Search results for: 'feeling thi'
- Emma Collins
- 23 Dec 2020
How to keep yourself busy this Christmas
If you're facing Christmas alone, or need some inspiration for keeping busy this Christmas we hope that this list of activities will help to put your mind at ...
- Emma Collins
- 7 May 2020
Publishing in a Pandemic - How is Ready to Rise helping to empower readers during this time
Jo Saxton's book Ready to Rise is hitting the shelves and virtual shelves at an unprecedented time of global crisis. Naturally, Jo didn't have a global pandemic in mind when she put pen to paper, but readers have told her that they feel this book is empowering them for this moment. We catch up with Jo in this Q&A and find out her ...
- Laura Barry
- 7 Mar 2024
Share Your Love of Reading this World Book Day!
Share your love of reading this World Book Day! With over half of children saying they don't enjoying reading, it's more important than ever to support children in learning how to love reading. We've compiled some of our bestselling children's books we know children and young readers will ...
- Emma Collins
- 4 Mar 2021
'A challenged world is an alert world and from challenge comes change'
#ChoosetoChallenge is this year's theme for International Women's Day. With this mind, we are sharing an extract from Josephine Butler: A Very Brief History. Josephine challenged social attitudes to women and campaigned for women's rights. In this extract, author Jane Robinson tells us about Josephine's far-reaching influence, and how one of her ...
- Laura Barry
- 4 Aug 2023
SPCK Authors at Satellites
Join Gemma Hunt, author of See! Let's Be A Good Friend and See! Let's Be Me, and Lauren Windle, author of Notes on Love and Notes on Feminism at ...
- Sarah Head
- 29 May 2018
Making the Bible Engaging for Children
How do you take an ancient and complex book and make it accessible and interesting for children? Our children's editor, Juliet, shares some of the challenges . . ...
Independent Bookshop Week - a chat with The Christian Bookshop in Birkenhead
As part of Independent Bookshop Week, we are featuring interviews with, well, independent bookshops!
We chatted with The Christian Bookshop in Birkenhead about reviews, social media, comfy shoes, and – of course – books!
The Christian Bookshop, 14 Grange Road West, Birkenhead, Wirral CH41 4DATel: 0151 647 ...
- authise authise
- 18 Jun 2018
From bookseller to sales rep - Julian Gittings interview
Continuing on with our participation in Independent Bookshop Week, we chatted with Julian Gittings about how his work as a bookseller prepared him to work as a sales ...
Be kind to yourself
We all struggle. We all hurt. We all fail. We all make mistakes.
What matters is how we respond when we face difficulty and ...
Our Evening With Terry Waite
Terry Waite stands six foot seven inches tall. He has white hair, a white beard, and kind brown eyes. His handshake is gentle and he is deeply humble and considerate.
The SPCK team hosted Terry Waite at Westminster Abbey’s Cloisters on 19 July. He read from Out of the Silence, his collection of poetry and reflections, and Solitude, his ...
The Wright Momentum Continues
Through the month of July, we’ve been looking at more ways to read the Bible. We don’t always read it chronologically. We follow the guidance of a Bible study group, of a church leader, and of our families. We listen to our own needs, looking to certain passages or themes in times of difficulty and ...
A chat with Sharon Moughtin-Mumby of Diddy Disciples
We chatted with Sharon Moughtin-Mumby about the principles of Diddy Disciples, her programme for younger children that grounds them in faith and encourages curiosity, compassion for others, personal expression, and ...
- Naomi Shakespeare
- 14 Aug 2018
Christianity and poetry – how they often go together
We are all familiar with poetry of some kind. Most likely even studied an anthology or two at school. Maybe you know a poem by heart. But how much do we really know about poetry in the Bible?
Believe it or not, at least one third of the Christian Bible (and three quarters of the Hebrew Bible) is poetry. The majority of the Old Testament was ...
The Poetry Of Terry Waite
On 19 July, we held an event with Terry Waite, where he spoke about his books Out of the Silence and Solitude. He spoke with great humility, kindness, and compassion. Many in attendance were young when he was captured and detained. They prayed for his release.
On our blog today, Terry has chosen some of his favourite poems from Out of the Silence, ...
The story you need to tell
“Only a smile, only a word, only a kindness done.A brief exchange, a little light from one to one.”
- John McLeod, Appreciation Poems
As Too Soon, a mother’s journey through miscarriage, is published today, I wanted to share my motivation for writing the book and my hopes for it. When I endured the horror of four consecutive ...
