Toby Howarth was born in Kenya and went to school at Haverstock Comprehensive in North London. He received scholarships to study at high school and Yale University in the United States, including a summer working with Afghan refugees in northern Pakistan. On coming back to Britain, he was a research assistant for the Revd Dr John Stott for two years before becoming a postman in the East End of London.

After training in Oxford, Birmingham and Uganda, combining Christian theology with an MA in Islamic Studies at the University of Birmingham, Toby was ordained and served in an inner-city parish in Derby. He then moved to India with his family for five years, during which he did research in Islamic preaching for a PhD from the Free University of Amsterdam.

Returning to Europe, Toby served with a Dutch church in Rotterdam before moving back to Birmingham where he taught Islamic studies and worked as Tutor and then Vice Prinicpal at Crowther Hall in Selly Oak.

In 2004 he took up parish work again as Vicar of St Christopher’s, Springfield, a church in a majority Muslim area of Birmingham. In addition to the parish role, Toby was the Bishop of Birmingham’s Adviser on Inter Faith Relations until April 2011 when he became Interreligious Affairs Secretary for the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Read it all.

His Majesty The King has approved the nomination of The Rt Revd Toby Howarth as the 2nd Bishop of Leeds. Leeds is a remarkable diocese.

I am delighted that he will lead the next chapter of the life and witness of the church in this place. Bishop Toby’s passion for sharing the… pic.twitter.com/ewZNGfkEL9

— Archbishop of York (@CottrellStephen) July 31, 2026

O God, by whose grace thy servant Ignatius, enkindled with the fire of thy love, became a burning and a shining light in thy Church: Grant that we also may be aflame with the spirit of love and discipline, and may ever walk before thee as children of light; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, liveth and reigneth, one God, now and for ever.

Today's the feast of St Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits and author of the Spiritual Exercises. Glass of the 1880s by Nathaniel Westlake in St Mary's Cathedral, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. pic.twitter.com/7iYqRlTvhd

— Simon Knott (@SimoninSuffolk) July 31, 2026

Almighty Father, who by thy Son Jesus Christ hast taught us to beware of false prophets: Have mercy upon thy Church, we beseech thee, to deliver it from all evil; and give us faithful pastors and teachers who shall truly fulfill thy command and preach nothing contrary to thy Holy Word; that we thy people, being instructed, nurtured and comforted by thy heavenly truth, may bring forth fruit to thy glory; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.

In the Victorian language of flowers, the blue hydrangea was said to symbolise, rather harshly, boastfulness and a cold heart. A favourite in floral arrangements for ballrooms and assembly halls, it became associated with the vain coquette admired only for her appearance. pic.twitter.com/dWPglUvcq6

— VenetiaJane's Garden (@VenetiaJane) July 31, 2026

Then sang Deb′orah and Barak the son of Abin′o-am on that day:

“That the leaders took the lead in Israel,
    that the people offered themselves willingly,
    bless the Lord!

“Hear, O kings; give ear, O princes;
    to the Lord I will sing,
    I will make melody to the Lord, the God of Israel.

“Lord, when thou didst go forth from Se′ir,
    when thou didst march from the region of Edom,
the earth trembled,
    and the heavens dropped,
    yea, the clouds dropped water.
The mountains quaked before the Lord,
    yon Sinai before the Lord, the God of Israel.

“In the days of Shamgar, son of Anath,
    in the days of Ja′el, caravans ceased
    and travelers kept to the byways.
The peasantry ceased in Israel, they ceased
    until you arose, Deb′orah,
    arose as a mother in Israel.
When new gods were chosen,
    then war was in the gates.
Was shield or spear to be seen
    among forty thousand in Israel?
My heart goes out to the commanders of Israel
    who offered themselves willingly among the people.
    Bless the Lord.

“Tell of it, you who ride on tawny asses,
    you who sit on rich carpets
    and you who walk by the way.
To the sound of musicians at the watering places,
    there they repeat the triumphs of the Lord,
    the triumphs of his peasantry in Israel.

“Then down to the gates marched the people of the Lord.

