Church of Scotland continues freefall
Luke Randall
Date posted: 17 Jul 2024
The Church of Scotland (Cof S) has announced it is selling around 100 buildings following a period of drastic decline in worshippers and ministers. Buildings on sale range from churches to houses, some dating back to the 1800s – and it has described the decision as a ‘difficult’ and ‘painful’ move.
The news comes after the denomination recently announced at its General Assembly that it is set to close hundreds of churches in the coming years due to a large fall in membership, and that it was ‘unsustainable’ to keep over 1,000 churches open for the number of people attending services.
Change of leadership for Bury Street Community Church
Luke Randall
Date posted: 17 Jul 2024
Jake Tasker has been inducted as the pastor of Bury Street Community Church, Enfield, London.
He has spent much of the past year serving as Pastor Designate and takes on the role having studied at Oak Hill Theological College. Formed in 2017, the church is a member of the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches (FIEC) and Together for Mission (TFM).
Keswick 24: God is at work today in the least expected places
Femi Adeleye
Date posted: 17 Jul 2024
Two years ago, I was invited by the Primate of the Church of Nigeria, Henry Chukwudum Ndukuba, to speak at the Joshua Generation International Youth Conference (JGIYC). It was to take place at the National Stadium in Abuja, the capital city of Nigeria.
When I was told 30,000 young people were expected at the five-day event, I had some reservations. To my pleasant surprise, there were about 33,000 young people in attendance, and they were all irrepressible in their response. At least one third committed their lives to serving God’s purpose in their generation.
Formation of The Gospel Coalition UK progresses
Affinity
Date posted: 15 Jul 2024
On Tuesday, 9 July 2024, Affinity invited a number of key evangelical leaders to come together to discuss and pray about whether further steps should be taken to launch The Gospel Coalition UK.
This follows a statement in April from Affinity and numerous one-to-one consultations within and beyond Affinity members, Council, and Trustees. Notably, well over half of those attending were from outside the current Affinity network.
everyday theology
Showing Christ personally
Michael Reeves
Date posted: 1 Jun 2024
If the desire of the Father, the work of the Spirit, and the purpose of Scripture is to herald Jesus, then so it must be for the faithful preacher.
If the Son’s great and eternal goal is to win for Himself a bride, then His heralds must woo for Him. They are like Abraham’s servant in Genesis 24, commissioned to find a bride for His master’s son. Only when we take our eyes off ourselves and herald Him will we truly glorify God. But when we do that, we may be sure that our preaching will always be evangelistic and, at the same time, always edifying to the saints.
You’re the only Christian: what next?
UCCF
Date posted: 1 Jul 2024
Imagine you arrived at university to discover that you are the only Christian on campus: what would you do?
This is the reality for student Emily who studies at the Northern School of Art in Hartlepool, an institution of around 500 students.
everyday evangelism
What about the Crusades and the Inquisition?
Glen Scrivener
Date posted: 1 Jul 2024
There are any number of ways the subject might crop up, but crop up it will: ‘Religion causes all wars… ’; ‘Christians are hypocrites… ’; What about the Crusades / the Inquisition / conquistadors… ?’; ‘Those Christians really hurt me… ’.
These are different kinds of statements and, as we’ll see, they should be addressed differently – especially that last one. But there’s one thing they all accomplish: they tempt the Christian to dissociate from church.
news in brief
The Goodness of God
The songs Goodness of God, 10,000 Reasons and In Christ Alone have topped a new list of favourite contemporary worship songs.
CCLI (Christian Copyright Licensing International), has published a roundup of the latest favourites among UK churches who are licensed with the organisation. The top ten also includes How Great Is Our God (4), What a Beautiful Name (5), O Praise The Name (Anástasis) (6), Here I Am To Worship (7) and Cornerstone (8). Other favourites making the list include How Deep The Father’s Love For Us at number 20, Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone) (22), The Servant King (37), There Is A Redeemer (46), Come People Of the Risen King (50) and The Power Of The Cross (94). The list does not include classic Christian hymns as they are already in the public domain and not within CCLI’s remit.
Olympics then and now: What can Eric Liddell teach us today?
