‘What has Athens to do with Jerusalem?’ A lesson from Saint Paul in Athens in this morning’s readings

The Hill of the Areopagos in Athens, looking across to the Acropolis (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

An early Christian thinker, Tertullian, once asked, ‘What has Athens to do with Jerusalem?’

What have the ways of the world got to do with the way we live our life as Christians?

How does God respond to the cry of the poor?

How is God present in our lives?

How do we live a life of love that shows we know the love of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit?

How do we respond in love and in faith and love to suffering in the world and to suffering of those we love?

Where do we find God in the midst of all this?

All these questions are asked regularly, and the first morning reading at the Eucharist this morning was a reminder that God never leaves us alone.

Saint Paul’s words inscribed on a plaque on the Areopagos in Athens (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today has been the Sixth Sunday of Easter (10 May 2026), and at the Parish Eucharist in Saint Mary and Saint Giles Church, Stony Stratford, this morning I read the first readings (Acts 17: 22-31), in which the Apostle Paul is at the Areopagos in Athens.

The people who worshipped the unknown God on the slopes beneath the shadow of the Acropolis were assured that God had heard their prayers, and they are now being invited to join in communion with this God through Saint Paul’s proclamation.

The Stoa of Attalos is one of the many splendid buildings beneath the slopes of the Acropolis in Athens. This stoa (στοά), a covered walkway or portico in the Agora, was built by and named after Attalos II (159-138 BCE), King of Pergamon. Its arcades were divided into shops and stalls, and it was a popular place for wealthy Athenians to meet and gossip.

There were many stoas in Athens, including the Stoa Poikile or Painted Porch, built in the fifth century BCE on the north side of the Agora.

‘What has Athens to do with Jerusalem?’ (Tertullian) … the Stoa of Attalos, beneath the slopes of the Acropolis in Athens (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

This is where we find Saint Paul in today’s morning, in one of the most famous sites in ancient Athens. Its fame was enhanced by the paintings and loot from wars displayed there. It was in this porch that Zeno of Citium (ca 333-262 BCE) taught Stoicism, the philosophical school that takes its name from this place.

The Stoics believed in a god, and this god played an important role in their general philosophy. But Stoic theology was fluid in its concept of god. Zeno argued that the cosmos is an intelligent being, although he seems not to have explicitly identified that intelligent being as God.

According to the Roman orator and philosopher Cicero, the Stoics recognised four main questions in theology: they prove that the gods exist; they explain their nature; they show that the world is governed by them; and that they care for the fortunes of humanity.

Essentially, Stoicism is a philosophy of personal ethics. It teaches that the path to happiness is found in accepting this moment as it presents itself, by not allowing ourselves to be controlled by our desire for pleasure or our fear of pain, by using our minds to understand the world around us and to do our part in nature’s plan, and by working together and treating others in a fair and just manner.

The Stoics taught that emotions resulted in errors of judgment that were destructive, due to the interaction between cosmic determinism and human freedom, and the belief that it is virtuous to maintain a will that is in accord with nature. To live a good life, they taught, one had to understand the rules of the natural order since they taught that everything is rooted in nature.

Later Stoics believed that virtue is sufficient for happiness.

The steps leading up to the top of the Areopagos (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

During his visit to Athens, the Apostle Paul debates with Stoic and Epicurean philosophers in the stoa, the marketplace or the agora. They take him to the shrine of the unknown god at the Areopagos (see Acts 17: 16-19).

Saint Paul tells them that they already know God in their hearts, they just have to come to realise who God is. In his speech at the Areopagos, Saint Paul also quotes the Cretan philosopher Epimenides: ‘In him we live and move and have our being.’

Epimenides was a poet and philosopher from Knossos, so he was familiar with the ancient Greek myths. All of his works are now lost, but he is remembered because he popularised the story in Crete that Zeus was dead, which led him to being condemned as a liar by his Greek contemporaries, and because he is quoted by Saint Paul not once but twice in the New Testament.

At the Areopagos in Athens (see Acts 17: 22-34), Saint Paul, quotes from Epimenides, referring him as one of ‘your own poets,’ when he says: ‘For “In him we live and move and have our being”.’

