Paul Kinnaird
Lydia Houghton
Date posted: 14 Feb 2026
Paul Kinnaird has been appointed as the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches’ (FIEC’s) Director for Bristol. Kinnaird was the pastor of Bankhall Mission, Liverpool.
Kinnaird will use his “wisdom and ministry experience to serve church leaders on the ground in a way that FIEC is not able to do centrally,” said FIEC’s Communications and Media Officer Joel Murray. Graham Beynon, who leads FIEC’s team of local directors, said he is “delighted” to have Kinnaird on the team.
Antoine Semenyo
Lydia Houghton
Date posted: 5 Feb 2026
Professional footballer Antoine Semenyo has been baptised on Bournemouth beach.
The 26-year-old publicly declared his faith by sharing his baptism video on Instagram, in a “2025 highlights post” in which he wrote, in the caption: “… I thank you, God, for your protection, your blessings and your work over my life.”
Alan Buist
Lydia Houghton
Date posted: 4 Feb 2026
Highland Theological College (HTC), Dingwall, Scotland, has appointed Alan Buist as its new Vice-Principal (Finance and Operations), describing him as having “wide-ranging previous experience”.
“His appointment comes at an exciting time as the College continues to grow and respond to the changing landscape of higher education,” HTC writes. Buist joined HTC in January 2019 as Administrator supporting the Principal and Development Officer. Prior to this, he worked for Diageo for 33 years as a Finance Team Leader.
Nick Williams
Lydia Houghton
Date posted: 3 Feb 2026
Anglican evangelical mission agency CPAS (Church Pastoral Aid Society) has appointed Nick Williams as its Patronage Development Officer. His work in CPAS’ Patronage Team will commence in April.
Williams has been the vicar of Christ Church, Guildford, since 2011. He is “passionate about helping people discover who Jesus is and the difference He makes to their lives,” CPAS said. “He will bring his wealth of experience in church leadership and ministry to the role.”
Leading evangelical missiologist Andrew Kirk dies
Daniel Kirk
Date posted: 1 Feb 2026
J. Andrew Kirk died on the first of January, at the age of 88, from an unexpected heart attack.
Kirk, an ordained Anglican minister for over 60 years, was a leading Evangelical missiologist in the second half of the 20th century, who was a co-founder of the influential Latin American Theological Fraternity (FTL in Spanish) as well as the London Institute of Contemporary Christianity (LICC). He wrote over 20 books, co-authored many more and wrote hundreds of journal articles; firstly as a New Testament scholar and then as a missiologist. His most important books were Liberation Theology: an Evangelical View from the Third World (1979), What is Mission? Theological Explorations (1999) and Being Human: An Historical Enquiry Into Who We Are (2019). Kirk visited and lectured in over a hundred countries and supervised postgraduate students from all the world’s continents.
Alice Cooper
Lydia Houghton
Date posted: 30 Jan 2026
Rock artist Vincent Furnier – whose stage name is Alice Cooper – has described his four-decade-long sobriety as a “miracle” he credits to Jesus.
Known for his horror-themed performances, some have expressed concerns: “Some say, ‘He can’t be a Christian and still do that music.’ But they’ve never heard his story. They’ve never listened to his testimony,” writes podcaster Greg Laurie who interviewed Furnier. His reported “life-threatening” substance addiction led him to be admitted to a specialist hospital. Furnier has said that Jesus pulled him out of that dark lifestyle.
Ryan King
Grace Baptist Partnership
Date posted: 29 Jan 2026
Ryan King has been appointed as the Ministry Coordinator for the Grace Baptist Partnership (GBP).
Partnership chairman Chola Mukanga said: “Ryan is a gifted and experienced pastor with a passion for church planting and revitalisation across the UK and Europe.” Ryan King will serve alongside Barry King, who has been Ministry Leader at GBP since its inception in 2010. Former GBP chairman David Chapman praised Ryan’s “engaging preaching and his ability to warmly interact with people while getting things done”.
