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In May, the FIEC announced Andy Paterson as their new Director of Mission. EN asked him about his vision for this new role.

EN: Director of Mission is an unusual title for the FIEC. What does it mean?

‘The Anglican Mission in England [AMIE] stands for the promotion of mission, of biblical church planting and of the selection, training and deployment of ordinands for ministry in the Church of England.’

With these words, the Rev. Paul Perkin, the chair of AMIE’s Steering Committee, welcomed over 140 people to its inaugural event in St. Peter’s-upon-Cornhill, London, on June 22. The next day, Paul and other leaders of AMIE addressed a gathering of leaders on its vision at the Evangelical Ministry Assembly at St. Helen’s Bishopsgate, London.

Don Carson's talk at Grace Baptist Mission's 150th anniversary was broadcast by BBC Radio 4's Sunday Worship.

For many people, the thought of missionary work sounds, at best, painfully old-fashioned.

A fly-tipped estate in Wales, the sparkling coast of Italy, the diversity of London: what do these entirely different places have in common?

They share not only great gospel need, but also, by God’s grace, blossoming gospel witness. Western Europe has a vibrant cultural heritage. This region offers hundreds of years of spiritual, academic, artistic, musical, scientific and architectural abundance. But today it is a spiritual wasteland; the most secular continent in the world.

Retire to the Costa del Sol to help plant churches!

What follows is one believer’s account of an annual six-month winter sojourn that has become a spiritual blessing of deepening faith and joy.

It began in a chapel in Bloomsbury in 1861.

150 years later, Grace Baptist Mission is at work helping churches support their missionaries on four continents and in 13 countries. Jim Sayers tells the story of the growth of this work of God’s grace.

GBM began life in 1861 as the Strict Baptist Mission. A group of Strict Baptist churches in London were concerned to come together to support ‘the work of spreading the gospel among the heathen’. They decided to focus their efforts on supporting workers in India. Mr. Henry Doll, an Anglo-Indian already living in India, became the long-serving superintendent of the work on the field, supporting Indian Christians who worked as pastors and evangelists. Madras became the focus of the work, and a new area opened up in Tinnevelly in the south of Tamil Nadu, as well as a work in Ceylon.

Robin Sydserff

Date posted: 1 Dec 2011

At its General Assembly last May, the Church of Scotland took a decision that set a ‘trajectory’ towards recognising same-sex relationships as appropriate for those in leadership in the Church.

This is one of a number of decisions that marks a radical departure from biblical orthodoxy. Evangelicals now find themselves facing in a different direction from the denomination. While technically no decision has been made (a theological commission will report to the General Assembly in 2013), the majority of evangelicals believe that the path is set. The progress of secular legislation through the Scottish Parliament will add further impetus to the liberal agenda.

Recently a church leader said to me: ‘It has just dawned on me that the Bible says that my job is to work with people for their joy in God. That revolutionises what I think I should be doing’.

He had made a critical discovery: biblical leadership is about growing and equipping disciples who are full of the joy of the Lord. And who, in turn, make more disciples.

Transformed is an organisation founded by ex-offenders for ex-offenders. Its goals are simple: to serve those who are trying to escape from the crime and addiction subcultures.

It also seeks to encourage hope in the hopeless, to show a cynical world by stories of changed lives that Jesus is alive today, and to mobilise the wider church to do the same. In particular, it sees its calling to the mission field beyond (as opposed to behind) the prison gates.

The sudden homecall of John Appleby on July 24 came as a shock to his family and friends. So has ended the earthly life of a devoted servant of the Lord.

After a brief pastorate at Wood Green, John answered the call of God to service in South India. Little did he realise, when serving with Fleet Air Arm as a radio mechanic, that this was to be a vital part of his preparation for the work of radio evangelism in India which would develop in the late 1950s. When Strict Baptist Mission — now Grace Baptist Mission (GBM) — was presented with a challenge from the Far East Broadcasting Co. (Manila) to consider the possibility of a radio ministry, John was the only serving missionary qualified for this type of ministry. The potential was immense. The Mission accepted and Tamil programmes to India and beyond commenced in November 1958. The blessing of God was evident as enquirers began to respond. The early days were tough. There was no studio, just a tape recorder, microphone, seven-inch tapes and a stopwatch! It was a case of finding the quietest place for recording programmes. Imagine that in India!!

John Stott went to be with Christ on the afternoon of July 27, aged 90. He was listed by TIME magazine (April 2005) as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Column inches for his obituary in the UK broadsheets (all July 29) were more than would be afforded to most cabinet ministers.

Josh Moody

Date posted: 1 Oct 2011

To even attempt to broach this demanding topic in a few hundred words is to rush in where angels fear to tread.