Later, when Saint Paul writes to Saint Titus about his mission in Crete, he commits a logical fallacy by quoting Epimenides: ‘It was one of them, their very own prophet, who said, “Cretans are always liars, vicious brutes, lazy gluttons.” That testimony is true’ (Titus 1: 12-13a).

The ‘lie’ of the Cretans is that Zeus was mortal, for Epimenides believed that Zeus is dead. The logical inconsistency of a Cretan asserting that all Cretans are always liars may not have occurred to Epimenides, nor to Callimachus, who both used the phrase to emphasise their point, without irony.

However, Saint Paul must have thought long about the idea of a dead god and the dead god’s tomb as he sought to preach the Resurrection Athens and in Crete.

The American theologian John Piper is a fundamentalist whose views on women and Jews I find misogynist and bordering on the antisemitic. Dismissing the horrors of domestic violence, he has said, ‘If her husband isn’t requiring her to sin, but simply hurting her, then i think she endures verbal abuse for a season, she endures perhaps being smacked one night, and then she seeks help from the church.’

In one of his books, Coronavirus and Christ, Piper claimed that Covid-19 was God’s judgment on society, and he singled out, among other things, gay people as a deserving ‘due penalty.’ When I hear things like this, I wonder whether preachers like this believe in the dead Zeus rather than the Risen Christ and the God in whom ‘we live and move and have our being.’

The old myths and superstitions are dead and gone, and with them the false expectations and demands they made on us. But the one true God has been with us always. This is Saint Paul’s message to the people of Athens in the first century. We do not believe in a superstitious way in a god like Zeus who exerts his control over weak humans in an angry and vengeful way, sending plagues and viruses to wipe us out as a way of asserting his control. We look to a loving God who has always been at work among people who seek to do God’s will: the Samaritan woman at the well comes to understand this; the Ethiopian eunuch who meets Saint Philip comes to understand this.

During the pandemic lockdown, as people asked where God was in the middle of that crisis, many of us, hopefully, realised that God is at work through everyone who is already doing God’s work. And we should rejoice in this and affirm this.

Epimenidou Street in Rethymnon … the philosopher from Crete gives his name to streets in towns and cities throughout Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Acts 17: 22-31 (NRSVA)

22 Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, ‘Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. 23 For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, “To an unknown god.” What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. 24 The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, 25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. 26 From one ancestor[a] he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, 27 so that they would search for God[b] and perhaps grope for him and find him – though indeed he is not far from each one of us. 28 For “In him we live and move and have our being”; as even some of your own poets have said,

“For we too are his offspring.”

29 Since we are God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals. 30 While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.’

Looking across the Hill of the Areopagos and Athens from the Acropolis (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

Saint Chad’s Church, Hopwas: ‘an ingenious and entertaining’ church built by a Vicar of Tamworth

Saint Chad’s Church in Hopwas, Staffordshire, was designed by John Douglas (1830-1911) and built in 1879-1881 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Patrick Comerford

My 10-mile walk through the countryside in south Staffordshire last week, starting at the Moat House in Tamworth, brought me to Wigginton and Saint Leonard’s Church, along Comberford Lane and Wigginton Lane to Comberford and the banks of the River Tame, and then along Coton Lane to Hopwas.

Before returning to Tamworth, I stopped to see Hopwas and Hopwas Hayes Wood, climbed up the hill to Saint Chad’s Church, walked along the canal towpaths beside the Tame Otter and the Red Lion, and had a late lunch in the Tame Otter.

Saint Chad’s Church, tucked under the woods, was built in 1879-1881 to replace the earlier Saint John’s Chapel, built as a chapel-of-ease for Tamworth parish in 1836. Saint John’s churchyard can still be seen on the right-hand or west side of Hints Lane, walking up from the Tame Otter, just beyond Hopwas Methodist Church.

Saint Chad’s Church, Hopwas, was built on the initiative of the Revd William MacGregor (1848-1937), Vicar of Tamworth (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

The Revd William MacGregor (1848-1937) who was, without doubt, Tamworth’s ultimate ‘champion of the poor’ and the very embodiment of the Victorian ‘slum priest’. He was a curate in Hopwas, outside Tamworth, in 1872-1876, and then Vicar of Saint Matthias’, Liverpool, in 1877-1878. But he returned to Tamworth and the Diocese of Lichfield when he was appointed Vicar of Tamworth in 1878 at the age of 30.

