Ten questions with Chris Sugden
en staff
Date posted: 12 Oct 2025
Chris Sugden has been married for 52 years to Elaine, a retired consultant cancer doctor, with three married children and nine grandchildren. He leads the PhD Programme of the Oxford Centre for Mission and Public Life with Stellenbosch University and is an associate minister at St Andrew’s Dean Court, Oxford.
1. How did you become a Christian?
My father was a vicar, as was my maternal great grandfather in Ireland, and I was a choirboy. So I grew up in the Christian community. I committed my life to Christ in the Sixth Form through the work of VPS camps at Lymington.
2. What lessons have you learnt since that you would want to pass on to a younger Christian version of yourself?
Do not be afraid to stand up for what you know is right. You may lose (a role or post) in the short term, but God will use it to open new and wider fields of ministry.
3. How would you describe your prayer life?
Based on a daily reading of the Bible, focused on family and ministry needs and tasks, and shared with and helped by my wife.
4. Which two or three Christian books apart from the Bible have most influenced your faith?
Shadow of the Almighty by Elizabeth Elliot which I read as a student, to dare great things for God and expect great things from God. Theology of Liberation by Gustavo Gutierrez challenged me to take the Bible seriously on its teachings about the poor.
5. Who or what have been your biggest Christian influences?
My senior colleagues Vinay and Colleen Samuel with whom we worked in Bangalore for six years, and their family, and have continued to work with in a variety of ministries since then. They combine global vision, high academic standards, and grassroots involvement among poor people.
6. What are the main challenges you believe Christians face today?
To maintain the Biblical and Christian teaching and practice of man/woman marriage as taught in the Bible against the pressure to conform to passing preferences in the culture.
7. What encourages and what discourages you?
I am encouraged when someone steps forward and takes up a task as part of a team. I am discouraged when I see clergy trying to be one-man bands.
8. What makes you laugh?
Morecambe and Wise, Yes Minister, Dad’s Army, Private Eye, and jokes our grandchildren send us.
9. What would you want to say to the wider evangelical world?
Do not give up on the Anglican Communion around the world, whatever some noisy people in the CofE might do. Christians in Africa and Asia have a lot to teach us about keeping faith and passing it on.
10. Which Biblical person (other than Jesus) do you most look forward to meeting in glory and why?
The apostle Thomas. Did he really travel through West and South Asia and establish churches there, including the churches in India which are thus far older and have a deeper history going right back to Jesus than many Western churches?
the ENd word
Trust and obey like Joshua
Jon Barrett
Date posted: 7 Oct 2025
Back in the sultry, sunny days of the summer just gone, I spoke at an event that is an annual highlight of my year. It’s a bit of a niche gig, but it’s a weekend-long camp for Christian anglers.
From Friday evening until the middle of Sunday afternoon we live under canvas and pass the time sharing fellowship, eating together, fishing, and meeting for short Bible talks, times of prayer and worship, and an outdoor communion service on the Sunday morning. This year we took “Courage” as our theme and we began by looking at the first chapter of the book of Joshua.
Comment
A joyful reset: What ReNew gave me this year
I’ve come back from the ReNew conference with a spring in my step. The evening I got back, I told friends at dinner that I was “really very cheerful.” I said something about being heartened by time with teammates from across the country. And on reflection, here’s what blessed me most about ReNew.
Encouraged and equipped
I need all the help I can get to treasure Jesus. Bible teaching about His beautiful sacrificial leadership helped me. Singing to Him with hundreds of people helped me. News from other churches doing brave things because He's worth it – that helped me too.
The Middle East: Peace at last? A Christian perspective
This week there has been jubilation and relief as the remaining 20 living Israeli hostages were released from Gaza. In return, Israel released 250 Palestinian prisoners and a further 1,700 detainees. This is hopefully a first tentative step towards building a peace process in the Middle East.
Of course there are many issues still to be resolved – for example, how Gaza might be governed and what the proposed multinational "stabilisation force" might look like.
Poverty: How faith moves mountains
On the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (17 October 2025), we are reminded that the fight against poverty is not just a policy issue or a humanitarian goal, it’s our Biblical mandate.
Around the world, churches are not only preaching hope; they are living it. In communities where poverty seems insurmountable, the church is often the first to respond, the last to leave and the most persistent in believing that change is possible.
Should we ban public displays of non-Christian faiths?
A speaker at the recent Unite the Kingdom march in London called for banning all public displays of non-Christian religions. But is he right?
Here's what he said: “Ban any type of public expression in our Christian nation from other religions. Ban Halal, ban Burqas. Ban mosques, ban temples, ban shrines - we don’t want those in our countries."
Ryder Cup: When individuals form a team
This year’s edition of the Ryder Cup once again delivered in spectacular style, bringing with it a level of drama, surprise, intensity and quality virtually unmatched by the rest of the year’s sporting calendar.
The golfing season already provides great entertainment from its four major championships alongside its other headline events on the PGA Tour. However, the Ryder Cup provides something altogether different from the norm, with its team format bringing out both the best and worst of the best golfers the USA and Europe have to offer.
