UK & Ireland in Brief

A Christian pastor has been arrested in Uxbridge town centre after preaching in the open air and stating that mankind was made with just two genders.

John Sherwood, 71, was preaching with a colleague, who described how three police officers approached them saying complaints had been received from members of the public and that they had caused ‘alarm and distress’. After speaking with officers, Sherwood resumed preaching but after further complaints, he was forcibly arrested, handcuffed and taken into custody. He was released the next day.

Children’s Christian publishing imprint Lion Hudson has been acquired by SPCK. The takeover makes SPCK the UK’s largest Christian publishing company.

SPCK chair James Catford described the move as ‘an exciting and visionary step’. David Dorricott, managing director of the AFD Group, which owned Lion Hudson, said: ‘It has been a privilege to be part of God’s plan for Lion Hudson for a season – and we are delighted that this exciting opportunity will now release new energy not just in the amazing imprints of Lion Hudson, but also the wider SPCK group.’

The Church of Scotland General Assembly is due to debate allowing (but not compelling) its ministers to conduct same-sex marriages.

The session takes place shortly after this issue of en is published. A final decision is likely next year.

A Korean Baptist minister in Wales has lodged a formal complaint with the BBC following the broadcast of a Panorama programme Is the Church Racist? which explored allegations of discrimination in the Church of England.

Peter Cho, who has been in Wales for more than 25 years and pastors Tabernacle Baptist Church Newbridge, travelled to London and stood outside the BBC studios for four days displaying a placard demanding an apology to churches and Christians for misrepresenting that they are all racist. Other pastors came to show support during Pastor Cho’s protest.

The Christian Institute (CI) has appointed Dr Richard Turnbull as the new chairman following the retirement of its co-founder John Burn.

Dr Turnbull is a long-time trustee of the CI and the director of the Centre for Enterprise, Markets and Ethics. He is also a past principal of Wycliffe Hall, Oxford and was in pastoral ministry for more than ten years. John Burn, who will remain as a trustee, founded the CI in 1991 with Colin Hart, who continues as its director.

The Keswick Convention says it hopes to launch Phase Two of the work to convert the town’s old Pencil Factory into its new centre in October.

Ministry director James Robson said: ‘This will be for the refurbishment of the first and second floors to create the spaces for our children and youth activities. This will cost £600,000 and we will need the money in place before it starts. Together we will be able to invite Christians of all generations to come to Keswick to be equipped, refreshed and inspired, through the word of God, to love and live for Christ.’

Graham Nicholls, director of evangelical network Affinity, has commented on reports that young men in Western societies are having less sex than previous generations.

Writing on the organisation’s blog, he said: ‘This trend has nothing to do with a desire to honour God’s plans for sex within marriage. It seems from the report that young men are increasingly afraid of sex. They fear failure in their performance and, more importantly, they fear doing something wrong that may be used against them afterwards. In all of this, men have no real guidance as to what it means to behave as a man in a relationship, or what sex is actually all about.’

Sterling Free Church has held an online prayer time every evening for 80 days during the latest lockdown.

Pastor Iain Macaskill wrote: ‘Answered prayers gave cause for thanksgiving. People in hospital, people suffering from Coronavirus, people with problems, were brought before the Lord in corporate prayer daily, and God answered, sometimes miraculously. Prayer works! God is good! ‘Our nightly time of prayer drew people from Stirling and the surrounding areas – and indeed from across Scotland – bringing us closer together and enabling us to support each other in a time of lockdown.’