When he was the Vicar of Tamworth (1878-1887), MacGregor gave Saint Editha’s Church a major facelift, had its bells recast, and built two churches, at Glascote and at Hopwas. Saint John’s was too small to cater for the growing population of Hopwas, but when he sought land to build a new church, he was opposed by Sir Robert Peel who argued that the population was not large enough. However, the Revd TK Levett of Packington Hall gave an acre of land as a site for a new church in 1878, and Herbert Dean later gave additional land to ensure the church had an open setting.

The foundation stone was laid in 1879 and Saint Chad’s was consecrated on 23 April 1881 by William Dalrymple Maclagan (1826-1910), Bishop of Lichfield (1878-1891) and later Archbishop of York (1891-1908).

The foundation stone was laid in 1879 and Saint Chad’s was consecrated in 1881 by Bishop William Dalrymple Maclagan of Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

This brick and timber-framed ‘chocolate-box’, Arts and Crafts church on Hopwas Hill is in the shadow of Hopwas Hayes Wood. It has been praised by the architectural historian Sir Nikolaus Pevsner as ‘an ingenious and entertaining building’. It was designed by the architect John Douglas (1830-1911) of Chester and is now a Grade II listed building.

The architect John Douglas (1830-1911) of Chester also designed many of the interior fittings, including the choir stalls, pulpit, pews and sanctuary rail. As an architect, Douglas designed over 500 buildings in Cheshire, North Wales, and north-west England, particularly on the Eaton Hall estate.

Douglas designed 500 or more buildings, built at least 40 new churches or chapels, restored, altered or renovated many more churches, and designed fittings and furniture for the interiors of his churches. His other works include houses, farms, shops, banks, offices, hotels, a hospital, drinking fountains, clocks, schools, public baths, a library, a bridge, an obelisk, cheese factories, and public conveniences. Most of his work was in Cheshire and North Wales, although there are some in Lancashire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Scotland.

Inside Saint Chad’s Church, Hopwas, facing east towards the High Altar, choir and chancel (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

His architectural styles were eclectic. He worked during the period of the Gothic Revival, and much of his works incorporates elements of the English Gothic style. The firm where he trained was at the forefront of the Gothic Revival and both Edmund Sharpe and EG Paley were influenced by the Cambridge Camden Society and by AWN Pugin. Douglas’s first church, Saint John the Evangelist at Over, Winsford, was entirely English Gothic in style.

He was also influenced by European architectural styles and he included French, German and Dutch elements. However, he is probably best remembered for incorporating vernacular elements in his buildings, in particular half-timbering, influenced by the black-and-white revival in Chester. One of his characteristic features is his inclusion of dormer windows rising through the eaves and surmounted by hipped roofs. Other elements include tile-hanging, pargeting and the use of decorative brick in diapering and the design of tall chimney stacks, and his use of joinery and highly detailed wood carving.

Douglas attracted commissions from wealthy landowners and industrialists, especially the Grosvenor family of Eaton Hall. Most of his works have survived, particularly his churches. Chester has a number of his structures, the most admired of which are his half-timbered black-and-white buildings and the Eastgate Clock. The highest concentration of his work is found in the Eaton Hall estate and the surrounding villages of Eccleston, Aldford and Pulford.

Inside Saint Chad’s Church, Hopwas, facing west from the High Altar, choir and chancel (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

John Douglas was born in Sandiway, Cheshire, on 11 April 1830, the second of four children and the only son of John Douglas, a builder, joiner, surveyor and timber merchant from Northampton, and his wife Mary (née Swindley) from Aldford on the Eaton estate in Cheshire. John Douglas senior was a builder and joiner, and also described himself as an architect, surveyor and a timber merchant.

He gained experience in his father’s building yard and workshop before being articled in the 1840s to EG Paley of Sharpe and Paley, architects in Lancaster. He was Paley’s chief assistant until he established his own office at No 6 Abbey Square, Chester, in 1855-1860.

