Serving RAF personnel are four times more likely to be problem gamblers than the rest of the population, according to a study that also found high rates of excessive drinking and depression.

The research by the RAF Benevolent Fund, the first of its kind, found one in 50 airmen and women were problem gamblers, a condition defined as undermining people’s ability to do their jobs and maintain good family relations.

This compared with one in 200 of the general population with researchers linking the greater prevalence among RAF crews to the amount of unsupervised downtime they had, deployments away from family, their disposable incomes and a greater propensity to risk taking.

Alison Wyman, associate director of the Fund, said gambling was a “hidden” problem because of the ease with which staff could conceal it. This placed a greater onus on both betting firms and the RAF to be alert to the danger signs.

Read it all.

Serving RAF personnel are four times more likely to be problem gamblers than the rest of the population, according to a study that also found high rates of excessive drinking and depression.

https://t.co/3g6aFaKM9O

— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) January 30, 2022

A Church of Pakistan lay pastor was gunned down and a priest wounded by unknown assailants as the leaders drove home from a worship service on Sunday in the northwestern Pakistan city of Peshawar, where Christians had suffered their deadliest attack in the country’s history nearly a decade earlier.

Church of Pakistan Bishop of Peshawar Humphrey Peters said that William Siraj, 75, was shot and died instantly in the ambush in the Gulbahar neighborhood, while Patrick Naeem, 55, sustained a bullet wound but was in stable condition. A third church leader in the car was unharmed, he said.

The Protestant church leaders were returning from All Saints Church parish when two gunmen riding a motorcycle intercepted their car and opened fire on them, Peters said.

“Siraj received one bullet in the forehead and one on the arm and died instantly, while Rev. Naeem received a bullet wound in the hand,” he said. “It’s a miracle that Rev. Naeem and another priest escaped the volley of bullets.”

Read it all.

Three church leaders were attacked by gunmen on their way home from worship in Peshawar, Pakistan, yesterday.

A 75-year-old Protestant priest was killed, and police are still searching for the assailants. https://t.co/6CjYNAnN39

— Christianity Today (@CTmagazine) January 31, 2022

American families are feeling the financial squeeze of soaring inflation and a persistent pandemic as fractious Democrats return to Washington this week no closer to a deal on a tax and spending bill party leaders hoped would by now provide relief.

Despite gangbusters growth at a 6.9% annual rate during the final quarter of 2021, other economic measures tell a very different story. Average wages are falling behind inflation and consumer sentiment plummeted in January to the lowest in more than a decade.

More Americans are having trouble paying their bills than at any time since last March, shortly before the Biden administration began distributing stimulus checks and other relief measures. Hunger is rising again.

It’s an ominous start to a midterm election year for Democrats struggling to hold on to razor-thin majorities in Congress. President Joe Biden began his term with ambitions to address long-festering economic inequalities and lift prospects for the poor and middle class but an intra-party rift has halted progress on his centerpiece tax and social spending plan.

Read it all.

“We’re learning once again the pandemic is hitting families hard financially. It’s the people who have the least that continue to suffer the most.”
—@Claudia_Sahm, @JainFamilyInst https://t.co/ZbI6cLKsMO via @bpolitics @MikeDorning @elwasson

— Steve Matthews (@SteveMatthews12) January 31, 2022

Dr. Shoemaker did not confine his preaching to his church. He would mount a box on a street corner if he thought he could bring religion into someone’s life. And he often did. Years after a young clergyman’s zeal night have been expected to diminish, he went to country clubs and steel plants to preach.

Read it all (my emphasis).

It was America’s enemies within that interested Shoemaker most. After the country entered World War II, the cleric addressed the nation’s cause in several sermons, eventually published in Christ and this Cause. In one of those sermons, “God and the War,” he lashed out at the nation’s immorality.

“This nation has had the greatest privileges ever given to any nation in all time. America has been God’s privileged child. But America has become a spoiled child. We have been ungrateful to the God under whom our liberties were given to us. I believe it is high time for someone to say that this war today is God’s judgment upon a godless and selfish people.”

