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Jim Sayers

Date posted: 1 Apr 2023

Abbey Baptist Church in Abingdon has a new pastor – from Zambia! Chris and Helen Hawthorne enjoyed many years of ministry in St John’s Wood in London, and have spent three and a half years serving with Grace Baptist Mission at Proclamation Institute Zambia (PIZ). Chris was inducted as pastor in Abingdon on 18 February, with Richard Underwood from FIEC preaching.

Chris said Zambia has been a great gospel opportunity. People want to speak about Christ, supermarkets play Matt Redman songs, and Christians are welcomed at many doors. ‘One day at PIZ, we were doing some text work and the passage clearly convicted everybody in the classroom. The whole class went quiet. The following day we were talking about preaching, and the way God worked the previous day made it clear that the power is not in the presentation (like the big show often seen in Zambia), but in being clear with the gospel. Our time in Zambia further convinced me that the heart of church ministry is teaching the Bible really clearly and prayerfully, and making sure people understand what it means for their lives. There are some great Zambian churches doing just that, and seeing significant fruit.’

Nicola Laver

Date posted: 1 Apr 2023

Christianity Explored Ministries (CEM) says it regrets not being firmer following a complaint it received in 2014 about Stephen Sizer.

In a statement to en, the organisation said: ‘Stephen Sizer volunteered with CEM, as a trainer and advocate, on several occasions between 2008 and 2020.

A church plant has launched in the new community of Tornagrain, near Inverness.

Tornagrain Community Church is being led by Innes Macsween (see photo with his wife Anna and their two children), who is the Assistant Minister at Smithton Free Church in Inverness. He is supported by a launch team of around 25 adults and 12 children.

Mae’r Gynghrair Efengylaidd yn llawn gwefr o gyhoeddi y bydd Tim Rowlands yn ymuno â thîm y staff fel pennaeth y Gynghrair Efengylaidd yng Nghymru o’r 1af o Ebrill, i gynorthwyo’r eglwys yng Nghymru yn ei chenhadaeth leol ac i fynd â’i llais i’r gymdeithas ehangach ac i’r llywodraeth.

Cymeradwyodd Gavin Calver, Prif Swyddog Gweithredol y Gynghrair Efengylaidd, y penodiad gan ddweud: ‘Rwyf wrth fy modd bod Tim am ymuno â ni i wasanaethu a chynorthwyo’r eglwys yng Nghymru. Mae’n arweinydd eglwys profiadol sy’n gwybod drosto’i hun sut y gall yr eglwys ymgysylltu’n wleidyddol ac yn ddiwylliannol yng Nghymru. Edrychaf ymlaen at wasanaethu gydag ef ac at weld Duw yn symud yn nerthol ledled cenedl Cymru.’

Milla Ling-Davies

Date posted: 1 Jul 2022

If you were asked how a Christian Union runs an evangelistic event, you might guess it would look something like this: a short talk, time for a Q&A, and perhaps some food.

You’d be right. CUs have long operated within this structure and seen encouraging fruit come from it. This year, however, the CUs in Leeds pioneered a different approach.

Valerie Griffiths (1933–2022), a gifted Bible teacher, scholar and advocate for women in the church and mission, went to be with the Lord on 5 December 2022.

Valerie worked with OMF (formerly known as the Overseas Missionary Fellowship) for 23 years, first in Japan and later in Singapore, alongside her late husband Michael, who died in January 2022. Michael served as General Director between 1969 and 1980.

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.

A church launched last year in Wallsend has a newly-ordained minister.

Hope Church Tyneside was launched in May 2022 after a local Church of England congregation voted to leave the denomination and join the Anglican Mission in England (AMiE). A significant number of the members chose to join them in this endeavour, following the spiritual course which had been set years previously.

‘Our campus needs to know the good news of Jesus.’

These were the words of a member of Aberystwyth Christian Union following three days of outreach on their campus back in November. CUs traditionally hold outreach weeks in the spring term. These weeks provide an opportunity for focused mission: the CU hosts events aimed at welcoming every student at their university to consider Jesus. The gospel is clearly proclaimed, and every guest is given the chance to respond.

A bumper crop of mission initiatives is being highlighted by the the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches (FIEC) as it continues to mark 100 years since its founding in 1922.

‘Back in the spring we asked our churches to tell us about what they are doing to further the mission of proclaiming Christ and His gospel. We hoped 100 might respond and we could share their news; in the end we received more than 170 submissions,’ said Adrian Reynolds, FIEC Head of National Ministries and Chairman of the en Board.

Nearly 1,000 pastors, elders, women’s workers, youth leaders, and others in church leadership gathered at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool in November for the 2022 FIEC Leaders’ Conference.

It was the first national conference for three years, due to the Covid pandemic, but came just in time to mark FIEC’s 100th anniversary.

The continuing ramifications of recent leadership scandals in evangelical churches and the wider Christian world are being freshly addressed by one of the UK’s leading evangelical networks.

Affinity – which links around 1,200 churches and Christian organisations – says it wants to aim towards healthy Christian communities ‘where concerns about pastoral malpractice can be raised and dealt with fairly, and in ways which are honouring to Christ, theologically faithful and legally compliant’.