Over the coming months I want to explain some of the things happening at Affinity but a good question to start with is ‘Who are Affinity and what do we actually do?’
The British Evangelical Council (BEC, renamed Affinity since 2004) was founded in 1952 by George Collins and Murdoch Macrae from the Free Church of Scotland, and Theodore Bendor-Samuel and Edward Poole-Connor from the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches. They wanted to express gospel unity across denominational divides, but also to be a defence against movements for unity based on sharing the name Christian, but not necessarily the same core beliefs. In the 1960s Affinity (BEC as it was then) gained the enthusiastic support of Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones and many church groups joined.
1966 And All That
It may be hard for many of us to imagine what it was like then for Christian leaders in churches, denominations or Bible Colleges which to their surprise were openly questioning or denying the gospel. These men were often isolated and sometimes expelled just because they stood up for what we would call basic Christian beliefs. Basil Howlett’s recent book 1966 And All That gives insight into those days and how much of an encouragement Lloyd Jones and Affinity was for them.
