https://www.christiantoday.com/news/christian-beliefs-increasingly-unfamiliar-to-british-public-research-finds
Monday, October 19, 2026
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Good To Hear.
Christian advent calendar sales 'soar' after online storm with Meghan Markle fans.
The Real Advent Calendar is made by the Meaningful Chocolate Company and is being sold through The Leprosy Mission among other places. (Photo: The Leprosy Mission)The Leprosy Mission reports that sales of the Real Advent Calendar have “soared” on its website following an online blow-up involving Meghan Markle and a pair of Anglican priests.
The online storm began with the news that the Duchess of Sussex had released a premium advent calendar costing £112. In response, Anglican vicar, the Rev Daniel French, suggested that the Meaningful Chocolate Company's own festive offering, being sold through The Leprosy Mission among other places, might be more suitable.
Boasting a selection of fairtrade chocolate and the modest asking price of £5.99, sales of the Real Advent Calendar go towards the Leprosy Mission. It also contains a booklet explaining the Christmas story and the birth of Jesus.
Unfortunately, Rev French’s intervention apparently did not go down well with the so-called “Sussex Squad”, vocal online fans of the duchess and her husband Prince Harry. French was forced to endure the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune from the disgruntled fans, although he did receive support from fellow priest, Father Chris Phillips.
While the whole business may have become unnecessarily nasty and personal, there has been a silver lining.
According to The Leprosy Mission, it has been inundated with messages of support from all over the world, with sales of the advent calendar soaring as a result.
Amanda Norman, Chief Executive of The Leprosy Mission Shop, said, “We were delighted to see Rev Daniel French champion the Real Advent Calendar and, most importantly, highlight the lives of people affected by leprosy.
“It has been incredibly encouraging to see people respond with such kindness and to hear from supporters as far away as the US who have contacted us because they want to stand alongside people affected by this cruel disease.”
Norman added that French’s comments were intended to highlight the need for compassion and generosity at Christmas, rather than being a dig at Meghan Markle and Prince Harry.
“We know the Sussexes are very charity-minded and have supported our work. The late Diana, Princess CTof Wales, was Patron of The Leprosy Mission until her untimely death in 1997, and my Leprosy Mission colleagues have spoken with Prince Harry about our work, for which he has been most supportive," she said.
“We are grateful to Rev Daniel for raising the plight of people affected by leprosy at a time when it can be easy to focus on luxury and celebrity. Behind every Real Advent Calendar is a reminder of the people who are too often marginalised, and of the Christmas message that calls us to reach out to them.”
The Leprosy Mission has also confirmed that French will be receiving one of its advent calendars for free. CT.
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A Man With Little Sense of Justice
https://renewedright.com/this-swing-state-democrat-senate-candidate-freed-the-man-who-assaulted-and-murdered-a-72-year-old-woman-in-her-bed/
Water.
Archaeologists just pulled a piece of Jesus' world out of the ground in Jerusalem.
Israel announced the find this week.
What archaeologists found inside that ancient channel will change the way Christians think about something Jesus said.
The Engineering Miracle Rome Never Outpaced
The Israel Antiquities Authority uncovered the 300-meter section south of Kibbutz Ramat Rachel during excavations for a new residential neighborhood.
This isn't just any water pipe.
The Lower Aqueduct ran 13 miles from Solomon's Pools near Bethlehem all the way to the Temple Mount – using nothing but gravity.
The gradient was so precise that water dropped just one meter for every kilometer of travel.
That's engineering so exact that it still astonishes experts 2,000 years later.
IAA Jerusalem District Archaeologist Dr. Amit Re'em called it "an engineering marvel."
He's not wrong.
While Rome was building its famous aqueducts to carry water to the Temple of Jupiter on Capitoline Hill, the Jewish kings of Jerusalem were building this – at the same time, at the same engineering standard.
Douglas Estes, an associate professor of religion at New College of Florida, put it plainly: "We think of Rome as being the power in the Mediterranean at the time, and we think of Jerusalem as being a small capital of the city-state, but they were actually advancing in technology at the same time."
The Hasmonean kings – Jewish rulers who preceded Herod – built it because Jerusalem's population was exploding.
The Gihon Spring and annual rainfall couldn't keep up with the pilgrims flooding in for the great festivals.
So they built a system that endured for 2,000 years – successive rulers across six civilizations kept it running – until modern electric water infrastructure made it unnecessary just a century ago.
Where Living Water Carried More Than Just Water
Here's where this discovery gets profound for Christians.
The aqueduct didn't just supply drinking water.
It fed the Temple Mount's ritual purification system – the "living water" required for sanctification before entering the holiest ground in Judaism.
Estes said he is "confident" that Jesus and His disciples used water from this very system, though no direct archaeological evidence of their individual use has been established.
And the symbolism runs deeper than most people realize.
Sunday, October 18, 2026
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Half of Catholic churches in Glasgow to close.
Half of Catholic churches in Glasgow to close.
(Photo: Getty/iStock)The Archbishop of Glasgow has confirmed that around half of the city’s Catholic churches will close due to there being "too few people" and "too many churches but too few priests".