Helping the Helper
10 September is World Suicide Prevention Day.
When one person intervenes and saves another from suicide, the support can go to the person who wanted to end their life. More care and attention must go to the helper. Here, Tim Cantopher blogs about helping someone who has prevented another person’s ...
A Chat with Jessie Faerber
We’ve picked I Thought There Would Be Cake as our book club read this month.
Jessie Faerber, author of More Than Just Pretty, had lots of thoughts to share about this powerful ...
God values who we are
Liz Carter, author of the forthcoming Catching Contentment, shares her thoughts on our book club pick I Thought There Would Be Cake by Katharine ...
I thought there would be cake too!
Tim Gough is the author of Rebooted, which looks to the Bible to reframe how youth ministry works for our generation. We gave him a copy of I Thought There Would Be Cake, our book club read for this month, and he had lots to ...
National Doodle Day - A Chat with Thea Baker
On National Doodle Day, we chat with Thea Baker, who illustrated The Shepherd Who Couldn’t Sing by Alan Barker, about her work as an ...
SPCK Assemblies are perfect for teachers on World Teachers' Day
SPCK Assemblies are a great resource for teachers to use with their students.
We chatted with Rebecca Parkinson about the assemblies she's been working on.
Happy ...
Restricted Diet? Mindfulness Lends a Helping Hand
Catherine G Lucas is the author of four books on the holistic approach to mental health. Her latest in the Sheldon Press Mindful Way series is out now: Life Crisis: the Mindful Way. In her writing, Catherine draws on both her personal and professional experience, as a mindfulness trainer. Her one-day retreat on Kindfulness & Nutrition: ...
Catching up with Alexa Tewkesbury
Alexa Tewkesbury chats with us for #WorldAnimalDay about children’s books, her love of animals, and the things we can do to protect ...
Wave of Light - Baby Loss Awareness Week
It was only two years ago that I found the Wave of Light on Facebook. Now in its sixteenth year, on the 15th of October women who have miscarried are encouraged to light a candle to commemorate their lost ones, posting their photos on social media with the hashtag #WaveofLight. I joined in, lighting a single stubby candle in honour of my four, ...
What Not To Say When Someone Has Experienced A Miscarriage
It's World Mental Health Day today.
The loss of a baby can cause unimaginable pain and grief.
We might think we can understand what someone else is going through, but we don’t know.
Jane Clamp considers what to say and what not to say when someone has lost a baby in early ...
5 Questions for Catherine Fox
Continuing on with our #NaNoWriMo theme, we caught up with Catherine Fox and chatted about writing, books, and ...
Rev Dr Mark Davidson's reflections on Remembrance Sunday
Rev Dr Mark Davidson, author of War Cries, is on our blog today for Remembrance ...
Joseph and the Bully Boys
Fiona Veitch Smith is on our blog for Anti Bullying Week. Why do people bully and what can be done to address it? ...
Prayer as a form of self-care
Gemma Simmonds, author of The Way of Ignatius, is on our blog for self care week, discussing how prayer is as essential to self-care as healthy eating, good sleep, regular exercise, and time with friends and ...
Caring for yourself whilst you care for others
Dr Jennifer Bute, author of the new book Dementia From The Inside, was once a missionary doctor in Africa, and later a GP and educator for 25 years until she developed dementia. Jennifer had to resign from her work but realised understanding dementia from the inside was a ‘glorious opportunity’. Now Jennifer is much in demand as a ...
Alexa Tewkesbury's 3 wishes for all children
Alexa Tewkesbury has written several children’s books for us. It seems only fitting that she’d be on our blog for World Children’s Day, sharing her wishes for today’s ...
#IDPWD2018: how can we make life and church more inclusive for people with disabilities?
3 December is International Day of Persons with Disabilities. Roy McCloughry, author of The Enabled Life, blogs for us about how we can be inclusive of people with ...
5 Questions for Stephen Cottrell
Stephen Cottrell, author of The Sleepy Shepherd, chats with us about books, writing, and his plans for ...
Books change the way we look at life
Sarah Meyrick shares her thoughts about writing her upcoming novel The Restless ...
The deeply personal nature of poetry
Terry Waite’s new book Travels with a Primate will publish in February 2019. He’s on our blog to discuss Out of the Silence, his deeply moving and personal collection of poetry and ...
The peace that passes all understanding
Has your therapist or acupuncturist ever encouraged you to develop a mindfulness practice? Do you sit in front of YouTube tutorials and wonder if you’re doing it right? Do you feel frustrated because you’re afraid that you’ve done it wrong?
