Rethink your church strategy
Ian Buchanan
Date posted: 1 Aug 2015
Ian Buchanan recommends that we now need to think in terms of intergenerational ministry
I’ve been thinking about 20th-century church growth logic.
Where’s the Scottish Church?
Andy Hunter
Date posted: 1 Jul 2015
Andy Hunter investigates the causes of spectacular spiritual decline north of the border
Christian identification in Scotland has now fallen below that in England.
Nones on the rise
Dr James Emery White
Date posted: 1 Jul 2015
Martin Salter interviews Dr James Emery White for en
James Emery White is senior pastor of Mecklenburg Community Church in Charlotte, North Carolina and founder of Serious Times, a ministry which explores the intersection of faith and culture and hosts ChurchandCulture.org. Recently he authored the book The Rise of the Nones about people with no faith.
Bedside table
Ruth Williams
Date posted: 1 Jul 2015
What’s the last thing you do at night? Ruth Williams sets us a challenge
What does your bedside table look like?
Capital Gains
Courageous perseverance
Graham Miller
Date posted: 1 May 2015
One of the greatest joys of gospel ministry is to hear stories of lives transformed by the good news of Jesus Christ.
However, the Bible warns us that for every seed planted in good soil, there will be others that land on stony ground or among thorns. For LCM missionaries working among the Muslims of Newham or the council estates of New Addington it is necessary to be patient. It can take several years to see a contact come to church, so we cannot give up on a ministry for lack of fruit after 18 months. Instead, we teach evangelists the biblical value of courageous perseverance; courage to reach the difficult, unreached people groups, and perseverance to keep going through the disappointments and daily sacrifices of gospel ministry.
‘Unstoppable’ at this year’s Bible By The Beach
Emily Lucas
Date posted: 1 May 2015
What is every Christian’s prayer?
Surely it is for the message of Christ to spread to every corner of the world and transform lives.
And the winner is… nationalism
George Moody
Date posted: 1 Jun 2015
George Moody reflects on the outcome of May’s General Election
The voters have spoken. Yes, the Conservatives are back, but it is in no small part due to the rise of nationalism.
From pulpit to pavement
John Hawley
Date posted: 1 Mar 2015
John Hawley of the Open Air Mission provides us with 20 quotations to challenge us to get out with the gospel
1: John Wesley
‘It is no marvel that the devil does not love field preaching! Neither do I. I love a commodious room, a soft cushion, a handsome pulpit. But where is my zeal if I do not trample all these underfoot in order to save one more soul?
Evangelist at the docks
Steven Loader seeks to provide a safe harbour for seafarers
Bristol docks were once the powerhouse of the British Empire.
How to massage a survey
David Robertson
Date posted: 1 May 2015
An interesting article recently appeared on the Christian Today website apparently indicating a big shift in Christian attitudes towards same sex relationships.
Seemingly one in four churchgoers now thinks that same sex relationships are okay but 37% of those are too frightened to speak out.
Worship God UK
Dave Gobbett
Date posted: 1 May 2015
We interview Dave Gobbett about why he is backing the Sovereign Grace conference in Bath this month
en: How did you get to know and what do you like about the Sovereign Grace work?
DG: I’ve known and loved the work of Sovereign Grace Ministries (SGM) since 2000, when I spent a year in the US. I was on staff at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington DC with Mark Dever, and in the previous year Mark had become friends with C.J. Mahaney, a local charismatic church pastor 40 minutes from DC as well as the then head of SGM. In Dever’s typically contagious style, that friendship spilled over into our respective church staff teams, and I especially enjoyed getting to know Bob Kauflin (director of Sovereign Grace Music) and Jeff Purswell (head of Sovereign Grace’s Pastor’s College, and former teaching assistant to Wayne Grudem).
Good to give / great to receive
Toni Coulton
Date posted: 1 May 2015
Toni Coulton tells us about an innovative new outreach to those just off to be students
Someone had a brainwave!
Capital Gains
Samaria on Thames
Graham Miller
Date posted: 1 Feb 2015
The Great Commission calls us to reach out in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth.
The UK’s Commonwealth heritage makes us a remarkably diverse nation with London the most globalised city in the world, and we are surrounded by ‘Samaritans’ – those who are culturally very different from ourselves.
Christ at the core
Josh Moody
Date posted: 1 Apr 2015
David Melilli, executive director of God Centered Life Ministries, interviews en columnist Josh Moody, the founder of the project
God Centered Life Ministries began last December (2014), with the vision of ‘a generation living for God.’
Location, location, location
Euan Dodds
Date posted: 1 Apr 2015
Euan Dodds urges us to think carefully before we move house
Would you ever consider moving house in order to be closer to your church?
Remembering the year ahead
Joy Horn
Date posted: 1 Jan 2015
Joy Horn highlights some significant anniversaries from Christian history coming up in 2015
EVENTS
Justin Martyr was put to death in Rome in 165. From a pagan background, he became a Christian aged about 30, and taught in Ephesus and Rome. He wrote two ‘Apologies’ or defences of Christianity against misrepresentation.
Joyful, infectious theology
Michael Reeves
Date posted: 1 Feb 2015
... Mike Reeves has a dream
The Revd Dr Michael Reeves is Director of Union and Senior Lecturer at Wales Evangelical School of Theology.
A successful mission week
With prayer and planning a church can get a good number of people to hear the gospel
From June 23-30, Cowplain
Evangelical Church in
Hampshire held a week of
mission.
The Third Degree
38,000 attend CU missions
Pod Bhogal
Date posted: 1 Jun 2014
UCCF Staff Workers report that around 38,000 students attended a Christian Union (CU) mission week in 2014.
The 2014 figures represent a 19% increase from 32,000 students in the previous year. The figures include both CU and non-CU member attendance at lunchtime, evening and small group evangelistic events spread across 115 university missions.
The Third Degree
Messaging that matters
Daniel Stafford
Date posted: 1 Jan 2015
Social media is a relatively recent phenomenon.
According to an ONS report the number of adults accessing the Internet every day in Great Britain more than doubled between 2006 and 2012, largely driven by social media.1 Mention the phrase ‘social media’ and I suspect most people fit into one of three broad categories: willing participants, uneasy users, or steadfast refusers!
Keeping the bookshop sailing
en staff
Date posted: 1 Feb 2015
The high street still provides tremendous opportunities for the gospel
The double award-winning Manna Christian Bookshop in Streatham, South London, opened in 1981.
Out of black shadows
Stephen Lungu, from South Africa, tells his story
I had no premonition at all. I didn’t even know it existed: the final missing piece of the jigsaw of my life.
Is personal evangelism dying?
Mike Mellor
Date posted: 1 Dec 2014
Mike Mellor challenges us all to become soul-winners
I am burdened to bring to our attention a greatly endangered species in the UK church.
Word Alive – worth the effort
Two church leaders tell us about why they make it a priority
Over the Easter holidays next year thousands of Christians will gather at two Word Alive events in North Wales.