Luke Randall
Date posted: 1 Jul 2024
The Olympic Games are almost upon us. They start in Paris on 26 July and countless storylines will inevitably surround what is arguably the world’s biggest sporting event.
Can Novak Djokovic finally claim the gold medal, the one accolade which has eluded him during his glittering career, in what is surely his last realistic chance to win it? Can Tom Daley win a fifth Olympic medal? Can Simone Biles become the most decorated American gymnast in Olympic history? These are just some of the headlines which will fill papers around the globe as the games draw near.
A Nationalist election view: God’s workmanship
John Mason
Date posted: 1 Jul 2024
In Ephesians 2:10, the apostle Paul tells us: ‘For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.’ That is both encouraging and challenging!
Encouraging – because each of us has a specific task to do that is unique for us. Challenging – because we need to find what that task is and then follow it through. For me that has previously meant being an accountant with Operation Mobilisation in London; and later, with Interserve/United Mission to Nepal (UMN).
Warm-hearted and influential pastor dies
en staff
Date posted: 1 Jul 2024
The former pastor of one of the largest evangelical churches on the south coast of England has died.
Tony Sargent, who helped Worthing Tabernacle Church flourish into an even more thriving church, died aged 83. He had an extensive ministry across UK evangelicalism and was previously a director of Evangelicals Now.
A life of dedicated, humble service changing many lives
Jeremy Weightman
Date posted: 1 Jul 2024
Celebrating the life of Margaret Hill (1941–2024).
Veteran missionary and Bible translator Margaret Hill has died aged 82 after almost 60 years in service with Wycliffe Bible Translators.
Albania: 3,000 people hear the gospel
Iain Taylor
Date posted: 1 Jul 2024
Over 3,000 people have heard the gospel in Tirana, Albania, at a major event organised by evangelicals in the country.
Before the mission, about 800 evangelicals met to focus on the church’s evangelistic imperative and to remember that ‘Jesus teaches us that we as a church should be lifted as a city up on the mountain top,’ Evangelical Focus reported.
women in mission
Are you still hiding from Halloween?
Ruth Evans
Date posted: 7 Sep 2024
As a family, for years, we avoided Halloween almost entirely. We made the deliberate choice not to get involved with things like Light Parties and, when we moved to our small village, our young children were very content to either just let me answer the door to the many trick or treaters (given the size of our village we have a disproportionately large number) or we would leave treats at the door and go out.
Although most children dressed up cute, we had some local teens who enjoyed dressing up as scarily as they could and my children became quite 'anti' everything Halloween.
In the rainforest, something is stirring... the gospel
Iain Taylor
Date posted: 1 May 2024
Spiritual battles continue day and night across the globe, including in the heart of the remote rainforest. The following example was featured in The Washington Post recently.
Rupert Shelley, Director of Mission Partnerships at international mission agency Crosslinks, says it reminds us how ‘the gospel is indeed growing and bearing fruit in extraordinary ways across many parts of South America’.
Highfields Cardiff – welcoming internationals
Nicola Laver
Date posted: 1 May 2024
Newcomers from across 10 nations were recently hosted by Highfields Church, Cardiff with a membership dinner for people to get to know each other.
The church runs a quarterly membership evening at Highfields where, explained lead minister Dave Gobbett, they ‘share the vision and values of Highfields, and why we encourage those who see us as their spiritual home, to formally join as church members’.
How to live in a ‘negative world’
Kenneth Brownell
Date posted: 1 May 2024
Aaron Renn is one of the most perceptive commentators on American evangelicalism as well as the broader culture.
A few years ago, he turned an online post into an article for First Things, an influential American journal on Christian public engagement, in which he described what he called the three worlds of evangelicalism. It became one of the most read and talked-about articles in the Christian world and even the secular media in the United States. He has now turned the article into a book.
A call for Christian convicted civility
Ross Hendry
Date posted: 13 Jun 2024
'It is a fact of public life that when it comes to religion and politics, the committed lack civility and the civil often lack conviction. And what we need is convicted civility' - Dr. Martin Marty.
I have long believed that this quote holds important truth for our age. In fact, ‘convicted civility’ has become something of a trademark phrase for me. CARE’s staff will exchange knowing looks when I use it in meetings, or whilst doing external media. I believe that Christians should be the preeminent embodiment of ‘convicted civility’ in the public square. Why?
