Place matters: Today's church-hopping problem
Jonny Pollock
Date posted: 5 Feb 2026
There was a time when evangelical Christianity carried a value for place. Churches belonged somewhere. Not just in terms of a building in a location, but emotionally and relationally.
Pastors knew the weight of local stories from local people. Congregations carried shared memories – both the joy and pain of an area’s history.
faith and life
Jesus & the end of shame
Nathan Weston
Date posted: 5 Feb 2026
Have you ever been made to feel ashamed for being a Christian?
Perhaps you’ve been frozen out of friendship groups because you expressed an opinion that some in the group found offensive. Perhaps you’ve been overlooked at work because you wouldn’t go along with a sinful workplace culture. Or perhaps – hardest of all – you’ve been shunned or sidelined by your own family, because your Christian lifestyle is a rebuke to the religion or morality of your own flesh and blood.
history
Valentines and martyrdom
Michael Haykin
Date posted: 4 Feb 2026
In February many will celebrate St Valentine’s Day with gifts of flowers and maybe chocolates to their loved ones.
The association of romantic love with St Valentine’s Day dates back to Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages, but the actual figure after which this saint’s day is named comes from the early centuries of the Church. Details of his life are shrouded in the mists of history. Indeed, it may well be that there are actually two different Christian figures by the name of Valentine. Whether one or two, there is good evidence that the church remembered one of them as an early Christian martyr. Our Saint Valentine was an Italian bishop who was martyred on 14 February, 269, after a trial before the Roman emperor Claudius Gothicus (reign 268–270).
the Bible in action
Death and money
Martin Horton
Date posted: 1 Feb 2026
“When he’d died, I didn’t like people saying ‘Oh, he’s passed’. Or ‘You’ve lost your dad,’ as though I’d let go of his hand in the supermarket.”
That was Simon Armitage, the Poet Laureate, speaking on Radio 4 about the sudden death of his father.
Cybersecurity: Loving your (digital) neighbour
Tristram Ridley-Jones
Date posted: 30 Jan 2026
It is a Tuesday morning in the church office. The administrator sits down, coffee in hand, to process the weekly DBS checks for the new Sunday School volunteers. It is a mundane, administrative task, a "Martha" moment in a world that often prizes "Mary" spirituality. But in today's day and age, this simple act of administration has become a frontline of spiritual stewardship.
Last year, the data breach involving the Access Personal Checking Services (APCS) (a third-party supplier used by many dioceses and Christian organisations) served as a stark wake-up call. It reminded us that the church is not invisible to the digital threats that prowl the modern world. For many church leaders, terms like "phishing," "ransomware," and "two-factor authentication" feel like a distraction from the Great Commission. They would rather talk about grace than firewalls.
How the gospel is going viral with LEGO
Jake Owen
Date posted: 29 Jan 2026
In a former church building overshadowed by a shopping centre, a small media organisation is producing Christian content which is going viral across social media.
Go Chatter Studios is animating Biblical stories - from the prophet Jonah’s reluctant journey to Nineveh to Christ’s raising of his friend Lazarus from the dead - using the much-loved construction toy, LEGO.
Did you know that anxiety is contagious?
Matt Waldock
Date posted: 28 Jan 2026
At least once a year a member of the staff team will drag themselves into the office with their nose running, full of cold and with a hacking cough; then everyone else will roll their eyes in the knowing frustration that unless their immune system is like an athlete, it’s only a matter of time before the whole team gets sick.
But what if there is a far more dangerous contagion that stalks among our congregations? That contagion is anxiety.
At a distance: Are we only willing to follow Jesus up to a point?
Wallace Benn
Date posted: 27 Jan 2026
“And Peter had followed him at a distance right into the courtyard of the high priest” (Mark 14v54).
This describes the worst moment in dear Peter’s life, of which he was later so ashamed, and about which he needed the Lord’s forgiveness and reinstatement, which he graciously received (John 21). It was not that Peter had given up following Jesus, it was that at a crucial moment when he was under pressure he denied his master and Lord. Peter wanted to follow Jesus, but he did not at this time want the hassle and danger of doing so – it was all too much for him to cope with. Later Peter thankfully showed that he was more than willing to take up his cross and follow Jesus wherever that led.
Learning from Martyn Lloyd-Jones: a Biblical synthesis of Reformed and Charismatic faith for today?
Adam Ramsey
Date posted: 26 Jan 2026
Over the next few months, en will be running a series of articles written by Adam Ramsey, of Liberti Church, Gold Coast, Australia, exploring what we can learn from Martyn Lloyd-Jones today about the questions set out in the headline. The essays, of which there are five in total, need to be taken together. They are taken from original, yet-to-be published research undertaken by Ramsey for his Doctor of Philosophy thesis. They also, we hope, represent something of the generous-hearted, thoughtful, Biblical approach that en was founded 40 years ago in 1986 to embody.
