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.
Mission: no new crisis
Ray Porter
Date posted: 1 Jan 2013
Where is mission going? This is the question that Thorsten Prill asked in his three articles in the August to October 2012 issues of EN.
And it’s a vital question. The big trends in global mission are exciting and challenging. Global South churches are fast becoming key players in mission sending. Western Europe is once more being seen as a vital mission field. Numbers of churches in the UK are engaging directly in mission, sometimes by-passing the traditional mission agency route.
A year with Open-Air Mission
Simon Robinson
Date posted: 1 May 2013
The words of the evangelist John Hawley were never so terrifying as when he turned to me in the middle of Oxford Cornmarket saying: ‘Are you going to preach now, Simon?’
How is it possible for a nervy, stammering 17-year-old to stand up in Oxford city centre with hundreds of people passing by and speak? What Paul said came to mind: ‘Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me’.
Keswick to reach non Christians
John Risbridger
Date posted: 1 Dec 2013
As the Convention encourages Christians to bring their unbelieving friends, we speak to John Risbridger, Keswick’s Chairman
EN: You took over as Chairman of the Keswick Convention in May 2012. Now you are established in the role, what is your vision for Keswick over the next 5-10 years?
JR: The team of trustees are all still committed to the same things Keswick has valued for decades. Our vision remains the spiritual renewal of God’s people for his mission in the world. So we want to provide high-quality Bible teaching that draws evangelical Christians from across a wide background of different churches to worship and grow together and to encourage a strong commitment to mission in all its forms, both in the UK and across the world.
Rico’s recommendation
Pod Bhogal
Date posted: 1 Oct 2013
Evangelist Rico Tice suggests one resource which will help churches involved with A Passion For Life 2014
Pod Bhogal talks to Rico Tice, author of the Christianity Explored course about the importance of one-to-one personal work in evangelism, Seeker Bible studies and Uncover, UCCF’s latest gospel project which is now being adopted by local churches.
Letter from America
Moody on Moody
Josh Moody
Date posted: 1 Dec 2013
In coming issues, this column will profile significant American ministries.
In this month’s column, Josh interviews Dr. Paul Nyquist, president of Moody Bible Institute.
Music
Free church
Richard Simpkin
Date posted: 1 Dec 2013
First of all, something huge to give thanks for.
A third year cellist from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama put his trust in Jesus this week. Thank you for praying in the light of the mission I wrote about last month, and praise the Lord for his grace.
Uncover for Passion for Life 2014
Richard Cunningham
Date posted: 1 Sep 2013
Pod Bhogal talks to Richard Cunningham about reaching students and resourcing churches
Pod Bhogal, UCCF’s Head of Communications, talks to Richard Cunningham, UCCF’s Director, about the Uncover Gospel Project, the impact it has had in the student world and its potential for helping ordinary Christians — in a local church context — to introduce their friends to Jesus.
The Third Degree
Filling up at Forum
Pod Bhogal
Date posted: 1 Oct 2013
1,300 Christian Union
Leaders, UCCF staff and
Relay Workers attended
Forum 2013 —UCCF’s
national training event for
Christian Union Leaders.
The five-day residential training event (September 2-6) —which has grown from
300 students to over 1,000 since 2003 —
remains one the most important components of UCCF’s CU Leadership Training
Programme.
Evangelism out in the open
Andy Banton
Date posted: 1 Jul 2013
Andy Banton celebrates a great anniversary for the Open-Air Mission
It is sometimes said that you can make statistics say anything.
ENGAGING OUR CITIES
Jonny Dyer
Date posted: 1 Jul 2013
In 1800, 2% of the world’s population lived in cities.
By 1900 that figure was 12%. Today 52% of us are city dwellers and by 2050 it is estimated that will rise to 70%.
God is your life
Peter Baker
Date posted: 1 Jul 2013
When a pastor moves churches it gives him time to reflect
Peter Baker was senior pastor at Highfields Church, Cardiff, for 18 years.
The Third Degree
Stafford CU online
Pod Bhogal
Date posted: 1 Aug 2013
The University of Staffordshire
Christian Union has started
streaming evangelistic
meetings live on the internet
for students to enjoy from
the comfort of their own hall
of residence.
The Christian Union — which is made up
of just 12 students — decided to live stream
CU meetings because of the high tech and
internet
savvy
nature
of
Staffordshire
University students.
Youth Leaders
A Barnabas spirit...
Dave Fenton
Date posted: 1 Aug 2013
We’re all quite good at
structure these days.
We have our aims, objectives, values and
mission statements and, generally, these have
improved the way we do things. There is
more
training around, particularly
in all
these fields, but I wonder if our training
stretches to, or even includes, the way we
deal with people.
