How much quality time do we spend with our children? How much of our busy schedules are given over to playing, reading, talking, sharing meals with our families? With Fathers Day in mind - and the recent UNICEF report highlighting the UK’s failure to interact  with our children - we talked to some dads about what it’s like to be a dad in 21st Century Britain, and look at what churches can do to encourage fatherhood. 

Sitting at Sunday lunch a few weeks’ ago one of my two sons said to me ‘Dad, are you busy working like usual this afternoon…or…have you got time for us to go for a bike ride?’ What could I say? I made time to go cycling from our house on the edge of Mansfield onto the tracks up to Sherwood Pines, reflecting as I rode along about our conversation. Do I always appear to be too busy? Should and could I make more time for my boys? asks Nick Harding, Diocesan Children’s Officer….

Market Decision

There was a time when you just walked round to a local shop to buy your produce which was duly wrapped in brown paper and popped into your string bag. Now buying food has become a bit of a hot potato. Not only do we have celebrity chefs telling us to choose the healthier option, we are also faced with other dilemmas. Is the food fairly traded? Is it organic or free range? How many “food miles” has it travelled?  As Christians should we take these issues seriously? Should we find out if the people who have produced our food are being paid fairly and whether we are damaging the environment by buying items that have travelled half way round the world? Balancing one principle against the other is not always easy, says Liz Jones.

Traidcraft, for many years a pioneer, cites itself as the leading fair trade organisation in the world with a mission to fight poverty through trade. Supported historically through parish church communities it was, at one time, associated with coffee that was dull as ditch water and a myriad of jute angels to hang on your Christmas tree! Now with its sophisticated teas and coffees, divine chocolate, attractive cards and luscious jewellery and clothes, it’s a force to be reckoned with….

The Specialists

Jo Foster investigates the ancient crafts of stone-masonry and stained glass artists...

Next time you walk amongst the ornate stone columns and peer up at the multi-coloured windows of an ancient building take a moment to appreciate the skills of the craftsmen who originally put them there.

Fortunately there are still artisans around to continue the work of their predecessors, and if you decide to visit Southwell Minster over the summer you will notice scaffolding erected around the Tower in readiness for specialist repairs to the roof. These include the restoration of aging masonry blasted by centuries of wind and weather, which now need remedial work to be undertaken by skilled stonemasons.

Thanks to a Tower Restoration Appeal by the Cathedral, supported by English Heritage, a budget of £195,000 has been earmarked just for masonry repairs alone. Three specialist stonemasonry firms have tendered for the work (as specified by English Heritage) and the company winning the contract will complete the work by the end of this year, bringing to a close a phase of restoration work around the Cathedral which began in 1992….

Counsel of Courage

An unexpected pregnancy can easily become a crisis and decisions need to be made quickly that can have lifelong consequences. At least one third of British women have had an abortion by the age of forty-five. Evidence shows that there are adverse side effects post-abortion on both the individual and their family, and underlines the importance of pre-abortion counselling. C meets a group of volunteers who have set up a special centre to help women at this extremely vulnerable time. 

Like the twelve disciples, the dozen volunteers who run Nottingham’s Pregnancy Crisis Centre are from different backgrounds. Church traditions and life-skills are also diverse and add to the experience available to those who come to them for help. The centre is a registered charity based in the ground floor of a Victorian semi on Castle Boulevard, and began life as all the best enterprises do, with a vision….

My Story – Trading Places

The sparse and limited availability of food Phil and Elaine Barlow had experienced in Tanzania proved to be so much of a contrast with the abundance and choice in Tescos on their return that they had to leave with just bread and milk. It was two weeks before they could adjust enough to cope with a visit to the supermarket. Here Phil, a churchwarden at St Paul’s, Carlton tells the story of how he and his wife became involved with fighting against third world injustices…