Henderson, The Rev'd Dr. Nicholas

Of Parsons and their People

Of Parsons and their People

In his Editorial appropriately for All Hallows Eve, the Editor writes: The word parson, now largely close to archaic usage, was historically an informal noun used of Anglican Protestant clergy in particular. It comes from the Middle English persone meaning ‘the person’ because the parson was legally viewed as the ‘official person’ representing the church in the community. ... However, the close relationship between minister and people has, in recent decades, been dismantled as the Church of England has centralised and become burdened with bureaucracy as parishes have been, closed, altered and amalgamated – sometimes to ridiculous extent, way beyond the capacity of any personal oversight. ... CLICK ON PICTURE TO ACCESS FULL ARTICLE

2026-10-27T23:54:05+00:00By Henderson, The Rev'd Dr. Nicholas|Tags: Laity, Parsons|

In whose image … Editorial

In whose image … Editorial

In his September Editorial, the Rev'd Dr. Nicholas Henderson writes: ‘So God created humankind in his own image …’ Genesis 1 verse 27. From the Christian reading of this extract from the first of the two accounts of creation the verse in Genesis has a contemporary feel. ... In a Christian interpretation the consequence of this identification of humans with God emerges as one of a torturous relationship; not least as depicted in the Old Testament, where God himself is not portrayed as being particularly likeable. ... Suddenly and almost unexpectedly a new Promethium moment has emerged with the realisation in that what we currently call the increasingly sophisticated algorithms and computer programmes namely ‘Artificial Intelligence’ is taking on a life of its own. ... The only thing that is clear is that we made it and it is created in our own image. CLICK ON PICTURE TO CONTINUE

2026-09-15T15:53:22+00:00By Henderson, The Rev'd Dr. Nicholas|Tags: Philosophy|

Editorial: Things are ‘hotting’ up …

Editorial: Things are ‘hotting’ up …

In his July Editorial The Rev'd Dr. Nicholas Henderson writes: This year now has a rising 35% chance of exceeding the previous record of 2024 and becoming the hottest year ever recorded. The prospect of a ‘Super El Niño’ exacerbates this and increases the likelihood of an even hotter 2027 that will exceed the 1.5 degree ‘safe’ rise in temperature of the 2015 ‘Paris Agreement’. Pretty well everything that has been predicted by climate scientists from forest fires to extreme droughts and exceptional flooding is unfolding before our eyes. Europe, apparently heating at twice the rate of other areas, is at the time of writing particularly affected with unprecedented heat and drought. The political response has been, to coin a phrase, tepid at best and hostile at worst. ... CLICK ON PICTURE TO CONTINUE

2026-07-28T10:14:17+00:00By Henderson, The Rev'd Dr. Nicholas|Tags: Politics|

Straight talking. Editorial, Easter 4, Good Shepherd Sunday

Straight talking. Editorial, Easter 4, Good Shepherd Sunday

In his Easter 4 Editorial, the Editor, The Rev'd Dr. Nicholas Henderson writes: The ongoing war centred around the Strait of Hormuz and related much-wider conflicts in the Middle East have been described to me by my Lebanese contacts who are suffering severe collateral damage, as the Trump/Netanyahu Wars. The conflict is of course has many more players, but the newish Pope Leo XIV courageously pointed during a visit to Cameroon out that the world was "being ravaged by a handful of tyrants." This appears to have been prompted by Donld Trump’s threat “that a whole civilisation will die” if Iran did not agree to US demands to end the war and open the Strait of Hormuz. The Pope subsequently stated that his ‘tyrants’ speech was not aimed at Trump as he explained further the background to the narrative. Such are the unfortunate complications associated with a powerful and unpredictable American President where traditional forms of diplomacy are redundant. ... CLICK ON PICTURE TO CONTINUE

2026-04-22T22:16:44+00:00By Henderson, The Rev'd Dr. Nicholas|Tags: Politics, War & Peace|

Is the Iran War actually a religious one?

Is the Iran War actually a religious one?

The Rev'd Dr. Nicholas Henderson (Editor) write in his Lenten Editorial: The Trumpian concept of regime change is more or less evidenced as a reason for the recent and ongoing unleashing of a huge onslaught on Iran. This rapidly expanding confrontation, which has already resulted in hundreds, if not thousands, of extra deaths following the recent bloody Iranian suppression of demonstrations against the current regime, seems to be running out of control. ... CLICK ON PICTURE TO CONTINUE

2026-03-13T13:42:03+00:00By Henderson, The Rev'd Dr. Nicholas|Tags: War & Peace|

A new Archbishop and a new agenda?

A new Archbishop and a new agenda?

