The tail-end of last year saw over 1,200 politicians and leaders from business, faith, culture, sport and the media gather at Westminster Central Hall for the National Emergency Briefing on the climate and nature crisis.
Ten of the UK’s leading experts – including leading climate scientists at top British universities (Oxford, Manchester, Exeter, Newcastle, Lancaster and UCL), many of them global leaders in their fields, and a former lieutenant-general in the British army – briefed them on the latest implications for health, food, national security and the economy. (You can find recordings of the event at www.nebriefing.org/) What, I wondered as I watched, might be an Evangelical response?
Events since the beginning of 2026 have suggested the collapse of the “rules-based world order” that has held sway since the end of the Second World War.
US president Donald Trump ordered the seizure of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, threatened Columbia and Iran, and reasserted his determination to take control of Greenland. He has claimed American hegemony in Western Hemisphere, and seems prepared to allow other nations, including China and Russia, to have control over their own geographical spheres of influence. It feels as if the world is returning to the era of competing empires, with great powers forcing their will on smaller vassal nations. Britain feels especially vulnerable to this change because we are no longer the world power we were in 1945.
“I’m not a racist.” My observation is that if this were in fact the case, such protest would be unnecessary. I have learned to brace for what inevitably and almost immediately follows.
Seldom however, are these the first words spoken. Various thoughts and reflections slowly simmer and are finally brought to the boil of whatever "controversial" words apparently require this disclaimer. Indeed, the door of the conversation often bears no resemblance to this hinge on which it opens, or the grim hallway beyond.
Some of us will remember the old Orange mobile phone advert from the turn of the millennium: “The future’s bright, the future’s Orange.” The future did not, as it turned out, belong to Orange. But can it still be bright?
There is no doubt that Britain, like many of its neighbours, is afflicted by several overlapping crises. Pause for a moment and consider the state of our hospitals, our schools, our prisons, our armed forces, our borders, our economy, our collective mental health, and our social cohesion, and the picture becomes clear enough. And all this before we turn to the present condition of the Church of England. The skies all around us seem to be darkening. Recent remarks from the White House about “civilisational erasure” in Europe prompted the predictable response: what manner of incendiary rhetoric is this? Yet one cannot help wondering whether the proverbial frog in the water is quite as comfortable as it imagines, unaware that the temperature is still rising.
How are you? Being British, the correct answer is always: “Fine, thank you very much.” No, how are you? “Well, I had the ’flu last month, but I’m doing better now, thanks.” You look a bit low. “Well, it’s sad, my aunt died last week and it was a shock.” And how are you spiritually? “I’m struggling, actually…”
There is our physical health, our mental health or emotional state, and then there is our spiritual health. Different labels for different and distinct areas of life. It may come as a surprise, then, to discover that the Scriptures describe us holistically: we are physical and psychological and spiritual beings. There are different aspects to our life (physical, mental, emotional, spiritual) but all aspects are indissolubly and inseparably linked.
Ken Brownell is the retired Senior Pastor of East London Tabernacle Baptist Church in Mile End, London.
How did you become a Christian?
I was brought up in a Christian home in the Boston, Massachusetts, area. I very clearly remember a conversation when I was seven with my parents about the gospel that led to me later that evening asking Christ to forgive me my sins. Ever since then I have known that I was a Christian. I was baptised at 13 in the Brethren assembly my family attended.
Over the Christmas holidays, Netflix released the final series of Stranger Things.
Since the first series in 2016, we’ve followed the outbreak of a dark, supernatural force in Hawkins, Indiana, the machinations of the US government and the military, and the children and teenagers who band together to confront it all.
Will the Lords kill off the dangerous, toxic, and unnecessary assisted suicide bill? The truth is that they just might.
I must admit, when MPs voted at Third Reading to approve the legislation, I feared the worst. The Bill was guaranteed maximum time in the remainder of the parliamentary session. The government even added ten additional committee days to help facilitate scrutiny.
In the past few weeks, the governments in both the UK and France have taken initial steps towards potentially banning social media for children and teenagers.
Recent updates
Last Tuesday, the French National Assembly voted in favour of a social media ban for under-15s. The bill will now move on to the Senate (France’s upper chamber) for a further vote.
Youth unemployment is currently running at just under 16%, with the graduate job market being particularly hard hit.
Last year the FinancialTimes ran a story with the headline “It’s been a terrible year to graduate and find a job” where they highlighted that the graduate job application success rate is the lowest it has been for 30 years.
Do you remember six years ago, when we were becoming aware of a new coronavirus? Novel because this particular strain of virus had not been seen before. It spread around the world like wildfire, resulting in many deaths.
Over time, that virus mutated into different strains. The mutations were all slightly different, sometimes with different symptoms and different levels of virulence and resistance to vaccines but were related closely enough to still be considered the same virus.
I have been interested in Eastern Orthodoxy ever since spending my linguist's year abroad in Novosibirsk in 1995/6.