Shoemaker did support the war effort; in his sermon, “What Are We Fighting For?” he admitted that the war was a “grim necessity,” the means by which nations would once again have the opportunity to choose democracy. But he abhorred any self-righteous cause:

“No war can ever be a clear-cut way for a Christian to express his hatred of evil. For war involves a basic confusion. All the good in the world is not ranged against all the evil. In the present war, some nations that have a great deal of evil in them are yet seeking to stand for freedom ”¦ against other nations which have a great deal of good in them but yet are presently dedicated to turning the world backwards into the darkness of enslavement.”

Read it all (emphasis mine).

We have no respect for a surgeon who goes in but does not cut deeply enough to cure nor a patient who backs out of an operation because it may hurt; yet people can go through their whole lives attending church, listening to searching exposures of human sin, without ever taking it to themselves, or meeting anyone with skill and concern enough to lay the challenge right in their own laps.

—Experiment of Faith (New York: Harper&Row, 1957), p.22 (emphasis mine)

Holy God, we thank thee for the vision of Samuel Shoemaker, who labored for the renewal of all people: Grant, we pray, that we may follow his example to help others find salvation through the knowledge and love of Jesus Christ our Savior; who with thee and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.Holy God, we thank thee for the vision of Samuel Shoemaker, who labored for the renewal of all people: Grant, we pray, that we may follow his example to help others find salvation through the knowledge and love of Jesus Christ our Savior; who with thee and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Looking forward to learning more about Samuel Shoemaker, who grew up near St. Thomas’ and is buried in our cemetery.#OwingsMills #GarrisonForest #Episcopal pic.twitter.com/9CFPcTRezY

— Tom Murphy (@tommurphE) August 13, 2021

God our creator,
who in the beginning
commanded the light to shine out of darkness:
we pray that the light of the glorious gospel of Christ
may dispel the darkness of ignorance and unbelief,
shine into the hearts of all your people,
and reveal the knowledge of your glory
in the face of Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.

Good morning from #scarborough Slightly later than usual for this #mondaythoughts photo 🥰 A sunrise photo in Peasholm Glen, low sun, bare trees, blue sky. Have a lovely day! pic.twitter.com/8eLHemKCxF

— Faith Young Writer (@FYoungWriter) January 31, 2022

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old received divine approval. By faith we understand that the world was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was made out of things which do not appear. By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he received approval as righteous, God bearing witness by accepting his gifts; he died, but through his faith he is still speaking. By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death; and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was attested as having pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please him. For whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

–Hebrews 11:1-6

Grand Rising…
With the flock in the Machair. #MondayMotivation #sunrise #StormHour #jefinuist #OuterHebrides #Scotland pic.twitter.com/jYctmNDjrC

— DaliMach (@frenchscotjeff) January 31, 2022

🎾 Rafa makes history
🎾 Top seeds prevail in women's doubles

Relive all the action on The AO Show ⬇️#AusOpen • #AO2022

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 31, 2022

O God, you know that we are set in the midst of many grave dangers, and because of the frailty of our nature we cannot always stand upright: Grant that your strength and protection may support us in all dangers and carry us through every temptation; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Sunrise on Cnicht pic.twitter.com/n4UxgHd55v

— Cito Lapram (@BloodNelsons) January 30, 2022

The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof,
the world and those who dwell therein,
for he has founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the rivers.

–Psalm 24:1-2

A perfect Sunday morning by the river Great Ouse in Ely 🥰 #sunrise #goodmorning pic.twitter.com/TA5py1LmKK

— Veronica in the Fens 🧚🏼‍♀️ (@VeronicaJoPo) January 30, 2022

Good Morning Champion 🏆@ashbarty · #AusOpen · #AO2022 pic.twitter.com/47XQIt1l4e

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 30, 2022

Twenty-three long months after the first cases of COVID-19 were detected in South Carolina, there’s reason to hope the current surge of the pandemic may be shorter-lived than previous waves.

While omicron continues to ravage the state, an epidemiologist with the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control acknowledged this week South Carolina may soon be turning a corner.

“We have begun seeing some incremental decreases in the counts and rates of cases during the surge,” said Brannon Traxler, with DHEC. “While numbers of cases have still been increasing, they’ve been increasing at a lesser rate over the last couple of weeks or so. This is certainly promising.”

Even so, she said, “it may be too early to say that we’ve peaked or are nearing the end of the surge.”

Read it all.

According to Google Trends, the use of search terms such as "endemic" and "end of pandemic" have risen sharply this past month.

