The Church of England has released a new video which dramatises the church life of one woman at Christmas.

The film, set to dramatic music, shows her consecutive experiences within different churches at Christmas time — from first appearing in a nativity play as a baby, through childhood, marriage, family life, and finally into widowhood. In this last scene, she is seen sitting alone at the end of a service. Her sadness is turned to joy as she is encouraged by members of the congregation to join in carols and mince pies outside.

It ends with the message: “Wherever you are on life’s journey, you’re invited to church this Christmas.” This is the theme of the Church’s advent campaign this year: Follow The Star: The great invitation, for which a variety of resources were published last week, including daily reflections, a short liturgy, and printed and online materials for the festive season (News, 2 December).

A C of E press release accompanying the film, which went live on Sunday, explains that the campaign, which is featured across its social-media channels, is “geared towards people who might not normally — or ever — attend church”.

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The Church of England has released a new video which dramatises the church life of one woman at Christmas. Watch it here https://t.co/6LsFzRpBmN

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) December 5, 2022

The Economic Innovation Group report is the most detailed effort yet to steer that selection, by trying to balance the needs of left-behind areas with their potential for an economic rebirth. It measures that potential using data on regions’ industrial composition and economic complexity, along with two key human ingredients for innovation: the number of working-age science and technology graduates and the number of patent authors in an area.

To measure need, the report looks at the share of a region’s prime-age adults who are not employed or are looking for work, two measures of so-called “brain drain” — the flight of college graduates from an area — and the distance from a “superstar” city like New York or Chicago.

The top 10 cities on the list are a mix between higher potential (like Phoenix and Salt Lake City) and higher need (like a pair of Ohio cities, Toledo and Akron). Many are college towns, Mr. Fikri noted, that are not quite large enough to have yet sustained a thriving industrial sector that grows out of scientific research.

Greenville, S.C., tops the list with a score balanced almost evenly between potential and need, followed by Provo, Utah, and Tucson, Ariz.

The report’s researchers say their data suggests policymakers could — and should — spread the hubs across various areas with different bases of technological expertise and differing levels of need, in hopes of maximizing both the advancements and the regional economic gains they produce.

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Innovation Hubs Aim to Lift Distressed Areas. Congress Just Has to Fund Them https://t.co/b5pSZTkNjb "20 newly created research centers could revitalize struggling economies and accelerate new technologies" #RiseOfRest @InnovateEconomy pic.twitter.com/r22B8zYErk

— Steve Case (@SteveCase) December 5, 2022

In the 1950s, when the term “teenager” had been popularised, it brought to mind trouble. Spotty youths who engaged in risky behaviour outside the house—getting drunk, pregnant or into car crashes—were “the number one fear of American citizens”, wrote Bill Bryson in his memoir, “The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid”. Today, the risks American teens face come from within. Boys are now more likely to kill themselves than to be killed in a motor crash. Girls are nearly 50% more likely to injure themselves in a suicide attempt than to face an unplanned pregnancy. Suicide is the second-biggest killer of ten- to 18-year-olds, after accidents.

The rise in youth suicide is part of a broader increase in mental-health problems among the young. This preceded the pandemic but was probably accelerated by it. In 2021 nearly half of American high-school students said that they had experienced persistent feelings of sadness and hopelessness in the past year, up from 26% in 2009; one in five seriously considered suicide, up from 14%; and 9% attempted to end their life, up from 6%…. Although the rates for 15- to 19-year-olds are not unprecedented (there was a similar peak in the early 1990s), the rates for ten- to 14-year-olds are higher than ever before.

The fact that it has become more acceptable for young people to discuss their feelings has surely contributed to some of the changes, such as the rise in self-reported sadness. Better screening may also play a role. But neither explains the most alarming data: suicide rates. Attempts, injuries and deaths have all risen among young Americans over the past decade. Last year, no age group saw a steeper rise than men aged 15 to 24, according to preliminary data from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (cdc).

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Good, sobering article on the rise in youth suicide. Includes: "Although girls are much more likely to contemplate ending their lives, or injure themselves in attempting to do so, teen boys are nearly three times as likely to die from suicide".https://t.co/5auK3L9m8l

— Richard V. Reeves (@RichardvReeves) December 4, 2022

Cultivate quietness in word, quietness in deed, likewise in speech and gait; and avoid impetuous eagerness. For then the mind will remain steady, and will not be agitated by your eagerness and so become weak and of narrow discernment and see darkly; nor will it be worsted by gluttony, worsted by boiling rage, worsted by the other passions, lying a ready prey to them. For the mind, seated on high on a quiet thrown looking intently towards God, must control the passions. By no means be swept away by temper in bursts of anger, nor be sluggish in speaking, nor all nervousness in movement; so that your quietness may be adorned by good proportion and your bearing may appear something divine and sacred. Guard also against the signs of arrogance, a haughty bearing, a lofty head, a dainty and high-treading footstep.

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"If, then, disobedience in reference to reason is the generating cause of sin, how shall we escape the conclusion, that obedience to reason — the Word — which we call faith, will of necessity be the efficacious cause of duty?"

Clement of Alexandria, Instructor, 1.13 pic.twitter.com/ZTQ1sN55z5

— Ｐｈｉｌｉｐ　Ｄｅｒｒｉｄａ (@PhilipDerrida) November 29, 2022

O Lord, who didst call thy servant Clement of Alexandria from the errors of ancient philosophy that he might learn and teach the saving Gospel of Christ: Turn thy Church from the conceits of worldly wisdom and, by the Spirit of truth, guide it into all truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Today the Episcopal Church commemorates Clement of Alexandria, Teacher and Apologist, 213 https://t.co/7e6Ujwk4MS

Image: Illustration of Clement in "Les vrais pourtraits et vies des hommes illustres grecz, latins et payens" (1584) by André Thevet (Public Domain, via Wikimedia) pic.twitter.com/arwCGSWaxT

— The Anglican Church in St Petersburg (@anglicanspb) December 5, 2022

O Gracious God and most merciful Father, who has vouchsafed us the rich and precious jewel of thy holy Word: Assist us with thy Spirit that it may be written in our hearts to our everlasting comfort, to reform us, to renew us according to thine own image, to build us up into the perfect building of thy Christ, and to increase us in all heavenly virtues. Grant this, O heavenly Father, for the same Jesus Christ’s sake.

What do you know about the heritage of the Geneva Bible? Read this guest blog post by Jonathan Edwards to learn more: https://t.co/7UFa06K1DL pic.twitter.com/M6J534OFJC

— Christian History Magazine (@ChristiaHistory) December 3, 2022

Turn thou to me, and be gracious to me;
for I am lonely and afflicted.
Relieve the troubles of my heart,
and bring me out of my distresses.
Consider my affliction and my trouble,
and forgive all my sins.

–Psalm 25:16-18

"Reflection"
Hawks Nest State Park#NewRiverGorge #AlmostHeaven #WestVirginia #ThePhotoHour pic.twitter.com/n6819FqFJX

— Thomas R Fletcher (@ThomasRFletcher) December 5, 2022