On my return, I began to read up about church history, and was later encouraged in that by my friend, Donald Fairbairn, who was at that time a PhD student at Cambridge.
On 28 January at St Paul's Cathedral, Sarah Mullally will be confirmed, officially making her the Archbishop of Canterbury. The previous Archbishop, Justin Welby, ended his term on 6 January 2025. Both managed to avoid the auspicious day of 10 January, the date on which Archbishop William Laud was executed in 1645.
Yes. You read that right. An Archbishop of Canterbury was executed by Parliament in 1645. The church wardens of St George’s Church, Beckington in Somerset – the church in which I was baptised 50 years ago – would not have been all that sad to hear the news of Laud’s fate. England was three years into a civil war, partly caused by Laud and his reforms. Families, villages and towns had been torn apart, having been forced to choose between King and Parliament.
This year’s Masters snooker tournament at Alexandra Palace provided plenty of intrigue, as well as an interesting point for reflection concerning the mortality of even the most capable human beings.
The world’s top 16 players once again descended on the capital’s famous arena to try to win one of snooker’s three major "Triple Crown" events.
The world continues to be in ferment. Words written about events one moment can be immediately superseded by new developments the next. Often today such rapid changes in the news seem to revolve around the President of the US, Donald J Trump.
Among many other examples of an often Trump-centred world in flux, few would have predicted a short while ago that one of the countries making news in 2026 would be Greenland. Such is the unpredictable era in which we live.
Towards the end of November last year, the bishops of the Church in Wales (part of the Anglican Communion) released a pastoral letter outlining their roadmap for the full authorisation of same-sex blessings – and then the introduction of same-sex marriage within the denomination.
If you haven’t been following events, this follows the introduction of liturgy for the blessing of same-sex couples on a trial basis in the autumn of 2021 by the Governing Body.
Comment
A national briefing
The tail-end of last year saw over 1,200 politicians and leaders from business, faith, culture, sport and the media gather at Westminster Central Hall for the National Emergency Briefing on the climate and nature crisis.
Ten of the UK’s leading experts – including leading climate scientists at top British universities (Oxford, Manchester, Exeter, Newcastle, Lancaster and UCL), many of them global leaders in their fields, and a former lieutenant-general in the British army – briefed them on the latest implications for health, food, national security and the economy. (You can find recordings of the event at www.nebriefing.org/) What, I wondered as I watched, might be an Evangelical response?
As one ‘rules-based order’ passes, another abides
Events since the beginning of 2026 have suggested the collapse of the “rules-based world order” that has held sway since the end of the Second World War.
US president Donald Trump ordered the seizure of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, threatened Columbia and Iran, and reasserted his determination to take control of Greenland. He has claimed American hegemony in Western Hemisphere, and seems prepared to allow other nations, including China and Russia, to have control over their own geographical spheres of influence. It feels as if the world is returning to the era of competing empires, with great powers forcing their will on smaller vassal nations. Britain feels especially vulnerable to this change because we are no longer the world power we were in 1945.
Responding to racism
“I’m not a racist.” My observation is that if this were in fact the case, such protest would be unnecessary. I have learned to brace for what inevitably and almost immediately follows.
Seldom however, are these the first words spoken. Various thoughts and reflections slowly simmer and are finally brought to the boil of whatever "controversial" words apparently require this disclaimer. Indeed, the door of the conversation often bears no resemblance to this hinge on which it opens, or the grim hallway beyond.
‘Civilizational erasure’ and Evangelicalism’s future
Some of us will remember the old Orange mobile phone advert from the turn of the millennium: “The future’s bright, the future’s Orange.” The future did not, as it turned out, belong to Orange. But can it still be bright?
There is no doubt that Britain, like many of its neighbours, is afflicted by several overlapping crises. Pause for a moment and consider the state of our hospitals, our schools, our prisons, our armed forces, our borders, our economy, our collective mental health, and our social cohesion, and the picture becomes clear enough. And all this before we turn to the present condition of the Church of England. The skies all around us seem to be darkening. Recent remarks from the White House about “civilisational erasure” in Europe prompted the predictable response: what manner of incendiary rhetoric is this? Yet one cannot help wondering whether the proverbial frog in the water is quite as comfortable as it imagines, unaware that the temperature is still rising.
'Why are so many Jews atheists?'
"Why are so many Jews atheists?"
I hear this a lot.
How are you - really? Body and soul
How are you? Being British, the correct answer is always: “Fine, thank you very much.” No, how are you? “Well, I had the ’flu last month, but I’m doing better now, thanks.” You look a bit low. “Well, it’s sad, my aunt died last week and it was a shock.” And how are you spiritually? “I’m struggling, actually…”
There is our physical health, our mental health or emotional state, and then there is our spiritual health. Different labels for different and distinct areas of life. It may come as a surprise, then, to discover that the Scriptures describe us holistically: we are physical and psychological and spiritual beings. There are different aspects to our life (physical, mental, emotional, spiritual) but all aspects are indissolubly and inseparably linked.