Douglas married Elizabeth Edmunds from Bangor-is-y-Coed, Flintshire, in 1860 in Saint Dunawd’s Church, the village church he later restored, and they were the parents of five children.

He designed four churches and chapels, eight parsonages and large houses for the Duke of Westminster, as well as 15 schools, around 50 farms, about 300 cottages, lodges and smithies, two factories, two inns and about 12 commercial buildings on the Eaton Hall estate, as well as a church and buildings on the Halkyn estate in Flintshire. He also had commissions from the Earl of Sefton, the Earl of Ellesmere, the Marquess of Cholmondeley, Lord Kenyon, and the Gladstone family, including WE Gladstone, and from soap makers such as the Johnsons and WH Lever, the creator of Port Sunlight.

John Douglas designed many of the interior fittings, including the choir stalls, pulpit, pews and sanctuary rail (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

By the time Douglas moved to Chester, the black-and-white revival using half-timbering was well under way, and Douglas came to incorporate this style in his buildings in Chester and elsewhere. Part of his earliest work for the Grosvenor family, the entrance lodge to Grosvenor Park, used half-timbering in its upper storey, the first known use by Douglas of black-and-white.

One of Douglas's most important secular buildings is St Deiniol’s Library, at Hawarden, Flintshire, designed for WE Gladstone and his family. His work in the centre of Chester includes 38 Bridge Street (1897), a timber-framed shop that incorporates a section of Chester Rows and has heavily decorated carving. The architectural historian Edward Hubbard says that ‘in this work, the city’s half-timber revival reached its very apogee’.

Douglas died on 23 May 1911 at Walmoor Hill, the large house he built for himself at Dee Banks, and he was buried at Overleigh Old Cemetery, Chester. Pevsner describes him as ‘the best Cheshire architect’.

he East Window (1890) is probably by Heaton, Butler & Bayne (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

A notice in the church porch reads:

Enter this door
as if the floor within were gold
and every wall of jewels,
all of wealth untold,
as if a choir
in robes were signing here.
Nor shout – nor rush
but hush for
God is here.

Saint Chad’s Church, which Douglas designed in Hopwas, was built by J Deakins. Pevsner says that in its design it is ‘certainly an ingenious and entertaining building’. All the timber is oak. The exterior design resembles a chalet, well suited to the woodland background. The lower walls are reddish pink brick and at the chancel continue up to form a low saddle backed tower topped with an octagonal turret of oak shingles surmounted with a wrought iron cross and weather vane.

Saint Chad’s is built in red brick with timber framing in its upper parts, and has a roof of plain tiles. The church is crowned by an octagonal flèche. Its plan consists of a five-bay nave and a single-bay chancel between which is the flèche, with a vestry to the south and an annex with the organ to the north.

The octagonal stone font at the west end of Saint Chad’s Church, Hopwas (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

The interior consists mainly of buff coloured brick and dark oak. The chancel has a five-light east window with Perpendicular tracery and a square head. The East window by Heaton, Butler & Bayne (1890) depicts the Crucifixion in the centre with the Nativity and Baptism of Christ to the left, and the women at the empty tomb and the road to Emmaus to the right.

The fittings include an octagonal stone font, a carved oak pulpit with stone base and steps, open cusped arches, a wooden altar rail with traceried panels, an oak lectern and oak pews with poppyheads.

The original organ appears to have been pneumatically controlled with the manual on the south side and the pipes installed on the north side. Small pipes were laid in a duct under the floor enabling the keys being pressed to direct wind to the pipes. A small archway in the west side of the organ chamber may have been the access point for the ‘bellows boy’ to provide wind for the organ.

The present organ manual is sunk down 2 ft in front of the priest’s stall with the music coming from the pipes on the north wall behind the choir stalls. The organ was built by the organ builders Hill, Norman & Beard in 1940. It was installed by Herbert Dean in memory of his first wife Esther and was dedicated on 20 May 1940. The organ is being restored after an infestation of wood worm, with the entire organ stripped down, restored and rebuilt.