How should we feel about the Gaza ceasefire?
The first sign was a hand-written note and a whisper in the ear of the American President. Indirect negotiations between Israel and Palestine had yielded fruit. Donald Trump’s 20-point plan for peace in the Middle East could be the basis for a serious and lasting end to the conflict in Gaza.
It came two years and two days after the incident that started the war: Hamas’ devastating attack on 7 October 2023 that killed over a thousand Israelis. As Israel then attacked and invaded the Palestinian territory of Gaza, it has resulted in many thousands more deaths. The war has also led to a humanitarian crisis within Gaza leaving people without food, shelter and clean water.
Ten questions with Chris Sugden
Chris Sugden has been married for 52 years to Elaine, a retired consultant cancer doctor, with three married children and nine grandchildren. He leads the PhD Programme of the Oxford Centre for Mission and Public Life with Stellenbosch University and is an associate minister at St Andrew’s Dean Court, Oxford.
1. How did you become a Christian?
My father was a vicar, as was my maternal great grandfather in Ireland, and I was a choirboy. So I grew up in the Christian community. I committed my life to Christ in the Sixth Form through the work of VPS camps at Lymington.
2. What lessons have you learnt since that you would want to pass on to a younger Christian version of yourself?
Do not be afraid to stand up for what you know is right. You may lose (a role or post) in the short term, but God will use it to open new and wider fields of ministry.
3. How would you describe your prayer life?
Based on a daily reading of the Bible, focused on family and ministry needs and tasks, and shared with and helped by my wife.
4. Which two or three Christian books apart from the Bible have most influenced your faith?
Shadow of the Almighty by Elizabeth Elliot which I read as a student, to dare great things for God and expect great things from God. Theology of Liberation by Gustavo Gutierrez challenged me to take the Bible seriously on its teachings about the poor.
5. Who or what have been your biggest Christian influences?
My senior colleagues Vinay and Colleen Samuel with whom we worked in Bangalore for six years, and their family, and have continued to work with in a variety of ministries since then. They combine global vision, high academic standards, and grassroots involvement among poor people.
6. What are the main challenges you believe Christians face today?
To maintain the Biblical and Christian teaching and practice of man/woman marriage as taught in the Bible against the pressure to conform to passing preferences in the culture.
7. What encourages and what discourages you?
I am encouraged when someone steps forward and takes up a task as part of a team. I am discouraged when I see clergy trying to be one-man bands.
8. What makes you laugh?
Morecambe and Wise, Yes Minister, Dad’s Army, Private Eye, and jokes our grandchildren send us.
9. What would you want to say to the wider evangelical world?
Do not give up on the Anglican Communion around the world, whatever some noisy people in the CofE might do. Christians in Africa and Asia have a lot to teach us about keeping faith and passing it on.
10. Which Biblical person (other than Jesus) do you most look forward to meeting in glory and why?
The apostle Thomas. Did he really travel through West and South Asia and establish churches there, including the churches in India which are thus far older and have a deeper history going right back to Jesus than many Western churches?
Comedy, free speech and warnings from the past
Hannah Arendt was a Jewish philosopher who grew up in Nazi Germany. Eventually she had to flee to France and, after its fall, across the Atlantic to the United States.
Soon after the war she wrote a remarkable reflection on the events that led up to Adolf Hitler’s domination. In her work, The Origins of Totalitarianism, she observed: “The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.” Control ideas and you control people.
Words are becoming cheapened and debased
“When words are many,” wrote Solomon – while his wisdom remained with him – “transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent” (Prov.10v19). It is a lesson that is especially timely right now.
We have never seen such a proliferation of words as we do today, due largely to the digital communication revolution. The inevitable result is that words become cheapened and debased. In the same way as a cash-strapped government discovers that mass money-printing leads to inflation, so it is with the reckless (mis)use of words. The more people talk – or text, or tweet, or emote, or sound off – the less they truly say. The purchasing power of their words is shrunk.
Trust and obey like Joshua
Back in the sultry, sunny days of the summer just gone, I spoke at an event that is an annual highlight of my year. It’s a bit of a niche gig, but it’s a weekend-long camp for Christian anglers.
From Friday evening until the middle of Sunday afternoon we live under canvas and pass the time sharing fellowship, eating together, fishing, and meeting for short Bible talks, times of prayer and worship, and an outdoor communion service on the Sunday morning. This year we took “Courage” as our theme and we began by looking at the first chapter of the book of Joshua.
Anniversaries prompt reflection on life’s big questions
This year marks two anniversaries – 244 years since the end of the American Revolutionary War with the British surrender at Yorktown in 1781, and ten years since the first performance of Lin Manuel Miranda’s record-breaking musical Hamilton which commemorates the former as part of its retelling of the life of founding father Alexander Hamilton.
From late September onwards there is the opportunity to watch the original Broadway cast in UK cinemas or see it live in the West End or catch the UK tour as it visits Norwich and Glasgow, and I would highly recommend doing so. But what has made this musical such a runaway success?
