Lewis Campbell
Lydia Houghton
Date posted: 28 Dec 2025
Lewis Campbell will be the new pastor of Kirkwall Baptist Church in Orkney, Scotland. He leaves his current role as minister of Stonehaven Baptist Church, Aberdeenshire – where he has served since 2019.
Writing on X, the father of three said he is “sad to leave Stonehaven” and the church fellowship there, but is “excited” for the future. He added that prayers would be appreciated. Meanwhile, Kirkwall Baptist Church writes on its website: “We are excited to announce that Rev Lewis Campbell has accepted a call to be Minister of the church. He and his family will be moving to Orkney in the new year [2026].”
Tapani Simojoki
en staff
Date posted: 27 Dec 2025
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of England (ELCE) held its 71st Annual Synod from November 14-15 in Tottenham, north London, during which Tapani Simojoki was installed as Chairman, and the church continued work towards a new structure and name change. The synod theme was “The Joy of the Lord is Our Strength” (Nehemiah 8v10).
The denomination hopes to rename itself the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the United Kingdom (ELC-UK) to better reflect its presence in the country. It has about 20 congregations and missions, and is a member of the International Lutheran Council, grounded in the authority of Scripture.
Richard Turnbull – a loss that is felt across the globe
John Martin
Date posted: 20 Dec 2025
John Martin with a personal reflection on the life of theologian Richard Turnbull who died recently. A separate obituary was carried by en on 27 November, here.
I first encountered Richard in Southampton, when he joined the clergy team at my home church just as I was moving away to university. When I came home between terms, he had already earned the title of being a “hot Prot”. Whether this label was meant as a compliment or a criticism I am not sure, but he seemed to embrace it with pride.
Calum MacLeod
Luke Randall
Date posted: 17 Dec 2025
The Free Church of Scotland has named Calum Iain MacLeod as the Moderator Designate for its 2026 General Assembly. Brought up on the isle of Scalpay, Harris, he has served as the minister of congregations in Barvas and Back, on Lewis, before serving Ferintosh and Resolis Free Church in the Black Isle, where he has worked since 2019.
Macleod, who has also been a member of the Free Church Mission Board and Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees, said: “It has been my privilege to serve the Church in various congregations over the years. It is a great honour to be nominated as Moderator-Designate of the 2026 General Assembly.”
Louise Perry
Emily Pollok
Date posted: 14 Dec 2025
Author and social commentator Louise Perry has recently converted to Christianity, she has said in a video online.
An influential feminist figure, Perry is known for her book A Case Against the Sexual Revolution in which she explores the negative effects of greater sexual liberalism on women. In a video shared by Speak Life, Perry has since said that she is now a Christian. “One of the reasons that I ended up becoming a Christian is because I realised if it were supernaturally true, you would expect it to be sociologically true, and observing quite how sociologically true it is was very persuasive to me and I know it has been for others as well,” she said.
Conor McGregor
Emily Pollok
Date posted: 13 Dec 2025
Former UFC Featherweight and Lightweight Champion Conor McGregor says he’s been on a “spiritual journey” and has been “saved”.
The 37-year-old fighter from Ireland is preparing to enter the ring again after being suspended for 18 months for missing required drug tests. A controversial figure, McGregor has made headlines throughout his career, not just for his sporting successes but also his run-ins with the law. McGregor has faced several sexual assault allegations and has been arrested multiple times, though without criminal convictions.
Christianity Today appoints new President & CEO
Lydia Houghton
Date posted: 12 Dec 2025
US-based evangelical magazine Christianity Today (CT) has elected Nicole Massie Martin as its new President and CEO.
American evangelist Billy Graham established CT as a magazine in 1956. Martin said: “It is my desire to carry on Billy Graham’s vision at CT by serving the church through creative and redemptive storytelling, informative journalism from an evangelical Christian worldview, and resources and convenings that foster flourishing.”
Michael Teutsch
Lydia Houghton
Date posted: 11 Dec 2025
The Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches (FIEC) has appointed Michael Teutsch as its Local Director for churches in central England.
Texas-born Teutsch moved to the UK to study at London Theological Seminary in 1984. He was pastor of Flitwick Baptist Church, Bedfordshire for 19 years and associate pastor at Highfields Church, Cardiff, for eight years. He has served on the FIEC Trust Board and been involved in church planting and mentoring. He joins a team of ten Local Directors – whose roles are to support leaders and churches in their region.
Terry Puttick
en staff
Date posted: 9 Dec 2025
Tributes have been paid to Terry Puttick, a London City Missioner, who has died.
Writing on X, Graham Miller, LCM CEO, wrote: “Loyalty, love, selflessness, good news, humour and perseverance were visible in all that Terry did.
Allan Beckett
Lydia Houghton
Date posted: 6 Dec 2025
Biblical Counselling UK (BCUK) has welcomed Allan Beckett as its new Chair of Trustees. He succeeds Mike Warren, who served in the role for more than a decade.