Everyone is clearly ready for this thing to be over. Experts say that doesn't mean it is.https://t.co/4wWeBhqtbd

— The Post and Courier (@postandcourier) January 29, 2022

Holy God, we bless thee for the gift of thy monk and icon writer Andrei Rublev, who, inspired by the Holy Spirit, provided a window into heaven for generations to come, revealing the majesty and mystery of the holy and blessed Trinity; who livest and reignest through ages of ages. Amen.

Today the Episcopal Church commemorates Andrei Rublev, Monk and Iconographer, 1430 https://t.co/4o5bX0raPX pic.twitter.com/OKiRf3mR0J

— The Anglican Church in St Petersburg (@anglicanspb) January 29, 2022

Be a bright flame before us, O God, a guiding star above us, a smooth path below us and a loving shepherd behind us, each day and each night, now and for ever. Amen.

Sunrise plays peek-a-boo beside the Howth cliff walk. pic.twitter.com/1voyEI0WYZ

— Sryan Bruen Photography (@sryanbruenphoto) January 29, 2022

And the LORD appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day. He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men stood in front of him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the earth, and said, “My lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant. Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree, while I fetch a morsel of bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on–since you have come to your servant.” So they said, “Do as you have said.” And Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said, “Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes.” And Abraham ran to the herd, and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to the servant, who hastened to prepare it. Then he took curds, and milk, and the calf which he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree while they ate.

–Genesis 18:1-8

WOW! Praise the Lord! #CallawayCounty #Sunrise pic.twitter.com/umh9BUKhzm

— Nicholas Drake (@nicholas_drake) January 29, 2022

On the third anniversary of the mining disaster that killed 270 people in Brumadinho, in Brazil, the Church of England Pensions Board has stepped up the pressure on companies to adopt new global safety standards.

The disaster happened when a mine-waste facility, a tailings dam, collapsed. The new Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management was developed in response by a coalition of investors led by the Pensions Board and the Council on Ethics of the Swedish AP Funds…. Now, they have published the names of the companies that have committed themselves to the new measures.

Seventy-nine mining companies — one third of those employing tailings dams — have either made a commitment to the new Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management or are still assessing their compliance. The list includes several of the largest companies, including BHP, Anglo, Glencore, Rio Tinto, and Vale.

The Brumadinho disaster of 2019 is not an isolated incident. Another 12 such collapses have been reported in the past three years. In three instances — two of which took place in Myanmar and one in Peru — workers were killed. The collapses also cause significant environmental damage.

Read it all.

Pensions Board puts pressure on mining companies to adopt global safety standards https://t.co/JZiUKABDIl

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) January 28, 2022

An India-born priest has been ordained as a bishop in the Church of England at a ceremony held at St Paul’s Cathedral in London on Tuesday.
Aged 43, Saju is now the youngest bishop in the Church of England but not the first of Indian-origin as the current Bishop of Bradwell, Bishop John Perumbalath, was also born in Kerala.

The Rt Revd Malayil Lukose Varghese Muthalaly, known as Saju, hitherto vicar of St Mark’s Gillingham, Kent, was born in Kerala and grew up in a leprosy hospital in Bengaluru. He was consecrated by Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby as the next Bishop of Loughborough, in the diocese of Leicester.

Family, friends, colleagues and supporters hailing from India, Dubai and Britain gathered at the service where two others were ordained as bishops and two of Saju’s children — Zipp and Abraham — said prayers.

Welby congratulated Saju in Hindi on Twitter afterwards. In English he tweeted: “A wonderful, exciting, beautiful day for the @churchofengland — a diverse, global church brought together in the joy of Jesus Christ.”

Read it all.

India-born priest becomes youngest consecrated Bishop in Church of England – Times of India https://t.co/7yplRNswrf

— The Indies Times (@theindiestimes) January 27, 2022

The Bishop’s Search Committee is very pleased to announce three final candidates for consideration for the next Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh. In alphabetical order, they are:

• The Rev. Alex Cameron (President and CEO of the Isaiah Forty Foundation; Diocese of the Upper Midwest)
• The Rev. Peter Frank (Rector, Church of the Epiphany, Chantilly, VA; Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic)
• The Rev. Dr. Joel Scandrett (Assistant Professor of Theology, Trinity School for Ministry; Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh)

Read it all.