“Awake, awake, Deb′orah!
    Awake, awake, utter a song!
Arise, Barak, lead away your captives,
    O son of Abin′o-am.
Then down marched the remnant of the noble;
    the people of the Lord marched down for him against the mighty.
From E′phraim they set out thither into the valley,
    following you, Benjamin, with your kinsmen;
from Machir marched down the commanders,
    and from Zeb′ulun those who bear the marshal’s staff;
the princes of Is′sachar came with Deb′orah,
    and Is′sachar faithful to Barak;
    into the valley they rushed forth at his heels.
Among the clans of Reuben
    there were great searchings of heart.
Why did you tarry among the sheepfolds,
    to hear the piping for the flocks?
Among the clans of Reuben
    there were great searchings of heart.
Gilead stayed beyond the Jordan;
    and Dan, why did he abide with the ships?
Asher sat still at the coast of the sea,
    settling down by his landings.
Zeb′ulun is a people that jeoparded their lives to the death;
    Naph′tali too, on the heights of the field.

–Judges 5:1-18

A beautiful warm glow across the fields this morning as a new day begins. #Shropshire pic.twitter.com/aj6A0w9s3o

— Steven Keating (@Aneedtopaint) July 31, 2026

What we have realised, over the last five years, as Save the Parish has got off the ground and started to ask the questions that should have been asked decades ago, is that what we are in danger of losing is not just some old buildings, or the clerical stipend, or one mode of training over another, but the essence of the Church of England itself.

Who are we? What is the unique ecology of the Church of England, which we love so dearly that we have got up and come here on a Saturday morning?

“If the Church of England were to fail,” said John Keble, “it should be found in my parish.”

Or, listen to Justin Welby, who, I concede isn’t often quoted by Save the Parish: “you could lose the House of Bishops tonight…[and] it’d be a couple of years before there was any noticeable impact on the Church of England. Whereas if you got rid of all the parishes and the churchwardens and the laypeople it would be noticeable in about one second.”

Well, we are here for the parishes and the churchwardens and the laypeople today. And for the priests. (I do declare an interest…)

Read it all.

Last night people from across the country – lay and clergy; Evangelical, High Church, Solidly Middle, Anglo Catholic; Tory, LibDem, Labour – gathered to pledge to Save the Parish.

Alison Milbank, @revstrott, and I all shared our thoughts – have a watch!https://t.co/nV43HmzWee pic.twitter.com/DuCnbEYNkt

— Marcus Walker (@WalkerMarcus) August 4, 2021

Investigators believe a cyberattack this week on dozens of municipal water systems in Minnesota was probably the work of Iranian hackers, according to U.S. and state officials and others familiar with the matter, a potential act of aggression that comes at a precarious moment in the U.S. war against Iran.

Officials cautioned that they had not definitively determined who was responsible for the attack and that the preliminary assessment could change as the authorities collected more technical data.

They also warned that the hackers could be attempting to pose as Iran-based in an effort to ratchet up tensions between the two countries, though former intelligence officials said such a scenario was unlikely.

Local officials reported that the well and treatment plant in at least one city was temporarily offline on Monday, while other cities in the state had to use manual workarounds to cope with attempted attacks on automated operations.

Read it all.

New: Investigators believe a cyberattack this week on dozens of municipal water systems in Minnesota was probably the work of Iranian hackers, a potential act of aggression that comes at a precarious moment in the U.S. war against Iran. https://t.co/Huut3WBM34

— Dustin Volz (@dnvolz) July 30, 2026

More than a thousand people queued to join a prayer gathering at a church in East London as temperatures soared above 30 degree Celsius on a Monday evening in early July. 

SAINT, the church community which meets at Hackney Church, hosted an evening of sung worship and prayer in collaboration with two other Anglican churches in London, King’s Cross Church (KXC) and IMPRINT Church, the parish church of St Mary Woolnoth, St Edmund the King and St Clement Eastcheap in Bank, City of London. 

This was the latest in a series of similar evenings, which the trio of churches gather for six times per year, entitled the Joint Prayer Gathering. 

Read it all.

More than a thousand people queued to join a prayer gathering at a church in East London recently.

The Joint Prayer Gathering is an initiative from a trio of churches, hosting evenings of sung worship and prayer six times a year.