John Stevens: Evangelical unity & 'secondary issues'
The appointment of Sarah Mullally as the new Archbishop of Canterbury has inevitably raised questions as to how evangelicals deal with what are often termed "secondary issues," including differences over women’s ministry and whether it is right to remain in mixed denominations.
These are more complex issues than a simple distinction between primary and secondary issues would suggest, a distinction which is rarely agreed upon anyway, such that the real issue is often whether the point in disagreement is primary or secondary. The New Testament (NT) stresses the importance of maintaining unity, but also recognises that there are times when separation is both justified and necessary.
The CofE: Time for evangelicals to leave?
On Friday 3 October, the Church of England announced that the Bishop of London, Sarah Mullally would succeed Justin Welby as Archbishop of Canterbury.
There has been a substantial response from all quarters - not surprising given how big the news is. I’ve seen some responses along the lines of arguing that the new appointment offers the best of a poor set of options, and some bemoaning the terrible disaster that they consider this to be. Those responses from within the CofE have a uniting theme: evangelicals can and must stay and fight in the Church; they must not desert their flocks and must continue to care for them.
Fin de Siècle
The term “fin de siècle” literally means “end of the century”. But it has often been used to refer to the last decade of the 1890s, and also, more widely, to a sense of moral decay, world-weariness, and pessimism about the future of civilisation, combined with a feeling that one era is closing and another is in the process of coming.
It is a suitable term to sum up how many feel about the 2020s. It’s a decade that has already seen, in no particular order, Covid, four UK Prime Ministers, wars in Ukraine, Sudan, the DRC and the Middle East, the re-election of Donald Trump, the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the assassination of Charlie Kirk, the return of the Taliban in Afghanistan, increasing (and often under-reported) persecution of Christians globally and the continuing rise of China (see John Stevens, p.8). Technology continues to change rapidly, with the increasing adoption of Artificial Intelligence, alongside fears about how it might develop. Environmental issues continue to generate strong emotions, with negotiations for a Global Plastics Treaty, which might have alleviated pollution, collapsing in August.
Living in Love and Faith, safeguarding & complementarianism
Evangelicals in the Church of England are processing the announcement of Dame Sarah Mullally as the next Archbishop of Canterbury. Some will be quicker than others to form and vocalise an opinion, but it is a significant moment that will have an impact on us.
Safeguarding
Safeguarding failures were the presenting issue for the resignation of the previous incumbent, and those wounds are still open.
Sarah Mullally: 'Undertrained and inexperienced'
After months of speculation, the Church of England has finally appointed a new Archbishop of Canterbury. The first woman in the post, she is the current Bishop of London and as such has already played a senior role in the Church for several years.
Her theological training and ministerial experience are minimal. She was enrolled on a local ordination course rather than at a theological college and served a couple of part-time curacies before being very briefly rector of a parish church. She was soon promoted to the episcopate as suffragan bishop of Crediton, but her main achievement appears to be that she was a competent administrator in the National Health Service. Is a track record like that promising for a future Archbishop of Canterbury?
Sarah Mullally: A calm voice & firm hand, but not an evangelical
When the chips are down, what qualities do you look for in a leader? Someone who can offer a stirring speech or a strategic vision might spring to mind. But when a storm comes, there is something to be said for a calm voice and a firm hand on the tiller. And with this morning’s historic announcement that Sarah Mullally, the Bishop of London, is to be our 106th Archbishop of Canterbury, that is exactly what the Church of England has chosen.
Bishop Sarah is not an evangelical. She has previously led on the Living in Love and Faith process, and described the vote in 2023 to approve same-sex blessings as a "moment of hope for the Church" noting that there were prayers "within that suite that I would use". But she has always been aware of the differences of opinion across the Church of England on this, and other, issues, adding "I know that what we have proposed as a way forward does not go nearly far enough for many but too far for others."
Those who teach 'will be judged more strictly'
Nolo episcopari! No, not a Harry Potter spell. It’s a Latin tagline – meaning "I don’t want to be made a Bishop!" – a reaction that has almost become traditional when someone is nominated to significant office in the church.
It’s an intuitive idea: the best person to be given power is the one who isn’t grasping for it. Given how much influence and authority the role entails, perhaps the most becoming candidate for an overseer in God’s church is one who refuses it.
The quiet revival: 'I remain cautiously optimistic'
In recent months, much has been written about the so-called “quiet revival.” In essence, what is being reported is that we are seeing an increase in people, especially younger people, attending church, with a growing interest in the Bible.
In my work with The Open-Air Mission, I have certainly seen a far greater number of young people showing interest in the good news than I have previously observed. People are open to talking about the gospel and reading God’s Word. These are all good things, though I remain cautiously optimistic.
Christians and the digital ID debate
This week's Labour Party conference in Liverpool proved to be a challenging time for Keir Starmer. It's not an easy time to be in government!
The economic situation is tough, immigration seems to be the hottest topic if the media is to be believed and international crises show no sign of abating. Since winning last year’s general election with a massive majority, Labour has plummeted in the polls and the PM is facing discontent among MPs and party members.