Ten questions with Ken Brownell
Ken Brownell is the retired Senior Pastor of East London Tabernacle Baptist Church in Mile End, London.
I was brought up in a Christian home in the Boston, Massachusetts, area. I very clearly remember a conversation when I was seven with my parents about the gospel that led to me later that evening asking Christ to forgive me my sins. Ever since then I have known that I was a Christian. I was baptised at 13 in the Brethren assembly my family attended.
'Stranger Things' and endings
Over the Christmas holidays, Netflix released the final series of Stranger Things.
Since the first series in 2016, we’ve followed the outbreak of a dark, supernatural force in Hawkins, Indiana, the machinations of the US government and the military, and the children and teenagers who band together to confront it all.
Will the Lords kill off the assisted suicide bill?
Will the Lords kill off the dangerous, toxic, and unnecessary assisted suicide bill? The truth is that they just might.
I must admit, when MPs voted at Third Reading to approve the legislation, I feared the worst. The Bill was guaranteed maximum time in the remainder of the parliamentary session. The government even added ten additional committee days to help facilitate scrutiny.
Ban social media for under-16s?
In the past few weeks, the governments in both the UK and France have taken initial steps towards potentially banning social media for children and teenagers.
Recent updates
Last Tuesday, the French National Assembly voted in favour of a social media ban for under-15s. The bill will now move on to the Senate (France’s upper chamber) for a further vote.
Honouring God in a really tough employment market
Youth unemployment is currently running at just under 16%, with the graduate job market being particularly hard hit.
Last year the Financial Times ran a story with the headline “It’s been a terrible year to graduate and find a job” where they highlighted that the graduate job application success rate is the lowest it has been for 30 years.
'Christian nationalism': An analysis
Do you remember six years ago, when we were becoming aware of a new coronavirus? Novel because this particular strain of virus had not been seen before. It spread around the world like wildfire, resulting in many deaths.
Over time, that virus mutated into different strains. The mutations were all slightly different, sometimes with different symptoms and different levels of virulence and resistance to vaccines but were related closely enough to still be considered the same virus.
Eastern Orthodoxy and 'Trojan Horse' church planting
I have been interested in Eastern Orthodoxy ever since spending my linguist's year abroad in Novosibirsk in 1995/6.
On my return, I began to read up about church history, and was later encouraged in that by my friend, Donald Fairbairn, who was at that time a PhD student at Cambridge.
The execution of Archbishop William Laud
On 28 January at St Paul's Cathedral, Sarah Mullally will be confirmed, officially making her the Archbishop of Canterbury. The previous Archbishop, Justin Welby, ended his term on 6 January 2025. Both managed to avoid the auspicious day of 10 January, the date on which Archbishop William Laud was executed in 1645.
Yes. You read that right. An Archbishop of Canterbury was executed by Parliament in 1645. The church wardens of St George’s Church, Beckington in Somerset – the church in which I was baptised 50 years ago – would not have been all that sad to hear the news of Laud’s fate. England was three years into a civil war, partly caused by Laud and his reforms. Families, villages and towns had been torn apart, having been forced to choose between King and Parliament.
Age, sport, and the Christian hope of a new body
This year’s Masters snooker tournament at Alexandra Palace provided plenty of intrigue, as well as an interesting point for reflection concerning the mortality of even the most capable human beings.
The world’s top 16 players once again descended on the capital’s famous arena to try to win one of snooker’s three major "Triple Crown" events.
Trump, Naboth & Greenland
The world continues to be in ferment. Words written about events one moment can be immediately superseded by new developments the next. Often today such rapid changes in the news seem to revolve around the President of the US, Donald J Trump.
Among many other examples of an often Trump-centred world in flux, few would have predicted a short while ago that one of the countries making news in 2026 would be Greenland. Such is the unpredictable era in which we live.
Greenland and Trump: Enough is enough!
The mounting pressure on Greenland and Denmark by President Trump threatens more than the rights of the people of these two national communities.
A brief history
First of all, before anything else is said, here's a very brief history...
'Autistic Barbie': Representative, or insensitive?
Mattel has created an "Autistic Barbie."
The doll was launched on 11 January, but is already receiving very polarised reviews.
Why I've stayed with the Church in Wales
Towards the end of November last year, the bishops of the Church in Wales (part of the Anglican Communion) released a pastoral letter outlining their roadmap for the full authorisation of same-sex blessings – and then the introduction of same-sex marriage within the denomination.
If you haven’t been following events, this follows the introduction of liturgy for the blessing of same-sex couples on a trial basis in the autumn of 2021 by the Governing Body.
Why a new year shouldn't mean a new church
January is widely recognised as the peak month for job changes, driven by post-holiday career reflection and the "new year, new me" mindset.
In January, the recruitment market opens as staff churn and new budgets are handed out for the year ahead.