A major mission in my home town and the appeals to give self-sacrificially - "all you can afford and more - for this 'vital work of God'" has led to some discussion among church members, particularly since it has coincided with appeals for aid for the cyclone disaster in Burma.

The mission is promising that, if it gets the support, it will bring "amazing life-changing results" for the thousands of people it hopes to bring to Christ. It will also affect the eternal destinies of all these people.

A response to the BBC News Magazine article - There may be trouble ahead

Once hidden away in the small ads in the back of women’s magazines, adverts placed by mediums and psychic healers have become more and more acceptable over the last decade or so.

Magazines such as Spirit and Destiny are readily available on supermarket shelves - the current edition carries an article with the title ‘Life in fast forward’, which speaks about how psychics are able to help people seeking out a future path, as well as contacting spirits from the past…

A newspaper revealed last week that a vicar had fallen out with many of his parishioners in the local village over the issue of who could get married in the parish church. He was sticking to the letter of the law that couples can get married in an Anglican church only if they attend it regularly or live within the parish.

Angry villagers were pointing out that young people who had grown up in the village had had to move out because they could not afford the local houses but still regarded themselves as belonging to that village.

Now there are plans to make it easier for couples to get married in the Anglican church of their choice. But this is far from meeting with universal approval.

The Chinese Government asserts that Tibet has always been part of China, and always will be. Chinese people to whom I have talked (in Beijing) simply do not question this view. China has transformed Tibet from a feudal state to a modern one, though it has to be admitted that the way in which this has been achieved was harsh and violent.

Where does the truth lie in all of this? What has China done wrong?

The Revd John Albrecht, an Episcopal priest entered the Guinness Book of Records as he stood before his Lake Orion, Michigan congregation and gave the shortest sermon on record.

He climbed into the pulpit and uttered one word, "Love," and then sat down. That was it. It was reported that one member of his congregation said it was one of his best sermons.