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Nicola Laver

Date posted: 1 Feb 2023

The Revd Dr Paul Bailie, Presbyterian minister, lecturer and lover of Africa, died unexpectedly on 15 November 2023, just days after turning 54.

He was ordained by the Presbyterian Church of Ireland (PCI) in 1995; and from 2007 he had been chief executive of Mission Africa, one of the oldest interdenominational evangelical missions in the UK. He had recently joined the ICC Executive Committee representing the Presbyterian Church.

Nicola Laver

Date posted: 1 Mar 2023

The Baptist Union (BU) could change its rules to allow the ordination of practicing homosexuals as early as October 2023 – but evangelical ministers within the union are making moves to defend the orthodox position.

In January, an in-person meeting of the newly-formed Evangelical Baptist Ministers for Marriage was held, against the background of increasing division over the issue of allowing the accreditation of practicing gay ministers. More than 220 orthodox evangelical baptists attended the meeting.

Nicola Laver

Date posted: 1 Jan 2023

A partnership between two independent churches – one in a middle-class southern area and the other on a Yorkshire council estate – is bridging the north-south divide and advancing the gospel.

Banstead Community Church lies 13 miles outside central London in leafy Surrey which, along with Sussex, is the wealthiest part of England according to the Office of National Statistics (ONS). ‘Average wealth’ is said to be £263,000 by the ONS.

Nicola Laver

Date posted: 1 Aug 2021

A Brazilian missionary is working among young people in Chard, Somerset, mentoring and giving mental-health support with the help of local ministries.

Raquel Lima (see photo), who is also serving the local Portuguese community, has been placed by Latin Link (in partnership with South West Youth Ministries) to mentor and support young people alongside Forefront Church, an independent evangelical fellowship.

Nicola Laver

Date posted: 1 Oct 2022

A warning from charity Crisis UK that hundreds of thousands of UK households could become homeless this winter, has prompted London City Mission (LCM) to issue an urgent call for help.

Figures show that, up to now, good progress had been made with 2,689 fewer people sleeping rough in the year to April 2022 compared to the previous year. An LCM spokesperson said the warning of the impending rise in homelessness is a ‘heartbreaking projection’ threatening the work already done.

Nicola Laver

Date posted: 1 Oct 2022

With modern slavery in the UK escalating, evangelical churches are being challenged to dedicate Sunday 25 September to prayer and taking action to help trafficking victims.

‘Freedom Sunday’, coordinated by the International Justice Mission (IJM), has been chosen as a day dedicated in the UK and abroad for corporate prayer for individuals trafficked into modern slavery – and to take action to end it.

Nicola Laver

Date posted: 1 Aug 2022

From two to more than 120 people in nine years – a London church plant which began with a couple meeting individuals in the first year before launching as a living-room Bible study, is now planning to send its very first convert to start a new church in West London.

Malcolm Riley and his wife moved to London in 2013 with a desire to reach the next generation from the city centre. They came with literally nothing, having just left St Ebbe’s Oxford; with no staff team, no core group, no salary, no vicarage and no church building. ‘But we had two Bibles,’ said Malcolm.

Nicola Laver

Date posted: 1 Jul 2022

The gospel of Jesus Christ is not for Jews, a trustee of a Christian-Jewish council has claimed – suggesting that to think otherwise is anti-Semitic.

In an opinion piece in The Times newspaper calling for the end of Christian missions to convert Jews, Zaki Cooper (photo right), a trustee of the Council of Christians and Jews, cited historical Jewish massacres and anti-Semitism in England going back to the 1100s.

Nicola Laver

Date posted: 1 Aug 2022

A new programme to help churches tackle issues of porn use and addiction within their congregations has been unveiled, against the background of rising consumption.

According to research carried out by the charity launching the programme, the Naked Truth Project, 13% of UK adults admitted to being addicted to watching pornography. The ‘Church Membership’ programme was launched at a House of Commons event, hosted by Tim Farron MP (photo) and attended by six other MPs and peers.

Nicola Laver

Date posted: 1 Aug 2022

Around 120 people met on a damp Saturday in Cardiff to listen to renowned psychologist Dr Diane Langberg share her deep knowledge of different forms of abuse, grief and on ‘care for the caregiver’.

Dr Langberg has nearly 50 years’ experience working with trauma victims and survivors of different forms of abuse, ranging from sexual and physical abuse; experiences of war; and increasingly, abuse of power in churches.

Nicola Laver

Date posted: 1 May 2022

A North Carolina folk duo is preparing to come to Chelmsford, Essex to share the gospel through music.

Songs of the Folk (aka classically trained married couple Andrew and Lauren Cason), discovered that music opened doors for them into people’s lives to share the Good News of Christ – often to the most marginalised in society or those harder to reach.

Nicola Laver

Date posted: 1 May 2022

The Baptist Union (BU) council is considering changing the ministerial requirements in relation to same-sex marriage for its ministers.

It is understood 70 people, mainly BU ministers who are part of pressure group Affirming Baptists Together, signed a letter to the General Secretary of the BU requesting that it effectively change its rule requiring its ministers to be single or in a heterosexual marriage on the basis that it is discriminatory.

Nicola Laver

Date posted: 1 Mar 2022

More than 750 churches across the UK and Ireland have signed up to A Passion for Life – a pioneering, month-long, evangelistic mission this Easter.

The mission is providing the tools to enable individual churches to ‘plan, build and promote’ their evangelism in the lead-up to Easter. They range from online support resources to training videos, which the organisers said are being well-received by churches.

Nicola Laver

Date posted: 1 Mar 2022

Christchurch Durham is facing mounting pressure to commission an independent review following serious allegations of abuse of power against the pastor, who left last December.

Tony Jones, senior pastor at the independent Anglican church until his resignation last year, has been accused of abuses of power and governance and presiding over a ‘culture of fear’.

Nicola Laver

Date posted: 1 Dec 2021

There has been increasing openness to the gospel among university students in the UK this Autumn, the UCCF has reported.

One unbelieving student attended an Abertay Christian Union (CU) lunchtime talk on ‘Lasting Joy’. Afterwards he said: ‘If this is true, you have a genuine hope for eternal happiness. If it’s not, you still have an anchor that allows you to find joy in this life – I find that exhilarating!’

Nicola Laver

Date posted: 1 Nov 2021

First birthdays are special, and for an Essex ‘church in the home’ – its first birthday marked an encouraging year despite the pandemic.

Cornerstone Church in Colchester, an Anglican church, began on 18 October 2020 under the oversight of Anglican Mission in England (AMiE). It has coined the phrase ‘… starting in the home, sustained in the home!’ to reflect the church’s conviction of the value of meeting in the home.