‘Sad... but never surprised’
Esther Smith
Date posted: 1 Feb 2019
Esther Smith reminds us of the work of the charity Caring for Life
‘We’re never surprised by what we find behind closed doors; sad, but never surprised.’
Keith Small 1959–2018
Julia Cameron
Date posted: 1 Feb 2019
Keith Small was one of the foremost Qur’an scholars of our time. His work on early manuscripts was to provoke new questions among secular and Islamic scholars alike.
While at Dallas Theological Seminary, Keith read of Henry Martyn, and resolved to give his life to work among Muslims. He married Celeste Gardner in 1985, equally committed to the Muslim world, and they moved to the UK in 1989, settling in Dewsbury.
news in brief
Algeria: closure
The official notice that a village pastor in Algeria received on 30 December confirmed that his church had been ordered to close.
Pastor Rabah Messaoudi had won a legal battle in 2017 after local officials in the Muslim country tried to close his church. Those acting for the pastor have said they will appeal again, as the church is affiliated to an organisation of 45 churches through which the national commission confirms their authenticity.
Sharm El Sheikh church
Langham Partnership
Date posted: 1 Feb 2019
In December, the Revd Dr Andrea Zaki joined
the South Sinai Governor to lay the foundation stone for the first evangelical church in
the Red Sea city of Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.
Dr Zaki, President of
the Protestant
Churches in Egypt, said the church will seek
a holistic mission by serving everyone equally.
Megan Franklin 1981–2019
Lena King
Date posted: 1 Feb 2019
On Sunday 16 December at the end of a Christmas service, Megan Franklin, wife of the pastor of St Giles Christian Mission, Islington, eight-months pregnant, slipped on a step and cut her knee.
It seemed so minor that my husband, along with the others present, heard nothing of it. However, it soon turned everything upside down. After suffering headaches Megan visited hospital on Christmas Day and their intensity with resultant loss of sight soon caused alarm. On Friday 28 she phoned to cancel our family visit, yet the following day she permanently lost consciousness. She died as a result of a Strep-A bacterial infection on Sunday 6 January. Mercifully, the doctors were able to deliver the little boy successfully by Caesarean, to become the seventh child in the family.
Non-violent protest in China
Asia News
Date posted: 1 Feb 2019
One hundred people plus Pastor Wang Yi of the Early Rain Church in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, were arrested over the weekend of 8-9 December.
Sensing that arrest was imminent, the pastor drafted a letter, asking that it be made public two days after his arrest. In it he expresses his ‘disgust’ for Communist persecution of Christians, but says he is not interested in changing the country’s social system. His goal is to bear witness through non-violence and to denounce violations of religious freedom. God will bring down the Communist regime. The church has existed for thousands of years, but no political power has lasted thousands of years.
history
Calvin’s atrocities?
Michael Haykin
Date posted: 1 Feb 2019
‘The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there’.
This famous first line by L.P. Hartley (1895–1972) in his novel The Go-Between (1953) has long been a favourite maxim that orients my teaching of history, for it is notoriously difficult to treat former eras of history with the degree of empathy that they need to make them understandable.
20/20 vision for 2020?
David Baker
Date posted: 1 Jan 2019
As we look back on 2018 and forward to 2019 – and beyond – where are Anglican evangelicals in relation to the wider CofE ?
Here are some things I think we can be thankful for and encouraged by from 2018.
Milestones 2019
Joy Horn
Date posted: 1 Jan 2019
Joy Horn flags up Christian anniversaries worth noting in the coming year
EVENTS
Morgan Llwyd, said to be the first non-conformist minister in Wales, was born in 1619. Converted under Walter Cradock, he served as a chaplain in Oliver Cromwell’s New Model Army and became minister in Wrexham. His books have influenced Welsh national consciousness and literature to the present day.
Cardiff: hungry students
Hayley Marchant
Date posted: 1 Jan 2019
In November, the Christian Unions of Cardiff
held their annual city-wide events week.
Christian students on six different campuses across three different universities, as
well as an
international outreach
team,
stepped out to ask questions of their peers,
illustrated stories, answered questions and
proclaimed the good news.
Reaching the loneliest older people at Christmas
Louise Morse
Date posted: 1 Jan 2019
Louise Morse offers a timely challenge to the churches
Christmas is a great time to show the love of God and to tell the salvation story.
Holding on to power
Vinay Samuel and Chris Sugden
Date posted: 1 Jan 2019
The Evangelical Fellowship in the Anglican Communion (EFAC) has re-emerged after being somewhat dormant over the last decade.
That it is re-emerging with global participation and recognition among clergy and lay leaders in national groups indicates where apostolic succession truly lies – in the faith deposit entrusted to the people of God. For the news that EFAC was starting up again was met with instant brand recognition and welcome from evangelical Anglicans around the world.
Brave men
Ernest Shackleton’s advert for volunteers for his Antarctic expedition may be mythical.
Nevertheless, it truly reflects the brave spirit of the men who went. ‘Men wanted for a hazardous journey, small wages, bitter cold, constant danger, safe return doubtful…’ But such ‘foolhardy’ courage is desperately needed today by evangelicalism in the West. This relates to two particular areas.