Archbishop William Nolan wrote to Catholic congregations to address rumours of the changes and confirmed that 24 churches would be closed down.
Explaining the rationale for the decision, Nolan laid out the facts of the matter: "There are too many parishes but too few people, too many churches but too few priests.
"Compared to when these parishes were formed and our churches built, there are significantly fewer people coming to Mass. Some of our largest churches are in places where there are the fewest people.”
The lack of priests was given further attention in the letter, with Nolan pointing out that in his five years as Archbishop the number of active priests had dropped by a third. Of those that remain, most are over 60 and only one is under 45.
Nolan said that without foreign priests and volunteers “the situation would be even more critical than it is”.
He added, "Our parishes and our churches hold great memories for us and are dear to our hearts, so any reduction in parishes and any closure of churches will be a painful experience. We cannot avoid that pain, though, by not facing up to reality."
Catholic commentator Mark Lambert, writing on X, said the cuts were “extraordinary”, particularly when considering the strong Catholic heritage of the city. He called upon the Church to examine itself and attempt to reverse rather than manage the decline.
“The crisis did not begin with Archbishop Nolan, and it would be unjust to hold him personally responsible for decades of secularisation. But episcopal leadership cannot be judged solely by how competently bishops administer the consequences of declining religious practice," he said.
“For generations, bishops have been responsible for safeguarding and transmitting the Catholic faith.
"If successive generations have drifted away, if priestly vocations have almost disappeared, and if churches built by our forebears must now close, surely we are entitled to ask whether the Church's pastoral priorities, catechesis, evangelisation and formation of Catholic families have been adequate to the challenge.” CT.
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Speaking In Tongues Was Not Unusual.
Paul in Ephesus.
19 While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples 2) and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”
They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”
3) So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?”
“John’s baptism,” they replied.
4) Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” 5) On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6) When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. 7) There were about twelve men in all.
Scary And We Have A Microscopically Small Military!
Good morning. Chris Evans, Editor |
Concerning.
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Saturday, October 17, 2026
Belgium.
Euthanasia cases in Belgium double in last five years.
Euthanasia now accounts for 4% of deaths in Belgium. CT.
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St Martin-in-the-Fields.
The London church that helped shape a nation: 300 years of St Martin-in-the-Fields.
St Martin-in-the-Fields sits on the edge of Trafalgar Square in London. (Photo: Getty/iStock)Few parish churches are as famous as St Martin-in-the-Fields in central London. This year, it marks its 300th anniversary. This is the story …
The original church
As the name suggests, the original parish of St Martin-in-the-Fields lay in farmland outside London, but as London grew, it ended up in central London. It is not known when the first church was built, but the earliest recorded mention of it is from 1222.
St Martin
The church was dedicated to St Martin of Tours, who was a fourth-century Roman soldier who had a spiritual conversion as an adult. He is famous for giving half his cape to a poor beggar and then leaving the army when he renounced war to become a bishop. He is considered the patron saint of beggars. There are many churches dedicated to him, but St Martin-in-the-Fields is perhaps the most famous of all.
The medieval church
In medieval times, St Martin-in-the-Fields was a church run by the monks of Westminster Abbey. It was rebuilt in Tudor times. As London grew, so did the church congregation and the church building. In the eighteenth century, the original building was built of brick and had a tiled roof with a stone tower and buttresses, but it was in a state of decay.
The current church building
In 1720, Parliament passed the St Martin-in-the-Fields Act for rebuilding the church. The architect who was commissioned to design a new church was the Scotsman James Gibbs, and he took inspiration from other churches designed by Sir Christopher Wren.
He designed a rectangular church with a west front built with a portico of six Corinthian columns and a Portland stone spire above. The foundation stone was laid on 19 March 1722, and the Gothic spire, which rises 192 feet above the floor, was added in 1724. Bells were cast in 1725, and the new church was consecrated 300 years ago on 20 October 1726 by the Bishop of London.
When it opened, the design was unique, but later the design became famous and inspired other churches around the world, such as St Andrew’s in the Square in Glasgow, but also St Michael’s Church in Charleston, South Carolina, and All Souls Unitarian Church in Washington, DC, and others across the British Empire. The church building is now a Grade I listed building.
Location
St Martin-in-the-Fields now has a prime position at the north-east corner of Trafalgar Square, near to the National Gallery and Charing Cross London Underground station. However, the church was there first, and it predates Trafalgar Square, which dates from the 1820s, and Charing Cross station, which opened in 1864. In the Victorian era, the church became very fashionable and is mentioned in the book David Copperfield by Charles Dickens.
Ministry under Dick Sheppard
The church came into prominence during the time that Rev Dick Sheppard was vicar, from 1914 to 1927. Dick Sheppard was ordained in 1908 and briefly served as a war chaplain, and his experiences led him to adopt pacifism. He came to St Martin-in-the-Fields late in 1914, when it was a fashionable church for the well-to-do. He was inspired by his war experience and by the story of St Martin to turn the church into a place where faith was put into action.
