Jerusalem: forced out
Morning Star News
Date posted: 1 Oct 2014
After seven years of harassment by hard-line
Muslims, a Palestinian church
in East
Jerusalem has been
forced out of
their
building, church leaders said in late August.
The
congregation of Calvary Baptist
Church, under Holy Land Missions, moved
out of their building in the Shofat area of
Jerusalem in July after Islamists threatened
their landlord. They are looking for a safer,
more permanent place to meet.
Door to door
Steve Hay
Date posted: 1 Oct 2014
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.
Encourage one another
Susie Leafe
Date posted: 1 Oct 2014
Our dear brother John Richardson went home to glory this year. As a writer, he is a loss to this column, but his ministry has myriad legacies. Not the least amongst them is the annual Junior Anglican Evangelical Conference (JAEC) which took place in September.
The ‘Junior’ refers to the delegates – they are all people with less than seven years in ordained ministry, with some who are only just embarking on that path. It was wonderful to be there to see men and women from all over the country gathered to explore together their future ministry, in pursuit of John’s oft repeated goal – nothing less than the evangelisation of England.
Lessons for the future from the US?
Andrew Symes
Date posted: 1 Aug 2014
At the end of June I was privileged to attend the Assembly of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), a vibrant and upbeat gathering of nearly 1000 people at St Vincent University, Pennsylvania.
It was a celebration to mark five years since its formation, to worship together and hear from the Lord, and to recommit itself as a movement under the leadership of Archbishop-Elect Foley Beach to mission based on the foundation of God’s Word.
news in brief
New CEO
Christian Witness to Israel, the international mission to the Jewish people, which was
founded
in 1842, has appointed Joseph
Steinberg as its new Chief Executive Officer
from July 1.
Joseph grew up in a Jewish home in the
USA and as a teenager, after searching the
Old Testament scriptures, became convinced
that Jesus was the promised Messiah.
Seeing ahead 2020
With plans to facilitate the planting of 20 new churches across Birmingham by 2020, June’s annual Birmingham conference, with around 100 in attendance, noted that almost half of that target has been reached within four years.
A range of churches from different denominations and networks, including New Frontiers, Birmingham City Mission, Church of England and FIEC came together, committed to seeing people come to Christ.
New kid on the block
Dave Gobbett has recently become lead minister at Highfields, Cardiff, one of the largest churches in Wales. EN interviews him
Dave is married to Sally and they have three young children.
Speak to people
Daphne Ross
Date posted: 1 Sep 2014
Book Review
BE MY WITNESSES
Christ’s last words: our first concern
Read review
Australia: home-grown jihadis
Peter Riddell
Date posted: 1 Sep 2014
The capital cities of Australia’s states experienced their first Muslim Global Dawah Day on July 5, with teams of young mission-minded Muslim activists distributing leaflets and engaging in street evangelism for Islam. They took their lead from a wealth of online resources, with well-known British activist Abdur Raheem Green being a key spokesman for the worldwide campaign.
Although Global Dawah Day had little profile in the mainstream Australian media, it came at a time of considerable public anxiety and government activity over reports of home-jihadis grown leaving to fight for radical Islamist groups in Syria and Iraq. In early July, the Australian Attorney General warned that at least 60 Australians are actively involved in fighting with extremist groups, such as the newly declared Islamic caliphate, with a further 150 providing various forms of support.
The Third Degree
Equipped to read the Bible
Pod Bhogal
Date posted: 1 Sep 2014
Pod is leaving UCCF to take up a role at Scripture Union. In his final third degree column he reflects on the impact of Uncover.
UCCF have a rich history of producing high-quality seeker-sensitive resources.
John Stott’s right hand
Frances Whitehead was John Stott’s secretary and played a crucial role in his life. EN carries a slice of her upcoming biography
The staffing for John Stott’s global operation was modest, as was its office space.
To the open air of France
Open Air Campaigners
Date posted: 1 Sep 2014
It was reported in July that Peter Kennelly of OAC Ministries (Open Air Campaigners) is resigning as National Director to work with OAC in France. His change of direction is based on timely guidance that characterises his journey of faith.
Over the years, Peter has taken part in missions and outreach activities, in Britain and abroad. ‘I always had a heart for France and the French-speaking people,’ he explains. ‘I’ve been learning the language and going over to France regularly to join others in evangelism.
news in brief
Afghanistan: two shot
Two Finnish women working for International Assistance Mission (IAM), a Christian aid charity, were killed by gunmen in Herat in late July, both having worked in Afghanistan since March 1997.
Two men, travelling by motorcycle, shot the women while they were in a taxi. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. The IAM has worked continuously in Afghanistan since 1966 and is well known there as an openly Christian aid organisation that works to capacity build in healthcare and socio-economic development.
TCKs: the third dimension
Alan Hewerdine on how missionary kids can enhance churches and Christian Unions
The 3D science-fiction movie Gravity won seven Oscars at this year’s awards ceremony.
Why he hates the Reformation
Leonardo de Chirico gives an insight into the Pope’s thinking
Friendly. Appreciative. Always wanting to stress commonalities and to lay aside differences.
EMA: Barbican block-buster
JEB
Date posted: 1 Aug 2014
July 8-10 saw the second year of the experiment to relocate the Evangelical Ministers’ Conference to London’s Barbican Centre.
It is a venue with lots of space and dignity about it, and though many people loved the buzz of the old days the acres of room at the Barbican makes it a much better experience than playing sardines at St Helen’s. However, going for a well-used secular venue does have it’s difficulties. The Barbican had double-booked (with Sir Simon Rattle I was told) and so EMA had to be deferred two weeks from its original place in the calendar. This was reflected in the slightly fewer numbers who attended. That was a shame because these were great conference days.
CE for prisons worldwide
Christianity Explored Ministries
Date posted: 1 Aug 2014
Christianity Explored Ministries (CEM) announced in June a major new link up with Prison Fellowship International (PFI) where the Christianity Explored course will form a key part of PFI’s strategy of taking the gospel to prisoners throughout the world, with two pilot projects launched in Nigeria and South Africa.
PFI was founded in 1979. Its network of 45,000 volunteers currently undertakes monthly prison ministry with 2million inmates in 3,700 prisons in 127 countries. There are an estimated 10 million inmates in 22,000 jails across the world. The Prisoner’s Journey, PFI’s new, three-strand evangelism programme (of which Christianity Explored is the core part) aims to reach 1 million of these prisoners with the gospel by 2020.
Steve Metcalf 1927 – 2014
Dr Ronald Clements
Date posted: 1 Aug 2014
Steve Metcalf, OMF International missionary to Japan for 38 years and a pastor of the
Japanese Christian Fellowship, London,
died on June 7, aged 86.
As a teenager Steve was interned by the
Japanese,
following
their occupation of
north China, during
the Second World
War. In his first
internment camp Steve
made a personal commitment to Christ. In
a
second camp at Weifang, Shandong
Province, Steve met
the Olympic gold-medallist, Eric Liddell, who had a profound
influence on his life.
Operation Trojan Horse?
Sam Soloman looks into the deeper implications of the Ofsted report into the Birmingham schools
It was disclosed that there was a programme of Islamisation going on in some Birmingham schools.
Scotland: which future?
Andy Hunter reports on the SOLAS debate on Scottish independence which took place at Charlotte Chapel, Edinburgh on June 11
All sides of this debate are agreed on one thing.
At the school gate
Karen Scott
Date posted: 1 Jun 2014
Book Review
ORDINARY MUM, EXTRAORDINARY MISSION:
Sharing God’s Love in Everyday Life
Read review
