Can the Church of England be revived?
Andy Mason
Date posted: 1 Jun 2023
It would be easy to answer that question with a quick ‘no’. After all, we Anglicans are facing huge problems: a loss of gospel truth, obstruction from bishops and ongoing spiritual compromise throughout the institution.
This present mess has been a long time coming, and it is, in many ways, no surprise. Surely, then, it is all over with the Church of England, and we should just leave such a moribund institution? There is, after all, nothing sacred about an ecclesiastical institution in and of itself, and we know that denominational borders are not the borders of spiritual Israel. Everything would be simpler if we just came out so that we could breathe freely once again!
PNG: Fifty years of a family’s faithful witness
In 2019, website devpolicy.org told the story of Sally’s life and background. Cleo Fleming wrote:
Sally’s family has lived and worked with the Bedamuni people of PNG since the late 1960s, when her parents, Tom and Salome Hoey, went to Western Province to establish a Christian mission there. Raised in farming families from Queensland, they were both immensely practical people who had a range of life skills to add to the training they received at Tahlee Bible College before leaving Australia.
Questioning students overflow outside at CU mission
Daniel Stafford
Date posted: 1 Apr 2023
An event hosted by Christian Unions in the city of Liverpool was so highly anticipated that students had to stand outside the venue to remain in earshot.
Students in University of Liverpool, Liverpool John Moores, and Liverpool Hope universities (pictured left and centre) came together to host a week of daily, high-profile, evangelistic events entitled ‘Truth Defined’. With students facing a much more unsettled and uncertain future, greater numbers than ever are open to considering faith, with over 100 students crowded into a packed-out venue.
news in brief
Kenya: 36,000 hear the
gospel
The Message School of Evangelism (part
of the Message Trust) has held an exciting
week of mission in Nanyuki, Kenya, in
partnership with The Global Network of
Evangelists.
The initiative involved working in schools,
visiting prisons, street evangelism and an
evangelistic festival. During this time the
students
shared
the gospel with 36,150
people and 6,230
responded. One man,
initially
hostile,
eventually
listened
to
the gospel. He changed from being
loud
and aggressive to apologising and
feeling
peaceful. The team prayed with him as he
accepted Jesus into his life.
Young French believers meet en masse
Iain Taylor
Date posted: 1 Jul 2023
Around 6,500 teenagers and young people from churches across France gathered in Zénith d’Auvergne at a large triennial congress – Echo 2023 – that seeks to encourage young members of evangelical churches to discover God’s calling. The theme of Echo 2023 was ‘See, I Am Doing Something New’ (Isa. 43:9).
The programme was based on three areas: ‘Me and God; Us and God; You and Me’. It included preaching, worship, workshops, concerts and special programmes for Ados (12–17 years old) and Jeunes (18 and over). Christian youth workers also offered training and connections. Seminars addressed issues such as Bible reading, Christian ethics, science and faith, and sexuality.
‘I’m in’ – stem cell transplant student comes to faith
Kitty Hardyman
Date posted: 1 Jul 2023
‘What’s stopping you taking the step to become a Christian?’ For Chris, a student at Nottingham Trent University, this Spring was the point at which he was able to answer ‘nothing’ – and give his life to Jesus Christ, writes Kitty Hardyman of Christian student organisation UCCF.
Chris made his commitment of faith attending the Word Alive conference alongside faithful friends from Nottingham Trent Christian Union who had walked with him during the past four years at university. The journey had been long, but surrounded by 800 other undergraduates and the wider church family, it was at Word Alive that the decision was set plainly before him, and he was able to say: ‘I’m in’.
George Verwer through the decades: an appreciation
David Baker
Date posted: 1 May 2023
The impact of George Verwer, the mission pioneer who has just died (see obituary here), was so extensive that for me, as with many others, he has seemed like a constant influence, even though we never met.
My first encounter with his work was when one of the OM ships visited Bristol, where we lived, in the 1970s. To a small boy, the idea of Christians voyaging round the world giving out books seemed an exotic, alluring and rather exciting one, and I still remember the smiles of those serving on the ship.
New missionaries aim for first Bible
Nicola Laver
Date posted: 1 May 2023
Five years ago, a translation of the New Testament into Keliko – a South Sudanese language – was ceremoniously and joyfully carried into a Ugandan refugee camp church.
Today, new missionaries are preparing to fly to Uganda later in the year to join the Bible translation team. Philip and Heidi Knight will be working with the Keliko people – an ethnic group who have never had the Bible in their own language.
letter from the
Philippines: One year on, a new church plant
Reuben & Cathy Saywell
Date posted: 1 May 2023
One year here and the Lord has not only given us a clear mission to keep us busy, but also continued provisions to keep us going and countless blessings to keep us praising.
Just before our family took the big step onto the mission field, we were reminded at our commissioning service that the God who sends is also the God who supplies. The same Jesus who was described as Immanuel at His incarnation is the One who, at His ascension, was self-identified as the God who will be with us always, even to the end of the age. What a comfort to have studied, sensed, and seen that promise to be true over the past 12 months as missionaries, thousands of miles from home.
news in brief
Refugee call
Evangelical
refugee
campaigner
and
en contributor, Dr Krish Kandiah, says
Pain produces church growth in Krakow
One Polish church in the southern city
of Krakow has experienced remarkable
growth over the last two years in surprising
circumstances: the Covid-19 pandemic and
warfare, writes Tim Thornborough.
Christ
the Saviour Presbyterian Church
(CSPC) currently meets in a converted bank
and, as we entered, we were handed headsets to
enable us to listen to the live translation of the
service from Polish to English. Others picked
up the headsets marked ‘Ukrainian’. My main
contact in Krakow is Sashko – a Ukrainian from
Lviv, just over the border from Poland – who is
the assistant minister at the church.
