UK & Ireland in Brief

Hope Church (Blackwood and Kirkmuirhill) recently celebrated their tenth anniversary as a Free Church of Scotland congregation. Original members of the congregation, along with minister Rev. Ian Watson, had left the Church of Scotland in 2014.

The church’s anniversary weekend featured a meal and ceilidh on the Saturday and a service focused on the anniversary on the Sunday, which included Communion. Rev. Watson said: ‘as we review the past decade the verse that keeps coming back to us is Psalm 118:23: ‘The Lord has done this, and it is marvellous in our eyes.’’

Luke Randall

A survey by Christian organisation CARE has revealed that the majority of the British public support tougher sanctions on pornography. There was 70% support for the appointment of a Pornography Commission to remove illegal or violent porn from websites and social media.

Results from polling carried out by Savanta also showed that 80% of people think directors of companies who own porn sites should be held accountable for illegal material which appears on their sites, and should face fines or imprisonment. Female responses for each question were particularly ‘strongly in favour’ of tougher sanctions.

Luke Randall

The annual Pastors’ Conference of the Association of Baptist Churches in Ireland was attended by 126 people.

Mark Dever of Capitol Hill Baptist Church, Washington D.C., was the event’s main speaker, and the main theme was the sufficiency of Scripture as applied to the local church. Across the two days, Dever spoke on this theme, and those in attendance also heard reports about the ministry of the Irish Baptist College, Baptist Youth and Baptist Missions, as well as enjoying times of fellowship together between sessions.

Luke Randall

Langham UK and Ireland, a charitable Christian organisation which trains pastors and church leaders, has started a campaign to donate 10,000 Christian books to overseas Bible colleges and seminaries. The organisation’s ‘Books for Bible Colleges’ campaign, set up to mark World Book Day 2024, was created to provide other similar organisations overseas with better theological resources to train church leaders.

Langham aims to supply a catalogue of about 7,000 books for colleges to choose from, and to give over 700 colleges a grant to buy books from the catalogue.

Luke Randall

Two street preachers arrested in Glastonbury under the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 have had charges against them dropped.

In June 2023, John Dunn and Shaun O’Sullivan gave out leaflets outside a Witchcraft Emporium store, where several LGBTQI+ flags were in the window. They preached that ‘the unrighteous’, including those who practice homosexuality, ‘will not inherit the Kingdom of God’. Following complaints, the police arrived and ordered them to leave – or be arrested. At a hearing at Taunton Magistrates’ Court, the CPS offered no evidence against them and the case was dropped.

Nicola Laver

The Conservative Party says objecting to Pride is not homophobic, following an investigation into a local councillor.

King Lawal was vindicated months after his July 2023 suspension from the local Conservative group after posting a tweet including the words ‘Pride is not a virtue but a sin. Those who have Pride should Repent of their sins and return to Jesus Christ’. A disciplinary sub-committee concluded that ‘it would be wrong to conflate an objection to the Pride movement as homophobic’. Lawal had been reinstated in October 2023, but party headquarters continued with its investigation.

Nicola Laver

A judicial decision on whether to grant Bernard Randall – the chaplain sacked following a sermon five years ago on identity politics – permission to appeal a ruling dismissing his claims of discrimination and unfair dismissal has been postponed until March 2025.

An Employment Appeal Tribunal judge said a decision should not be made until the Court of Appeal has ruled in the case of Kristie Higgs – a Christian school assistant sacked for expressing gender-critical views and sharing a petition against compulsory sex education on social media. The appeal court ruling is expected late this year.

Nicola Laver

A Christian artist is suing Watford Borough Council on several grounds, including discrimination and breach of contract, after reportedly being banned from her own art exhibition for expressing her views on transgender ideology to a council employee.

Victoria Culf, 43, was also reported to the police for a ‘hate crime’ after telling the employee at Watford Museum that she did not think children should transition. Hertfordshire Police said no crime had been committed and the incident failed to meet the threshold for a non-crime hate incident.

Nicola Laver

The London Gospel Partnership Annual Conference 2024 has been held at the East London Tabernacle with about 200 people from churches across the capital.

William Taylor, Richard Coekin and Trevor Archer shared messages about gospel generosity. The talks were from 1 Thessalonians 2:1-12, 2 Corinthians 8:1-9, Luke 9:1-2, 9:46-50, and Luke 10:1-2. ‘It’s been a great time, not just to hear a great message, but also to network with one another,’ said one of those attending.

Laura Mobilia

The Church of England’s DAILYHOPE phoneline has been relaunched thanks to a generous financial donation. It had shut down in January due to a lack of funds, but the service, which was initially launched to support older Christians who could not access online material during the coronavirus pandemic, has been saved.

The phoneline offers resources including prayer, music and reflection, and Faith in Later Life, who have been in charge of the service since 2023, are looking to expand the range of services on offer.

Luke Randall