Emmanuel was discipled within his friendship group and he sees this as crucial to the fruitfulness of generations to come.

I have been living alongside Focus* people for over 6 years, and yet I still find myself learning new things about the Focus religion and worldview every week! One such ‘classroom moment’ came when I went to help Abu*, a refugee from the Middle East, hang curtains in his new flat.

Phil Boydell invites you to preview a brand new resource, The Alongsider Course.

Susan Watson, a member of the Navigators safeguarding team, gets practical about what is (and really isn’t) helpful when getting alongside someone who is hurting.

Ros Boydell ponders the question: ‘What if it wasn’t independence we were aiming for, but interdependencea?’

Holly Price recalls a childhood memory, as she wonders how Jesus and the first alongsiders experienced Easter Saturday.

Three character‑driven films are leading this year’s Oscar race. Each centres on a family haunted by its past, and each features powerful performances that reveal the cost of healing generational shame and trauma. The drama of each is found in ‘the turn’: will they turn their back on one way of life in order to turn towards someone? 

There’s a saying: ‘Kindness draws you to people, but patience keeps you there.’
If there was ever a story that lived this out in real time, it’s my story with Jane. And let me say this from the start: I never signed up for this alongsider journey. I didn’t want it. I didn’t pray for it. And for a long time, I certainly didn’t enjoy it.

Whether welcome or resisted, artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping society. With the anxiety and excitement this brings, the use of AI is becoming ubiquitous, not only in professional and academic contexts but also in the sphere of spirituality.

For a large chunk of my life, I never really felt known. I had friends but I didn’t feel free to be fully myself around them. I also didn’t relate to God as if he knew me. All that changed when someone got alongside me at university.

Discovering the Daily Examen a few years ago, I was sold on the idea of ending each day in prayerful reflection – preferably with a hot chocolate in hand and a lake in view – but as a mum of young boys it felt like an impossible luxury.