Elaine Storkey
Church Times
22 articles filed under Church Times.
2013
The Clash of Civilizations and the Plight of Christians
This autumn marks the 20th anniversary of Samuel Huntington’s perceptive essay ‘The Clash of Civilizations’. Arguing that in Europe the ‘Velvet curtain of culture has replaced the Iron…
No need for protection
Some years ago I was in Amsterdam to speak in an enormous celebration of Christian ecumenism. I breakfasted each day with a Catholic monk who was on his way to serve a community in the…
Justice That The G8 Summit Can Bring
This was written for the Church Times in May 2013 Our world can provide enough food for everyone, yet one in every eight people on this planet goes to bed hungry. The problem is intensified…
A Moral Issue That Challenges Us
This was written for the Church Times in February 2013 Gender has been very much on the global agenda over the last few weeks. The ‘One Billion Rising’ demonstrations across the world on…
2012
Sentencing the Violator
This was written for the Church Times in December 2012 The review of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, published last week, signifies a new breadth of awareness about crimes of sexual…
The Cost of Courage
This was written for the Church Times in October 2012 It only takes one shocking event to reveal to the world the ordeals suffered by human beings who struggle daily under oppression. That…
Telling Another’s Story
This was written for the Church Times in May 2012 Many years of communicating had not prepared me for writing a biography. It is a sobering task to tell someone else’s story faithfully. I…
Public honour – Private horror
This was written for the Church Times in March 2012 The dramatic suicide of 16 year old Amina Filali who drank rat poison rather than suffer ongoing brutality, has rightly brought Moroccan…
2011
The Odd God of Atheism
This was written for the Church Times in January 2011 Meeting a former university colleague I noticed with interest how some of his previous views had changed. This wasn’t surprising, for…
2010
Big Profits from Cheap relationships
This was written for the Church Times in January 2010. Some people’s New Year Resolution is to find more exciting relationships. At least that is what we are told by online dating agencies…
Hope for Haiti
This was written for the Church Times in January 2010. The devastating earthquake has brought Haiti’s needs into the consciousness of millions. A neglected half-island in the Caribbean…
2009
Abuse is Not Intimacy
This was written for the Church Times in September 2009. Years ago, I was challenged at the end of a talk to make a response to St Peter’s insistence that women are the ‘weaker vessel’ (1…
More than Justice
This was written for the Church Times in May 2009. So which of us has not backed the Gurkha campaign, or nodded consent every time Joanna Lumley spelt out their case? For weeks, the public…
Lost Childhoods
It has been interesting to read the figures on teenage pregnancies in the light of the recent report commissioned by the Children’s Society. In discussing childhood struggles today, A Good…
Prophets and Priests
This was written for the Church Times in January 2009. The forecasters have been out in force for 2009. Predictably, what they see in store for us in the coming year is gloomy, whether we…
2008
A Question of Access
This was written for the Church Times August 2008 Having spent a couple of months on crutches, after a ligament injury in my knee, I’ve been particularly tuned in to how people relate to…
Dangerous Truth
This was written for the Church Times in June 2008 In the Church we have an ambivalent attitude towards journalists. Blame of the media is almost a mantra – especially for its obsession…
Loss of Trust
This was written for the Church Times in January 2008 Issues of trust are cropping up all over the place, mostly involving the lack of it. We fear we may not be able to trust banks with our…
2007
Gathering the Resolve
This was written for the church times August 2007 Nearly 30,000 people were at the Big Green Gathering in Somerset. Coming by car was discouraged, parking charges were heavy, and the whole…
Death at Easter
This was written for the Church Times in March 2007 Murder has been very much in the news over the last weeks. A man stabbed in a flat in Rhyl, a beautiful young woman visiting Japan found…
2006
Conflict in Thailand
This was written for the Church Times in September 2006. It was something of a coincidence that a trip to Thailand for an International Consultation on Conflict should end with a military…
2005
Not Forgiving Debts
This was written for the Church Times February 2005 The debt forgiveness campaign has taken a steady move forward this week with the G8 summit and its commitment in principle to cancel…