What do you think of when ‘mission’ is mentioned?
Lydia Houghton
Date posted: 6 Feb 2026
Growing up in the UK church, when the word “mission” was mentioned, I’d instinctively picture overseas work. The phrase “mission field” conjured up images of far-away countries with people I perceived as different from myself. Was I correct in my definition?
David Baldwin, CEO of 2:19 Teach to Reach – which exists to help local churches share the gospel cross-culturally – maintains that there is a difference between evangelism and mission: “Whereas evangelism means sharing the gospel with those in our usual circles, mission always involves movement across some kind of boundary; geographical, cultural, ethnic or other.”
Go boldly: From world mission to out-of-this-world mission...
Lydia Houghton
Date posted: 1 Dec 2025
With billionaires racing to colonise Mars and build orbital resorts, one theologian is asking: “Who will bring the gospel to outer space?”
Stephen Stallard is author of “The Final Frontier of Mission: Space Tourism, Lunar Colonies, and the Future of Interplanetary Mission” – a chapter in the book New Frontiers in Missiology (2025).
King Charles honours Christian mission organisation MAF
Lydia Houghton
Date posted: 25 Apr 2025
The humanitarian work of Christian mission organisation Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) has been honoured by King Charles.
Representing MAF, CEO Donovan Palmer (pictured left), Trustee Max Gove, Deputy Country Director in Uganda Sam Baguma, and Becky Waterman attended a reception at Buckingham Palace hosted by the King, Queen Camilla and Princess Anne, where the “exceptional” work of approximately 100 humanitarian charities was recognised.
Churches gear up for Life ’26 nationwide mission
Lydia Houghton
Date posted: 1 Jan 2026
Churches across the country are preparing for a focused period of evangelism. Life ’26 is a nationwide gospel mission, starting in March, where church fellowships will share the gospel with their communities. A Passion for Life (APFL) oversees the mission. This year, the theme is a question: “Ever feel like something’s missing?”
Alex Hillman, APFL’s Communications and Operations Lead, told en: “Over 250 churches, from Thurso in the North of Scotland to St Helier in Jersey, will be joining together to share the gospel with friends, family, neighbours and people in their communities, under a common banner [and] with a shared mission campaign identity.”
The Church Mission Society's new CEO
Lydia Houghton
Date posted: 1 Oct 2025
Andy Roberts has been appointed as the new CEO of the Church Mission Society (CMS).
Roberts – a former mission partner and CMS director of mission – is originally from York and has lived much of his life in Brazil. There, he spent several years serving vulnerable children and young people, alongside his wife, Rose. The couple launched ReVive – a charity providing shelter and holistic support for girls affected by abuse, exploitation and neglect. In 2021, Roberts was awarded an MBE for his work with vulnerable children in Brazil.
A Passion for Life ignites church outreach
Lydia Houghton
Date posted: 23 Mar 2026
More than 340 churches are taking part in a nationwide evangelistic mission around the Easter period.
Churches as far north as Thurso, Scotland and as far south as Jersey (plus a church in France, en has been told!) are participating in Life’26 – facilitated by outreach organisation A Passion for Life (APFL) and covered in detail in both the January and February print editions of en.
Prayer for 100,000 Scots
Lydia Houghton
Date posted: 4 Mar 2026
The Free Church of Scotland is encouraging Christians to each pray for ten people in their lives, throughout this year and beyond, as part of a new nationwide prayer initiative.
Engage 2026 plans to see believers across Scotland praying daily for friends, family, colleagues, neighbours and others God has placed in their lives - including those they may find it difficult to connect with.
Gafcon's G26 conference: What's the agenda?
Lydia Houghton
Date posted: 2 Mar 2026
The Gafcon Global G26 Conference begins tomorrow (3 March) in Abuja, Nigeria, lasting until Friday (6 March). en will be providing coverage of the conference, with some introductory key details below.
What is Gafcon?
The Global Anglican Future Conference (Gafcon) is an international movement and fellowship of orthodox Anglican churches, bishops, clergy, and laity united around the historic Christian faith as received in the Anglican tradition.
Bible Society hopes to return to Iran 'soon'
Lydia Houghton
Date posted: 5 Mar 2026
An Iranian Bible Society worker says she hopes to return to Tehran to resume the organisation's work there - decades after it was banned.
"My prayer is to see the freedom of my country... I will be among the very first people who will go back to rebuild," says Nahid Sepehri, who leads the Iranian Bible Society from abroad.
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.
