In Depth:  Victoria Vinet

Christian Concern celebrated their tenth birthday at the Emmanuel Centre in Westminster this October. Over 600 people attended, including church leaders, parliamentarians and international visitors.

The UK has long been defined by its advocacy of freedom. It seems that over recent decades this nation has turned its back on that foundation, as church leaders and governing officials shy away from their responsibility to uphold basic freedoms for all, and instead advocate a culture of secular liberal humanism and moral relativity.

People are calling it hateful, homophobic and prejudiced. The film Voices of the Silenced was due to premiere on 8 February at Vue cinema, Piccadilly, London. After reviewing the content of the documentary Vue backed out, fearing criticism. Screening arrangements were made elsewhere.

Using worldwide research and expert analysis, Core Issues Trust (CIT) aims to expel the idea that homosexuality is a matter of genetics or simple preference. Founder Mike Davidson and his team explore the modern-day dogma of sexual politics and legislation, drawing on the contributions of ancient Jewish values to Western civilisation and the similarities between the pre-Christian Graeco-Roman world and the modern-day repeats of its pansexual culture.

On 25 April at the House of Lords in Westminster, Baroness Sherlock introduced Home for Good’s new ‘God is Stranger’ initiative, based on a book authored by the founder of Home for Good, Krish Kandiah.

In 2015 a photograph went viral, trampling all other news in its wake, challenging us to question our perspectives and causing controversy. The highly disputed Amazon dress (was it blue and black or was it white and gold? – people saw it very differently) beautifully illustrates the internal influence of the Holy Spirit within human beings.

He’s from the reddest county in the reddest state of the US.

As a young sceptic, Michael Wear was persuaded to attend a Christian youth group – which he hated. On his way out a volunteer handed him a tract from Romans, no commentary, just the text. ‘You can reject Paul’s argument in Romans, but you can’t pretend that it doesn’t exist after you’ve read it.’ Some 72 hours later he gave his life to Christ.

At the Thistle City Barbican Hotel on 1 November, Christian Concern launched What’s Wrong with Islamic Finance?, a booklet authored by Tim Dieppe. Tim and Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali hosted the evening.

Islamic finance, otherwise known as sharia-compliant finance, is based on the idea that all forms of interest are prohibited (or haram) in Islamic law. Over 20 lenders in the UK offer Islamic financial services. In 2014, Britain made history by becoming the first non-Muslim country to issue a sovereign Islamic bond, as part of the government’s ten-year commitment for the UK to become the Western hub of Islamic finance.

On 12 July at The Law Society in Chancery Lane, London, Christian Concern hosted a book launch for Not the Same God, written by two former Muslims, converts to the Christian faith.

Christian Concern is a non-profit organisation founded by Andrea Williams. She said of the book that it ‘certainly shines a spotlight on contemporary culture’, one in which there is considerable pressure to minimise differences between religions and to accept that Muslims and Christians worship the same God.

On 13 May at the All Souls Church in central London, an evangelistic event was held called ‘The Roots of Jazz’. It was also a musical fundraising event in support of the Christian charities A21 and Tamar, working to abolish the modern day slavery of human trafficking.

Through ‘The Roots of Jazz’ we explore how the Christian gospel has influenced and impacted the growth of Jazz music, originating from the ‘work songs’ or Gospel Spirituals of the 17th and 18th centuries.

On 29 January, Christian Concern hosted a conference – ‘What is the Gospel?’ – at the Emmanuel Centre in London. The speakers addressed some of the sociocultural issues faced by the Church.

Christian Concern is a non-profit organisation campaigning for a nation once defined by the Christian faith. The UK is now largely a secular, humanistic, morally relativistic nation, the fruits of which can be seen in widespread immorality and social disintegration.

Open Doors celebrated 60 years of missionary work on 14 November.

An event was held at the International Conference Centre (ICC) in Birmingham.

On 19 September, at the King’s Cross Baptist Church, there was cause for celebration as a congregation of supporters of the South Asian Concern (SAC) movement marked 25 years since their founding in 1989.

SAC is a charity focused on revealing the uniqueness of Christ in a cross-cultural effort to bring him among these multi-faith communities.