Rachel Homer, Val Houghton and Norman Jevons have joined seven other candidates in taking on the roles as part of a new training pathway aimed at those who see their vocation as being non-stipendiary (voluntary) ministers to churches in their local area.

Rachel Homer will serve in the Halas Team, covering churches in Halesowen, Val Houghton will serve in the benefice of Brierley Hill and Norman Jevons will be part of two areas, serving in the benefice of Darby End and Netherton and the benefice of Dudley Wood and Cradley Heath.

All those being ordained have already been involved in some kind of lay ministry within their parish and were nominated by their incumbents to be part of the two-year training scheme and are currently at the start of their second year of this.

They will continue training while also working in their parishes as a curate, with all three talking about their pride at taking on their new roles.

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'Rachel Homer, Val Houghton and Norman Jevons have joined seven other candidates in taking on the roles as part of a new training pathway aimed at those who see their vocation as being non-stipendiary (voluntary) ministers to churches in their local area' https://t.co/UQ1OiHSehS…

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) September 29, 2023

Children are sleeping on the floor or sharing mouldy or soiled beds, because families cannot afford to replace broken beds and mattresses or provide adequate bedding to counter cold and damp, new research has found.

The children’s charity Barnardo’s, which describes the situation as “bed poverty”, commissioned a YouGov survey, conducted in August, of 1049 parents with children under 18 and 1013 children (aged 8-17) in Great Britain.

The findings were published on Thursday in the charity’s report, No crib for a bed: The impact of the cost of living crisis on bed poverty, in which frontline staff give countless examples of families having to prioritise essentials such as food, heating, and electricity over replacing mouldy bedding or fixing a rotten bed.

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Hundreds of thousands of children suffer bed poverty, says @barnardos https://t.co/3Aly66SKr6

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) September 29, 2023

The validity of Black Christianity, then, arose from the millions of lives it made viable and even joyful despite the difficult circumstances that have marked our sojourn in this country.

Sometimes the path of intellectual development leads us home to the beginning of things. I remained a Christian not simply because of what the faith might be able to do in the world but because of what it might do in me.

My mother recently purchased about an acre of land on the plantation where many of the Black Bones lived and died. She got it for around $500 because it was the slave burial site. Their bodies, never finding rest on land owned by others, now repose on land purchased by their descendants. We hold it in trust for them as their due. If the hope of Christians is true and there is a indeed a resurrection of the dead, they will emerge from those graves as free people, and their last moments on this side of the new creation will be spent on their own soil. That is a hope worthy of my allegiance.

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A lot of my African American literary heroes who wrote profoundly about race rejected organized religion. Here is why I stayed in the church.https://t.co/Yss1uEZwbV

— Esau McCaulley (@esaumccaulley) September 27, 2023

[From Aelfric]

Truly, the angels whom God has appointed as guardians for his chosen never leave his presence, because God is everywhere, and wherever the angels fly they are ever in his presence, and enjoy his glory. They take news of our words and deeds to the Almighty, although to him nothing is hidden; as the Archangel Raphael said to the man of God, Tobias, “When you prayed, I offered your prayers before God.”

The Old Testament tells us that archangels are set over every nation, above the other angels, so that they may protect the peoples, as Moses, in the fifth book of the Old Testament, reveals in these words: “When the high God separated and scattered the offspring of Adam, he set the boundaries of the peoples according to the numbers of his angels”. The prophet Daniel agrees with this in his prophecy: a certain angel of God spoke to Daniel concerning the archangel who guided the Persians, and said, “The archangel came to me, the leader of the Greek people, and none was my helper but Michael, leader of the Hebrews. Even now Michael, one of the foremost of the leaders, came to support me, and I remained there with the king of the Persians.” With these words, when he said that Michael came to help him, it is shown what great care the archangels take in their authority over mankind.

Now it is to be believed that the archangel Michael has care of Christian people, who was the leader of the Hebrew people while they believed in God; and that he manifested himself when he built himself a church among a faithful people on the mount Gargano, as we read before. It is arranged by God’s dispensation that the glorious angel of heaven is continually the helper of Christians on earth and their advocate in heaven before Almighty God, who lives and reigns for ever in eternity. Amen.

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Peter Paul Rubens
(1577–1640)

The Engelsturz.
Archangel Michael
in the fight against
the renegade angels. pic.twitter.com/7zgf8PcUnD

— Beba Kron (@BebaKron) June 29, 2016

O everlasting God, who hast ordained and constituted the ministries of angels and men in a wonderful order: Mercifully grant that, as thy holy angels always serve and worship thee in heaven, so by thy appointment they may help and defend us on earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Today is Michaelmas, the feast of St Michael and All Angels. It's one of the four Quarter Days, when traditionally rents fell due and workers could be hired. St Michael often appears on War memorials, as here with his flaming sword at St Michael Cornhill, London, by Richard… pic.twitter.com/5In4xeNwG4

— Simon Knott (@last_of_england) September 29, 2023

Grant, O Lord, that I may be so ravished in the wonder and love of Thee that I may forget myself and all things; may feel neither prosperity nor adversity; may not fear to suffer all the pain in the world rather than be parted and pulled away from Thee. O let me find Thee more inwardly and verily present with me than I am with myself; and make me most circumspect how I do use myself in the presence of Thee, my holy Lord. Lord, I desire nothing neither in myself nor in any creature, save only to know and execute Thy blessed will; saying alway in my heart, Lord, what wouldst Thou have me to do? Transform my will into Thine.

–Frederick B. Macnutt, The prayer manual for private devotions or public use on divers occasions: Compiled from all sources ancient, medieval, and modern (A.R. Mowbray, 1951)

A magical #peakdistrict spot, where this old millstone rests below a spreading beech, catching falling leaves and light. This tree is a favourite of mine, so ungainly and haphazard, its spidery limbs stretching out as wide as its trunk is high, its roots in rocks more than soil. pic.twitter.com/3GZUHbniw4

— peaklass (@peaklass1) September 29, 2023

“And in praying do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then like this: Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; And forgive us our debts, As we also have forgiven our debtors; And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil. For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

–Matthew 6:7-15

Duston Sky above the rooftops. pic.twitter.com/md4TOxG1Dw

— Steve Caple (@SteveCaple4) September 29, 2023