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Pray| Showing page 38 of 52 1... 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 ...52 | Last update: Wednesday 25th March |
| The statistics in the UK Christian Handbook: Religious Trends, paint a lamentable picture. Church membership across Britain could fall to 5,598,000 by 2005 according to current trends - down by more than a million people in 15 years. | |
| Church | The Church of England Newspaper - 25th March 2004 |
| Jehovah's Witnesses have gained ground in Poland while the predominant Roman Catholic Church has lost members, new data from the country's main statistical office shows. The data shows that 124,300 Poles are now members of the Jehovah's Witnesses, compared to 79,000 belonging to the country's largest Protestant denomination, the Evangelical Augsburg (Lutheran) church. In its report, the Statistics Office said the Roman Catholic Church remained by far the largest religious group, with more than 10,000 parishes and 28,000 priests serving 34.4 million members. However, the data noted the proportion of Catholics had fallen during the 1990s from 95 to 90 per cent of Poland's 38.6 million people. | |
| Religion/Spirituality | Reform - April 2004 |
| A major piece of research has just been completed with Pilot's, the URC's non-uniformed organisation for children and young people. Funding from the Department for Education and Skills allowed for a questionnaire to go to roughly 500 Voyagers (11-14 year olds) and Navigators (15-18 year olds) last year. Around 60 per cent responded. Given that 70 per cent of Pilots are from a non-church background and that many churches struggle to retain young people in these age groups this research reveals that Pilots can be a brilliant option for retaining young people and creating positive and sustained relationships between them, their families, and local congregations. 91 per cent attend their Pilots Company every week, whilst 29 per cent attend worship every Sunday. This suggests that, whilst regular Sunday attendance is far less attractive, Pilots provides the weekly link with a church. 40 per cent have joined Pilots in the last 2 years and 38 per cent have been in Pilots for 2-5 years, with 22 per cent being members for longer than 5 years. Pilots is allowing churches and young people to stay together for years. The top ten things (in order) that they like best about Pilots are: Playing Games, Meeting friends, Learning and worshipping God, Making new friends, Doing crafts, Attending trips and camps, Everything, Learning about other countries, Helping others, Sport. | |
| Church | Reform - April 2004 |
| The latest findings by Continental Research which shows that nearly two-thirds of the UK population has access to the internet, with 54 per cent of the total adult UK population having access to the internet from home. Additionally 38 per cent have access from work or college with some overlap from those who have work and home access. The net number of people in the UK who access the internet from any of these locations is 29 million or 60 per cent of the adult population. The platform is enhanced further as broadband connections over the last two years, have lept from 750,000 homes in 2002 to a current figure of 3.6 million homes. Listening to radio via the web, according to the research, is the ninth most popular activity when measured amongst those who had made purchases on line. 2.3 million or 9 per cent of all those that have made on line purchases listened to the radio via the web. This is supported by the latest Rajar which shows a 30 per cent increase in internet listening in the 12 months to December 2003. Continental say, nearly one in three of the total UK adult population are now online consumers. | |
| Entertainment | The Radio Magazine - 21st February 2004 |
| "Despite persecution, the Christian church in Southern Sudan continues to grow from 5 per cent of the population in 1960 to perhaps 70 per cent in 2000, with the growth figure amongst evangelical Christians running at 20 per cent compared to 6 per cent overall." SUDAN - The Facts, Population - 33.6 million (UN, 2003) Capital - Khartoum Major Languages - Arabic, Nubian, others Major Religions - Islam, Christianity Life Expectancy - 54 years (men), 57 years (women) (UN) Monetary Unit - 1 dinar = 10 Sudanese pounds Main Exports - Oil, cotton, sesame, livestock and hides,gum arabic Average Annual Income - US $340 (World Bank, 2001) | |
| Religion/Spirituality | Enough - Issue 6 2004 |
