Lyrics: I will sing with the spirit, alleluia. And I will sing with the understanding also, alleluia. (1 Corinthians 14, v.15)

Christians are celebrating the feast day of Epiphany, also known as Three Kings Day. It recalls the visit of the three kings, or magi, to the baby Jesus. Orthodox Christians focus on the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist.

In Europe, some worshippers bathe in icy lakes and rivers. Ceremonies this year in Greece highlighted water scarcity concerns. Children in Latin America traditionally unwrap holiday gifts.

Read it all.

This is how children in Europe celebrate the Feast of the Three Kings, also known as Epiphany.

Image: Franz Lackner pic.twitter.com/7lYhlJW8Wm

— Sachin Jose (@Sachinettiyil) January 7, 2025

Words: Bishop Reginald Heber
Tune: ‘Epiphany’ – Joseph Thrupp

Lyrics: Learned men come from the East seeking Jerusalem and saying, “ Where is he that was born king of the Jews, whose star we have seen? For we have come with gifts to worship the Lord.”

The wise men, seeing the star, said to one another, “This is the sign of a great king; let us go and search for him, and offer him gifts: gold, frankincense and myrrh. Alleluia.”

(A new carol written for the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge in 2012)

Lyrics:

Deep in the cold of winter,
Darkness and silence were everywhere;
Softly and clearly, there came through the stillness

a wonderful sound to hear:
All bells in paradise I heard them ring,
Sounding in majesty the news that they bring;
All bells in paradise I heard them ring,
Welcoming our Saviour, born on earth a heavenly King.
All bells in paradise I heard them ring:
‘Glory to God on high’ the angel voices sing.

Lost in awe and wonder,
Doubting I asked what this sign might be:
Christ our Messiah revealed in a stable,
A marvellous sight to see.
All bells in paradise I heard them ring,
Sounding in majesty the news that they bring;
All bells in paradise I heard them ring,
Welcoming our Saviour, born on earth a heavenly King.

He comes down in peace, a child in humility,
The keys to his kingdom belong to the poor;
Before him shall kneel the kings with their treasures,
gold incense and myrrh.
All bells in paradise I heard them ring,
Sounding in majesty the news that they bring;
All bells in paradise I heard them ring,
Welcoming our Saviour, born on earth a heavenly King.
All bells in paradise I heard them ring:
‘Glory to God on high’ the angel voices sweetly sing.

Enjoy it all.

Listen to it all. A reminder of the English translation of the words:

O great mystery,
and wonderful sacrament,
that animals should see the new-born Lord,
lying in a manger!
Blessed is the Virgin whose womb
was worthy to bear
Christ the Lord.
Alleluia!

Enjoy it all from the London Symphony Orchestra.

Lyrics:

Lullay, thou little tiny child
Sleep well, lully, lullay
And smile in dreaming, little one
Sleep well, lully, lullay
Oh sisters two, what may we do
To preserve on this day
This poor youngling for whom we sing
Sleep well, lully, lullay
Farewell, lully, lullay
Herod the king in his raging
Set forth upon this day
By his decree, no life spare thee
All children young to slay
All children young to slay
Then woe is me, poor child, for thee
And ever mourn and say
For thy parting, neither say nor sing
Farewell, lully, lullay
Farewell, lully, lullay
And when the stars fill darkened skies
In their far venture, stay
And smile as dreaming, little one
Farewell, lully, lullay
Dream now, lully, lullay

Lyrics:

Good people all, this Christmas time
Consider well and bear in mind
What our good God for us has done
In sending his beloved son
With Mary holy we should pray
To God with love this Christmas Day
In Bethlehem upon that morn
There was a blessed Messiah born
Near Bethlehem did shepherds keep
Their flocks of lambs and feeding sheep
To whom God’s angels did appear
Which put the shepherds in great fear
‘Prepare and go, ‘ the angels said
‘To Bethlehem, be not afraid
For there you’ll find, this happy morn
A princely babe, sweet Jesus born
With thankful heart and joyful mind
The shepherds went, this babe to find
And as God’s angel had foretold
They did our saviour Christ behold
Within a manger he was laid
And by his side the virgin maid
Attending on the Lord of life
Who came on earth to end all strife
Good people all, this Christmas time
Consider well and bear in mind
What our good God for us has done
In sending his beloved Son
With Mary holy we should pray
To God with love this Christmas day
In Bethlehem upon that morn
There was a blessed Messiah born

Ever since I first heard it, my favorite Christmas song–KSH.