Read more at https://t.co/IBjgTB5mvN.

— The Church of England (@churchofengland) July 30, 2026

It was in 1787 that he first decided to put down a motion in the House of Commons about the slave trade. This nefarious traffic had been going on for three centuries, and the West Indian slave-owners were determined to oppose abolition to the end. Besides, Wilberforce was not a very prepossessing man. He was little and somewhat ugly, with poor eyesight and an upturned nose. When Boswell heard him speak, he pronounced him ‘a perfect shrimp’, but then had to concede that ‘presently the shrimp swelled into a whale.’ In 1789 Wilberforce said of the slave trade: “So enormous so dreadful, so irremediable did its wickedness appear that my own mind was completely made up for the abolition…. let the consequences be what they would, I from this time determined that I would never rest till I had effected its abolition.

So abolition bills (which related to the trade) and Foreign Trade Bills (which would prohibit the involvement of British ships in it) were debated in the commons in 1789, 1791, 1792,194, 1796 (by which time Abolition had become ‘the grand object of my parliamentary existence’), 1798 and 1799. Yet they all failed. The Foreign Slave Bill was not passed until 1806 and the Abolition of the Slave Trade Bill until 1807. This part of the campaign had taken eighteen years.

Next, soon after the conclusion of the Napoleonic wars, Wilberforce began to direct his energies to the abolition of slavery itself and the emancipation of the slaves. In 1823 the Anti-Slavery Society was formed. Twice that year and twice the following year, Wilberforce pleaded the slaves’ cause in the House of Commons. But in 1825 ill-health compelled him to resign as a member of parliament and to continue his campaign from outside. In 1831 he sent a message to the Anti-Slavery Society, in which he said, “Our motto must continue to be PERSEVERANCE. And ultimately I trust the Almighty will crown our efforts with success.” He did. In July 1833 the Abolition of Slavery Bill was passed in both Houses of Parliament, even though it included the undertaking to pay 20 million pounds in compensation to the slave-owners. ‘Thank God,’ wrote Wilberforce, that I have lived to witness a day in which England is willing to give 20 million pounds for the abolition of slavery.’ Three days later he died. He was buried in Westminster Abbey, in national recognition of his FORTY-FIVE YEARS of persevering struggle on behalf of African slaves.

— John R W Stott, Issues facing Christians Today (Basingstoke: Marshall, Morgan and Scott, 1984), p. 334

#OTD July 29, 1833:
Death of William Wilberforce, who had done much to end slavery in British possessions.

Persuaded to join the campaign against slavery and faced with evidence of its horrors, he wrote:

"So enormous, so dreadful, so irremediable did the [slave] trade's… pic.twitter.com/Noaw7qZQt2

— ☧ Today in Christian History (@HistoricalRook) July 29, 2026

Let thy continual mercy, O Lord, enkindle in thy Church the never-failing gift of love, that, following the example of thy servant William Wilberforce, we may have grace to defend the poor, and maintain the cause of those who have no helper; for the sake of him who gave his life for us, thy Son our Savior Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Politician William Wilberforce died #onthisday in 1833. He is remembered for taking up the cause of abolishing slavery alongside Prime Minister Charles Grey. He is buried close to the grave of William Pitt in the Abbey’s north transept, and his statue can be found in statesmen's… pic.twitter.com/mY5QlNaZfQ

— Westminster Abbey (@wabbey) July 29, 2026

O Almighty and merciful Lord, who givest unto thy faithful people the Holy Spirit as a sure pledge of thy heavenly kingdom: Grant unto us this same Spirit, that he may bear witness with our spirit that we be thy children and heirs of thy kingdom; through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

🌹 Roses 🌹 Roses 🌹 Roses 🌹 pic.twitter.com/fDyWjoZ5ek

— Cloudymamma (@cloudymamma) July 29, 2026

Now Deb′orah, a prophetess, the wife of Lap′pidoth, was judging Israel at that time. She used to sit under the palm of Deb′orah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of E′phraim; and the people of Israel came up to her for judgment. She sent and summoned Barak the son of Abin′o-am from Kedesh in Naph′tali, and said to him, “The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you, ‘Go, gather your men at Mount Tabor, taking ten thousand from the tribe of Naph′tali and the tribe of Zeb′ulun. And I will draw out Sis′era, the general of Jabin’s army, to meet you by the river Kishon with his chariots and his troops; and I will give him into your hand.’” Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go.” And she said, “I will surely go with you; nevertheless, the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory, for the Lord will sell Sis′era into the hand of a woman.” Then Deb′orah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh. And Barak summoned Zeb′ulun and Naph′tali to Kedesh; and ten thousand men went up at his heels; and Deb′orah went up with him.

