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Dear Sir,

It was heartwarming to read of Robert Stivey’s attempt to re-open some of the chapels in the valleys of South Wales (en January, front page).

Dear Sir,

Every January something pops through my letterbox to bring a shaft of light into these dark days. The CofE authorities send me a little advertising puff about the annual Lent Course provided by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York. For years this has given me a laugh, although, to use a phrase of my mother’s, it’s too daft to laugh at. All the usual politically-correct nostrums cast in the Noddy language with which the church patronises and torments us to death. But suddenly this booklet isn’t funny anymore.

Dear Editor,

John M’s article, ‘Mixing mission’ (en May), highlights concerns about churches no longer prioritising missions as they used to. While this concern is understandable, the power of the plea is diminished because no biblical analysis of the problem is offered.

Dear Sir,

Jeremy Marshall’s article ‘Why a Northern lucidly highlights Seminary?’ (March en) the great need for gospel work in the North of England, which has often been neglected by theological education, church planting, and investment. He rightly observes that evangelicalism has a Southern and London bias at the expense of northern English cities, let alone Scotland and Wales.

Dear Editor,

I am largely in agreement with Ranald Macaulay’s concern over the prevalent evangelical tendency to shun engagement with society and its worrisome tendencies (en June ‘Evangelicalism in Crisis’). Yet I believe that his readiness to point the finger at European Pietism as providing an explanation of the origin of this tendency does not bear careful scrutiny.

Dear Editor,

Ray Porter’s obituary notice of Dorothy Marx (February en) brought back distant childhood memories for me. She and I shared the same piano teacher, the redoubtable Enid Bulow of Sutton, though Dorothy was 15 years my senior. She was a far more accomplished pianist than I ever became, as Mrs Bulow took great pride in her star pupil being awarded an LRAM (Licentiate of the Royal Academy of Music) diploma.

Dear Readers of en,

I was very grateful for the kind commendation of my new book Gospel DNA on page 25 of your May 2017 edition by Pastor Mark Troughton. I appreciate that his warm approval was only well meant, but it was sufficiently over-generous for me to feel obliged to comment. I would like to openly acknowledge the obvious but important truths that the 30 Co-mission ministries in London that he mentions (19 established churches and various pioneer ministries) are attributable a) to the extraordinary grace of our living Lord growing his churches by his living Word; and b) to the collective efforts of many servant-hearted leaders and congregation members across London. I raise this because we are clear throughout Co-mission not only that we are daily dependent upon God, but also that if we fail to give him the glory he deserves we may rightly face his discipline. For ‘neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything but only God who gives the growth’ (1 Corinthians 3).

Dear en,

Thank you for your concern for historical perspective and a coverage of global mission issues. We refer to the article on Latin America in the April issue (p.10).

Dear Sir,

I read with interest the article by John McLernon on mission strategy (en, May 2017); he presented well some of the challenges and competing claims that we experience as we aim to remain faithful to our calling to make disciples in a rapidly changing world.

Dave Williams

Date posted: 1 Mar 2017

Dear Sir,

I think it’s a good thing that there’s an ongoing conversation about church planting into our unreached areas via your letters page. I know that, from time to time, en puts the spotlight on church planting and on gospel work in tough areas. Maybe another spotlight on the great work happening in needy areas would be timely.

Dear Sir,

Paul Hinton (en letters, December) makes some valid points about church planting. I agree that if mission drives church planting, we shouldn’t just look for a ‘quick win’ by planting churches likely to appeal to students and professionals … whom we know to be on the doorstep! And yes, there is no excuse for establishing churches merely to further our theological ‘brand’ or to expand the latest ‘network’ of churches. To these concerns I would add the depressing trend among some contemporary church plants of resistance to accountability by the leadership. Too often, there is a failure to make the transition from the ‘solo ministry’ of the church planter to a fully functioning church.

Dear Sir,

As a church planter myself it might seem very strange to be in any way negative about contemporary church planting.

Dear Sirs,

Back on a very dark and dismal October day in 1967 one of the worst-ever laws in this country, the Abortion Act, was passed by Parliament. In 2017, if the Lord tarries, this dreadful law will be 50 years old. While pitiless and heartless pro-abortion activists will be celebrating this anniversary, there are countless numbers across the UK who will be lamenting. They are craving, and earnestly praying, for the day when the Abortion (1967) Act will be forever aborted. And no wonder, when one considers the appalling statistic that, up to the end of 2015, nearly 8.5 million babies have been aborted across the UK. Enough is enough.

Dear en,

We were absolutely thrilled to read the article on the front page of the February issue of en, ‘Is there revival in Ethiopia?’

John Brand

Date posted: 1 May 2016

Dear Friends,

Please could I use your letter section to rally Christians throughout the UK to be much in prayer for Scotland in these days. The nation that used to be known as the ‘land of the book’, i.e. the Bible, is now in peril of judgment.

Dear en,

I was thankful for Chris Wright’s gentle corrective in the April edition. I should have expressed more appreciation for The Cape Town Commitment because it is full of helpful affirmations and observations.

Dear Editor,

Thank you for the book review by Ann Benton if Charles (February en) asking Dickens can be regarded as a Christian? I notice that Ann did not commit herself to the book’s thesis. But let me add a few things.

Dear Editor,

Let me give a Third World perspective on the recent actions of Islamic extremists.

Dear en,

Like many, I was very grieved at the sudden and somewhat shocking news that IVP had become a wholly-owned subsidiary of SPCK. I write now only to reassure en read-ers on a question raised by your editorial comment in the November news piece.

Dear en,

I plan to update my 2007 book Building for the Gospel: A handbook for the visionary and the terrified. It is written for churches which are exploring the possibility of a building project.

Dear Sir

Chris Sugden, writing in Evangelicals Now, wrongly identifies Islamic Relief, the UK’s largest Muslim charity, as an organisation that does not assist Christians (‘Christian Aid?’, April en). Nothing could be further from the truth.

Dear Sir,

Thank you so much for having the courage to present the Jay Smith video clip in the news item headlined ‘Charlie at the corner’ on the online version of en on your website. What Jay Smith says gets to the heart of the problem with the Qu’ran: how to treat the later surahs compared to the earlier.

Dear Sir,

The Oxford Inter-Collegiate Christian Union (OICCU) is once more gathering former members for an afternoon of renewed fellowship, news and stories. The speakers will be Andrew Atherstone (Wycliffe Hall, who is preparing a history of the OICCU), and Lindsay Brown (IFES/Lausanne Movement, a former OICCU president). Current student leaders will tell of plans for the 2015 Oxford University mission with Tim Keller.

Dear Sir,

In reply to Mike Payne’s letter (Sept en ) ‘visiting opportunities’ – I have been conducting door-to-door visiting for 30 years, first in South London, then here in North East Scotland.