Lyrics–The tree of life my soul hath seen,
Laden with fruit, and always green:
The trees of nature fruitless be
Compared with Christ the apple tree.

His beauty doth all things excel:
By faith I know, but ne’er can tell
The glory which I now can see
In Jesus Christ the apple tree.

For happiness I long have sought,
And pleasure dearly I have bought:
I missed of all; but now I see
‘Tis found in Christ the apple tree.

I’m weary with my former toil,
Here I will sit and rest awhile:
Under the shadow I will be
of Jesus Christ the apple tree.

This fruit doth make my soul to thrive,
It keeps my dying faith alive;
Which makes my soul in haste to be
With Jesus Christ the apple tree.

"Be like a tree
planted
by streams of water".
(Psalm 1 : 3)
Apple Tree by Lake Zurich, 1914
Karl Mediz (1868-1945) pic.twitter.com/xNVnxoo0Mg

— Jim Beattie (@JimBeattie18) April 16, 2023

An online Christmas service designed for people working shifts will be released on the Church of England website at 6 a.m. on Christmas Day.

Lasting 15 minutes, so that it can be watched in the course of a break from work, the service was created in response to a request by hospital chaplains, and includes a Gospel reading, sermon, prayers, and music.

The Bishop of London, the Rt Revd Sarah Mullally, features in the service. A former nurse, and Chief Nursing Officer for the NHS, she says that she has “fond memories” of working on Christmas Day.

“Although not always easy, it is a privilege to be with people who need us most at this time. And of course, we receive so much from them too.”

Read it all.

An online Christmas service designed for people working shifts will be released on the Church of England website at 6 a.m. on Christmas Day.https://t.co/dVHP8yQ3VK

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) December 24, 2025

O Virgin of virgins, how shall this be?
For neither before were there any like you, nor will there be after.
Daughters of Jerusalem, why do you marvel at me?
The thing which you behold is a divine mystery.

Virgin Mary with Eleven Angels,
from the Wilton Diptych,
Anonymous, circa 1395 pic.twitter.com/80pxvOnI65

— Solas (@solas_na_greine) September 24, 2025

O Key of David and sceptre of the House of Israel;
you open and no one can shut;
you shut and no one can open:
Come and lead the prisoners from the prison house,
those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.

Wir wünschen allen einen schönen und gemütlichen 3. Advent! ✨ pic.twitter.com/BOpttptt1A

— Senatskanzlei Berlin (@RegBerlin) December 14, 2025

 “Where among our bishops, are those with the courage to act from love?” the Dean of Bristol, the Very Revd Mandy Ford, asked on Sunday, as the House of Bishops prepares to finalise decisions on the Living in Love and Faith (LLF) process.

She joined the Dean of St Edmundsbury, the Very Revd Joe Hawes, who — alongside organisations campaigning for greater inclusivity for LGBTQ+ people — last week called on the Bishops to change their minds (News, 11 December).

On Tuesday, the Bishops are due to confirm decisions announced in October, which would effectively forestall the introduction of stand-alone services of blessing for same-sex couples and maintain the current ban on clergy entering same-sex civil marriages (News, 17 October).

Read it all.

Temperature rises ahead of Bishops’ formal vote to put the brakes on same-sex marriage https://t.co/Wjh3LQN2up

— Simon Sarmiento (@simonsarmiento) December 15, 2025

The House of Bishops will make a final decision on the future of standalone same-sex blessings when it meets again on December 16 but Bishop Philip Mounstephen said the theological and legal advice made clear that any changes will need to be “done properly according to the norms of our governance”.

Addressing a recent meeting of the Winchester Diocesan Synod, Bishop Philip Mounstephen said that questions over how such changes could be made without changing the official doctrine of the Church of England – which upholds marriage between a man and woman – proved to be “the game changer”. 

He said the theological and legal advice had brought the House of Bishops “face to face with the sheer constitutional difficulty of making such changes”.

Read it all.

The Bishop of Winchester has defended the recent decision of the House of Bishops to pause plans to introduce standalone same-sex blessing services https://t.co/OD99QBXeo5 #anglican #bishops #anthropology #parishministry #ethics #21stc #pastoralpractice #doctrine

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) December 8, 2025

Orthodox Anglicans have accused bishops in the Church in Wales of “misleading” statements as it moves towards making same-sex blessings permanent. 

Bishops in the Church in Wales have published a ‘road map’ for the future of same-sex blessings following a four-year trial and a six-month consultation with clergy and parishioners.