Jamie Grant
Lydia Houghton
Date posted: 28 Jan 2026
Highland Theological College (HTC), Dingwall, Scotland, has welcomed Dr Jamie Grant as its new Principal.
“With decades of experience in [Biblical] studies – particularly his renowned work on the Psalms – Dr Grant is well placed to lead HTC into its next chapter while keeping our mission at the centre: providing high-quality theological education rooted in the life of the church and engaged with the world,” HTC writes. His main teaching responsibilities are in the OT poetic texts, Biblical languages and hermeneutics.
Adrian Brixey
Nicola Laver
Date posted: 27 Jan 2026
Adrian Brixey has been appointed the new Chief Executive Officer of Grace Baptist Mission and takes up the role this month. Adrian and his wife Antonia are members of Trinity Baptist Church, Gloucester, where he was an elder until the end of 2024. He will work alongside mission director Daryl Jones who will be retiring in the coming months.
Brixey brings a wealth of mission experience, including 11 years’ service in Thailand; and a UK-based ministry among refugees.
Professor Paul Helm: A personal appreciation
Chris Sinkinson
Date posted: 25 Jan 2026
The news that Professor Paul Helm (1940-2025) passed away at the end of the year caused much sadness in the Evangelical world as he was an outstanding scholar and significant theological influence in the church.
I knew Paul in the 1990s when I served with him as the secretary to the Tyndale House Philosophy of Religion Fellowship. Although I lost touch with him in later years, I always followed his work, as best I could, and respected his opinion. Particularly in the discipline of philosophy there were few like him.
Daniel J. Treier
Lydia Houghton
Date posted: 24 Jan 2026
American evangelical professor and author Daniel J. Treier has died aged 53 after a “brief” battle with metastatic lung cancer.
Treier began teaching at Wheaton College, Illinois, when he was 28 years old, remaining there for the next 25 years. In an obituary, former PhD student and fellow Wheaton College instructor T.Y. Kieser wrote: “Whether it was Wheaton College, his daughter’s classical school, his church, or the book series that he guided for publishing companies, he poured his heart and soul into these communities.”
Gwenfair Adams
Ros Clarke
Date posted: 10 Jan 2026
Professor Gwenfair Adams from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in the USA, has delivered this year’s St Antholin Lecture.
It explored why Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress was so much more successful than CS Lewis’s Pilgrim’s Regress in shaping the Christian imagination. Adams said The Voyage of the Dawn Treader was a more effective successor to Bunyan’s work. The St Antholin Lectures are an annual event, named after the now-demolished London church once known as “the grand nursery of puritanism.” The event can be seen on Church Society’s YouTube channel, and a text can be purchased from the Latimer Trust.
Tony Wales: Remembering a Christian publishing expert
Julia Cameron
Date posted: 8 Jan 2026
Tony Wales, who had a possibly unrivalled knowledge of global publishing, has died.
He was born in the Belgian Congo (now DRC) to missionary parents. His family returned to the UK when he was ten. His father was to lead Scripture Gift Mission (SGM).
Reformed theologian Paul Helm dies
en staff
Date posted: 1 Jan 2026
Well-known Reformed theologian and philosopher Professor Paul Helm has died.
An expert and writer on John Calvin, he was also known for his work on the doctrine of God, defending classical theism at a time when it was under attack.
Martin Dickson
Lydia Houghton
Date posted: 30 Dec 2025
Martin Dickson is Wycliffe Bible Translators’ new Director of Churches. In this role, Dickson will serve as a link between Wycliffe and UK churches, encouraging fellowships to partner in the work of Bible translation.
Dickson speaks of his passion for the work: “I can only imagine what my own life would be like without the Bible in English. It simply doesn’t feel fair that I can encounter God’s word in the language of my heart while others can’t. … People of every language deserve the light of the gospel and to hear God’s truth in the language they understand best.”
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.