Drop-in sessions at a Church of England parish, set up to provide a ‘safe space’ for people feeling anxious or lonely in the wake of the pandemic, have proved so popular that they are being expanded to cater for demand.

‘Ric’s bench’, offering tea, coffee, snacks and a place to chat at St Richard’s parish in Haywards Heath, West Sussex, will be launching a fourth session in response to demand.

Father Chris Brading, Vicar of St Richard’s, said the two-hourly sessions are attracting people of all faiths and none to the church and hall.

Volunteers are coming forward from the church and the wider community, he said. The sessions are about listening, engaging with guests and providing signposting to specialist support if needed.

The ‘Ric’s bench’ title is taken from a bench – actually a pew – preserved from the original ‘tin church’, that was demolished to make way for the current church building in the 1930s.

Read it all.

How a church bench helped tackle loneliness. Great to see Ric's Bench @StRichards_HH featured on the @churchofengland stories page https://t.co/dxkNlk7DF4

— Chichester Diocese (@ChichesterDio) January 26, 2022

Thomas Aquinas was born in the family castle at Roccasecca in 1225. At five, he began school at Montecassino, the great Benedictine monastery that was almost visible from the promontory on which the family castle stood.

The commanding site of the monastery offered military advantage, and the ongoing struggle between the forces of the emperor and those of the pope made Montecassino unsafe. Thomas was therefore enrolled in the University of Naples, where he first met members of the Order of Preachers, or Dominicans.

Like the Franciscans, the Dominicans were a mendicant order whose friars vowed to live faithfully in poverty, chastity and obedience. Dominic had wanted his followers to be well trained for the refutation of heresy, so the order also emphasized education.

Attracted by the Dominican ideal, Thomas joined the order in 1244. This shocked his family. They took him captive and held him for a year, seeking to dissuade him from his decision.

Read it all.

Today is the Feast Day of Thomas Aquinas (d.1274), priest, Dominican friar, teacher of the Faith, and influential philosopher. Portrait from 'Divi Thomae Aquinatis … Opera omnia', 1612 [*H890.T4] pic.twitter.com/Z1sRUJ6TxY

— LambethPalaceLibrary (@lampallib) January 28, 2022

Almighty God, who hast enriched thy Church with the singular learning and holiness of thy servant Thomas Aquinas: Enlighten us more and more, we pray thee, by the disciplined thinking and teaching of Christian scholars, and deepen our devotion by the example of saintly lives; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Today the Church of England celebrates Thomas Aquinas, Priest, Philosopher, Teacher of the Faith, 1274 https://t.co/dGJV0VbZvN

Image: Panel by Carlo Crivellia, 1476, from the 'Demidoff Altarpiece' made for San Domenico, Ascoli Piceno, Italy, and now in London's National Gallery pic.twitter.com/Is88dCBoDr

— The Anglican Church in St Petersburg (@anglicanspb) January 28, 2022

Father of all mercy,
your Son proclaimed good news to the poor,
release to the captives,
and freedom to the oppressed:
anoint us with your Holy Spirit
and set all your people free
to praise you in Christ our Lord.
Amen (slightly edited-KSH).

A Misty Morning. 2°C with a watery sun. A Barn Owl swooping. pic.twitter.com/k9R4xWgZ2L

— Yorkshire Wolds Weather (@WeatherWolds) January 28, 2022

After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiber’i-as. And a multitude followed him, because they saw the signs which he did on those who were diseased. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there sat down with his disciples. Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a multitude was coming to him, Jesus said to Philip, “How are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” This he said to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what are they among so many?” Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place; so the men sat down, in number about five thousand. Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the fragments left over, that nothing may be lost.” So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten. When the people saw the sign which he had done, they said, “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world!” Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

–John 6:1-15

Crazy red sky this morning over Cape Cod! The storm is born… Today’s sunrise at Nauset beach, Orleans, Massachusetts. #capecod #sunrise #storm pic.twitter.com/sACskVR3cf

— Darius Aniunas (@dariusaniunas) January 28, 2022

A City centre church is to offer practical support for local people suffering financial hardships.

St Nicholas Church, in the Market Place, Durham, has announced it will be able to raise money for those in need to purchase a specific needed item, such as replacing a broken cooker for a family struggling financially or equipping someone with interview clothes to help get a job.