The organ was built by Hill, Norman & Beard in 1940 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

The war memorial in the churchyard is at the east end of the church. The Celtic cross in Peterhead granite is 3.7 m (12 ft) high with interlace carving, carved wreaths and the names of people who died in World War I and World War II.

As for the Revd William MacGregor, the priest who initiated the building Saint of Chad’s, his initiative in starting the Co-op in Tamworth enraged many business owners in Tamworth. He was abused in the street, damned in letters sent to him, to the Tamworth Herald and to the bishop, and some parishioners stopped going to church in protest.

He resigned as Vicar of Tamworth in 1887 but continued to live in Tamworth, faithful to his beliefs and morals, held in esteem by ordinary working men and women. He sat on Warwickshire County Council (1888-1917) and was chair of the Tamworth Herald (1906-1928). He was 89 when he died on 26 February 1937 at Bolehall Manor; it seems fitting that he was buried at Saint Chad’s Church, Hopwas.

The war memorial in the churchyard at the east end of the church (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

A poster on the noticeboard says:

In happy moments, praise God.
In difficult moments, seek God.
In quiet moments, trust God.
In every moment, thank God.

• Saint Chad’s Church, Hopwas, is part of a benefice that includes Saint Editha’s Church, Tamworth, Saint Francis, Leyfields, and Saint Andrew’s, Kettlebrook, and the Revd Andrew Lythall is the vicar. The Eucharist is celebrated most Sundays at 10:30 am, but occasionally this is replaced with ‘Prayer & Praise’. On a fifth Sunday in the month, a joint service alternates between Saint Chad’s Church and Hopwas Methodist Church.

Sir Niklaus Pevsner describes Saint Chad’s Church, Hopwas, as ‘an ingenious and entertaining building’ (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Daily prayer in Easter 2026: 36, Sunday 10 May 2026, the Sixth Sunday of Easter (Easter VI)

‘Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them’ (John 14: 23) … family homes in Platanias near Rethymnon in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

Easter is a 50-day season, beginning on Easter Day (4 April 2026) and continuing until the Day of Pentecost (24 May 2026), or Whit Sunday. This is the Sixth Sunday of Easter (Easter VI, 10 May 2026).

Later this morning, I hope to sing with the choir at the Parish Eucharist in Saint Mary and Saint Giles Church, Stony Stratford, and to read one of the lessons. But, before today begins, I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, to reflect, to pray and to read in these ways:

1, reading today’s Gospel reading;

2, a short reflection;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;

4, the Collects and Post-Communion prayer of the day.

‘Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you’ (John 14: 27) … a banner in Stony Stratford Methodist Church (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

John 14: 23-29 (NRSVA):

23 Jesus answered him, ‘Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. 24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me.

25 ‘I have said these things to you while I am still with you. 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. 28 You heard me say to you, “I am going away, and I am coming to you.” If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I. 29 And now I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe.’

‘The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you’ (John 14: 26) … lighting candles at Eastertime in the Cathedral in Rethymnon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflections:

The Gospel reading provided in the Lectionary today (John 14: 23-29) continues our readings from the ‘Farewell Discourse’ at the Last Supper in Saint John’s Gospel.

Christ continues to prepare his followers for his departure. Judas, son of James, who is one of the Twelve in Saint Luke’s list of disciples, has asked Jesus how he will reveal himself to them but not to the world (verse 22).

Christ answers, but not directly. In the era to come, when the Father and Son come, separation between God and those who love him will no longer exist (verse 23). Loving Christ implies obeying him. The message Christ brings is ‘from the Father,’ who has sent Christ (verse 24).

Christ’s words will be complemented by the actions of the Holy Spirit (verse 26), who will be the Advocate, or helper and counsellor, to believers. He will cause the disciples to remember what Christ has said, and help them to understand the true significance of Christ’s words and deeds.

Christ gives his followers peace (verse 27), but how is this gift of peace a challenge to the world today?

Pope Leo XIV said recently (16 April 2026): ‘Jesus told us: Blessed are the peacemakers! But woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic or political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth … We must make a decisive change of course — a true conversion — that will lead us in the opposite direction, onto a sustainable path rich in human fraternity. The world is being ravaged by a handful of tyrants, yet it is held together by a multitude of supportive brothers and sisters!’