So first a preliminary word: this will not be exhaustive. It will not be ‘exhausting’ either, for which you may breathe a sigh of relief, because of its appropriate brevity.

School’s out and holidays are here!

For many of us August is still the month in which we can get away from it all and enjoy a well-deserved break — a bit of rest and relaxation. The month to switch off; put the tent up, put your feet up and hope that there won’t be too much rain to make the sandwiches soggy.

But should Christians have holidays? If we take time off, shouldn’t that become ‘time on’ for Christian activities, like Bible clubs and beach missions, camps, conventions and mission trips? In a world which so much needs the gospel, can we ever really justify taking time out? Well, yes and no!

David Robertson

Date posted: 1 Sep 2011

David Robertson, with apologies to C.S. Lewis, gives a different perspective on the current church scene in Scotland.

My Dear Diabolos,

Superb job! It really gives me great pleasure to see how well your mission in Scotland is going. It is so deliciously ironic that this land that was once so feared by us, inhabited by the ‘people of the book’, is now almost completely turned around and leading the way to what our enemies, the humans, so stupidly call ‘secularisation’. Ever since the Russian prophets of the 19th century, we have been looking for a way to undermine the basic foundations of marriage and freedom. Now our goal is within sight. How absolutely wonderful that you managed to get the British Prime Minister to declare his intention of ‘redefining marriage’ — while, of course, at the same time talking about defending the family.

Previously we have thought about the way a larger church is a more complicated animal which tends to have more pastoral problems and different expectations of those in leadership.

But these are not the only pressures which go with growth.

The curious thing was to meet all three of them in the last 12 hours of my short midweek break, within half a mile of one another.

They were all quite different; I did not raise the subject, since we met for other reasons, yet they shared this common bond. Was I witnessing the birth of a new movement, or non-movement, for our times?

An outstanding Nepali Christian leader, Shaha Gurung died suddenly on May 16.

Born on January 23 1960, in the village of Ghachok near Machhapuchhre (‘Fishtail’) mountain, Shaha began a 25-year career with International Nepal Fellowship (INF) in 1978 as a paramedic in leprosy rehabilitation in Pokhara.

We are not living in harvest days in the UK.

There are times of spiritual ploughing, sowing, watering, weeding as well as harvesting. We look to the Lord of the harvest, and to the Lord for harvest, but meanwhile we are called to faithfully prepare the ground, plant gospel seed.

Postcode lottery?

Jesus told us to pray for workers into the harvest fields. Yet, we can hardly blame him if they are not there. Labourers are needed for evangelistic work, and they need to be spread across the ‘field’; if some areas are harder to work than others, then more work is needed there.

‘What I've discovered is that what works best with non-Christians is opening up the Bible with them.’

So said Doug, a student at Glasgow University, who was surprised at the effectiveness of discussing God’s Word with non-Christian students, in a forum often called seeker or evangelistic Bible studies.

When the average church is told, ‘now we’re going to do some theology’, the odd keen bean will be on the edge of his pew, but the majority give their brains a rest in the sure knowledge that ‘this bit isn’t that important’.

Such is the place of ‘theology’ in the lives of many Christians in today’s church. Either that, or it’s seen as a danger to steer any would-be students well clear of. Certainly, if it’s a mission-focused church, theology is the last thing they want to spend their time on! Of course, it’s the experience of God and the simple gospel that a church with missional aspirations requires. Not theology. That’s for people who want to ‘go a bit deeper’, but far from essential for every would-be witnessing believer. Or is it?

Heathrow airport on a Wednesday afternoon. You buy a tray full of overpriced coffees and carry them carefully over to a group of people sitting round a small table. A teary-eyed missionary saying goodbye to sad family and friends!

It’s a strange mix of excitement and sadness. After handshakes and hugs all round you watch as your missionary joins the queue through security and into the departure lounge. A final wave and he is gone! The thought suddenly comes into your mind, ‘Now what?!’

Among the many distinctive traits of 21st-century global culture is our confidence in technology.

To every problem there must be a solution which technology can supply, if only the science is advanced enough and there is money enough to apply it. And in many areas of our human experience that has been proved to be true, so that we can all be profoundly thankful for the benefits of scientific research in making us healthier, more comfortable and (perhaps) happier than our forebears.

Over the past five years, more than 3,000 students have taken advantage of UCCF’s student Link-Up scheme.

Through this they are able to register their details with their campus CU before they head off to university or college.

This is an edited version of Hugh Palmer's interview with the Archbishop at New Word Alive in 2011.

This is an edited version of Hugh Palmer’s interview with Archbishop Ben Kwashi of Nigeria at New World Alive in 2011.