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Between 1979 and 1999 the Pope, John Paul II, published a collection of essays titled ‘Letters to My Brother Priests’. That sentiment, that his fellow clergy were his brothers, is something we would do well to learn from in our Protestant circles.

Those who serve Christ’s sheep as shepherds should see themselves as being in a spiritual brotherhood, a brotherhood that’s in desperate need of each other. The church has struggled with pastoral abuse, scandals, burnouts, and dropouts. The last few years of Covid, war, civil unrest and political instability have only heightened the weight carried by pastors. These trials have taken their toll. But where are pastors to turn when they need help?

It was my tenth anniversary in my current pastorate, and I was given a three-month sabbatical.

When contemplating potential sabbatical projects my thoughts went to surviving and thriving in pastoral ministry over the long haul, and then I hatched a plan.

James Robson

Date posted: 1 Aug 2023

The Keswick Convention has been running since 1875. Over these years, much has stayed the same: the same passion for Christ, the same longing for lives transformed by God’s word, the same heart for global mission.

The event is open to everyone and is funded by donations. There is no fee to attend. The beautiful town of Keswick in the Lake District remains the home of the Convention.

Andy Bannister

1. How did you become a Christian?

The province of Sindh in Pakistan suffered appallingly from flooding last year. This province and the people who live there may be unfamiliar to you, but this location was the home of one of the lesser-known Christian heroines of faith, Blanche Brenton Carey.

Blanche, the daughter of a Brixham vicar, joined the Church of England Zenana Missionary Society in 1884 and became one of their pioneer missionaries, serving in Karachi from 1885 to 1950. Her deep desire was to tell the women and girls of Sindh about her Saviour Jesus Christ.

If the King’s Coronation service follows the pattern of that of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, His Majesty Charles III will be handed a copy of the Bible as part of the ceremony. But, out of the hundreds of different English language translations, who knows which version it’ll be?

Imagine you were interviewed or gave an important talk which was reported throughout the world. If it was translated into 723 different languages, you’d probably be flattered.

Kicked out of college and hooked on drink and drugs, Pauline Hamilton drove recklessly towards a cliff near her home to end it all. At the last moment, her tyre blew out, leaving her stunned in the stationary car.

Pauline’s life changed forever. She turned at once to the God who had rescued her and, in grateful amazement, offered her whole life to Him. This dedication would eventually take her to China, where she would serve for over 30 adventure-packed years as a missionary. Through many trials Pauline never lost sight of the God who had promised never to let her go.

As a theology graduate, former pastor and now on the staff at Moorlands College in the communications department, I am learning all I can from everywhere I can about how we can get our message across in the contemporary world. Where to turn?

Well, I have just watched a video of a car with a jet engine strapped to it. The goal is to see how many buses it will jump over. If you were one of the 47 million people who have so far watched the video you will know that this was just one of eight other equally audacious ‘experiments’ put together by YouTuber Jimmy Donaldson, AKA ‘Mr Beast’ (see photo). If you haven’t seen any of Jimmy’s videos before, they involve everything from subscribers competing for private islands, to creating a replica of Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. As the most subscribed-to individual on YouTube, Mr Beast is redefining what the modern-day entertainer looks like.

Friday 27 January marks Holocaust Memorial Day – the commemoration of one of history’s most heart-rending chapters. But how did a plan that resulted in the death of 6 million Jewish people originate in what was a supposedly Christian nation?

The church in Acts was almost entirely Jewish, which explains why – in Acts 10 – Peter receives a vision of a large sheet full of unclean creatures to encourage him to visit the Gentile Cornelius.

Polly Standring shares the remarkable story of global evangelical mission agency Crosslinks, which is now celebrating its centenary.

Crosslinks exists to help people get involved in God’s mission. 27 October 2022 marks our 100th birthday – that’s a century of taking God’s word to God’s world! What God has done through the 1,420 men and women sent out by Crosslinks over the last century is remarkable.

A Messianic Jewish pastor is greatly indebted to Christians with a special love for the people of Israel. For without them his family would not have discovered Jesus as their Messiah.

Now helping to lead a congregation in Haifa, Jonathan Arnold describes his faith journey as being ‘from New Age to the New Covenant’.

Jon Barrett

Date posted: 1 Jan 2023

Converted aged 20, I’ve been a Christian for 34 years and an ordained minister for 24. Add to that the fact that I was brought up in an evangelical family and you’ve got over half a century of life lived in and around the evangelical world.

Recently, I’ve found myself spending quite a bit of time ruminating on how evangelistic preaching has changed over that time period and how- much to my concern- it now tends to focus almost entirely on the benefits of the gospel at the expense of the substance of the gospel.