–Judges 4:4-10

Good morning (Bruernish, Barra, Outer Hebrides) pic.twitter.com/KYitxUENh7

— Neil Thin (@NeilThin) July 30, 2026

Significant progress in church safeguarding is being undermined by resistance from senior officers, INEQE, the company auditing safeguarding in every diocese and cathedral, has said.

INEQE said in its 2025 audit that the Church of England was experiencing a “dangerous” period of institutional “drift” regarding future safeguarding structures.

The company also said that unprecedented engagement from more than 10,000 contributors showed “a maturing safeguarding culture, though critical structural inhibitors remain at the senior level”.

The findings are set out in INEQE’s 2025 Annual Report on the Independent Safeguarding Audits of Church of England Dioceses and Cathedrals, alongside two companion reports, Chorister Safeguarding and Victim and Survivor Engagement.

The audit highlighted “tangible” improvements in safeguarding, increasingly understood as a “gospel and theological imperative” rather than as merely an administrative requirement. The report also speaks of growing confidence among individuals in raising concerns without fear of reprisal.

Read it all.

Iran is expected to receive within weeks a first shipment out of up to 400 Chinese-made shoulder-fired air-defense missile launchers, three sources familiar with the deal told ​Reuters, as it rebuilds its defenses amid war with the United States.

The purchase, valued at $60-70 million, is one of Tehran’s largest-known efforts to strengthen its short-range air ‌defenses since the outbreak of its war with the U.S. and Israel, which exposed gaps in Iran’s ability to protect military sites and strategic infrastructure. The contract covers the purchase of between 300 and 400 man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS), including Chinese-made QW-12 and FN-16 missiles, the sources said. The deal was signed with Zhongqing Baoshang International Investment, a Hong Kong-based company that the sources said was acting as an intermediary between the Iranian ​side and the Chinese supplier.

Read it all.

Iran to get Chinese shoulder-launched missile systems in weeks – https://t.co/FYda7NBCmH

— Reuters Iran (@ReutersIran) July 29, 2026

“Biological War” is a heavily researched book about contagious and potentially civilization-ending pathogens. Though banned by international treaty, these germs have been weaponized and hoarded by countries that include Russia, North Korea and Syria.

By “weaponized” I don’t mean merely that they’ve been placed at the business end of ballistic missiles. I mean that these pathogens have been genetically engineered, in diabolical ways, to trick first responders and be all but untreatable. Even a small accidental spill, like wine sloshing out of glass, like Covid slipping out of a lab, could be the last mistake our species makes.

Jacobsen has interviewed everyone, from former high-ranking members of the military, the C.I.A., FEMA and NATO to former secretaries of defense, counterterrorism experts, epidemiologists and Sam [expletive] Altman. That so many were willing to talk to her, and have their names affixed to this book, indicates the esteem in which she is held, especially after the publication of “Nuclear War: A Scenario” (2024), a best seller that stirred new interest in nuclear policy, technology and risks worldwide.

The reason “Biological War,” like Jacobsen’s previous book, is so consuming is that she packs a lot of dense and particulate information into a ticking-clock scenario: into a story. It’s more pulverizing than a Kathryn Bigelow movie. Some of the chapter headings are phrases like “Day Two” or “Day Three.” Not to ruin your mood, but “Day Six” is about as far as civilization gets. A later chapter is titled “The Last Day of American Democracy.”

Read it all.