Seeing men going off to war and returning from war from Charing Cross, he opened the crypt as a refuge for soldiers, providing food, rest and hospitality. After the war, it was kept open for the homeless or people who missed the last bus home. In 1920, the church started an annual Christmas Appeal to raise money for vulnerable people. The church also acted as a social centre for those in need, and members of the church ministered to the local homeless.
Pacifism
After the Great War, Rev Dick Sheppard became involved in the peace and reconciliation movement, and he allowed sermons critical of the war and prayed both for soldiers from both sides and for conscientious objectors, which was unusual at the time. After leaving St Martin’s, Sheppard founded the Peace Pledge Union in 1934, which became Britain’s largest pacifist movement.
Connection with the BBC
After the BBC started in 1922, it was St Martin-in-the-Fields which provided the first Christian service ever to be broadcast, on 6 January 1924. In 1926, Dick Sheppard made his Christmas Appeal on the radio, and it has been held annually ever since. This year will be its 100th appeal.
St Martin’s was the church chosen by the BBC for regular religious broadcasting, and evening services were played on the BBC and across the BBC World Service. The radio broadcasts brought Dick Sheppard some fame, and his preaching attracted huge numbers. As the BBC expanded its religious output, it began broadcasting services from other churches around the UK, but it still sometimes broadcasts from the church.
Social justice campaigns
The church became the headquarters for the Church League for Women’s Suffrage, which sought voting rights for women. In 1928, it hosted a thanksgiving service when women finally gained the vote on the same terms as men.
Following the Sharpeville massacre of 1960, when South African police shot and killed anti-apartheid demonstrators, the church’s vicar, Rev Austen Williams, publicly condemned apartheid. The congregation became active supporters of the anti-apartheid cause, and the church also became a venue for anti-apartheid vigils and demonstrations, helped by its central position by Trafalgar Square.
The Handel connection
The organ was originally gifted by King George I to the church of St Martin-in-the-Fields in London in 1726. It was supposedly a favourite instrument of Handel during his time in England. It was purchased from St Martin-in-the-Fields by the vicar of St Mary’s and moved to Wotton around 1800.
Over time, the church became known for high standards of liturgical music and attracted distinguished organists and composers. One of the people connected to the church in the 1700s was the composer George Frideric Handel, who sometimes played the organ. The new church had a new, larger organ which was paid for by King George I, and Handel played at its grand opening in 1726. It was said to be his favourite organ, although he also played at St George’s in Hanover Square. When it was replaced in 1800, it was moved to the parish church of Wotton-under-Edge in Gloucestershire, where it is still played.
Concerts
The church’s concerts, recordings and broadcasts have introduced countless listeners to sacred music. In 1958, the Academy of St Martin in the Fields was founded by Sir Neville Marriner and John Churchill and gave its first concert in 1959. It became one of the world’s leading chamber orchestras and carried the church’s name to an international audience. Services, concerts and special events were transmitted nationally and internationally by the BBC, helping establish the church’s reputation as “the parish church of the nation”. Today, people visit the church for lunchtime and evening concerts.
The crypt
During the Second World War, when the Blitz started, St Martin-in-the-Fields turned the crypt into a public air raid shelter with a canteen for members of the armed forces. In 1948, St Martin’s formally established its Social Service Unit. From the 1970s, St Martin’s began moving away from providing direct overnight accommodation in the crypt and towards specialist support services beyond its walls.
The homelessness work evolved into what became The Connection at St Martin’s, which is now a separate charity focused on helping rough sleepers get off the streets into housing and support. The charity moved to a more practical base in nearby Adelaide Street, not in the crypt itself, which allowed the crypt to be redeveloped for other uses.
A café had existed there from at least the mid-20th century, and from 1987, parts of the crypt were deliberately developed as a cultural space and rooms for letting commercially to provide income for other services. From 2005, the crypt and underground spaces were extensively rebuilt and modernised, creating the café, shop, exhibition and event spaces seen today.
Legacy
St Martin-in-the-Fields has been a place where new ideas began. It pioneered religious broadcasting, working with the homeless, internationally famous music-making and charitable initiatives that spread far beyond London. Few parish churches can claim such a combination of architectural, musical, social and national significance as St Martin-in-the-Fields.
300th anniversary exhibition
St Martin’s likes to think of itself as at the heart of London and on the edge of Trafalgar Square. The church this year marks its 300th anniversary with a programme which includes worship, exhibitions, concerts, educational activities and community events that seek to connect the church’s history with its continuing mission.
There is also a free exhibition called St Martin-in-the-Fields: 300 Years at the Heart and on the Edge until 15 November, which is in the crypt.
Tercentenary service
The church is also still a place of worship with regular Sunday and midweek lunchtime services which can be joined in person or online. There will be a special tercentenary celebratory service at 10am on Sunday 18 October. The service will feature a grand procession of charities and organisations that trace their origins to St Martin-in-the-Fields. Then there will be addresses from representatives of some of the organisations and a sermon from Revd Dr Sam Wells. The service will be followed by a reception. CT.
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