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Understandably, Luther and the great matters of the Reformation took pole position at the annual Carey Conference for pastors and wives and Christian workers this year.

Held at the Hayes Swanick, 3-5 January, there was quite a raft of different speakers. Paul Gibson, pastor at Wheelock Heath, roared away from the start with an excellent biography of Martin Luther that focussed helpfully on the great Reformer’s weaknesses. Anfechtungen became the buzz word! There were superb Bible readings from Rupert Bentley-Taylor on the power of the Word (Isaiah 55) and the power of the gospel (1 Corinthians 1) – very much Reformation concerns. John Benton spoke on lessons for leaders from the psychology of Samson. Linda Alcock did a brilliant job with the women’s track, leading the sisters through Titus, and Ian Fry gave a sparkling and yet very disturbing talk on the needs of children and the work among young people in today’s church.

The Antioch Plan is recruiting again.

The selection process for the second cohort of pioneering church planters has already begun.

Overseas missionaries are still very much needed. The title of this year’s conference of the Grace Baptist Mission was ‘Here Am I, Send Me’. No punches pulled there!

The meetings took place this year at the Friends Meeting House next to Euston Station in London on Saturday 29 October. It is a convenient place to travel to and people came from all over the country in their hundreds to this challenging and very uplifting day. There was a plethora of seminars given by serving missionaries from Brazil, the Philippines, Poland, France and central Asia, as well as reports concerning radio work and outreach to Asian communities in various cities in Britain.

Throughout 2017, the city of Hull, or Kingston-upon-Hull, will be in the national spotlight.

This is because Hull has been chosen as the national ‘City of Culture’ for the year – an honour and privilege which the city has taken to heart.

The 64th Free Church School in Theology was held 5 – 8 September at Carronvale House, Larbert.

As in previous years, it was an opportunity for rekindling friendship and fellowship with other ministers and committed Christians from across the UK and Ireland.

Children and schools in Blackpool are having to join waiting lists for Christian schools clubs as demand has far exceeded expectations for the groups based around Scripture Union’s award-winning app, Guardians of Ancora, it was reported in October.

The clubs, which run at lunchtimes and after school, identified Guardians of Ancora as the perfect fit to engage their target age ranges with biblical stories in a fun and relevant way. Scripture Union commissioned the Guardians of Ancora project to help children grow in faith, in the digital space.

ChristChurch Tilehurst launched on 4 September, having first been established as a congregation from Carey Baptist Church in Reading.

Originally operating as a satellite congregation called Carey Westwood Farm, the work grew from about 30 people, including children, to about 60. In 2015, with the blessing of Carey, they began the process of establishing the new church.

In September, Pais GB commissioned 57 apprentices, the biggest group of missionaries they have sent out in a decade.

Their apprentices, coming from Germany, Brazil, America, India, Kazakstan, Ukraine, Zimbabwe and the UK, comprise 17 teams based in areas as far north as Newcastle and as far south as Exeter!

The Evangelical Alliance launched its Great Commission evangelism website on 26 October to help Christians share their faith, and to show people that Jesus is changing lives in the UK today.

New video stories will be released each week on the site, sharing how people have come to faith across the UK. There will also be inspiring accounts of Christians and churches.

Around two years ago, a young and newly ordained minister and his wife had a vision to plant a church in the heart of Central London which would last for 100 years.

But rather than taking a group of around 40 people, as is the usual church planting route, they did something crazy. With the blessing of their sending churches and a number of Christian organisations, Malcolm (formally at St Ebbe’s Church in Oxford) and his wife decided to move to London with no money, no people and no place to plant a new church. Two and a bit years later we praise God that there is a new church in Central London meeting in Leicester Square.

We need to be informed of what God is doing in his world.

The information will cause us to appreciate the greatness of our God and the certainty of his promises. It will also stimulate us to prayer for many of our brothers and sisters who are paying a high price to follow Christ today. In Europe it is possible to think that as Bible-believing Christians we are part of an ever-decreasing minority, yet we are a protected minority, though the fear is that these protections are fast disappearing.

Duke Street, Richmond was the venue for the second Healthy Churches Conference which took place on 5 September and is from the ‘9Marks’ background.

Last year the speaker was Mark Dever of Capitol Hill Baptist, Washington. This year, with the focus on evangelism, it was Mack Styles of Redeemer Church, Dubai.

Steve Brady, Principal of Moorlands College in Dorset, will tell you that he is from Liverpool and a true Evertonian.

Steve Brady loves football, but truly comes alive when talking about the Word of God. Steve comes from a mixed church background and had little to do with church during his childhood.

Over 70 people gathered at The Hayes Conference Centre in Derbyshire for a weekend of prayer for Muslims, 10-12 June.

Longstanding members of the Fellowship of Faith for the Muslims (FFM) mingled with representatives of various mission organisations – some of whom were serving missionaries visiting the UK: a couple from South India serving with Tribals Transformation India; an Indian Manipuri family with three children serving with SIM in Bangladesh; and a couple from Basel serving in France. There were several believers who had turned to Christ from a Muslim background, including an Iranian family who were present with their two children, having fled persecution in Iran.

Those who attended the Northumberland Bible teaching weekend said it was an excellent event. Sponsored by Longhorsley Mission Church, Kevin Bidwell (Sheffield) and Derek Cleave (Bristol) addressed the 200+ who gathered on 2–4 July 2016.

In three sessions Kevin Bidwell opened up our call as Christians to run, wrestle and box. Derek Cleave, also in three sermons, ably helped us explore the obedience of Abraham.