New, likely terrifying look into reality of biological warfare, book by @AnnieJacobsen just arrived. All her books are must-reads… Nuclear War, Area 51, Surprise Kill Vanish, Operation Paperclip, etc pic.twitter.com/qLmZNPoEu4

— Luke Fischer (@lukefischer) July 28, 2026

Church of England bishops have urged Ed Miliband to intervene to halt the executions and torture of Christians in Saudi Arabian jails.

Three bishops for Southwark, Chelmsford and Winchester have written to Mohammed bin Salman, the ruler of Saudi Arabia, urging him to call an immediate halt to the executions of more than 50 Ethiopian Christians currently on death row in the state.

They have also submitted their appeal to the Foreign Office seeking an intervention from Mr Miliband, the new Foreign Secretary, to save the lives of the Christian captives.

The bishops claimed there was evidence that the Ethiopians – who fled conflict in their own country – had been mistreated, with several of them tortured and forced to sign documents they could not read or understand.

Read it all.

Good to see several English bishops calling on the Foreign Secretary to use British influence in Riyadh on behalf of 50 Ethiopian Christians facing execution. The Saudi regime remains brutally repressive.
Also good to read it all reported in the Telegraph.https://t.co/xmI8bFAmKW

— Philip Anderson (@P_G_Anderson) July 28, 2026

O God, heavenly Father, whose Son Jesus Christ enjoyed rest and refreshment in the home of Mary and Martha of Bethany: Give us the will to love thee, open our hearts to hear thee, and strengthen our hands to serve thee in others for his sake; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Today's the feast of St Martha, St Mary and St Lazarus, the Bethany siblings. A roundel by William Wailes, 1857 at Stanground, Peterborough shows them with Christ. Although it's less than a mile from Peterborough Cathedral, Stanground is on the south bank of the Nene so it's in… pic.twitter.com/BEJID4VOjr

— Simon Knott (@SimoninSuffolk) July 29, 2026

Grant, O Lord, we beseech thee, that as a tree is known by its fruit, so we may be recognized as thy children by our obedience to thy will.  Help us to put away all hypocrisy and self-seeking, that we may truly set forth thy glory and extend thy kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

On top of the world at An Teallach, #Scotland's great wilderness.
📷Mark Sutherland#Munro #ScottishBanner #ScotlandIsCalling pic.twitter.com/ISJlWGH4ph

— The Scottish Banner (@Scottish_Banner) July 29, 2026

In the first book, O The-oph′ilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commandment through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. To them he presented himself alive after his passion by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days, and speaking of the kingdom of God. And while staying with them he charged them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me, for John baptized with water, but before many days you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samar′ia and to the end of the earth.” And when he had said this, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day’s journey away; and when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. All these with one accord devoted themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

–Acts 1:1-14

Golden sunrise this morning here in Glastonbury. pic.twitter.com/GM6C1O6HNO

— Michelle Cowbourne (@Glastomichelle) July 29, 2026

A new resource has been launched to “help churches of all denominations use AI thoughtfully, faithfully, and well” amid the “silent adoption” of AI in church life.

The AI Guidelines for Christian Ministry has been produced by the AI Christian Partnership (AICP), a not-for-profit organisation made up of Christian groups, theologians, technologists, and academics.

The guidelines have been created to avoid AI “gradually seeping into church life without proper discussion”, and to support churchpeople to understand the long-term impact on congregations, AICP said. “Although aimed at church ministers, leaders, and volunteers, they contain principles, ethics, and practical tips that all Christians can apply and use.”

Its founder, Chris Goswami, said: “AI can be a great asset for ministry, or it can leave us with a fast-food version of ministry. As with social media, it may only be much later, with hindsight, that we understand the impact of AI — therefore, we encourage churches with foresight to give serious consideration to this now.”

Read it all.

A new resource has been launched to “help churches of all denominations use AI thoughtfully, faithfully, and well” amid the “silent adoption” of #AI in church life 💻https://t.co/xsPcd5RdrY

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) July 28, 2026

Madison Kuzia Named Chief of Staff

Bishop Chip Edgar has appointed Madison Kuzia to serve as the Diocese’s new Chief of Staff, effective July 15. Madison will continue serving as his Executive Assistant, overseeing the day-to-day operations of the office, leading strategic initiatives, and strengthening the systems that support our ministry. In a note to the clergy Bishop Edgar wrote, “I am confident that Madison’s gifts of leadership, team management, and vision for our operations will have a far-reaching impact, strengthening our team so that we are well equipped to serve you, your congregations, and the mission we share across our Diocese.” Madison and her husband, Elijah, have been married since 2018 and enjoy traveling together, spending time on their family’s farm, and making music.

