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.
Successful missions in Guinea and Malawi
Iain Taylor
Date posted: 1 Aug 2022
The GoodWORD
Partnership,
based
in Minneapolis, USA,
has
facilitated
evangelistic
and
training
initiatives
in
largely Moslem parts of Guinea, West
Africa, and Malawi, southern Africa.
In Guinea, where
only
7%
of
the
population is Christian, experienced church
leaders from five African countries and the
United States undertook
three weeks of
joint ministry. It included outreach to seven
prisons where a
total of 3,600
inmates
were
fed, both physically and spiritually;
equipping a Christian medical clinic in a
Moslem community; a three-day conference
on evangelism attended by 225 church
leaders and encouraging the local churches to cooperate
in
sharing
the gospel. One
evangelical
denominational
leader
in
Conakry, a city of 2 million people, said: ‘We
are now ready and committed to cooperate
in sharing the gospel in our city.’
‘Flux’: students share Jesus in Aberystwyth
Daniel Stafford
Date posted: 1 Jan 2023
‘Our campus needs to know the good news of Jesus.’
These were the words of a member of Aberystwyth Christian Union following three days of outreach on their campus back in November. CUs traditionally hold outreach weeks in the spring term. These weeks provide an opportunity for focused mission: the CU hosts events aimed at welcoming every student at their university to consider Jesus. The gospel is clearly proclaimed, and every guest is given the chance to respond.
Abundant love
David Lowries
Date posted: 1 Jan 2023
Book Review
GOD SHINES FORTH:
How the nature of God shapes and drives the
mission of the church
Read review
Lausanne: a new landmark for mission?
Evangelical Focus, Evangelical Alliance
Date posted: 1 Jan 2022
The first major Lausanne conference in Europe since a landmark event in 1974 has taken place.
More than 1,000 evangelical influencers listened to plenary speakers and discussed issues like ‘Christian identity in the era of identity politics’, ‘Reaching university students’, and ‘The gospel and the city’.
culture watch
Anti-Semitism among us today
Joseph Steinberg
Date posted: 1 Jan 2023
As a Jewish believer in Jesus, and CEO of International Mission to Jewish People (www.imjp.org), I was interested to see what comedian David Baddiel had to say about the marginalisation of Jewish voices and the massively growing problem of anti-Semitism in the world today.
FIEC 100 multiplies into 170 and more
FIEC
Date posted: 1 Jan 2023
A bumper crop of mission initiatives is being highlighted by the the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches (FIEC) as it continues to mark 100 years since its founding in 1922.
‘Back in the spring we asked our churches to tell us about what they are doing to further the mission of proclaiming Christ and His gospel. We hoped 100 might respond and we could share their news; in the end we received more than 170 submissions,’ said Adrian Reynolds, FIEC Head of National Ministries and Chairman of the en Board.
The chilling history of Christian anti-Semitism
Gary Clayton
Date posted: 1 Jan 2023
Friday 27 January marks Holocaust Memorial Day – the commemoration of one of history’s most heart-rending chapters. But how did a plan that resulted in the death of 6 million Jewish people originate in what was a supposedly Christian nation?
The church in Acts was almost entirely Jewish, which explains why – in Acts 10 – Peter receives a vision of a large sheet full of unclean creatures to encourage him to visit the Gentile Cornelius.
news in brief
Hatun Tash
The Metropolitan Police have apologised
to evangelical street preacher Hatun Tash,
paying her £10,000
compensation
for
wrongful arrest and unlawful imprisonment.
A former Muslim, Tash had asked the police
for assistance on two occasions when she was
being harassed by Muslim demonstrators
– but
they arrested her
instead.
In one
case, she was held in custody for 24 hours
before being
released without charge. A
police inspector wrote and apologised for
the distress she suffered and acknowledged
‘that on these occasions the level of service
did fall below the requisite standard’.
Do we have a theology of disability?
Kay Morgan-Gurr
Date posted: 1 Jan 2023
We love theology in the evangelical church. We want to know what God says about all sorts of things in the Bible. We soak in what those who have studied theology say, and sometimes we study it ourselves with the books that we read and the podcasts we listen to.
But do we, as evangelicals, have a theology of disability?
Fuddy-duddy? Really we’re ‘slightly zany’
Vivienne Birch
Date posted: 1 Jan 2023
‘To be honest, some people see EMF (European Mission Fellowship) as a bit fuddy-duddy’, a pastor recently confessed to mission director Andrew Birch.
Well, if the next conference is anything like this year’s, it will be fresh, joyful, challenging, and totally encouraging. ‘Fuddy-duddy?’ Not so much!
FIEC: 1,000 gather to mark 100 years
Joel Murray
Date posted: 1 Dec 2022
Nearly 1,000 pastors, elders, women’s workers, youth leaders, and others in church leadership gathered at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool in November for the 2022 FIEC Leaders’ Conference.
