Mission groups come to UK for first time
Nicola Laver
Date posted: 1 Jun 2023
Two mission organisations are planting a
foothold in Britain for the first time.
HeartCry Missionary Society
is now
supporting missionaries in England; while
the New Anglican Mission Society (NAMS)
is preparing
to establish a UK base
for
church planters.
Palestinian Christians urge Western believers to repent
Nicola Laver
Date posted: 1 Dec 2023
Palestinian Christians have urged Western church leaders and theologians to repent of voicing ‘uncritical support for Israel’ and ‘re-examine’ their positions.
A group of Christians, including Kairos Palestine, Bethlehem Bible College, and Christ at the Checkpoint, has published an open letter saying they ‘grieve and lament the renewed cycle of violence in our land’.
Antisemitism condemned
Nicola Laver
Date posted: 1 Dec 2023
Evangelical churches in the UK have started to experience the impact of the significant increase in antisemitism since the start of the Israel-Gaza war on 7 October.
A church in Bridgend recently received a lengthy message through its online contact form saying: ‘It has become apparent that you fall into the category of dangerous Christians on account of your attitude to the Jewish people who are the biggest usurpers in the history of mankind … And yet the evangelical Christian world idolises them as though it was a duty to do so …’
AI – our unnecessary angst?
Nicola Laver
Date posted: 1 Oct 2023
If you’ve seen Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning, you’ll know the hunt is on for the key to a powerful sentient AI entity – a villainous entity that threatens to unleash god-like omnipotence over the entire world.
It’s a timely movie, illustrating the potential (if fictional) power of artificial intelligence; it’s prescience wasn’t lost on me (I watched it the same night I’d finished the first part of this article).
Long-running camps cut
Nicola Laver
Date posted: 1 Sep 2023
The curtain has come down for good on Urban Saints national summer camps, which have been running across several sites across the UK and Ireland for many decades – though local and regional ones will continue.
Previously more widely known as Crusaders, Urban Saints summer camps for children and young people up to 18 have been run by volunteers since the early 1900s. This year’s camps ran through summer from the very first summer weekend. Interim CEO Richard Giles said : ‘We’re grateful for their servant heart and passion.’
Praying in Parliament
Nicola Laver
Date posted: 1 Aug 2023
The Prime Minister was among a bumper crop of MPs attending this year’s Parliamentary Breakfast on 27 June, alongside representatives from the Christian community.
More than 700 parliamentarians - including a record 180-plus MPs - and Christian leaders met together at Westminster Hall for the annual recognition of Christianity’s contribution to UK life.
New missionaries aim for first Bible
Nicola Laver
Date posted: 1 May 2023
Five years ago, a translation of the New Testament into Keliko – a South Sudanese language – was ceremoniously and joyfully carried into a Ugandan refugee camp church.
Today, new missionaries are preparing to fly to Uganda later in the year to join the Bible translation team. Philip and Heidi Knight will be working with the Keliko people – an ethnic group who have never had the Bible in their own language.
Operation Coronation reaches celebrities
Nicola Laver
Date posted: 1 Jun 2023
Coronation Day was unforgettable for the nation, but it will also be remembered by some as the day they met with the King of Kings.
On the weekend of 6 May, hundreds of Christians joined Royal fans around Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace and elsewhere in central London handing out gospels and Christian literature. Thousands of tracts and the coronation booklet God Save The King – co-authored by Roger Carswell and Alan Marsden – found their way into the hands of ordinary people, as well as celebrities such as TV hosts Ant and Dec and other guests at the Coronation.
Coronation chickens? Not us!
Nicola Laver
Date posted: 1 May 2023
Churches and communities across Britain and beyond have been finalising their preparations ahead of the Coronation.
Jonathan Gillespie, assistant curate at All Souls Langham Place, says: ‘It’s a missional opportunity to point to monarchy under Jesus’ loving rule.’ And Ben Topham, associate rector at St George’s Church, Stamford and St James Gerrards Cross, pointed out that many will get invited to family events and street parties. ‘We are encouraging our church family to plug into those, to be a Christian presence in those places.’
From Korea with love – to Wales
Nicola Laver
Date posted: 1 Feb 2023
Korean Christians are preparing to descend on Wales this summer – with Welsh churches urged to prepare for a week-long Korean Prayer Mission and pray for a fresh revival.
Organised by the Director of the Europe Prayer Mission, Namjin Kim, the mission is due to take place on 3–10 July. Kim, who recently returned to the UK after a three-week visit to South Korea, had been invited by 11 Korean churches to share with them the spiritual state of Wales and to pray together for the country.
Mission today: TikTok pastor clocks up online flock
Nicola Laver
Date posted: 1 Feb 2023
An evangelical church minister has headed for the spiritual harvest fields of TikTok, one of the latest and most popular social media platforms, to evangelise a new, younger audience – and he’s starting to reap success.
David Sims, vicar of St Thomas’ Church in Aldridge, Walsall since 2021, has amassed more than 10,500 followers on his @ tiktok_vicar profile where he runs virtual church services, reads the Bible and raises controversial subjects.
Sizer: CEM apologises
Nicola Laver
Date posted: 1 Apr 2023
Christianity Explored Ministries (CEM) says it regrets not being firmer following a complaint it received in 2014 about Stephen Sizer.
In a statement to en, the organisation said: ‘Stephen Sizer volunteered with CEM, as a trainer and advocate, on several occasions between 2008 and 2020.
‘Wise, gifted’ leader dies
Nicola Laver
Date posted: 1 Feb 2023
The Revd Dr Paul Bailie, Presbyterian minister, lecturer and lover of Africa, died unexpectedly on 15 November 2023, just days after turning 54.
He was ordained by the Presbyterian Church of Ireland (PCI) in 1995; and from 2007 he had been chief executive of Mission Africa, one of the oldest interdenominational evangelical missions in the UK. He had recently joined the ICC Executive Committee representing the Presbyterian Church.
And now Baptists face same-sex marriage battle too
Nicola Laver
Date posted: 1 Mar 2023
The Baptist Union (BU) could change its rules to allow the ordination of practicing homosexuals as early as October 2023 – but evangelical ministers within the union are making moves to defend the orthodox position.
In January, an in-person meeting of the newly-formed Evangelical Baptist Ministers for Marriage was held, against the background of increasing division over the issue of allowing the accreditation of practicing gay ministers. More than 220 orthodox evangelical baptists attended the meeting.
Churches bridging the north-south gap
Nicola Laver
Date posted: 1 Jan 2023
A partnership between two independent churches – one in a middle-class southern area and the other on a Yorkshire council estate – is bridging the north-south divide and advancing the gospel.
Banstead Community Church lies 13 miles outside central London in leafy Surrey which, along with Sussex, is the wealthiest part of England according to the Office of National Statistics (ONS). ‘Average wealth’ is said to be £263,000 by the ONS.