At the end of December, the noted gay journalist Matthew Parris published an article in The Times, which encouraged many Christians but simultaneously left us sad for him.
It was titled ‘As an atheist, I truly believe Africa needs God’. Parris was brought up in what today is Malawi and he returned there recently in connection with the charity Pump Aid. It caused him to reflect on the impact of Christianity. Here is some of what he wrote: ‘In Africa Christianity changes people’s hearts… We had friends who were missionaries and as a child I often stayed with them… In the city we had working for us Africans who had converted and were strong believers. The Christians were always different. Far from having cowed or confined its converts, their faith appeared to have liberated and relaxed them… They stood tall.
‘At 24, travelling by land across the continent reinforced the impression… We slept under the stars, so it was important… that every day we find somewhere safe for nightfall. Often near a mission. Whenever we entered a territory worked by missionaries, we had to acknowledge that something changed in the faces of the people… something in their eye, the way they approached you direct, man-to-man… more open.’
The re-emergence of heavy shepherds
What would you think if you received a letter from your church leaders that read like this? ‘Are church members …