Trailblazing initiative brings gospel to disadvantaged
Emily Pollok
Four years since its inception, a pioneering initiative to bring the gospel to economically disadvantaged and ethnic minority areas is bringing transformation across the UK.
The Sychar Gospel Fund was established in 2021 with a vision to support local churches in the poorest areas of Britain – it has distributed more than £1.4 million in grants to 125 men and women from 40 different churches to date.
Bank hits record church lending
Iain Taylor
Kingdom Bank has announced record lending for 2024, having approved 99 mortgages with a total value of nearly £27million.
The Christian bank uses deposits from churches and individuals to make loans to churches, Christian charities and those in full-time ministry secured on property. Since 2020, it has granted £100 million in loans and aims to boost that number by 150% over the next five years, lending a further £250 million by 2030. Of the mortgages in 2024, 44 were for church buildings, 28 were for houses for church leaders, 20 were personal mortgages for Christian ministers and seven – for churches and charities – were secured on other types of buildings. The largest group applying for loans was independent evangelical churches.
Should we continue tithing today?
Several years ago, I attended a truly uplifting worship session at a mega-church in Leatherhead. Yet, at the conclusion of that session, I was disappointed to hear the Senior Pastor trot out the usual shop-worn arguments for the continuance of tithing in the New Testament.
Of course, I can understand churches’ attraction to having a substantial and predictable source of church funds. However, stretching the applicability of an Old Testament regulation to our New Testament era is not the way to do it.