the government of a second-rate European power by means of a sausage roll. It is as ridiculous as it…
‘Light in the Darkness’ – Rev’d Jonathan Aitken preaches Christmas sermon to the Foreign Office
Here is the sermon preached by the Rev'd Jonathan Aitken at the Foreign Office Carol Service, Grand Locarno Room, King Charles St, Westminster, on Tuesday 18th December 2018: It is a…
Jeffrey Archer: “I’m what I call an agnostic moving towards believer”
Jesus Christ is "the best known person on earth", says Jeffrey Archer in a recent interview on Premier Christian Radio. "If the name Jesus Christ has survived for 2,000 plus…
Spectator urges knife attack on Archbishop of Canterbury
Peace on earth and good will toward men? Not from the Spectator toward Justin Welby there isn't. The magazine has just published its Christmas edition which includes a Santa's wish-list…
Why, when church attendance is falling, is cathedral attendance soaring?
An email was delivered to Cranmer's Tower at 11.15am on Tuesday of this week. It was headed: 'Record numbers attend cathedrals at Christmas', followed by a very red, upper-case warning:…
And so the Christ Child comes, as we look for his appearing
The birth of the Christ Child, the Son of God, was heralded by the Angel of the Lord, accompanied by the Shekinah, the Glory of God, followed by a multitude…
Archbishop of Canterbury urges Brexit Christmas truce
"We go back 103 years, we find at Christmas 1914 there was a ceasefire," the Archbishop of Canterbury reminded us in a BBC interview from Lambeth Palace. "It would be…
The establishment of the Church of England and the Christian Monarchy flourish together or fall together
This is a guest post by the Rev’d Dr Gavin Ashenden, Chaplain to the Queen. __________________________ One of the many reasons I like twitter is for the jokes. “Why should…
Nigel Farage slams Jesus for his “negative” Christmas message
Former Ukip leader Nigel Farage has slammed Jesus for his "negative" Christmas message. The Son of God said the world is full of wolves in sheep's clothing, not to mention…
For unto us a child is born
Christmas has become an annual sabbath; almost the only time of the year now when families come together, friends are remembered, and the ghosts of Christmases past are recalled, some…
You will hear of wars, assassinations and terrorist atrocities… Joy to the world
Christmas carnage in Berlin as Islamic State manage to get someone to plough a 27-ton HGV into a market, killing 12 and injuring 50. Weeping and wailing; mulled wine all…
Peace on earth and good will to all men – except the sacked bell-ringers of York Minster
"The bells! The bells!" cried Quasimodo, the hunchbacked bell-ringer of Notre-Dame de Paris in Victor Hugo's quasi-fictional novel. He might have been sounding a prophetic child-safeguarding warning to the Church…
Bishop of Liverpool slams Trump/Brexit voters who “bow the knee to hate”
Amazon have produced a warm, cuddly, interfaith Christmas ad. And it's authentic: there are no actors. A real-life vicar and a real-life imam exchange gifts (knee-pads) to help make praying…
On the Feast of Stephen
The funeral of St Stephen, by Filippo Lippi (1460). St Stephen – 'a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost' (Acts 6:5) – was chosen to be a…
And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us
'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.. Through him all things were made.. In him was life.. the light of…
Fourth Sunday of Advent: the searing loneliness of Christmas
If you believe the festive ads, loneliness at Christmas seems to be a preserve of the elderly. John Lewis isolates an old man on the moon, and the German…
"Our daughter died…" Justin Welby's sermon to Child Bereavement UK
Every now and again a sermon is preached which is so simple in expression and yet so rich in its depths of compassion and apprehension of salvation that you…
Third Sunday of Advent: rejoice in the recognition of Jesus
Today is Gaudete Sunday: into the season of waiting, preparing and expecting, we inject a note of delight and good cheer: 'Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I…
The Church of England's investment in social media is a major embarrassment
Quite often when I attend a variety of events and conferences, I’ll end up in conversation with total strangers from all sorts of backgrounds talking about this blog. It’s…