You’re not alone.
Christopher Dines talks us through mindfulness. There is no right ...
Gemma Simmonds on things she'd tell her younger self
Gemma Simmonds is a religious sister of the Congregation of Jesus. She began her ministry teaching at secondary level in the UK and went on from there to missionary work among women and street children in Brazil. She trained in Christian spirituality at the Ignatian spirituality centre in Wernersville, USA and this led to work as a retreat giver ...
What Not To Say To Someone Who Has Been Subjected To Abuse
4 – 10 February is Sexual Abuse and Sexual Violence Awareness Week.
Natalie Collins, author of Out of Control, shares what to not say to someone who has been subjected to ...
Struggling to find space? Follow Jesus into the desert.
The desert is a vast and beautiful. The colours of the sky and the sand and the piercing blue against the reds and the yellow, are intense. A few years ago, on an 8 days retreat in the Egyptian desert, three days of which were solitary and fasting, I was struck by the space and sheer beauty of the desert.
It was a struggle to get away, with four ...
- authise authise
- 8 Mar 2019
I'm a bit like a mosquito
On International Women's Day, Hope Rising 365 author Meg Cannon is on the blog to talk about the women whose wisdom and wonder inspire Meg ...
- authise authise
- 3 Apr 2019
Schools assemblies can be fun!
Do you remember your school assemblies? I do, and how I wish I would forget some of them! We had one teacher, who would insist on taking Monday morning assemblies. Sure, you might think that he should be applauded for stepping up and taking on the task that no one else wanted.
But you would be ...
- authise authise
- 5 Apr 2019
Prayer Experiment Activity
What do you think of when you think of prayer? For a lot of people, it brings up images of being told to sit still and close their eyes while someone else ‘says a prayer’; or of reciting words from a page.
Miranda Threlfall-Holmes, author of The Prayer Experiment series, teaches a fun prayer experiment to try with your ...
- authise authise
- 16 Apr 2019
Q&A with Simon Barrington
In celebration of World Voice Day, we caught up with Simon Barrington, co-author of Leading - The Millennial Way which is out this Thursday. Pre-order your copy ...
- authise authise
- 7 Jun 2019
Q&A with Debbie Flood
SPCK’s Partnerships Director, Primavera Quantrill, spoke to Olympic Rower Debbie ...
- authise authise
- 22 Jul 2019
16 and a Half Ways to Upgrade Your Faith
We’ve all been there. One minute we’re sky-high in our relationship with God, and the next we’re questioning whether he’s listening to us at all. But what if there was a way to get past the ups and downs? Youth Pastor Bob Wallington suggests ways to help us maintain a relationship with God in his book 16 and a Half ...
- authise authise
- 5 Aug 2019
The Man I'll Pray You'll Be
Author and mum Rachael Newham hopes for many things for her little boy, many of which are reflected in Martin Saunders' new book The Man You're Made to ...
- authise authise
- 4 Oct 2019
What can we learn from our animal friends? Meet Danny, the Irish Setter
All over the world, everywhere, humans and animals form great bonds that give them both another kind of gift of life. This is one of the reasons why Joan Chittister wrote the book, Two Dogs and a Parrot. For World Animal Day we're sharing an extract from the book where we meet Danny, the unruly Irish ...
- Emma Collins
- 10 Oct 2019
How true friendship breaks down the stigma of mental illness
Thursday 10th October is World Mental Health Day, a day to help raise awareness and encourage open conversation. This year's theme is suicide prevention. Rachael Newman was aged just six when she had her first suicidal thought. In her book Learning to Breathe she shares her journey into and out of the darkness of depression. In this extract from ...
- Emma Collins
- 14 Feb 2020
Your Own Call Less Ordinary
What next after university? In this extract from Rich Wilson's A Call Less Ordinary he shares his experience of coming to the end of his time at university and how it was around this time that he became aware of God's ...
- Emma Collins
- 19 Feb 2020
An Irrepressible Journey
‘I sometimes feel we are sold a myth that we somehow download our purpose in our twenties and then work on that until we “achieve our dreams”,’ speaker, writer and coach Cathy Madavan shares with SPCK ahead of the launch of her new book, Irrepressible: 12 principles for a courageous, resilient and fulfilling ...
- Emma Collins
- 14 Apr 2020
Mindful Walking
With many of you going out for daily exercise, how many times would you say that you were mindful of your surroundings? Graham User writes that he has two approaches to walking, one that focuses on the amount of steps and time it takes him, and the other to pay attention to his surroundings such as patterns in the sky, birdsong or sounds of ...