Read it all.

The Latest Edition of the #Anglican Diocese of #SouthCarolina Enewsletter https://t.co/9iYyYdfDMf #parishministry #lowcountrylife #faith #ACNA #communication Madison Kuzia Named Bishop Edgar's Chief of Staff [diocesan photo] pic.twitter.com/UwgdeknZjn

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) July 28, 2026

There’s a lot of talk about socialism these days, despite it’s inherently flawed premise and repeated failures, resulting in millions dying, mass starvation, widespread human suffering, readers here already know the history. Unfortunately, it’s rising again due to new promotion from people who hate America, combined to create the perfect storm since we also recently stopped promoting the story of prosperity and our information ecosystems are deeply propagandized. Also, our biased education system simply ignores past examples that might challenge some of the ideals they’re so keen to promote, which I find both annoying and civilizationally suicidal. Perhaps this is cyclical, and every civilization has to re-learn forgotten mistakes (even though we have parables that try to help, but ofc they’re unhelpful if no one reads them). So all we can do is share stories which are more instructive than dry statistics.

Today we have a fun one which takes us back to the year 1825. Here, a wealthy Welsh industrialist named Robert Owen acquired a complete American town, a plot with 20,000 acres, 160-plus buildings, working mills, workshops, barns, farmland already producing food. He renamed it New Harmony, and 1,000 people showed up in year 1, most convinced they were present at the birth of a new way of running civilization. It’s also notable that Owen wasn’t some kind of crank, before ever setting foot in Indiana he’d already made his name running textile mills in New Lanark, Scotland with shorter hours, real schools, better housing, and the mills still turned a profit. For the early 1800s that’s really impressive and illustrative of his operator skills.

Although, his prior success is exactly what made him dangerous. Owen had convinced himself that people are basically a product of their environment, where you could rearrange the environment and you rearrange the person. Kill private property, kill competition, split the rewards evenly, and cooperation just… happens, naturally, without anyone having to be talked into it, which is of course idealist and ignorant of human nature. As is always the case, a very intelligent person is unable to model the behavior of others, many of whom simply operate differently.

The experiment pulled in serious people. Real optimism, real brainpower, real $ behind it. In January 1826 William Maclure floated an entire boat of scientists and educators down the Ohio River, historians still call it the “Boatload of Knowledge.” Thomas Say, the father of American entomology, was on it, so was naturalist Charles-Alexandre Lesueur along with Geologists, artists, educators, people like this. So this wasn’t some kind of backwoods commune of true believers with no credentials interested in getting high. It was, arguably, one of the highest concentrations of talent in America at that moment. If intelligence and good intentions were sufficient conditions for a new economic system to work, New Harmony had every box checked.

Unfortunately, it fell apart almost immediately.

Read it all.

This week's longform idea, we're talking about the (failed) socialist utopian experiment in America that lasted two years https://t.co/395RsSU4Vp

— Adam Singer (@AdamSinger) July 28, 2026

When Fernando and Patricia Escobedo moved to the Willows, an affluent neighborhood in El Paso, Texas, 25 years ago, kids were everywhere.

About half of the homes on their cul-de-sac had children. Growing up, the couple’s twin daughters used to ride their scooters outside with other neighborhood kids. At an annual block party, they jumped around in a bouncy house and climbed into the local firetruck.

The twins are now in college—and the neighborhood feels a lot different. The Escobedos also have a 12-year-old at home, and Fernando said she is one of a few children under 18 on the block. The local elementary school has noticeably fewer kids. And Fernando said he’s more likely to see a retired neighbor gardening than a child on a bicycle.

“It’s not the vibe it was 10 years ago when there were still kids here,” he said. 

With the nation’s fertility rate at record lows, the number of children under 18 is falling across the U.S. The decline is especially pronounced in big cities, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis.