Karen Soole

Date posted: 1 Nov 2022

Vast swathes of our country do not know the gospel – we know that. The Bible Society report ‘Pass It On’ in 2014 showed that 54% of parents thought the Hunger Games plot could be in the Bible , and there is no reason to think things have improved.

Many share the atheism of public figures such as Ricky Gervais, who proclaims loudly – there is no God. His message is clear – you can be religious, live as you like, but none of it is real – there are no spiritual realities. These situations are not new. Ignorance and unbelief have existed from generation to generation. However, we are facing new expressions of unbelief as the culture wars impact the church.

Rebecca Chapman speaks to Krish Kandiah.

Dr Kandiah (see photo) is a social entrepreneur with a vision to help solve some of society’s seemingly intractable problems through building partnerships across civil society, faith communities, government, and philanthropy.

The 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference, widely known as COP27, has just been running in Egypt. In a timely new book*  Dave Gobbett of Highfields Church Cardiff helps us think through a Biblical perspective on the environment. This extract explains how Jesus’ return might impact our thinking on this issue.

‘We believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him … The Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever’ (1 Thess. 4:14, 16).

The Circle of Silence is made up of nine states in Mexico. It is an area where only 1% of people – or fewer – have heard the gospel, even though there are major universities and cities.

David and Maribel Easton and their two children, from Thornton Heath Evangelical Church, are planning to travel to the area as mission partners with SIM – an international, interdenominational evangelical Christian mission organisation. They prayerfully plan to plant churches that are faithful to God’s word. Here, they share their story with en.

In Johannesburg, where I used to live, electricity supply was not always that predictable. Sadly, it was far worse in the poorer rural areas, where many (even today) have no access to the national power grid.

When I ministered in South Africa, I knew of a missionary who moved to work amongst such people. When he arrived, he immediately decided to live like the locals. He moved into a very poorly constructed house and lived without any electricity and water. At first, I thought this all sounded very noble. It certainly fitted with some of my stereotypes about ‘mission work’. But all the locals he worked amongst thought it was an extremely odd decision.

It’s been 17 years since I last lived in the UK.

My wife and I have been serving as mission partners in Southern Africa, first in Lesotho and then in Namibia. Cathy and I left the UK in January 2005 with an eight-month-old son. We arrived back at the end of 2021 with three teenage children. I was in my 30s when we left – I’m now in my 50s. I left local church ministry here for theological education in Africa. When we set off, Tony Blair was the Prime Minister, our mobile phone (we only had one) looked like a small black brick and dial-up internet connection was all the rage. It was a pre-Brexit, pre-Covid-19 world. The UK has changed a lot whilst we’ve been away and so have we.

Jason Roach

1. How did you become a Christian?

Across England, Scotland, Wales and in Northern Ireland, thousands of Christians from hundreds of churches are gathering and preparing for a focused month of mission called ‘Life’ in March 2022. Operations leader Le Fras Strydom writes:

Under the banner of A Passion for Life, over 650 churches are now involved – and more are joining each week. From Brighton to Belfast and Edinburgh to Eastbourne, hundreds of churches up and down the UK and Ireland are already using A Passion For Life’s personal evangelism training resources to get equipped, enthused and excited in preparation for the month of mission and a lifetime of evangelism beyond.

I’ll never be one of the ‘Blokes Worth Watching’ (BWW) nor will many of my friends that don’t fit.

I love leadership and evangelism. I want to invest precious years into mission and the future of the church, so I’m wondering how do I become one of the BWWs [as described in this article in last month's EN] ? How do I get mentored? How do I get invested in so that I can make a significant difference? The problem is, I can’t. I’m a woman. I’ll never be a ‘Bloke Worth Watching’ and neither will half of those made in the image of God.

Andy Mason

Date posted: 1 Aug 2022

What is the state of conservative evangelicalism? Glen Scrivener has given us a challenging answer in his article in the July 2022 issue of en, ‘BWWs: the “Blokes Worth Watching” conveyor belt…’

His article is a strong critique, essentially arguing that we evangelicals are in something of a spiritual crisis. The strength of its criticisms invites a rejoinder. As a fellow pastor, I know Glen and have worked with him. He is a wonderful evangelist, a man of integrity and a very gifted preacher. Most importantly, he loves Jesus and cares for the abused. I think, though, there are some real problems with Glen’s take on our churches.

Jonathan Lamb

1. How did you become a Christian?

Glen Scrivener

Date posted: 1 Jul 2022

In their 2009 book, The Trellis and the Vine, Colin Marshall and Tony Payne gave us the evocative image of supporting structures (the trellis) surrounding the organic growth of God’s people (the vine).

Their argument was: both are needed. Here my brief is to write about evangelical churches in Britain. And as I consider this movement of churches that I love, I can’t help thinking we have a wonderful vine and, at points, a wonky trellis. That trellis – our systems and the assumptions behind them – needs urgent scrutiny.