culture watch
Sun, sea and resentment
Rebecca Chapman
Date posted: 16 Jul 2026
In 1963 Cliff Richard shot to no.1 in the charts with Summer Holiday. On the soundtrack to this feel-good road-trip movie, he sang about how on such a holiday there would be “no more worries for a week or two”.
Yet, as we approach the summer, the BBC’s new drama Two Weeks In August instead offers us an eight-part series giving us a glimpse into the holiday from hell. Described as “sun, sea and suppressed resentment” it provides a darkly tragi-comic depiction of 40-somethings, university friends, on a group holiday, complete with spouses and children alongside singles. It’s been compared to The White Lotus, with its ensemble cast and illicit-time-abroad vibes but this is not the same luxury trip. This group aren’t nearly as affluent, despite their attempts to outsource childcare onto someone else.
earth watch
Thinking of our farmers
Paul Kunert
Date posted: 15 Jul 2026
As I write, England has recently sweltered under a record-smashing May heatwave, the culmination of a drier-than-usual spring.
Heather Oldfield, South Lincolnshire National Farmers Union County Chairman, showed Radio 4’s Farming Today her “stressed” winter wheat, and her “patchy” spring barley, and wonders whether she’ll even be planting a spring crop next year. Meanwhile, at Low Sizergh farm in Cumbria, panting cattle and sheep sought respite in the shade.
helping children find faith
Why do teenagers drop out of church?
Ed Drew
Date posted: 14 Jul 2026
A church leader told me the story of James, a young man who had grown up in his church, going through all their groups, attending regularly. James headed off to Uni with suggestions of churches to try there, his home church satisfied that they had fulfilled their role.
Each holiday James came home having not got involved in a church. He had started going to the student group but then drifted away. The church leader admitted feeling angry with James for not playing his part, but he had to think again because he had seen this pattern repeated in the lives of several other young adults leaving his church. He concluded that James had never actually been part of the church. James knew how to be part of a church age group, being taught, being cared for, and hanging out with his peers, but he did not know how to do church – for example, by serving and by being in fellowship with people across generations.
'Radical discipleship' – ten questions with Karen Soole
en staff
Date posted: 13 Jul 2026
Karen Soole is a writer, speaker, and women’s worker at Trinity Church, Lancaster. She is the chair of the Northern Women’s Convention and a trustee of The Proclamation Trust.
1.How did you become a Christian?
meditating on 1 Peter
'Do not fear... revere Christ as Lord'
Tim Vasby-Burnie
Date posted: 11 Jul 2026
Does fear lead you to stand on a solid rock, or to worry about falling down because your foundations have failed?
Social media and the 24–7 news cycle stokes fear. There are fears about the economy, fears about nationalism, fears about immigration, fears about war, fears about new pandemics and so much more.
Angola: Missionary-sending nation?
Jonathan Holden
Date posted: 9 Jul 2026
At dusk in Ondjiva, a few young Angolans may gather on plastic chairs with a Bible, a notebook and a question: who will help this neighbourhood follow Jesus?
It is not a platform. It is not a conference hall. It may be a yard, a veranda, or the shade of a mango tree after a long day of school, work and family responsibilities. Someone prays. Someone reads Scripture. Someone speaks honestly about fear, sin, family pressure or unemployment. Slowly, quietly, disciples are being made.
everyday evangelism
It’s time for us to press in and open our mouths
Steve Osmond
Date posted: 7 Jul 2026
People are often more willing to hear about Jesus than we are to tell them!
In recent years there’s been a lot of revival talk, especially in Europe and particularly here in the UK. We’ve seen statistics and reports about an increase in Bible sales, church attendance, professions of faith, baptisms and the like – the veritable “quiet revival”. And, with great excitement the church (perhaps understandably so) picked up on the narrative and it became commonplace to speak of the “quiet revival” in the UK.
everyday theology
Evangelicals & unity
Michael Reeves
Date posted: 3 Jul 2026
Evangelicalism is not a slippery slope to theological fluffiness; it is a path of wisdom and proportion. For evangelicals do not claim that the saving essential truths of the gospel are the only truths that matter, but that the gospel alone is our unifying anchor.