Steve Midgley, Executive Director, told en: “We are so very grateful for all the ways that God has used Mike in this leadership role.” Warren has been described as “instrumental” in establishing BCUK. “We are also delighted that Allan Beckett, who has been serving on the board for five years, is succeeding Mike as Chair,” Midgley continued.
Simon Austen
Wycliffe Bible Translators
Date posted: 3 Dec 2025
Wycliffe Bible Translators has appointed Simon Austen as its new Director for Ministry Partnerships.
In this part-time role, Simon works with individuals, churches, and other agencies – along with those who are working to engage people with the translated Scriptures around the world – to help raise the profile of this important work, and to encourage involvement in it.
Bake Off winner Jasmine Mitchell's Christian faith
en staff
Date posted: 1 Dec 2025
This year’s Great British Bake Off winner has shared how the pressure of participating in the series helped her faith in God to grow.
Jasmine Mitchell, 23, spoke to Premier Christian News about her time in the tent, and how her “faith has become stronger and stronger over the last year”, as she relied on God in the busyness and stress of competing on Bake Off while studying for a medicine degree. Jasmine shared how the pressure of the show “really pushed me to rely on Jesus, on God, because there were a lot of situations where I just felt completely unequipped”.
Graham Rowles
Paul Eddy / en staff
Date posted: 30 Nov 2025
One of Bristol's most loved and respect Baptist Lay Pastors has died, aged 89. Graham Rowles played a pivotal role in churches and mission for over 50 years.
Among other things, he arranged for satellite broadcasts of Billy Graham missions elsewhere in the UK to be beamed live to audiences in Bristol. He was also greatly involved with a Luis Palau mission. Rowles was instrumental in bringing into being the South Bristol Christian Centre, was a lay preacher at East Street Baptist Church, and Lay Pastor at Dundry Baptist Chapel.
Noted international art historian and author dies
Anne Roberts
Date posted: 21 Nov 2025
Many of the international Christian arts community were saddened to learn that the art historian and author Dr Graham Birtwistle had died at his home in Amsterdam on 6 October.
Originally from Accrington, Graham had an international career, starting as a lecturer in art history at Leicester Polytechnic. Later, his name became linked with that of the Dutch Professor Hans Rookmaaker (1922–1977), whose work, as Graham wrote, “left an indelible impression” on his life. Rookmaaker’s visits to England in the 1960s and 70s had an immense impact on British art students, particularly when his book Modern Art and the Death of a Culture was published in 1970. Graham was one of a number who travelled to study with him at the Vrije Universität (Free University) in Amsterdam. Another Englishman studying under Rookmaaker was John Walford, who went on to become Professor of Art History at Wheaton College, Illinois. The two became housemates and the cottage they and others shared was a significant “hub” for students and artists seeking to work out a Christian worldview within the arts.
Mark Prentice - new minister of ANiE church
en staff
Date posted: 2 Nov 2025
An independent Anglican church outside the Church of England has a new minister. St Thomas’s Church in Corstorphine, Edinburgh recently saw the licensing and institution of Mark Prentice.
St Thomas’s was constituted in 1844 as an independent Anglican church and is currently part of the Anglican Convocation of Europe, part of ANiE.
‘Mother of modern Bible translation’ dies
Lydia Houghton
Date posted: 29 Oct 2025
Wycliffe Bible Translators has paid tribute to one of its long-serving missionaries who has died at 87.
Dr Katharine “Katy” Barnwell served with Wycliffe for over 60 years. Barnwell pioneered locally-led Bible translation: after helping to see the New Testament published in the Mbembe language in 1985, she found that the Mbembe people wanted more translation – the Old Testament as well as translation into other Mbembe dialects – and so concluded that the best way to do this was to get some Mbembe speakers trained. “And so began the revolution in training local Bible translators that has led to the huge growth in Bible translation today,” says Wycliffe Bible Translators. Barnwell’s textbook Bible Translation: An Introductory Course in Translation Principles – first published in 1975 and now in its fourth edition – is the primary training resource for Bible translators worldwide.
Sam Solomon, Christian Concern co-founder, dies
Nicola Laver
Date posted: 26 Oct 2025
Sam Solomon, Christian scholar, apologist and a co-founder of Christian Concern (CC), died on 3 October.
A statement on the CC website says: “Sam was more than just a scholar. He prayed intensely, laughed freely, and brought the grace of God to countless people and situations in the United Kingdom and around the globe.
New Equipping Pastors Worldwide role
Lydia Houghton
Date posted: 25 Oct 2025
Equipping Pastors Worldwide has welcomed David Bhadreshwar as its new Head of Resourcing and Partnerships.
Bhadreshwar and his wife, Naomi, spent almost 20 years in Peru as missionaries – serving indigenous churches through preaching, teaching, discipleship, and pastoral ministry in villages and cities across the jungles, highlands, and coast. Registered with Global Training Network (GTN), Bhadreshwar has remained actively involved in overseas missions training since returning to the UK in 2023.
