School transgender policy is delayed
Nicola Laver
Date posted: 1 Sep 2023
Government guidance on transgender policies in England schools has been delayed, despite it being promised before the start of the school summer holiday.
However, the equalities minister recently indicated that the guidance will require teachers to inform parents if a child questions their gender. Speaking on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg on 16 July, Kemi Badenoch said the guidance will ensure parents know what is ‘going on with their children’ in school.
Parents alerted to ‘radical material’ in schools
Luke Randall
Date posted: 1 Dec 2023
Pupils and teachers in UK schools are under
pressure to conform to radical educational
material on sex and relationships because
there is not enough clear guidance from the
Government, according to the Christian
Institute’s (CI) Autumn newsletter.
While Christians
were
given
some
reassurance by Education Secretary Gillian
Keegan’s recent
letter
to English schools,
which said that parents have a ‘fundamental
right’ to know what their children are taught
in health, relationships and sex education,
the
publication
says
there
are
several
challenges ahead.
‘I thought, wow, that is three seismic events in one year...’
John Woods
Date posted: 1 Oct 2023
Andrew Wilson is based in Eastbourne and serves as the Teaching Pastor at King’s Church London.
Andrew will be familiar to many from his books, including The God of All Things and 1 Corinthians for Today, the Think Theology website, and his regular columns in US magazine, Christianity Today. Our Reviews Editor John Woods was pleased to have the opportunity to chat with Andrew about his latest book Remaking the World: How 1776 Created the Post-Christian West, which is now hot off the press from Crossway.
This Orwellian bill is almost North Korean
David Robertson
Date posted: 1 Aug 2023
The Australian government is proposing a ‘Combating Misinformation and Disinformation Bill’.
The negative effect of this on society, democracy and the Church could be considerable. The bill requires social media companies to remove any speech that causes harm to Australians' health, to the environment or any economic or financial harm. In other words, the government is giving itself carte blanche to censor any view it does not like, as being harmful. Anyone who is critical of transgender, or government policy on climate, or abortion, or even some religions, could be considered guilty of hate speech and causing harm.
Gender, sexuality and the shape of love
Colin Creighton
Date posted: 1 Jun 2023
Colin is the pastor of Carrickmacross Baptist Church in the Republic of Ireland and a tutor for Crosslands Training. Following an early career as a maths teacher, Colin completed studies at Oak Hill Theological College before moving into paid ministry, and has also studied at the Irish Baptist College. He is married to Tanya and has three daughters.
• The silhouette of the soul
‘The purposes of a person’s heart are deep waters, but one who has insight draws them out’ (Prov.20:5).
news in brief
Iran: pastor’s wife bailed
Anahita Khademi , the wife of a Church of
Iran leader, has been released on bail after
spending over three weeks in prison. She
was released after posting bail equivalent
to about $4,000, but still faces charges
of
‘propaganda against
the system’ and
‘disturbing public opinion’.
Ms Khademi was arrested days after her
husband, Pastor Matthias Haghnejad, was
seized, together with two other Christians.
Haghnejad remains in prison on charges of
‘acting against the security of the country
by
forming
a
group
and
propagating Christianity’.
School video is ‘abusive’
Nicola Laver
Date posted: 1 Feb 2023
A Christian couple, who took their three children out of a Church of England school in Kent, said the church’s transgender policy document Valuing All God’s Children is being used against Christian parents.
Calvin and Nicola Watts removed their children after it emerged that a video featuring radical gender ideology had been shown to a class of eight-year-olds. However, following several complaints by parents, St Michael’s Cof E Primary School in Tenterden justified its gender ideology teaching, citing the CofE controversial guidance.
‘How do I find out who I am?’
John Woods
Date posted: 1 Mar 2023
en’s reviews editor John Woods speaks to Andrew Bunt, part of King’s Church Hastings and Bexhill.
Andrew is Emerging Generations Director at Living Out and a training and resources consultant for New Ground Churches. He studied theology at Durham University and King’s College London.
Conversion therapy ban proposals are revived
Nicola Laver
Date posted: 1 Mar 2023
After a short-lived delay, a conversion therapy ban now looks set to be pushed through the commons. The Government confirmed its plans in the wake of a failed attempt to amend the Online Safety Bill, which had raised concerns that online evangelism could be banned.
A draft bill is expected to be published shortly, but pre-legislative scrutiny could be limited. The culture secretary Michelle Donelan said it would be completed by the end of this parliamentary term, despite acknowledging that it is a complex area. The government said a ban would also cover conversion therapy for those who are transgender.
legal eye
A chilling step too far
Nicola Laver
Date posted: 1 Jan 2023
Bible-believing street preachers are unarguably brave and invariably faithful. It’s not a gift God gives to every Christian and those who exercise it in our secular Western culture must possess a strong constitution to withstand the vitriol they’ll attract.
They are also at greater risk of arrest, though if the last couple of years are anything to go by – it could be harder than police officers may think to secure a conviction.
Mermaids on the rocks?
Iain Taylor
Date posted: 1 Jan 2023
The Charity Commission has instigated a statutory inquiry into transgender youth support charity Mermaids. The regulatory body began investigating Mermaids in September, after reports about the supply of chest-binding devices to teenagers.
A formal inquiry has now been launched because of ‘newly identified issues’ with Mermaids’ governance and management, the Commission says. Mermaids offers support around gender and identity to children and young people up to age 25.
Gender ideology issues
Date posted: 1 Feb 2023
Dear Editor,
I really struggle with the consistent coverage around issues relating to gender ideology. I run an anti-bullying charity and transgender young people experience horrendous rates of bullying in our schools and communities.
How evangelicals facilitated Scottish church collapse
During the lengthy period of debates about same-sex marriage and sexuality, the Church of Scotland leadership often spoke of the ‘trajectory’ that the Church was on.
By this they meant a trajectory towards a more ‘progressive’ and ‘liberal’ theology and practice. For over 20 years I have been writing about the Church of Scotland’s ‘trajectory’ – a trajectory which I believed would end up with its demise. I had thought it would be a gradual decline resulting in extinction by 2050. I was wrong. As this year’s Assembly demonstrates, the Church of Scotland has now fallen off a cliff edge and is in a state of terminal decline. It is doubtful whether it will exist in any meaningful form by 2030.