Our goal is to speak truth, and to be people of confident faith; it is to apply our faith to every aspect of life, certain in God’s better story being true and good for every person. But while the gospel will cause offense, we should never seek to be offensive (Romans 1). Put another way, the ends never justify the means for a Christian.
But we do not honour God by ignoring what Jesus taught and how he lived his life. Our goal must also be to present God’s wisdom with humility, love, grace, and respect for others, especially those with whom we disagree. Our deep love for our neighbour means that, yes, we speak truth, but we always seek to do so with grace, and in love (Zech 8:16, Eph 4:15).
It is tempting, when the world’s tactics seem so effective, to justify using those same tactics for what we believe to be virtuous goals. Or we justify certain behaviours by seeking to compare ourselves to Jesus’ righteous anger and straight talking.
But when we adopt the world’s tactics, we disparage our own integrity and sacrifice our sanctification. How we do politics, and how we think and engage with political debates and activities, reveals much about where we place our trust and about who and what we wish to become.
If our goal is to become like the Lord Jesus, how is that achieved by denying every person – especially those who hold different views – with anything less than the dignity of being those who bear the image of God? How can my attitude towards those with whom we disagree not be transformed, when we remember that Jesus loved and died for them as much as me? Our witness is powerful, radical, and distinctive when we seek to live out Jesus’ teaching and example of loving our enemies, not just our friends.
Adopting political ‘dark arts’, suggests that we think the power of the Holy Spirit is insufficient, or that the world’s play book is more reliable than God’s word. When we make our priority winning arguments and seeing our desires, needs, and will win the day, it says something profound about us, that we are trusting in ourselves and in worldly powers more than in God’s plan, provision, and better story.
Looking to model convicted civility is a spiritual discipline that grows our own faith, for as John Stott wrote, 'our love grows soft if it is not strengthened by truth, and our truth grows hard if it is not softened by love.'
It is also our way of seeking the common good – a healthy public square.
Few can deny this is desperately needed. We live in a time when politicians and public figures are threatened and vilified for holding views that are counter cultural, or that disagree with vocal and active groups. Recent surveys suggest that half of us do not trust the government, and only 9% believe that politicians can be trusted to tell the truth. There is a sense that politics is broken, and the public square is toxic. We need light to guide us on a better way.
Our mission must be far greater, broader, and more ambitious than winning debates, or passing laws, important though these are. We are to be Christ-like in how we do politics, not just in what we seek from it.
So, what does Christian convicted civility look like? Well at the very least, it means we are for truth, for beauty, for listening, for respect and dignity; for kindness, conversation and accountability. And we are against falsehood, ugliness, ignorance, hate, abuse, cruelty, division, and self-righteousness.
Although this may sound like motherhood-and-apple-pie – a self-evidently ‘good’ list that no can disagree with – consider how it might look in your personal life and on a national scale.
Do we engage in conversation with those of other viewpoints humbly seeking to learn, or do we talk at others? Do we really love truth, even if it challenges our own standpoint, or do we want to stick to our own echo chamber’s talking points? What role does accountability play in promoting virtue – or is it a concept we only use when calling for those we disagree with to be silenced or sacked?
What does a beautiful public square look like, and what is our role in a beautification process that exemplifies and promotes the fruit of the Holy Spirit?
Christian convicted civility can be one of our greatest and most distinctive offerings to shape the public square for this and future generations. It is neither conditional on reciprocity nor on getting our own way. It is a remarkable, courageous, beautiful act of faithfulness and love for God and for our neighbour.
Find a range of resources to help you think, act, and pray before you cast your vote at CARE’s dedicated election website: engaGE24
Ross Hendry is CEO of Christian Action Research and Education (CARE)
What next for evangelicals in the Church of England?
Yet another proposal in the continuing crisis about the blessing of same-sex couples was debated in July session of General Synod.
It had to be substantively different from the previous proposal, but it had a similar pattern to the one before that. It passed by a narrow margin, with, as Vaughan Roberts insightfully surmised, those in favour of change voting for it and those against change voting against it. Despite chummy overtures, it did not garner the unity it sought to inspire.