- Emma Collins
- 5 May 2020
You are not alone, an extract from Baby Change
Maternal Mental Health Awareness Week is a week-long campaign dedicated to talking about mental illness during and after pregnancy. In the introduction to Baby Change, Anne Calver writes that she '...did not find anything to help parents emotionally, mentally or spiritually as they prepared for and transitioned into life as mums and dads'. In ...
- Emma Collins
- 8 Jun 2020
What is it like to be a young carer?
Today marks the start of Carers Week, an annual campaign to raise awareness of caring, highlight the challenges unpaid carers face and recognise the contribution they make to families and communities throughout the UK. According to the last census, there are 166,000 young carers in England, but recent research suggests that the actual figure ...
- Emma Collins
- 7 Aug 2020
The Medical Clergyman
Who do you go to when you’ve got a fever or broken limb? Your local vicar probably wouldn’t be the first person you would think of. Before the year 1858, medicine could be practised by a wide variety of people. A scientifically minded clergyman was one of them. In this extract from Caves, Coprolites, and Catastrophes, historian Allan ...
- Emma Collins
- 17 Aug 2020
The cure is in the illness - a reflection from Fr Laurence Freeman
'If one had to be confined anywhere, Bonnevaux is a beautiful prison and the community I was incarcerated with did not riot or make unreasonable demands'. Fr Laurence Freeman reflects on his time in lockdown. This reflection was originally published in the WCCM newsletter and has been re-shared with ...
- authise authise
- 6 Nov 2020
‘Welcome’ is so much more than a word on the church noticeboard or weekly notice sheet
With the Living in Love and Faith (LLF) resources approaching publication, we are sharing an extract from David Runcorn's book Love Means Love. Love Means Love published in June this year coinciding with the original publication date for the LLF resources. In this extract David reflects on the experiences of Christians who have struggled '...or are ...
- Emma Collins
- 19 Jan 2021
Smile while you shop
It has been scientifically proven that altruism is good for us. Not just that warm fuzzy feeling of doing a nice thing but an act of kindness - thinking of someone or a cause and intentionally doing something which takes us outside of ourselves to benefit ...
- Emma Collins
- 13 Apr 2021
Remembering Answered Prayers
Why is it important to remember our answered prayers? How might remembering these prayers help us in a pandemic? Find out in this Q&A with Richard Gamble, author of ...
- Laura Barry
- 16 Jan 2023
Blue Monday Week: Save 10% on Mental Health Resources
Banish January Blues and save 10% this Blue Monday Week on inspirational and uplifting Mental Health Resources. ...
- Laura Barry
- 16 Jan 2023
Guest Post: Lily-Jo's Blue Monday Tips for Talking to Children About Mental Health
Lily-Jo, a children’s mental health expert and author of Talking to Children About Mental Health, shares with us her top tips for helping you AND your child through the January ...
- Laura Barry
- 3 Aug 2023
SPCK Authors at Creation Fest!
Join SPCK Authors Sarah Yardley and Hope Virgo at Creation Fest on the 3rd to the 6th of ...
- Laura Barry
- 29 Jan 2024
The Best Self-Help Books to Brighten Your January
Looking for best self-care books to support your mental health? Here, we round up our top ten books about mental health, anxiety, depression, stress, and personal growth. ...
- Laura Barry
- 21 Feb 2024
Explore Our February New Releases
Discover our amazing new releases this month! From the perfect baptism, christening and dedication gifts to our multimillion bestselling children's Bible - The Children's Bible in 365 Stories, there is sure to be something for every child this ...
- Laura Barry
- 15 Sept 2025
Witney Book Launch: Rachael Newham & Rachel Bearn Share Their Inspiring New Books
Join SPCK authors Rachael Newham and Rachel Bearn in Witney on 27th September for an evening of inspiration, faith, and the launch of their new books Beloved is Where We Begin and A Year to Slow ...
- Laura Barry
- 13 Jan 2026
UK Bible Sales Are Up 134% Since 2019
Discover why more people, especially younger readers, are returning to the Bible and how Scripture continues to speak into everyday ...
- Laura Barry
- 2 Mar 2026
Why People Still Come to Church: Voices from Southern Africa
The Most Revd Dr Thabo Makgoba shares reflections from Southern Africa on why people still come to church—highlighting worship, community, resilience and faith in the midst of ...








