One of the best-known Christmas carols is “Once in royal David’s city.” It was written by Cecil Frances Alexander whose husband became bishop of Derry. Mrs Alexander, as she was known, wrote 400 hymns including “All things bright and beautiful” and “There is a green hill far away.” She wrote hymns for children many of…

Thursday 24 November is Thanksgiving Day in the USA. The first Thanksgiving Day was celebrated in November 1621 by the Plymouth colonists and the indigenous Wampanoag people. In September 1620 a small ship called the Mayflower left Plymouth in England carrying 102 passengers. Most of the families on board were Christians who belonged to churches…

In the past week we have remembered those who died in the two Great Wars of the 20th century. Remembering those who died is important. The scale of the losses was terrible. In WWI 20 million military personnel and civilians died. In WWII between 40 and 50 million died. There were also many millions who…