Ukrainian soldiers reached with the gospel
Lydia Houghton
Date posted: 3 Feb 2026
A day after I wrote this article, en was informed that Andrew Killick had died. This article has been amended accordingly. It is a great privilege to tell the story of his desire for Ukrainian soldiers to hear of God’s love. (Written by Lydia Houghton.)
What began as a quiet conversation over church coffee has ended with 1,000 Christian books being distributed to Ukrainian soldiers.
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.”
FIEC and Wycliffe partner for vital African initiative
Lydia Houghton
Date posted: 28 Jan 2026
The Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches (FIEC) is partnering with Wycliffe Bible Translators to support an Africa Bible translation project.
The country in question can’t be named, to protect the Bible translators and church leaders involved, but it’s a war-torn country in Africa where new church leaders don’t have a Bible in their language. FIEC got involved at its November leaders’ conference, where £7,000 was raised for the project; Wycliffe speakers got invited to 120 churches to share about the need for Bible translation. The goal is to raise £70,000 – with matched funding – to help unlock the Scriptures in 11 languages spoken by 850,000 people.
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.
Street evangelists affected by Birmingham ban
Lydia Houghton
Date posted: 14 Nov 2025
Street preachers in Birmingham have adjusted their evangelistic strategies to comply with a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) that came into force earlier this year (see this en article).
The PSPO focuses on the amplification of noise. Evangelists have ceased using PA systems or have chosen to operate outside of the area protected by the order.
Franklin Graham groups quit accountability body
Lydia Houghton
Date posted: 24 Oct 2025
Franklin Graham – the son of late American evangelist Billy Graham – has withdrawn his two ministries from an evangelical accountability group which was co-founded by his father.
The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) and Samaritan’s Purse have formally resigned from the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA), ending more than four decades of membership.
Online misogyny should concern believers, says Christian organisation
Lydia Houghton
Date posted: 10 Dec 2025
Believers should be concerned because the internet "harbours dangers that disproportionately target girls and young women," says a Christian women's organisation.
Girls' Brigade England and Wales - an organisation that helps women and girls explore the Christian faith - says online platforms "expose girls to relentless pressures, toxic role models, and gender-based abuse that corrodes self-worth and mental health." These are not Kingdom values, says the organisation, and so this issue should concern Christians "deeply."
Young people are ‘open to reading the Bible’
Lydia Houghton
Date posted: 6 Dec 2025
Lots of young people are responding positively to the question “What would you say if a friend asked you to read the Bible with them?”
In an Instagram reel posted by @uncoverJesus, seven out of nine young people said that yes, they would read the Bible if a friend asked.
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.
Birmingham ban raises street preaching fears
Lydia Houghton
Date posted: 28 Sep 2025
Street evangelism will be hindered, it is feared, after Birmingham City Council imposed a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO).
The order prohibits the use of amplification equipment, musical instruments, or “other items used as musical instruments” within the stated “restricted area” – a designated part of Birmingham city centre highlighted by the local authority in the order.
Students invited to ‘uncover Jesus' with their friends
Lydia Houghton
Date posted: 27 Sep 2025
“See for yourself” – that’s been the Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship’s (UCCF’s) invitation through its Uncover publication series. The first Uncover, released in 2011, explored Luke’s Gospel and was followed by Uncover John (2015) and Uncover Mark (2018). This year marks the next release in the family – a new version of Uncover Luke.
“How much do your friends know about the most famous Person in world history?” UCCF writes. Designed to help students and their friends discover more about Jesus and the life He offers, Uncover Luke (2025) was launched at this year’s national Forum conference where more than 1,000 students gathered to encourage one another, share Christian Union mission ideas, and pray together.
‘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.
Evangelist Eric Delve dies
Lydia Houghton
Date posted: 23 Sep 2025
Prominent evangelist Eric Delve has died.
In the 1960s and 70s, Delve became a widespread and popular itinerant [travelling] evangelist. Eventually, he decided to "settle down" and trained as a minister - at Trinity College, Bristol - being ordained in 1990.
Betrayal, deceit & the freedom of forgiveness
Spoiler alert: last night, comedian Alan Carr won The Celebrity Traitors. It was some top-quality TV, and two moments can be of particular interest to us as evangelicals.
The burden of deceit
Now, if you're unfamiliar with the concept of The Traitors (as I was until this year when I, admittedly, became hooked), contestants bunk-up in a Scottish castle with some getting branded as "Faithfuls" and others, as "Traitors." The goal of a Traitor is to remain undetected by the Faithfuls, thereby not getting voted out (or "banished"), make it to the end, and nab the prize money.