Operation Coronation reaches celebrities
Nicola Laver
Date posted: 1 Jun 2023
Coronation Day was unforgettable for the nation, but it will also be remembered by some as the day they met with the King of Kings.
On the weekend of 6 May, hundreds of Christians joined Royal fans around Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace and elsewhere in central London handing out gospels and Christian literature. Thousands of tracts and the coronation booklet God Save The King – co-authored by Roger Carswell and Alan Marsden – found their way into the hands of ordinary people, as well as celebrities such as TV hosts Ant and Dec and other guests at the Coronation.
Women in hard places
Judith Dennis
Date posted: 1 Jun 2023
Book Review
COME WITH ME TO KATHMANDU:
12 powerful stories of women’s
courageous faith in Nepal
Read review
Ten Questions: A noisy prayer life!
Andy Bannister
1. How did you become a Christian?
news in brief
Church disability support
trebled
A charity’s support for disabled people in
churches across the UK is being trebled,
thanks to a £150,000 grant from Benefact
Trust. It will mean that disability inclusion
charity Through the Roof will be able to
increase the number of disabled people it
can support from 9,000 to 30,000 within
just three years.
The additional
funds will be used
to
recruit three regional co-ordinators to build
up local Roofbreaker networks of volunteers
across the UK; provide specialist resources
and support; and help disabled Christians
in
leading
training and organise events.
According to the Lausanne Committee for
World Evangelization, just five to ten per cent
of disabled people ever hear the gospel in
their lifetime.
A forgotten heroine who should be known today: 60 years of faithful, daily, humble service
Adrian Russell
Date posted: 1 Apr 2023
The province of Sindh in Pakistan suffered appallingly from flooding last year. This province and the people who live there may be unfamiliar to you, but this location was the home of one of the lesser-known Christian heroines of faith, Blanche Brenton Carey.
Blanche, the daughter of a Brixham vicar, joined the Church of England Zenana Missionary Society in 1884 and became one of their pioneer missionaries, serving in Karachi from 1885 to 1950. Her deep desire was to tell the women and girls of Sindh about her Saviour Jesus Christ.
Coronation chickens? Not us!
Nicola Laver
Date posted: 1 May 2023
Churches and communities across Britain and beyond have been finalising their preparations ahead of the Coronation.
Jonathan Gillespie, assistant curate at All Souls Langham Place, says: ‘It’s a missional opportunity to point to monarchy under Jesus’ loving rule.’ And Ben Topham, associate rector at St George’s Church, Stamford and St James Gerrards Cross, pointed out that many will get invited to family events and street parties. ‘We are encouraging our church family to plug into those, to be a Christian presence in those places.’
‘The car careered out of control’
Kicked out of college and hooked on drink and drugs, Pauline Hamilton drove recklessly towards a cliff near her home to end it all. At the last moment, her tyre blew out, leaving her stunned in the stationary car.
Pauline’s life changed forever. She turned at once to the God who had rescued her and, in grateful amazement, offered her whole life to Him. This dedication would eventually take her to China, where she would serve for over 30 adventure-packed years as a missionary. Through many trials Pauline never lost sight of the God who had promised never to let her go.
letter from Latvia
Ukrainian amputees with gospel hope
John Woods
Date posted: 1 May 2023
One of the questions I am asked whenever I return from Latvia is: ‘What is the mood in Latvia at the moment?’
The question relates to the fact that Latvia shares a land border with Russia and has many historical reasons to be anxious about the intentions of its larger neighbour.
Niceness and newness
Date posted: 1 May 2023
Dear Editor,
David Robertson (en March) poses the very relevant question of why many Christians today are so concerned about being ‘nice’. Robertson Biblically demonstrates the case, at appropriate times, for preaching the gospel extremely vigorously. It is also obvious there would be no Christianity today without Christ’s unwavering mission stance and likewise that of His steadfast followers down the succeeding ages, whether Catholics or Protestants.
news in brief
Spain: becoming less religious
According to a new report, Spain is becoming less and less religious.
Secularism in Figures 2023, published by the Ferrer Guàrdia Foundation, reveals that 40% of the Spanish population identifies as atheist, agnostic or indifferent to religion. The figure rises to 58% among young adults aged 25 to 34, and to 60% among those aged 18 to 24. ‘Religious practice has declined considerably, especially after the pandemic’, the Foundation says. Only 19% of respondents consider themselves to be practising believers.
Russian villagers hear gospel for the first time
Slavic Gospel Association
Date posted: 1 May 2023
In parts of Far East Russia there are those who have never heard the name of Jesus.
Alexander Balagansky, a missionary sponsored by the Slavic Gospel Association (SGA), in the Buryatia region, is involved in the difficult and sometimes dangerous challenge of reaching them. Villages and communities there are isolated, often cut off and inaccessible due to extreme weather conditions. However, strange as it may seem, the extreme weather can become the missionary’s friend and associate in pioneering gospel ministry!
Can the Church of England be revived?
It would be easy to answer that question with a quick ‘no’. After all, we Anglicans are facing huge problems: a loss of gospel truth, obstruction from bishops and ongoing spiritual compromise throughout the institution.
This present mess has been a long time coming, and it is, in many ways, no surprise. Surely, then, it is all over with the Church of England, and we should just leave such a moribund institution? There is, after all, nothing sacred about an ecclesiastical institution in and of itself, and we know that denominational borders are not the borders of spiritual Israel. Everything would be simpler if we just came out so that we could breathe freely once again!