UK & Ireland in Brief

All UK & Ireland

These articles were first published in our March edition of the newspaper, click here for more.

New EA event held

Evangelical Alliance

Christians from around the UK tuned in to the Evangelical Alliance’s first ever leadership conference last week.

The online event was organised after the movement said it wanted Christians in leadership, both within the church and outside, ‘to share insight and pray into what is happening in the UK and what God is saying’. The evening was a mixture of interviews, worship, prayer and talks, hosted by Gavin Calver, CEO of the EA, and Jo Frost, director of communications and engagement, with contributions from UK evangelical leaders.

‘Surplus’ babies aborted

Right To Life

A parliamentary question has revealed that between January and June 2020 there were 55 ‘selective foetal reduction’ abortions.

These are terminations where, in cases of multiple pregnancies with twins or triplets, one or more of the children are aborted to ‘reduce’ the number of babies in the womb.

The data was published by the government in response to a parliamentary question from Labour MP Mary Glindon. In 2019, there were 126 selective reduction abortions, a 75% increase from 2011 when there were 72 selective terminations.

Defeat and victory

The Christian Institute

Although the High Court has refused to grant a judicial review brought by a 15-year-old girl against the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) over its affiliation with Stonewall, the guidance to schools which triggered the case has been permanently dropped by the CPS.

The teenager said the CPS could not remain impartial on issues such as the prosecution of transgender ‘hate crimes’ while it remained part of Stonewall’s Diversity Champions programme. Withdrawn for review in 2020, the CPS announced it would not be reissuing it.

Fresh Hebridean hope

freechurch.org

Iain Thomson has been inducted as minister of Garrabost Free Church on the east coast of the Isle of Lewis.

The service was led by The Revd David Macleod, minister of North Harris Free Church, who is the present Moderator of the Western Isles Presbytery. He preached from Psalms 114 and 115, focusing on God’s power and God’s glory.

Buy eggs online

Christian Today

The ‘Real Easter Egg’ has been dropped by supermarkets after Covid hit sales of all Easter eggs in large shops last year.

While the company saw an increase of 40% in online purchases of the egg, the major supermarkets struggled. The difficult trading climate has led to supermarkets reducing their Easter stock as many eggs of popular brands were left on the shelves last year. In light of this change, CEO David Marshall is asking people to show their support for the egg by purchasing it online.