In his Editorial for the beginning of Lent, the Editor, The Rev'd Dr. Nicholas Henderson writes: So, thus far the new Archbishop of Canterbury has been through three of the four stages of appointment. ... Sarah Mullaly is therefore already legally Archbishop of Canterbury despite not yet having been enthroned. Thus, there is no longer any hiding of views and/or direction of leadership. ... CLICK ON PICTURE TO CONTINUE

2026-03-13T13:42:27+00:00By Henderson, The Rev'd Dr. Nicholas|Tags: Sex & Sexuality|

Editorial: A truth universally acknowledged … too many dictators

Editorial: A truth universally acknowledged … too many dictators

The Editor - The Rev'd Dr. Nicholas Henderson writes in his Advent Editorial - To plagiarise Jane Austen’s opening remark in her Pride & Prejudice: “It is a truth universally acknowledged …”. It is then a fact, reluctantly acknowledged by the Church, that the Christmas Season nowadays starts somewhere around the Feast of the Transfiguration 6th August and is over just after Christmas dinner....However, near universal popular sentiment does not necessarily equate to any outcome that might reflect the views of the people. CLICK ON PICTURE TO CONTINUE ...

2025-12-08T18:14:27+00:00By Henderson, The Rev'd Dr. Nicholas|Tags: Politics|

More tea Archbishop? – Editorial a new Archbishop of Canterbury

More tea Archbishop? – Editorial a new Archbishop of Canterbury

The Editor: The Rev'd Dr. Nicholas Henderson writes: The appointment of a woman as the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury is to be welcomed. Apart from those in the more conservative wings of the Church, the choice of someone with two copies of the X chromosome is nowadays of little or no consequence. The Rt Rev’d and Rt Hon Dame Sarah Mullally the current Bishop of London fits the bill. ... She has, of course, an impossible job specification. ... “How is it that the Roman Catholics can elect a Pope in two days of conclave, whilst it has taken the Church of England almost a year?” A fair question asked of this author, who was bound to reply “… but the Archbishop of Canterbury isn’t a Pope.” Indeed far from it, the post-Reformation settlement that led eventually to the wider Anglican Communion with the Church of England having the monarch as its Supreme Governor was as a result of Protestants looking carefully at their bibles and being unconvinced of a Petrine succession. ... CLICK ON PICTURE TO CONTINUE

2025-10-05T19:11:44+00:00By Henderson, The Rev'd Dr. Nicholas|Tags: Culture & Faith|

Are Archbishops becoming an endangered species?

Are Archbishops becoming an endangered species?

Editorial for the Feast of SS Peter & Paul. The Editor, The Rev'd Dr. Nicholas Henderson asks: "Are Archbishops becoming an endangered species?" The Archbishop of the Church in Wales has become the latest Archbishop to resign. This has come, in what must seem to many, to be confusing and complicated circumstances surrounding events at Bangor Cathedral. It was only earlier this year that the then Archbishop of Canterbury relinquished his position early over the Makin Report, a resignation for which latterly he has expressed some misgivings. One could add former Archbishops to the list who in the last few years have ended their tenure and then lost their permissions to officiate, again for rather confusing and complicated reasons. ... In this respect do we really need an Archbishop? CLICK ON PICTURE to continue.

2025-07-05T12:58:23+00:00By Henderson, The Rev'd Dr. Nicholas|Tags: Culture & Faith|

Editorial: Are we our own worst enemy?

Editorial: Are we our own worst enemy?

The Editor: the Rev'd Dr. Nicholas Henderson writes in his Lent editorial: So, a potentially ‘level-3’ threat asteroid is heading towards us at 38,000 mph with a 3.1% chance of hitting the earth. Increasingly, sophisticated astronomical observations are spotting more potential rock-like visitors coming from the region between the planets Mars and Jupiter and sometimes further afield still. Dystopian disaster movies and a better understanding of the ancient ages of the earth, on news of space debris coming our way, are always mindful of the epoch and evolutionary changing possibilities of another Dinosaur like extinction event. These usually resolve the crisis by sending a rocket to blow the culprit to smithereens (not wise) or much better to nudge a change in its trajectory. Interestingly, this latter scenario has been tried out successfully raising hopes for a safer future. Safer for what, we might reply? Very likely the rocket rescue concerned might come from a multi-billionaire with seemingly a huge amount of non-elected power. The same kind of power that could potentially turn off satellite navigation on a whim and plunge nations of the world into even more chaos. ... CLICK ON PICTURE TO CONTINUE

2025-03-17T12:52:21+00:00By Henderson, The Rev'd Dr. Nicholas|Tags: War & Peace|