During the trial period, same-sex couples in a civil partnership or marriage were allowed to come to Church in Wales churches with friends and family to receive a blessing.

The bishops said that the Church is reaching the point “where it must take major decisions on these matters”. 

In a pastoral letter to Church in Wales members, the bishops said that “most” responses to the consultation were “in favour of the view that the time is right to offer equal marriage to traditional and same sex couples”.

Read it all.

Church in Wales 'road map' for same-sex blessings is 'distressing' https://t.co/0eujIwhx2e

— Christian Today (@ChristianToday) December 3, 2025

Am I a soldier of the cross,
A follower of the Lamb,
And shall I fear to own His cause,
Or blush to speak His Name?
Must I be carried to the skies
On flowery beds of ease,
While others fought to win the prize,
And sailed through bloody seas?

Are there no foes for me to face*?
Must I not stem the flood?
Is this vile world a friend to grace,
To help me on to God?

Sure I must fight, if I would reign;
Increase my courage, Lord.
I’ll bear the toil, endure the pain,
Supported by Thy Word.

Thy saints in all this glorious war
Shall conquer, though they die;
They see the triumph from afar,
By faith they bring it nigh.**

When that illustrious day shall rise,
And all Thy armies shine
In robes of victory through skies,
The glory shall be Thine.

#OTD November 25, 1748:
Isaac Watts dies at Stoke Newington, England. Often called the father of English hymnody, he wrote nearly 600 hymns. Many became enduring classics, including “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross,” “Joy to the World,” “Jesus Shall Reign Where’er the Sun,” “At… pic.twitter.com/blC485LAwT

— ☧ Today in Christian History (@HistoricalRook) November 25, 2025

God of truth and grace, who didst give Isaac Watts singular gifts to present thy praise in verse, that he might write psalms, hymns and spiritual songs for thy Church: Give us grace joyfully to sing thy praises now and in the life to come; through Jesus Christ our Savior, who livest and reignest with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.God of truth and grace, who didst give Isaac Watts singular gifts to present thy praise in verse, that he might write psalms, hymns and spiritual songs for thy Church: Give us grace joyfully to sing thy praises now and in the life to come; through Jesus Christ our Savior, who livest and reignest with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

#OTD 17 July 1674: birth of Isaac Watts, hymn-writer. pic.twitter.com/NkMsS6obWb

— Caroline Murray (@Prof_hedgehog) July 17, 2024

Despite their loyalty to North Yorkshire, the women said they were most impressed by the cathedrals in Ely and Coventry.

“Ely was just absolutely beautiful. We went to morning prayer there,” Ms Slator said.

“It was empty with no lights on, but the sunlight just shone through onto the nave and it was just ethereal.”

Although walking for many of the visits, Ms Gray had a fall on The Howgills, between the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales, requiring aid from mountain rescue, before their final pilgrimage.

However, Ms Gray did not let that stop her seeing the last cathedral, in her home city of Ripon, making that trip in her wheelchair.

Read it all.

Pair finish two-year English cathedrals pilgrimage https://t.co/3YCJ1esgYk

— BBC Yorkshire (@BBCLookNorth) November 19, 2025

Lyrics:

I have never founded by hope on any other than Thee,
O God of Israel, Who shalt be angry, and yet be gracious,
and Who absolvest all the sins of mankind in tribulation.
Lord God, Creator of heaven and earth, be mindful of our lowliness.

O God most glorious, whose praises art sung night and day by thy saints and angels in heaven: We offer thanks for William Byrd, John Merbecke and Thomas Tallis, whose music hath enriched the praise that thy Church offers thee here on earth. Grant, we pray thee, to all who are touched by the power of music such glimpses of eternity that we may be made ready to join thy saints in heaven and behold thy glory unveiled for evermore; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who livest and reignest with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

#OTD 23 November 1585: death of Thomas Tallis, composer. pic.twitter.com/xB1OmUQUtN

— Caroline Murray (@Prof_hedgehog) November 23, 2024

Recent Barna research reveals that only one in four single moms attends church weekly, the steepest drop among women in recent years. The finding raises an uncomfortable question: Are churches truly heeding the biblical command to care for the vulnerable in their midst?

When Joie Van Holstyn became a single mom of two boys through foster care and adoption in 2019, her church attendance quickly spiraled. 

“It was really hard at first,” she said. “We had pretty rough attendance the first two years—it was so much work to get out of the house. And I just felt out of place as a single mom.”

For women like Van Holstyn, the barriers start with logistics—juggling work hours, transportation, and the chaos of getting kids ready alone. But the emotional weight can be heavier still. Many feel judged, pitied, or simply invisible in congregations that assume families include a husband.

