Hope in Depression is a registered charity and has been running courses through churches since 2013. People attending the course explore the causes and symptoms of depression and anxiety, learn about brain chemistry and medication, hear about counselling and discover ways that have been clinically shown to aid recovery and continued wellbeing.

Christ Church’s course leader Denise Morris has run the online course twice a year since 2019. She says, “Hope in Depression is suitable for adults of all ages – we’ve had 18-year-olds and 80 year-olds on the course and men and women of all ages in between.  Many people who have done the course have reported improvements in their mood and ability to cope day to day. It really can help make a difference.”

The course has received positive feedback from attendees who highlight the relaxed, safe and caring environment.

As one explains: ‘Meeting others, knowing there are so many of us who experience depression – knowing I’m not alone. It’s so very important that this course is available to as many people as possible.’

Read it all.

A church in Surbiton is one of a number who are delivering a free, online mental health course to support adults living with depression and anxiety.

Read more at https://t.co/ruk72ZGhCL.#WorldMentalHealthDay

— The Church of England (@churchofengland) October 10, 2022

The Energy Costs Grant will be distributed to dioceses to enable them to help Parochial Church Councils (PCCs) cover the increased cost of heating and lighting church buildings this winter.

Dioceses will also be able to use some of their fund allocation to make additional targeted hardship payments for clergy and other employed ministers to cover household bills, in particular energy costs.

The new funding comes after £3 million was made available earlier this year by the Church of England for dioceses to distribute to clergy and lay ministers facing particular hardship because of the cost of living crisis.

The Energy Costs Grant is accompanied by information aimed at helping churches to become more energy efficient and reduce their carbon footprint.

Read it all.

The Church of England is to provide £15 million for dioceses to help churches struggling to pay energy costs.

Learn more about the Energy Costs Grant at https://t.co/xw1ACR3Lbk.

— The Church of England (@churchofengland) October 12, 2022

When Sarah, a 29-year-old North American, quit her job in the film industry and came to study law in London, she hoped to put her life on a firmer financial footing. Two years on, that goal seems further away than ever.

Interest payments on a bank loan have gone up; she has lost weight having cut back on groceries; and feels isolated because going out costs too much. A soaring energy bill has forced her to move out of her previous flat-share.

And with earnings as a research assistant working out at £6.65 an hour, Sarah says it is “impossible to imagine” planning for the future.

“I’m fixing the problem directly in front of me, not building a long-term game plan,” she says. “Every relationship and facet of my life has been impacted . . . It’s as if you’re climbing a staircase and you don’t know if the next step is going to be there [or] if you’re going to fall through.”

Sarah is one of countless casualties of a global cost of living crisis that is forcing people around the world to put their lives on hold — forgoing social lives, scrapping house moves and weddings, hesitating to start a family or delaying retirement because of the financial pressures caused by high inflation.

Read it all.

‘A self-inflicted lockdown’ – hundreds of FT readers across the world reveal how the cost of living crisis has forced them to put their lives on hold https://t.co/j8WC1AGIHy pic.twitter.com/lSq8FxOPgo

— FT Opinion (@ftopinion) October 12, 2022

The Reverend Canon Stephen Race, currently Rector of The Benefice of Central Barnsley in the Anglican Diocese of Leeds and also Area Dean of Barnsley, has been appointed as the new Bishop of Beverley.

Speaking of his upcoming role for the Northern Province of the Church of England, Fr Stephen said he would strive for positive dialogues within the church and looked forward to serving people across the whole region.

“I am slowly getting used to the idea that I have been called by God to be a bishop in His church and that I have been invited to take on the role and responsibility of the Bishop of Beverley,” said Fr Stephen.

“I look forward to meeting new colleagues and partners in the Gospel as we seek to serve the parishes and people of the Northern Province…”

Read it all.

I welcome the announcement of the Revd Canon Stephen Race as the new Bishop of Beverley. Join me in praying for him and his family and the churches and parishes he will serve across the Northern Province @churchofenglandhttps://t.co/OvynGOgkGK

— Stephen Cottrell (@CottrellStephen) October 12, 2022

Living God, who art the source of all healing and wholeness: we bless thee for the compassionate witness of thy servant Edith Cavell. Inspire us, we beseech thee, to be agents of peace and reconciliation in a world beset by injustice, poverty, and war. We ask this through Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, who livest and reignest with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, unto the ages of ages. Amen.

12 Oct 1915: British #nurse Edith #Cavell, who helped ~200 Allied soldiers escape from #Belgium during World War I, is executed by a German firing squad. She also helped hundreds of #soldiers from both sides who were injured. #WWI #history #ad https://t.co/t6IKxhtmXq pic.twitter.com/EXRGrfgTRE

— Today In History (@URDailyHistory) October 12, 2022

Gracious God,
you call us to fullness of life:
by your Spirit deliver us from unbelief
and banish our anxieties
with the liberating love of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen (slightly edited).

Just a gorgeous sunrise over Christ Church…#MuChChLove pic.twitter.com/utBPpzVfbc

— Christ Church (@ChCh_Oxford) October 12, 2022

Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, saying,

“I called to the Lord, out of my distress,
and he answered me;
out of the belly of Sheol I cried,
and thou didst hear my voice.
For thou didst cast me into the deep,
into the heart of the seas,
and the flood was round about me;
all thy waves and thy billows
passed over me.
Then I said, ‘I am cast out
from thy presence;
how shall I again look
upon thy holy temple?’
The waters closed in over me,
the deep was round about me;
weeds were wrapped about my head
at the roots of the mountains.
I went down to the land
whose bars closed upon me for ever;
yet thou didst bring up my life from the Pit,
O Lord my God.
When my soul fainted within me,
I remembered the Lord;
and my prayer came to thee,
into thy holy temple.
Those who pay regard to vain idols
forsake their true loyalty.
But I with the voice of thanksgiving
will sacrifice to thee;
what I have vowed I will pay.
Deliverance belongs to the Lord!”

–Jonah 2:1-9

EYFS children have been learning about Jom Kippur and the importance of saying sorry.
We looked at the story of Jonah and the whale and practised saying sorry in different languages. pic.twitter.com/A4WIUOgQQV

— Sellincourt Primary School (@SellincourtPri1) October 5, 2022