Bible, boomers and below
Chris Wright
Date posted: 1 Jun 2013
‘Hey, Dad, the sermon today was 1 hour 7 minutes and 20 seconds long. All in Portuguese.’
My gap-year daughter was on her regular Sunday collect-call home from her short-term mission placement in Brazil. ‘So I spent the time memorising the books of the Bible. Do you want to know what they are? Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus….’ My first thought was: ‘I’m paying for this call while you rattle off all the books of the Bible’. My second was: ‘Isn’t it great that my teenage daughter wants to knows her way around the Bible?’
Dr. William Lees, 1924 - 2013
Ray Porter
Date posted: 1 Jun 2013
Bill Lees died on March 14 in Reading where he had lived since 1966.
His earlier ministry in Malaysia had continued to be a major part of his life so that it was appropriate that the main address at his Thanksgiving Service was by Dr. Philip Lyn from Skyline Church, Kota Kinabalu, East Malaysia.
A Passion for Life 2014
Tim Hanson
Date posted: 1 Jun 2013
EN: How would you sum up the success of A Passion For Life 2010?
TH: A Passion for Life 2010 was hard work!
Mission is hard work and it costs us to do it. It means that we stick our heads up and make some noise in our communities; it means inviting people to events and therefore introducing the risk of being known not only as Christians but as Christians who believe some serious things and want other people to believe the same.
The Third Degree
And the award goes to...
Pod Bhogal
Date posted: 1 Jul 2013
Record numbers of Christian
Unions have been nominated for awards in 2013
Christian Unions have been
formally
recognised for their contribution to university life by either winning or being nominated
for a record-breaking 34 Students’ Union
(SU) awards in 2013.
The heroine who said nothing
Tom Chapman
Date posted: 1 Jul 2013
Pastor Tom Chapman remembers the life of a Christian missionary who saved Jewish children from the Holocaust
It is a great privilege to belong to a church with a history.
Pastoral care in nursing homes
Wes English
Date posted: 1 May 2013
I lead a pastoral team with a Christian charity, Mission Care, which provides nursing and residential care for vulnerable adults in South East London.
What kind of God?
David Gobbett
Date posted: 1 Apr 2013
Over 800 students each day in February heard compelling presentations of the Christian faith.
Richard Cunningham (Director of UCCF: The Christian Unions) spoke at the university mission in my first year as an undergraduate in Cambridge 17 years ago, and the student evangelism bug that I caught back then hasn’t left me. So it was especially thrilling to see him welcomed back by the Cambridge Inter-Collegiate Christian Union (CICCU) to speak at their ‘What Kind of God?’ mission event from February 4-8, alongside Os Guinness (respected author and social critic).
CE breaks into prison
Ian Roberts & Stephen James
Date posted: 1 Apr 2013
Can prisoners be transformed by the gospel? In theory, we know the answer is a resounding ‘yes’. But here are three recent examples where that is exactly what has happened in practice.
‘C’ came from a church background but had lost his faith when his little nephew died. By the time he was released from prison he had rediscovered his relationship with God and was committed to serving him in the mission context in a local church. ‘J’ decided, when he came to prison, that it was now or never in terms of finding out about Christianity. He will be baptised shortly, and is seeking to give his life to Jesus. ‘S’ has been a Christian for a number of years but has struggled with drugs. Although very knowledgeable about Jesus, the basics of his faith have been rebuilt, and he too is now considering baptism. That is a major step for him, because, as he says, ‘It’s a once and for all’ — when he is baptised, there is no turning back to his old ways.
Truth unchanged, unchanging
Bruce Ware
Date posted: 1 Apr 2013
Ahead of his visit to the UK to speal at New Word Alive, EN caught up with Professor Bruce Ware and asked him a few questions.
EN: How did you come to know the Lord and how did you end up teaching theology at Southern Baptist Seminary?
BW: I was greatly blessed to have grown up with parents who were devoted to Christ and committed to his work. I trusted in Christ as my Saviour when I was six years old, and was baptised the following year. Both of my parents loved missions and missionaries, and gave sacrificially to help in a multitude of ways. Our home was the one that missionaries stayed in while visiting our church. My parents’ heart for missions was reflected in their desire that their children be exposed to missions work and, as a result, they sent me for a summer missions trip to Madagascar when I was 15 years old. You can imagine the impact that had on my young life.
Wow! What a week!
St. Andrew’s Parish Church, Leyland, packed over 70 events into an amazing nine days under the umbrella of ‘Life Week’ in March.
A team of 12 students from Wycliffe Hall, Oxford, led by the enthusiastic octogenarian evangelist Dr. Michael Green, spearheaded the mission. The church and surrounding venues were consistently packed as exciting and varied events drew in many from this enclave of South Ribble Borough, Lancashire.