With our news media being full of ‘bad’ news and graphic images of violence and war, and the fact that good things don’t seem to rate, an article by Richard Eckersley that recently appeared in The Age puts to words some things I have been thinking of late.
In this article, he speak of the ways we can make a difference by choosing how we respond to these things.
The latest newsletter resource from Christianity 9 to 5 is now available here.
Christianity 9 to 5 is an online newsletter aimed at providing practical resources for Living Faith at Work.
A British university department dedicated to exploring the relationship between sport and spirituality has launched itself internationally by staging an inaugural conference for sports coaches, chaplains and administrators, as well as professional athletes and academics.
More than 70 delegates from 11 countries recently met at the Centre for the Study of Sport and Spirituality, which is part of York St John University in northern England, to look at the spiritual and moral issues involved in their work – writes Martin Revis for ENI.
Wesley Mission has called for an end to discrimination in the workplace, more flexible employment opportunities and increased funding for community based care as part of a 21-point reform plan to address the major issues impacting people with mental illness.
– What the growing gap in our culture means for churches, leaders, and volunteers.
A while back I heard Len Sweet say that our society is moving away from the “bell curve” and toward something called the “well curve.” His comment got me doing some research on the topic and thinking about what all of this means for church leaders. Who knew that bells and wells were such important topics for church leaders to consider?
Since high school we’ve known all about the bell curve: that fundamental law of natural science and statistics that defines normal distribution as being massed near the middle while being low on the extremities. Represented on a graph, the distribution looks like a bell-shaped curve. The bell curve implies that most people gravitate toward the middle or average and avoid the extremes. For example, most people are of average height, have moderately sized families, and earn a “C” in statistics; few people are really tall or really short, few have very large or very small families, and few earn A’s or F’s.
Melbourne’s newest church opens today in the Docklands area. The James Squire Brewhouse’s upper room will be home to the Docklands Church. Worship includes bible reflections, prayer, music and monthly communion.
For more information visit the Docklands Church website.
In a landmark decision, Chinese Christians are celebrating they have permission to build the first public church in China in 70 years. The Chinese Catholic community of the city of Yan’an in Shaanxi province has worked hard to negotiate permission to build the church in the city’s suburbs.
Peace by Peace is a new magazine produced by the Fellowship of Reconciliation.
The first edition includes: an interview with Norman and Pat Kember; a photo-essay on building peace; the work of the Palestinian Center for Conflict Resolution; and how reconciliation and marathon running are being combined in Peru.
This magazine is availabe for free online. You can find it here.
Russia and two former Soviet republics have four of the world’s top 10 most polluted places, according to the Blacksmith Institute, a New York-based nonprofit group.
Blacksmith did not rank the top 10 because complete health records from some developing countries were unavailable.
For each site the group included the number of potentially affected people, who could face problems ranging from asthma to premature death.
The annual list was compiled with help from specialists at Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, Hunter College in New York, India’s ITT, University of Idaho, Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York and others.
The full report can be found here.
While around 4 million people have fled Iraq in recent times, Sweden is making headlines for being possibly the only country in Europe that could be described as welcoming to those displaced from Iraq.
In particular, Sweden is taking care of teenagers who are alone and desperate, but still make the difficult journey to find sanctuary.