Sex and culture focus in London
London Gospel Partnership
‘Proclaiming
the Gospel
in 21st-century
London’ was
the
theme
for
this year’s
London Gospel Partnership (LGP) Annual
Conference.
LGP represents a network of churches from
across London and each year the conference
is an opportunity
for
the
leaderships of
those churches to gather together. The aim
is to encourage and equip those churches for
gospel ministry in London. The conference
was hosted entirely online, with many taking
advantage of easier access to be there.
10,000 view latest Co-Mission film
Adam Malooly of the Co-Mission church planting movement writes: With 2020 being what it was, this Christmas was a particular opportunity to share a message addressing the loneliness and isolation many were feeling.
This was at the forefront of our minds when we released our latest Christmas film The Lonely Dinosaur. The film is the story of a toy dinosaur shadow that comes alive on Christmas Eve and finds himself alone. In his search for friends, his journey leads him to understand the truth about the Christmas season and what ‘Immanuel’ truly means – God with us. The film has been seen by over 10,000 people and downloaded by numerous churches.
London evangelicals warn on Sunday ‘worship tax’
Churches in London’s congestion charge zone are warning that changes to the congestion charge rules could force them to close. The charges have increased by 30%: £15 is now payable on Sundays and weeknights. Charges are enforceable from 7am to 10pm, hitting all Sunday worship hours.
Fearful that many families with children and the elderly will be most affected, many church leaders have appealed to the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, for some sort of exemption. Jonathan Evens, an Assistant Curate at St Martin-in-the-Fields, who chairs Churches Together in Westminster, argued that as a result, ‘many churches could become unsustainable’.
The UK isolation crisis: what can we do?
The recent news about the tragic deaths of actor Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, has deeply affected me.
Arakawa died from hantavirus, probably one week before Hackman, whose Alzheimer's meant he probably didn't even realise his wife had passed away. The thought of this elderly couple spending their final days alone, unknown, undiscovered deeply troubled me - echoing my own experiences of grief. Last year, my father passed away, and I wasn't able to be there with him at the end. Since then, I've wondered many times what those final moments were like for him. Did he feel alone? Was he afraid? Did he know how much he was loved? It's a pain that never really leaves you — the questions, the regrets, and the longing to have done things differently.