Introduction
During the 20th century, it was no secret that Calvinists and Charismatics frequently viewed one another with mutual suspicion. Rarely would those who affirmed a high view of God’s sovereignty in salvation in the Reformed tradition, and those with a high experiential expectation of the Holy Spirit’s direct and supernatural activity, find themselves worshipping in the same church. Or, for that matter, even cooperating outside of their respective churches.
Evangelicals after John Smyth: Andrew Graystone interviewed
Rebecca Chapman
Date posted: 23 Jan 2026
Rebecca Chapman speaks to Andrew Graystone, who has been instrumental in exposing the scandal around abuser John Smyth.
Graystone is the author of Bleeding for Jesus, detailing the story of what went on, and was also involved in Channel 4’s exposés of what happened. A review of the book’s second edition, which has just been published, can be read on en's website here.
scattering seeds of hope
Sharing my faith with friendship, patience, and coffee
Marcia McLean
Date posted: 20 Jan 2026
Mocha. Black coffee. Milky coffee. Latte. Latte with oat milk. While my coffee preferences have changed over the years, one thing that has not changed is my love for coffee! And while my love for sharing the good news of Jesus Christ has not changed either, I have definitely changed in how I share my faith.
As an extrovert, I love to meet new people. Not to build on the stereotype, but I am also an American living in the UK. I love getting to know people and building friendships, and in God’s kindness sometimes these overlap with my love for coffee.
Peter's counter-cultural words to slaves
Tim Vasby-Burnie
Date posted: 15 Jan 2026
Who is a "model Christian"? A pastor-evangelist who can both disciple a congregation and reach the lost effectively? A nurse putting in long hours, working with compassion and praying silently for her patients?
Peter says: think of a slave. A slave - with no power, suffering for doing good - is a model Christian.
Have you noticed the endings of these Psalms?
Mitch Chase
Date posted: 15 Jan 2026
The book of Psalms has five smaller books. They’re not equal in length, but the ending of each book is marked by various climactic statements.
Book I is from Psalms one to 41, Book II is from Psalms 42 to 72, Book III is from Psalms 73 to 89, Book IV is from Psalms 90 to 106, and Book V is from Psalms 107 to 150.
A message to those who are doubting
Alistair Chalmers
Date posted: 14 Jan 2026
There are moments in the Christian life when faith feels sturdy and sure, and others when it feels as thin as glass. Prayers seem to fall flat. Scripture feels dry. Christian music maybe doesn’t lift your heart as it once did.
For many Christians these seasons can be unsettling, even frightening. We can wonder whether something has gone wrong with our faith, or worse, with us.
Retirement: What should our approach be?
Graham Nicholls
Date posted: 13 Jan 2026
As we entered 2026, I was watching Jools Holland’s Hootenanny. It’s a show welcoming in the new year with musicians performing songs, mostly with the backing of the vast and hugely talented band Jools has pulled together.
Along with the younger performers like Olivia Dean (26) and Jessie J (37), there were quite a few near or beyond what you might call "normal retirement" age. There was Ronnie Wood putting in a reasonable shift at 78 and there was Lulu bringing the house down with an energetic performance at 77. Even the host, Jools, and his regular singer Ruby Turner, are both 67. They could be claiming their state pensions, but they were showing no signs of retirement.
Review: 'Blue Letter Bible' versus 'Logos'
Paul Jackson
Date posted: 12 Jan 2026
I was inspired by Jordan Brown’s round-up of Bible apps (see en article here) and wanted to make a further, more specific, contribution to the debate in terms of Logos and Blue Letter Bible.
As a middle-aged Christian, I have been using Bible software since the days of CD-ROMs! Bible software has helped me craft numerous Bible studies and sermons.
The 'broken' are God's most useful instruments
Dan Steel
Date posted: 12 Jan 2026
I know we’ve only just celebrated Christmas and the Incarnation, but as Arsene Wenger famously (allegedly) said: “Christmas is important but Easter is decisive.” And the thing about the Easter story for pastors and ministry leaders is it’s not merely a doctrine we proclaim but a pattern we embody.
We follow Jesus who moved through betrayal, abandonment, agony, and the darkness of death before the stone was rolled away on the third day. He told his disciples plainly: "Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit."
Why theology and psychology need to be friends
Dave Burke
Date posted: 11 Jan 2026
Please note: This article contains reference to attempted suicide and mental distress. For help and support, see the bottom of this page.
I ran downstairs to answer the doorbell and found a paramedic waiting, his ambulance on the road behind him with its engine still running.