The former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Williams, spoke out directly about the existence of evil in the world. He was pushed by Freddie Sayers in an interview on UnHerd about what he meant by calling American political culture ‘demonic’.

Rowan Williams had given as an example Pete Hegseth invoking the will of God in the US military campaign against Iran. Sayers asked him whether using the word ‘demonic’, rather than ‘misguided’, ‘not very intelligent’ or ‘making a grave mistake’ was making the former archbishop guilty of demonising his political opponents or suggesting that he is animated by a malign spirit.

‘Animated by a malign spirit,’ Lord Williams confirmed, ‘which is not necessarily Pete Hegseth. I’m rather old fashioned in believing in the Devil. I actually do believe there are malign forces in the universe and that people who may not consciously have malign or diabolical designs can be manipulated and destroyed by those destructive forces.’

Does he believe then, Sayers asked, that the Devil is at work in the Trump administration?

‘The Devil is at work in you and me. The Devil is at work in every institution. Sometimes it comes to the fore more clearly. And at the moment, I worry that something is being normalised, licensed and allowed into the room which ought to be regarded (to put it with Anglican politeness) with considerable suspicion.’

In his Viewpoint column in the Church Times (1 May 2026), Andrew Brown commented: ‘If an archbishop can’t speak intelligently about how evil works in the world, who can? It’s not as if the subject is going to go away.’

As the Collect prays today:

God our redeemer,
you have delivered us from the power of darkness
and brought us into the kingdom of your Son:
grant, that as by his death he has recalled us to life,
so by his continual presence in us he may raise us
to eternal joy;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Christ is risen!
The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia!

‘If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father’ (John 14: 28) … Christ the Pantocrator in the dome in the Church of the Four Martyrs, Rethymnon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Sunday 10 May 2026, Easter VI):

The theme this week (10-16 May 2026) in ‘Pray With the World Church’, the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel) is ‘Parenting with Purpose’ (pp 54-55). This theme is introduced today with a Programme Update from Ella Sibley, former Regional Manager for Europe and Oceania:

Introduced to the Anglican Church of Melanesia in 2011 and supported by USPG, the Positive Parenting programme equips communities across the Solomon Islands with skills in relationship-building, communication, and positive discipline. It addresses domestic violence, child abuse, substance abuse, and broken families - issues affecting over two-thirds of women and girls in the Pacific.

Recently, a training course at Good Shepherd, North Guadalcanal, brought together facilitators from local parishes in Temotu to explore family cycles, behaviour change, child development, and protection. Through participatory exercises such as the Trust Walk, participants experienced firsthand the importance of trust and mutual support between parents and children.

For Sandra Rollands, the goal is clear: to build safer, stronger, and more nurturing families by equipping local leaders to support parents in their communities. Rooted in the Church’s mission of demonstrating God’s love in action, the Positive Parenting Programme is both practical and deeply spiritual. With 54 trained facilitators ready to take these lessons back to their parishes, Sandra hopes the seeds sown will grow into resilient families, thriving communities, and, as she says, ‘Happy families form a happy community and consequently, a happy nation.’

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Sunday 10 May 2026, Easter VI, International Mother’s Day) invites us to pray:

Heavenly Father, we give thanks for mothers and maternal figures everywhere. Bless each one with wisdom, patience, and love as they nurture children and strengthen family units.

The Collect:

God our redeemer,
you have delivered us from the power of darkness
and brought us into the kingdom of your Son:
grant, that as by his death he has recalled us to life,
so by his continual presence in us he may raise us
to eternal joy;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Post-Communion Prayer:

God our Father,
whose Son Jesus Christ gives the water of eternal life:
may we thirst for you,
the spring of life and source of goodness,
through him who is alive and reigns, now and for ever.

Additional Collect:

Risen Christ,
by the lakeside you renewed your call to your disciples:
help your Church to obey your command
and draw the nations to the fire of your love,
to the glory of God the Father.

Yesterday’s Reflections

Continued Tomorrow

‘God our redeemer, you have delivered us from the power of darkness’ (the Collect) … sunset in Rethymnon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org