A friend eventually confronted Van Holstyn about her sporadic attendance. Convicted, she committed to going every week, even when her children squirmed through the small rural church’s service.

Read it all.

'“It was really hard at first,” she said. “We had pretty rough attendance the first two years—it was so much work to get out of the house. And I just felt out of place as a single mom.”

For women like Van Holstyn, the barriers start with logistics—juggling work hours,…

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) November 19, 2025

Now in her ninth decade, Irene Onion (right), a retired teacher and organist, has plenty of experience of playing hymns for children. Aged 83, she has now written her own — a celebration of God’s bounty through the seasons.

“Sing, sing, sing”, which she co-wrote with James Dixon, the activity coordinator at the Old Vicarage Residential Home in Bakewell, was in part inspired by a challenge to create an alternative to “All things bright and beautiful”, a hymn that Mrs Onion confesses to thinking “Not again!” about when she was asked to play it. The new hymn, composed on Apple’s Garage Band music software, comprises verses that move through the farming seasons: “Sing hallelujah About the summer light Whose golden rays Lengthen the days And hold back darker nights.”

A visit to All Saints’, Bakewell, opposite the home, inspired the duo to write a joyful hymn that children would enjoy singing, Mr Dixon recalled this week. A “skipping melody” was chosen, and Mrs Onion found chords to match.

Read it all and you may find the audio link there.

Highlight of my working week: speaking to Irene Onion about writing her first hymn aged 83. We share our taste in hymns. https://t.co/Zz8TdxKLBD

— Madeleine Davies (@MadsDavies) October 31, 2025

It’s time for worship at Church of the Lamb. Dress for the weather because the service is outdoors most of the year.

That also means Basil the rooster crowing during the sermon. Or Joan of Arc, the pastor’s family cat, threading through your legs.

The worship space is an open barn in Penn Laird, a rusty but sturdy 75-year-old sheet-metal structure, where cattle once fed and left a surplus of manure.

It’s an Anglican community, 31 acres, that hums with social activities as well as labor on behalf of Rockingham Abbey, which sustains the property ecologically and markets farm goods and international coffees.

The congregation got its start in Elkton, then moved to Redeemer Classical School in Keezletown, then moved outdoors at Redeemer because of COVID, and finally to the barn in May 2023.

Read it all.

Fun writeup on an Anglican church meeting mostly outdoors in the Shenandoah Valley. https://t.co/88Inkmpu5F

— Jeff Walton (@jeffreyhwalton) October 31, 2025

The Bishops decided that there must be further synodical processes for stand-alone services of blessing for same-sex couples and for reconsideration of the bar on clerics’ entering into same-sex marriages.

“Episcopal authority has never been weaker since the 17th Century,” wrote the Rector of St Giles’s, Newcastle-under-Lyme, with Butterton, the Revd Joshua Penduck, in a blog post. He suggested that there had been a lack of due process, attributable to “stupidity”, a “rush to create a new settlement”, and “a lack of honesty about what such a process could achieve”.

“The fact that the legal advice has only just been released is a mark of how needlessly painful the process has been,” he wrote. LLF had benefited nobody: neither the LGBTQ+ community nor conservatives who were “weary, exhausted and feeling vulnerable”. “There is now less cohesion in the Church of England than ever before.”

Bishops had “come to sound less like episcopal centres of unity and more like powerful activists”, he suggested.

Read it all.

The Church of England’s #LLF process, begun more than eight years ago in hopes of achieving a consensus on sexuality, has come under fire from both progressive and conservative quarters after the decisions taken at the recent House of Bishops meetinghttps://t.co/DUCoo1dBDO

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) October 30, 2025

“Give your grace to all Bishops, the pastors of your Church, that they may diligently preach your Word, duly administer your Sacraments, and wisely provide godly discipline…”

— Book of Common Prayer 2019

Keep us, O Lord,
in purity of heart and faithfulness to your commands,
that your servants may walk before you
in the perfect way;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Morning Prayer
Monday, 27 October pic.twitter.com/IKOR5RKBYd

— Chris Andrew (@anglicanreader) October 27, 2025

The Church of England has halted its plans to introduce ‘wedding’ services for same-sex couples after the bishops finally accepted long-resisted legal advice that it is not possible to do so without the approval of two-thirds of General Synod. Plans to allow clergy to enter a same-sex civil marriage have also been scrapped owing to the legal complications, ongoing divisions on the issue and the confusion that bringing in the reform by itself would sow. The Times has more.