| "Brethren assemblies are in decline. 1,106 churches in 1998 represents a significant reduction from the 1,356 extant in 1990 - a rate of closure of 30 churches per year. Membership of the movement is now said to be between 50,000 and 65,000 people, compared with perhaps double that 50 years ago. These are worrying statistics; and, with 35 per cent of congregations currently having three fifths of members over the age of 60, the decline could be much greater in decades to come. But the figures are not all gloom. There are some heartening findings, especially when the data is split into three strands: small churches (the 35 per cent of churches with less than 30 members), large churches (the 23 per cent with more than 70 members), and the rest. Though the mean small church is said to be in terminal decline, the mean large church is growing. 17 per cent of all congregations now have over 100 members and 14 of the responding churches had over 200. | |
| Church | Now - March 2004 |
| "If you don't learn from suffering it's worthless. I think suffering hones the spirit. I don't think it makes you nicer". (Actress Jane Lapotaire, after her brain haemorrahage) | |
| What famous people say | Third Way - April 2004 |
| "When she had her tonsils out, I had to be there - but not for this. The clinic told me it was confidential." (The Mum who found out about her 15-year-old daughter's abortion by reading her diary). | |
| Family | Third Way - April 2004 |
| "I will give my loyalty to the United Kingdom and respect its right and freedoms. I will uphold its democratic values. I will observe its laws faithfully and fulfil my duties and obligations as a British citizen." (The new British citizenship pledge for immigrants). | |
| Odd Facts | Third Way - April 2004 |
| "UN World Water facts;" * Despite the earth being 70 per cent water, freshwater ecosystems only cover one per cent of the Earth's surface. * A billion people do not have access to safe water. * Two billion people do not have access to adequate sanitation. * Three million people die each year from easily preventable water related diseases. * By 2025 it is estimated 3.5 billion people will experience water shortages. * Of the 19 countries labelled "water stressed" most are in Africa. * Human and industrial waste, fertilisers, sewage and pesticides - to name but a few - are contaminating the world's water. * Global warming and deforestation are causing sea water levels to rise resulting in droughts and floods. * An estimated 34 per cent of all fish species are threatened by extinction. * About 25,000 people die daily from hunger, 6,000 die daily from diarrhoea and 815 million people are suffering from malnutririon. | |
| Social Issues | Scottish Catholic Observer - March 19th 2004 |
| According to a study of 14,000 people in Finland, coffee can prevent women getting diabetes. The Sunday Times reports that women who drink vast amounts of coffee (10 or more cups a day) have their risk of developing diabetes cut by a whopping 79 per cent. For men the drop is less, but still impressive at 55 per cent. | |
| Health | England on Sunday - March 18th 2004 |
| 70 per cent of the Sri Lankan population is Buddhist, 15 per cent Hindu, and just 8 per cent Christian. | |
| Religion/Spirituality | Joy - April 2004 |
| Less than three per cent of all single parents are under 20, while the average age of a single parent is 35. | |
| Family | Baptist Times - March 18th 2004 |
| A report funded by Oxfam titled Hard Times stated: Peak District farmers... earn just £7,482 per annum and work on average 58 hours a week... they earn about £2.50 an hour, which is almost £2 below the legal minimum hourly wage level. | |
| Money | Salvationist - 20th March 2004 |
| According to a report conducted for Kellogg's Nutri-Grain Minis by leading child psychologist Dr Pat Spungin, more than 40 per cent of parents are worried about their children's sharing habits. The survey found that: The sharing habits of children are wildly different according to age, but not by gender. Sharing is something which is learnt. Older children are therefore better at sharing than their younger siblings. 62 per cent of parents expect their children to share by the age of three and 22 per cent expect younger children to know how to share, though many psychologists think this is too early. Most fights about sharing centre on television programmes and toys. 43 per cent of parents think that having more material possessions makes children less inclined to share. Eight out of ten parents believe it's their responsibility to teach their child about sharing. This figure is highest for the parents of only children, who believe that sharing is not learnt from experience (with brothers and sisters) but is taught by mothers and fathers. The eldest child often engages in unequal sharing, sometimes because of special pleading. First-born children often take charge of sharing out. | |
| Family | The War Cry - 20th March 2004 |
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