It was the first national conference for three years, due to the Covid pandemic, but came just in time to mark FIEC’s 100th anniversary.
Evangelicals: the view from central Africa
Date posted: 1 Feb 2023
Dear Editor,
Most of the discussions around unity in faith and life for Christians currently revolves around ethical issues specially, in this season, to do with gender or indeed the teaching of the Holy Scriptures on male and female, as the divinely ordained context for marriage and sexual relations. Such attention to the ethical content of our faith is deserved, because after all Jesus did not mince words: ‘Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them’ (John 14: 23).
Anti-Semitism
Date posted: 1 Feb 2023
Dear Editor,
I just wanted to applaud your efforts in the January 2023 edition, especially with respect to the wide coverage you have given to the question of Israel and the Jews – obviously including my own submission of Jonathan Arnold’s testimony.
Leadership scandals addressed afresh
Affinity
Date posted: 1 Feb 2023
The continuing ramifications of recent leadership scandals in evangelical churches and the wider Christian world are being freshly addressed by one of the UK’s leading evangelical networks.
Affinity – which links around 1,200 churches and Christian organisations – says it wants to aim towards healthy Christian communities ‘where concerns about pastoral malpractice can be raised and dealt with fairly, and in ways which are honouring to Christ, theologically faithful and legally compliant’.
Bringing the gospel and practical help to one of the remotest places on earth
Gary Clayton
Date posted: 1 Feb 2023
Physiotherapist Ruan Swart uses MAF aircraft every week. The flights enable him to provide physiotherapy to the people of Elcho Island, Arnhem Land, one of the remotest places on earth.
For Ruan, the stress-free, 40-minute plane ride saves hours travelling by boat and land.
Russia crackdown: outdoor evangelism ban
Iain Taylor
Date posted: 1 Feb 2023
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed into law a controversial new package of counter-terrorism measures, including tougher sentences for extremism and heightened electronic surveillance of Russian citizens.
The law also bans evangelism outside church buildings, and anyone involved in a religious event must secure a government permit through a registered religious organisation. The restrictions even apply to activity in private residences and online. Foreign visitors who break this law will face deportation.
the ENd word
How God guides us
Jeremy McQuoid
Date posted: 1 Feb 2023
‘… the Holy Spirit had prevented them from preaching the word in the province of Asia at that time.’ (Acts 16:6)
How do you get guidance from the Lord? As I write this article, I’ve been putting together messages based on Christmas nativity passages where divine guidance seems to come by way of angelic visitations, dreams and reading astrological charts. They are fascinating passages, but I’m not sure they are a ‘how to’ guide for discovering God’s will. It is important to remember that these dramatic moments of guidance came before God had poured out His Spirit at Pentecost.
‘We cut up clothing, bedding and harnesses to feed the dogs...’
Polly Standring
Date posted: 1 Nov 2022
Polly Standring shares the remarkable story of global evangelical mission agency Crosslinks, which is now celebrating its centenary.
Crosslinks exists to help people get involved in God’s mission. 27 October 2022 marks our 100th birthday – that’s a century of taking God’s word to God’s world! What God has done through the 1,420 men and women sent out by Crosslinks over the last century is remarkable.
‘If we must die because of our faith in Jesus, that is what we must do’
Iain Taylor
Date posted: 1 Dec 2022
Following the latest military coup in Burkina Faso, the West’s politicians are apparently now worried that Russian mercenaries may be invited in to quell the jihadist uprising there.
Meanwhile, Western Christians are being asked to pray for their brothers and sisters in the unstable and poverty-stricken West African nation, that they may have the courage to keep preaching the gospel.
From homelessness and loneliness to Christ’s embrace
London City Mission
Date posted: 1 Dec 2022
For some guests at London City Mission’s Webber Street day centre, near Waterloo, rehabilitation and restoration is a life-long journey. This is Josef ’s story.
Ten years ago, during the winter that Josef slept on the streets of London, the only way he could find reprieve from the biting cold was by sleeping on the vents that blow warm air out from the Underground.
Christian aviators fly into earthquake zone
Gary Clayton
Date posted: 1 Dec 2022
The emergency phone call was made to
Mission Aviation Fellowship’s Programme
Safety Manager.
‘The call,’ Dom Sant said, ‘asked me to
take the lead on mapping communities that
were affected by the earthquake that struck
Markham Valley in Morobe Province, Papua
New Guinea.’
Do we still care about world mission?
Over the past two years, most of us have understandably been rather distracted by the Covid pandemic and all the disruption this has brought.
At the same time, however, this has not stopped all sorts of issues coming to the fore – and (rightly) being discussed with passion among conservative evangelicals.