This potential support is made possible through a new partnership with Acts 435, a national online charity that gives donors the opportunity to connect with people who need help.

Acts 435 enables St Nicholas, or St Nics, as it is known locally, plus other participating churches and local charities, to post requests for specific needs onto their website.

Read it all.

How a North East church is helping people suffering with financial hardship https://t.co/qRmKk0tlST

— Arun Arora (@RevArun) January 26, 2022

Older Americans who regularly breathe even low levels of pollution from smokestacks, automobile exhaust, wildfires and other sources face a greater chance of dying early, according to a major study released Wednesday.

Researchers at the Health Effects Institute, a group that is funded by the Environmental Protection Agency as well as automakers and fossil fuel companies, examined health data from 68.5 million Medicare recipients across the United States. They found that if the federal rules for allowable levels of fine soot had been slightly lower, as many as 143,000 deaths could have been prevented over the course of a decade.

Exposure to fine particulate matter has long been linked to respiratory illness and impaired cognitive development in children. The tiny particles can enter the lungs and bloodstream to affect lung function, exacerbate asthma and trigger heart attacks and other serious illness. Earlier research has found that exposure to particulate matter contributed to about 20,000 deaths a year.

The new study is the first in the United States to document deadly effects of the particulate matter known as PM 2.5 (because its width is 2.5 microns or less) on people who live in rural areas and towns with little industry.

Read it all.

Older people in the U.S. who regularly breathe even low levels of pollution from smokestacks, automobiles, wildfires and other sources face a greater chance of dying early, according to a major new study that looked at health data from 68.5 million people.https://t.co/RkgRdufFvB

— The New York Times (@nytimes) January 26, 2022

The Vicar and churchwardens of Wymondham Abbey have complained of “unrelenting” pressure exerted by the diocese of Norwich, accusing the diocese of “unremitting criticism of a church community doing its best in very difficult times”.

Their statement, published on the Abbey’s website on Monday of last week, is a defiant response to directions issued to them by the Bishop of Norwich, the Rt Revd Graham Usher, after a visitation of the benefice of Wymondham with Silfield and Spooner Row (News, 19 November 2021).

Bishop Usher ordered Ms Relf-Pennington to apologise without reservation to those who had brought complaints against her, after the report spoke of multiple problems in the benefice, including her “authoritarian style”, the termination of a longstanding choral tradition, and the non-payment of parish share.

In their response, Ms Relf-Pennington and the churchwardens write: “We have been harassed. For three years the pressure here has been unrelenting. We believe the intention has been to break the vicar, break the PCC people and to break the worshipping community: all this for the preferences of Bishop Graham Usher and Bishop Alan Winton to the detriment of the whole of the parish and indeed to the whole of the town.” The behaviour of the Bishops was “unethical, immoral and self-serving”, they write.

Read it all (registration).

"The Bishop is very keen to resolve matters in Wymondham for the benefit of the whole community.” https://t.co/aAOes4iNEd

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) January 26, 2022

Apostasy and blasphemy may seem to many like artifacts of history. But in scores of countries around the world, laws against apostasy and blasphemy remain on the books – and many are enforced to various degrees.

A new Pew Research Center analysis finds that 79 countries and territories out of the 198 studied around the world (40%) had laws or policies in 2019 banning blasphemy, which is defined as speech or actions considered to be contemptuous of God or of people or objects considered sacred. Twenty-two countries (11%) had laws against apostasy, the act of abandoning one’s faith. The analysis draws on the Center’s wider body of research on global restrictions related to religion.

These laws were most common in the Middle East and North Africa, where 18 of the 20 countries (90%) in the region have laws criminalizing blasphemy and 13 of them (65%) outlaw apostasy. In Saudi Arabia, an Indian national was charged with blasphemy in 2019, fined, and sentenced to 10 years in prison for tweeting criticism of Muhammad and Allah, as well as of the Saudi government.

Read it all.

Apostasy and blasphemy may seem to many like artifacts of history. But in scores of countries around the world, laws against apostasy and blasphemy remain on the books – and many are enforced to various degrees. https://t.co/3bLLGYS0vi

— Jeff Diamant (@jeffdime) January 26, 2022