Read it all.

WSJ: America’s Big Cities Are Rapidly Losing Kids – The number of children is falling across the U.S., but the decline is especially pronounced in big metros https://t.co/A2MzU94Cjm

— Aaron M. Renn 🇺🇸 (@aaron_renn) July 27, 2026

Almighty God, beautiful in majesty and majestic in holiness, who dost teach us in Holy Scripture to sing thy praises and who gavest thy musicians Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frederick Handel and Henry Purcell grace to show forth thy glory in their music: Be with all those who write or make music for thy people, that we on earth may glimpse thy beauty and know the inexhaustible riches of thy new creation in Jesus Christ our Savior; who livest and reignest with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

28 July 1750. Johann Sebastian Bach died (aged 64). He’s one of the greatest classical composers of all time. His best known works include the Brandenburg Concertos and the Goldberg Variations. pic.twitter.com/ofd5MF7IXb

— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) July 28, 2026

O God, who hast given us not the spirit of bondage, but the Spirit of adoption into thy family: Grant us the witness of thy Spirit within our hearts, testifying that we are thy children; and give us that fellowship with the sufferings of Christ which shall end in our being glorified with him; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.

Tuesday greetings – if you weren’t here early this morning, unlike the couple pictured, you missed experiencing this sunrise here at Avoca NSW, Central Coast, Australia 🇦🇺
(📸M.Hruby) pic.twitter.com/u9f346s17D

— Anthony Sider (@BudgetDude) July 28, 2026

Now the angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bochim. And he said, “I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you into the land which I swore to give to your fathers. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you, and you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall break down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed my command. What is this you have done? So now I say, I will not drive them out before you; but they shall become adversaries to you, and their gods shall be a snare to you.” When the angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the people of Israel, the people lifted up their voices and wept. And they called the name of that place Bochim; and they sacrificed there to the Lord.

–Judges 2:1-5

City heat #London pic.twitter.com/xSHCInxYjU

— Jeff Overs (@JeffOvers) July 28, 2026

The campaigning group Save the Parish (STP) has launched its manifesto for the elections to the next General Synod. It is calling for financial resources to be decentralised and redirected towards parish ministry to save “the essence of the Church of England itself”.

Six commitments are outlined in the manifesto, which was launched at St Bartholomew the Great, West Smithfield, in London, on Saturday, by the Rector, the Revd Marcus Walker. He warned of an “existential crisis” facing the Church.

The commitments, based on the group’s “founding priorities of ‘parish’, ‘priest’ and ‘people’”, are to: restore Church Commissioners’ funds to stipendiary parish ministry; direct the parish share to mission and “the cure of souls”; adopt a “charter of care that values our clergy and guards them from mental and physical exhaustion”; renew theological resourcing for theological education “which is ordinand-centred not budget-centred”; adopt a “churchgoers’ charter” that honours the volunteers who hold the parishes together; and reform the Mission and Pastoral Measure.

Fr Walker, who chairs the STP network, said: “If we want there to be a thriving parish system in a generation’s time, we have to get up and do something.

Read it all.

Good point from @WalkerMarcus. It’s the poorer parishes that suffer most from Church funds being diverted into highly paid woke diocesan posts to be Engagement Officers, Diversity Officers, Policy Officers, Media Officers, etc, etc… pic.twitter.com/gZHtv4UCrl

— Harry Phibbs (@harryph) July 25, 2026

-‘All around us we see Christians and churches relaxing their grasp on the gospel, fumbling it, and in danger of letting it drop from their hands altogether’

–John R. W. Stott, Guard the Gospel (Downers Grove, Ill., InterVarsity Press, 1973),

Today's centenary of birth of John Stott, an evangelical Anglican clergyman named by @Time among 100 most influential people. As member of @AllSoulsLP, 1981-84, his preaching, humility & founding of @liccltd had massive impact on my Christian formation. (photo @LanghamPartners ) pic.twitter.com/lQE4k2K9Ax

— Revd Nicholas Pye (@RevdPye) April 27, 2021

A zombie is haunting America, the zombie of communism. Pronounced dead and discredited after the collapse of the Soviet Union, it is back. Former Senate candidate Graham Platner and influencer Hasan Piker did not lose, and probably gained, adherents by having called themselves communists. Meanwhile, as Stu Smith recently wrote in The Free Press, a majority of the Democratic Socialists of America governing board “openly identifies with communist ideology.”

