The Archbishop of Wales will retire in May after four years as leader of the Church in Wales, it has been announced.

The Most Rev John Davies, the 13th man to hold the position, was appointed in 2017 and has also been bishop of Swansea and Brecon since 2008.

Mr Davies, 67, will retire from his roles as archbishop and bishop on 2 May.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, said he valued Mr Davies’s “wisdom, passion, skill and diplomacy”.

Read it all.

Archbishop John Davies will stand down as head of the Church in Wales after four yearshttps://t.co/4SLYCqtnaX

— BBC Wales News (@BBCWalesNews) January 8, 2021

There is no guarantee that 2021 will be better, but Christians must step up. We need to challenge one another in love and support each other when facing strong headwinds. If we live like the world, why should non-Christians listen to us. More importantly, why would they listen to God? With this in our mind, here is our charge to the body of Christ for 2021:

• Read the entire Bible. This is a blessing—and doing it in a year takes only about 15 minutes a day. There are plenty of reading plans and even apps to make the process easy. Encourage others to join you. How can we expect to share God’s word passionately and accurately if we Christians are not Bible-literate?

• Pray. Pray for our pastors, teachers, politicians, family and friends. Many of us tell others that we will pray for them, but do we do it? Don’t simply tell someone that you will pray for him. Stop and say, “I am going to pray with you.”

• Repent. Repentance is a word American culture have lost sight of. It means to turn away from the direction one has been headed. Repentance applies not only to salvation but to everyday life. If 2020 has exposed worry, jealousy, racism, pride, greed or anger in our hearts, we must repent.

• Return to our home churches. The relationships built in our local churches are critical for our personal growth—and the church’s growth as a whole.

Read it all.

If you find your faith is strained by the pandemic, these practices can help, write @TonyDungy and @BenjaminSWatson https://t.co/n0PEtTIEI9

— WSJ Editorial Page (@WSJopinion) January 8, 2021

She spent the previous weekend reading the Constitution, poring over the 12th Amendment and Title 3 of the U.S. Code. She wanted to understand exactly what they said about Congress’ power in the coming vote to certify electors.

It wasn’t confusing. Their role was ceremonial.

If we don’t follow that, she thought, we aren’t a nation at all.

She could not go along with the president and much of her party.

Mace had long ago learned some things about courage. Her father was a brigadier general, a war hero, the most decorated living graduate of The Citadel.

But nothing fueled her courage like a day when she was 16 years old. A friend and classmate sexually assaulted her. Afraid and ashamed, she’d blamed herself. She’d feared what other people would think.

She dropped out of high school. Her fire faded.

But then, she rediscovered her courage, a new and stronger kind, one that didn’t blame herself and wouldn’t bend to fear of what other people thought. She returned to school, earned her diploma and, in 1999, became the first female to graduate from The Citadel’s Corps of Cadets.

Read it all.

Nancy Mace’s first 100 hours in Congress: threats, violence and challenging Trump https://t.co/o7dxc57XFg

— Joe Bruno (@JoeBrunoWSOC9) January 8, 2021

I will take comments on this submitted by email only to KSHarmon[at]mindspring[dot]com.

A coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech appears to be effective against a key mutation in the more infectious variants of the virus discovered in the U.K. and South Africa, according to a study conducted by the U.S. pharmaceutical giant.

It comes as countries scramble to contain the variants that are significantly more transmissible, with public health experts anxious about the potential impact on inoculation efforts.

The research, published Thursday on preprint server bioRxiv and not yet peer-reviewed, suggested the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine worked to neutralize the so-called N501Y mutation.

The N501Y mutation has been reported in the more infectious variants. It is altering an amino acid within six key residues in the receptor-binding domain — a key part of the spike protein that the virus uses to gain entry into cells within the body.

Read it all.

🏥 A new study shows Pfizer-BioNTech's Covid vaccine appears to neutralize a key mutation of two highly contagious variants found in the U.K. & South Africa.

🗣️ “These findings are good news."

👇 Here's the full story:https://t.co/qvANvM2Mk0

— Sam Meredith (@smeredith19) January 8, 2021

Holy God, thou didst choose thy faithful servant Harriet Bedell to exercise the ministry of deaconess and to be a missionary among indigenous peoples: Fill us with compassion and respect for all people, and empower us for the work of ministry throughout the world; through Jesus Christ our Lord who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

For the last day of #womenshistorymonth here's a 1934 photo of Deaconess Harriet Bedell with Seminole women and children of the #Everglades pic.twitter.com/j8QuVBw965

— Digital Collections (@FIU_Digital_Lib) March 31, 2017

O God, who by the guidance of a star didst manifest to the Gentiles the glory of thine only begotten Son: Grant us grace that, being led by the light of thy Holy Spirit, we may, in adoring love and lowliest reverence, yield ourselves to thy service; that thy kingdom of righteousness and peace may be advanced among all nations, to the glory of thy name; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Today is the feast of the Epiphany, when the Church remembers the visit of the Magi to the infant Christ. Here in a C15 alabaster, once part of an altarpiece, at Long Melford, Suffolk. The Magi present their gifts to the standing child while Mary, Joseph and a midwife look on. pic.twitter.com/liPsWvYt8O

— Simon Knott (@last_of_england) January 6, 2021

Praise the Lord, all you nations;
laud him, all you peoples.

For his loving-kindness toward us is great, *
and the faithfulness of the Lord endures for ever.
Hallelujah!

–Psalm 117

Goodmorning pic.twitter.com/WzFDqv76PE

— E?M… (@EgwEimai6) January 8, 2021