This is a victory of sorts for conservatives in the church, who will be relieved that further divisive changes will not be rammed through at this point. The forced departure of Justin Welby as Archbishop of Canterbury last year over safeguarding failures – Welby being the main driving force behind trying to get this question ‘solved’ before he retired – was key in the momentum collapsing, combined with the retirement of a number of stalwart liberal bishops.

While relieved, though, conservatives will also be frustrated that the reasons for dropping the plans now – essentially the legal situation and the voting calculus in Synod – are no different from what they were eight years ago, before huge amounts of church money, time and emotional energy were expended in divisive ‘conversations’ at every level of church life. A number of bishops and others in senior leadership, led by Welby, had chosen to ignore this reality and attempt to find a way, any way, to push through the changes they wanted. The consequence is a church more divided than ever, with pain on both sides, local churches reeling from acrimonious splits and further demoralisation and disengagement in the pews.

Will the church now be able to move on from this lost decade of division? There are signs liberals were already resigned to this outcome, so it’s possible an uneasy truce will now settle, with liberals going back to quietly ignoring the rules in practice while refraining from making big noises about trying to change them.

Read it all and follow the link to the other cited article from the Times.

BREAKING:

CofE bishops won’t give their green light for ‘standalone’ blessing services for gay couples, or for gay priests to have civil same-sex marriages, @TheTimes understands

Will say both would need formal rewrite of church law

Trial of blessing ceremonies can’t go ahead

— Kaya Burgess (@kayaburgess) October 15, 2025

Congregationalism is being “silently endorsed” in the Church of England, a new report warns, because the leaders of new worshipping communities (NWCs) are writing eucharistic texts for their communities without the theological support of the wider Church.

The Communion Dilemma: The challenges of leading eucharistic New Things draws on a survey of 63 NWCs across 20 dioceses. It reports that 39 per cent of them are using texts not authorised by the General Synod.

“The problem is not just [that] new things are breaking the rules, but they are seeking to exist outside of the ecology of the wider Church, in which all can be benefit and learn from one another,” the report says. One way forward would be to designate some New Things as “centres for liturgical experimentation”.

The report is by the Revd Dr Joshua Cockayne, director of the Bede Centre for Church Planting Theology at Cranmer Hall. The term “New Things” was used in an earlier report by the Centre, which found that dioceses had jettisoned the use of the word “church” in describing the various new worshipping communities being established in their parishes (News, 16 August 2024).

Read it all.

Congregationalism is being “silently endorsed” in the Church of England, a new report warns, because the leaders of new worshipping communities (NWCs) are writing eucharistic texts for their communities without the theological support of the wider Churchhttps://t.co/KXm27fBSKs

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) October 14, 2025

God, our strong deliverer: We bless thy Name for the grace given to Harry Thacker Burleigh, who didst lift up in song the struggles of thy people. Let that Spirit of love which spurred him draw us and thy whole Church to raise our distinct voices into one great harmony of praise; through the same Jesus Christ, who with thee and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Harry T. Burleigh (b. 1886) was a pioneering composer, singer & leader in New York’s “cultural & political environment well before the Harlem Renaissance.” He introduced Dvořák to African American music & “led the way for both Black & white composers…in the early 20th century.” pic.twitter.com/DtZ9tRYSAR

— ChristinaProenzaColes (@ProenzaColes) August 8, 2024

Churchgoers  in the United States are increasingly mixing online and in-person worship, a new study suggests. Since the pandemic, many now attend several different churches.

The study, Exploring Pandemic Impact on Congregations, published by the Hartford Institute for Religion Research, is based on a survey of 24,000 churchgoers in the US, carried out last autumn.

One quarter of respondents said that they regularly participated in both virtual services and in person. Newer churchgoers were more likely to attend both in person and online.

“By far, the most common reason [to attend online worship] is convenience,” the study said: it was given as a reason by nearly half (46 per cent) of respondents. Other reasons included illness, caring duties, and being homebound.

The study, Exploring Pandemic Impact on Congregations, published by the Hartford Institute for Religion Research, is based on a survey of 24,000 churchgoers in the US, carried out last autumn.

One quarter of respondents said that they regularly participated in both virtual services and in person. Newer churchgoers were more likely to attend both in person and online.

Read it all.

Churchgoers in the #UnitedStates are increasingly mixing online and in-person worship, a new study suggests. Since the pandemic, many now attend several different churches https://t.co/H4HiOXRQGS

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) September 4, 2025