As a Russian specialist, I cannot help wondering: How is this possible? Do these people really have no problem with the history of the ideology they’re claiming? With Joseph Stalin’s Gulag that took the lives of millions, his artificially induced famine that deliberately starved several million peasants, and the secret police’s form of interrogation that routinely included torture? Do they actually want to revive Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution and the Khmer Rouge’s reign of terror that claimed the lives of a quarter of Cambodia’s population?

Three quarters of a century ago, questions like these led to one of the most important volumes to emerge during the Cold War. Now largely forgotten, The God That Failed (1949) was once so widely read that the volume’s title became a catchphrase for any movement that attracted intellectuals to a quasi-religious ideology claiming infallibility.

The God That Failed brought together several prominent European and American writers who had once either been members of the Communist Party or sympathetic to the Soviet Union, but had eventually grown disillusioned. Each writer explained what initially attracted him to, and what eventually repelled him from, communism. The star-studded cast included Arthur Koestler, an Hungarian-born British writer now best known for his brilliant novel about communism, Darkness at Noon; French novelist André Gide; the Italian Ignazio Silone, author of Bread and Wine; British poet Stephen Spender; and two Americans, journalist and author Louis Fischer, and African American writer Richard Wright.

Read it all.

The Return of the God That Failed https://t.co/Z9aUNSWmTy

— Collin Hansen (@collinhansen) July 27, 2026

Dissatisfaction is the one word that best expresses the state of mind in which Christendom finds itself today. There is a wide-spread misgiving that we are on the eve of momentous changes. Unrest is everywhere. We hear about Roman Councils, and Anglican Conferences, and Evangelical Alliances, about the question of the Temporal Power, the dissolution of Church and State, and many other such like things. They all have one meaning. The party of the Papacy and the party of the Reformation, the party of orthodoxy and the party of liberalism, are all alike agitated by the consciousness that a spirit of change is in the air. No wonder that many imagine themselves listening to the rumbling of the chariot- wheels of the Son of Man. He Himself predicted that ” perplexity” should be one of the signs of His coining, and it is certain that the threads of the social order have seldom been more seriously entangled than they now are.

A calmer and perhaps truer inference is that we are about entering upon a new reach of Church history, and that the dissatisfaction and perplexity are only transient. There is always a tumult of waves at the meeting of the waters; but when the streams have mingled, the flow is smooth and still again. The plash and gurgle that we hear may mean something like this.

At all events the time is opportune for a discussion of the Church-Idea; for it is with this, hidden under a hundred disguises, that the world’s thoughts are busy. Men have become possessed with an unwonted longing for unity, and yet they are aware that they do not grapple successfully with the practical problem. Somehow they are grown persuaded that union is God’s work, and separation devil’s work ; but the persuasion only breeds the greater discontent. That is what lies at the root of our unquietness. There is a felt want and a felt inability to meet the want; and where these two things coexist there must be heat of friction.

Catholicity is what we are reaching after….

–William Reed Huntington The Church Idea (1870)

William Reed Huntington, Pach Brothers Studio, c. 1900 https://t.co/Dl9pQIhLof #smithsonian #pachbrothersstudio pic.twitter.com/l6buAr8gfX

— SI: National Portrait Gallery (Bot) (@si_npg) June 24, 2020

O Lord our God, we thank thee for instilling in the heart of thy servant William Reed Huntington a fervent love for thy Church and its mission in the world; and we pray that, with unflagging faith in thy promises, we may make known to all peoples thy blessed gift of eternal life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

The Episcopal Church also today commemorates William Reed Huntington, Priest, 1909

Image: Icon by Tobias Stanislas Haller BSG, via https://t.co/1pTNE0szHz pic.twitter.com/sWcGpkmxnI

— The Anglican Church in St Petersburg (@anglicanspb) July 27, 2024