news in brief
USA: Evangelicals not equipped to share faith
A survey has revealed that, while most American evangelicals believe it is their duty to share Biblical teachings, many feel unprepared to do so.
Conducted by the Institute of Faith and Culture, the 2024 Survey on Christian Cultural Engagement found that 92% of evangelicals agree Christians should share truths from God’s word with those who hold different views. But only 35% feel ‘ready for most opportunities’ to discuss the Bible’s stance on cultural and controversial issues. 18% say they are ‘ready for any opportunity’ to share Biblical truths, while 32% said they could only discuss a few topics.
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Pakistan: Judge rules in Christian’s favour
A judge in Pakistan has overturned a ruling which had prohibited a Christian from correcting his name and religion on his national identity card after he was the victim of a fake conversion to Islam.
Morning Star News reported that the original ruling had said that 24-year-old Christian Sufyan Masih could not be listed as a Christian again due to his supposed conversion to Islam. His lawyer revealed that due to an inability to read or write, he had unwittingly put his thumbprint to the fraudulent form without knowing what he was affirming.
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New rural ministry focus in Scotland
The Free Church of Scotland has launched a Centre for Rural Ministry in a bid to boost rural congregations and modernise rural ministry across Scotland.
The denomination revealed that more than £8,200 has been raised since the start of August, enough to see the project spearheaded by the Skye and Wester Ross Presbytery come to fruition. Twenty per cent of Scotland’s population is based in rural areas and, while the centre will be based on the Isle of Skye, it will support rural ministry across the whole country. Ivor MacDonald, minister of Hope Church, Coatbridge, has been appointed as the Free Church Director for Rural Ministry. He has previously served as a minister in rural congregations on Skye and is a graduate in agriculture and theology.
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Nicaragua: Legal status cancelled
Scores of Protestant churches, the Nicaraguan Evangelical Alliance, and the Latino-Islamic Cultural Association, were among 169 civil society organisations whose legal status has been cancelled by the Nicaraguan government.
The move follows the similar cancellation of 1,651 civil society organisations last month, and brings the total number of organisations that have arbitrarily lost their legal status since 2018 to 5,552. Among those cancelled are two historic Protestant denominations: the Episcopal Church of Nicaragua (dating back to 1612), which belongs to the Global Anglican Communion, and the Moravian Church of Nicaragua, established in 1847.
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Urban missionary launch
A free hub – created by and for urban missionaries – has just been launched by The Message Trust. The Proximity urban mission resource hub has been created for churches, individuals and other organisations sharing the gospel in UK estates and inner-city communities.
It ranges from videos and podcasts to advice and teaching and further topics ‘covering all areas of mission’. Proximity is also to create virtual and online communities with regular gatherings across the UK. The Message Trust explained why it has launched Proximity: ‘We know just how tough urban mission can be … sadly many have told us they feel isolated and under-resourced. We don’t want that to be the case anymore.’
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Laos: pastor murdered
A pastor has been shot and killed by masked gunmen on motorbikes in a village in Northwestern Laos, as reported by The Christian Post.
Thongkham Philavanh, aged 40, who was a pastor in Vanghay Village and the head of Lao Evangelical Church, was shot seven times as he was feeding his chickens and ducks. He died on his way to hospital, leaving his wife and two teenage children in mourning.
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USA: SBC not to ban women pastors
The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) has just failed to achieve the two-thirds majority vote needed to place a ban in its constitution on women being church pastors.
Issues impacting women are prominent at this year’s annual meeting of the SBC, taking place in Indianapolis. Church leaders also approved a resolution condemning in vitro fertilisation. The SBC is the largest Protestant denomination in the US, with over 50,000 churches and over 14 million members, and is now a serious political force in the country.
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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.
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Hope Church Blackwood and Kirkmuirhill celebrates tenth anniversary
Hope Church (Blackwood and Kirkmuirhill) recently celebrated their tenth anniversary as a Free Church of Scotland congregation. Original members of the congregation, along with minister Rev. Ian Watson, had left the Church of Scotland in 2014.
The church’s anniversary weekend featured a meal and ceilidh on the Saturday and a service focused on the anniversary on the Sunday, which included Communion. Rev. Watson said: ‘as we review the past decade the verse that keeps coming back to us is Psalm 118:23: ‘The Lord has done this, and it is marvellous in our eyes.’’
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Andy Croft resigns from Soul Survivor
On 23 November, it was announced that Senior Pastor Andy Croft would leave Soul Survivor Watford. He made the decision despite being allowed to return to ministry following an investigation into his safeguarding practices, and the practices of his former colleague Mike Pilavachi (who was found guilty of an abuse of power and spiritual abuse across 40 years of ministry).
In a letter to his congregation, Andy shared that he made the decision ‘after much soul searching and prayer’ and said that he and his family ‘intend to stay as part of the congregation’ while they discern their next steps. ‘I need to acknowledge that I myself have also been deeply impacted by aspects of Mike’s abusive behaviour’, he added.