We seek to believe and uphold all that Scripture teaches. After all, we are people who believe in the supremacy of Scripture, and it is only consistent that we should seek to have a deeply thought-through Scriptural view of everything. But we do not believe that every truth is equally important or equally salvific. We are not saved by our knowledge of obscure doctrines. We do not find them the source of our unity. Thus, we hold each matter with the weighting Scripture gives, neither diminishing its primary truths nor elevating the others.
en at 40: A febrile world – but a faithful Lord
David Baker
Date posted: 1 Jul 2026
This month marks the 40th anniversary of the founding of Evangelicals Now (en).
What has changed during these 40 years for us as evangelicals, and in the wider cultures we inhabit? We asked a selection of evangelical leaders for their reflections on these past four decades. Specifically, we asked what they thought “the main changes, challenges and encouragements over that time span have been for (a) the Reformed evangelical constituency nationally, and, (b) evangelism both nationally and indeed globally” had been. Not all responded, but here are those who did (in the order they appeared in my inbox, just in case you wonder!).
Interview: 'I've read en for 40 years'
Lydia Houghton
Date posted: 25 Jun 2026
At the end of a Sunday morning service at Minster Christian Centre, Cardiff – during a weekend visit to the Welsh capital – I introduced myself to a gentleman called Richard. “I’m a journalist,” I said. “I work for Evangelicals Now.”
Richard’s response was one of enthusiasm and encouragement – as I found out that he has been an en reader for 40 years! It was quite fitting, really, seeing as this year en is celebrating its 40th anniversary. I wanted to know more about Richard’s story – and, sure enough, he was kind enough to share it with me. So, allow me to share it with you, too.
Brazil 'needs a revival', scholar says
Langham Partnership UK & Ireland
Date posted: 23 Jun 2026
This is the third of three articles shared with en by Langham Partnership UK & Ireland (LPUKI). The articles detail LPUKI's work in various parts of the world.
João Paulo Thomaz de Aquino was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and was adopted just days later by a Presbyterian pastor and his wife. It was “an amazing thing that God did for me,” João shared.
A godly response to receiving feedback
Dan Steel
Date posted: 17 Jun 2026
One lesson I admit I haven't fully learned is how to truly enjoy receiving feedback… I doubt I'm alone in this?!
Even after many years of pastoral ministry, encouragement still feels far more appealing than critique!
In His house there are many rooms
Andrew Drury
Date posted: 15 Jun 2026
As I returned recently from a Bible conference, I saw two huge banners proclaiming in large letters: "Welcome Home." However, they were displayed outside a neighbour’s house – for I still had to walk a few more steps before reaching my own home.
It seemed to me a quiet picture of a deeper reality: some have already reached Home – to be with the Lord Jesus – while the rest of us continue on our journey of faith, waiting in hope.
Towards a more Biblical understanding of worship
Alistair Chalmers
Date posted: 15 Jun 2026
Ask a group of Christians what comes to mind when they hear the word worship, and many will immediately think of music. We speak of a “worship service”, a “worship leader”, or “a time of worship”, often referring specifically to congregational singing. Singing is undoubtedly a precious and Biblical part of Christian worship. Yet if worship is reduced to music, we risk shrinking a rich Biblical reality into a single activity.
The Bible presents worship as something far bigger, deeper, and more comprehensive than a style of music or a particular experience on a Sunday morning.
updates from the mission field
Training hub opens as Christianity in Global South 'thrives'
BMS World Mission
Date posted: 12 Jun 2026
Mission has traditionally been seen as "from the West to the rest". But in Ghana, there's a different story playing out – and it's one that BMS World Mission is thrilled to be part of.
As a young Christian, Ghanaian Kwame Adzam dreamed of being involved in sharing the gospel. These days, he heads up BMS World Mission’s Heart for the Gospel ministry, building strong evangelism and discipleship programmes. But he also had another, more specific dream: "When I became a believer, I was thinking, 'When will Ghana send mission workers to other places?'" he remembers. "I've always been praying, 'Lord, would you open the doors for the Global South church so we can become significant partners in fulfilling your mission?'"
defending our faith
Migration – lessons ancient and modern
Chris Sinkinson
Date posted: 9 Jun 2026
I’m writing this from the island of Crete where I am filming with the Christian Television Association. It’s a land rich in archaeology and creates a great backdrop for teaching the Bible. The associations with Paul’s missionary travels and the leadership of Titus in the early church make it an important location for Christian history.
But Crete is also a key location for the origin of the Philistines. Who were the Philistines? Many of us remember them only for the story of Goliath and assume they were just the “baddies” of the Bible, enemies of Israel, but there is a lot more to them.
