Some surprising facts emerge from Christian survey
Hope Together
Date posted: 1 Jan 2016
The ‘Talking to Jesus’ report presented to the
Anglican Synod in late November showed
that 40% of people don’t believe Jesus was a
real person. But it also showed that younger
people are actively sharing their faith.
However, more
than
half
of
non-Christians have had a conversation with a
practicing Christian about
faith
in
Jesus
(57%). Having had
that conversation, of
those who had not become a Christian, one
in five (19%) still wants to know more about
Jesus Christ.
New dawn for Greenisland
Greenisland Baptist Church is an evangelical congregation meeting seven miles from Belfast along the north shore of Belfast Lough, with its building about to undergo demolition and rebuilding.
It was founded in 1996 after seven local people started to meet to pray for the community. The church had a number of temporary venues until 2000 when it purchased and renovated the old health centre at the heart of the village. Within a short space of time the Lord blessed the congregation, which grew fourfold. For the past ten years, a capacity of 200 for Sunday services has been severely strained. In 2006 the possibility of meeting in a replacement building at the current location, or elsewhere in the village, was explored.
The Third Degree
Student carol services
Kate Duncan
Date posted: 1 Jan 2016
Carol services remain a popular part of Christmas for students.
Christian Unions (CUs) are uniquely placed in their universities to provide that festive celebration and share the good news of Christ incarnate in creative ways.
Small church on a small island
Phil Lo Bao
Date posted: 1 Jan 2016
Phil Lo Bao reports on the spiritual needs of the Isle of Man
‘The Isle of Man, where is that?’
Cyprus: across the Muslim world
John Lodge
Date posted: 1 Jan 2016
In November, representatives of the Middle East Reformed Fellowship (MERF) fields and support bodies came together for the International Council (IC) at the John Calvin Centre in Cyprus.
40 years on from small beginnings in Beirut, Lebanon, in the 1970s, MERF now has a ministry in every major country dominated by Islam.
Moorlands Bible College opens £3m new building
Ian Kennedy
Date posted: 1 Jan 2016
On 4 November, Moorlands College welcomed Christian campaigner Baroness Caroline Cox to open the new Wessex Auditorium and Community Hub.
The building project saw the demolition of a ‘temporary’ dining hall and chapel built in the 1970s to make room for a Community Hub that has already revolutionised student life at the college. The Wessex Auditorium, which seats up to 300 people, is a focal point for student worship throughout the week, epitomised by the ten-foot tall steel cross standing to the north.
Rebuilding a nation
Phil Reid
Date posted: 1 Jan 2016
Phil Reid walks us through the ideas embedded in Nehemiah 8.1–12
A nation lies in ruins. There is a need to rebuild – physically, morally, spiritually.
news in brief
Bonaire: radio upgrade
TWR are to upgrade the shortwave/AM transmitter on Bonaire to 450KW, doubling the potential audience to 100 million people across Latin America, it was reported in September.
TWR have been broadcasting Bible teaching from Bonaire for over 50 years. Thousands of pastors and small home churches exist purely because of the evangelism and discipleship offered through TWR’s broadcasts. The upgrade will cost around £2.5 million in total.
Persecution class
Ray Porter
Date posted: 1 Nov 2015
Book Review
JARS OF CLAY
What the West Needs to Learn From the
Persecuted Church
Read review
Effective or defective?
David Baker
Date posted: 1 Nov 2015
Almost 450 church leaders met together for
the 2015 ReNew Conference at Chesford
Grange – the third conference that Anglican
Mission in England (AMiE), Church Society,
and Reform had organised together with the
purpose of encouraging church leaders to
pioneer, establish, and secure healthy local
Anglican churches throughout England.
Although I had hoped to attend, I was not
able to, so am grateful to Brian O'Donoghue
of St Helen’s Bishopsgate for most of the following report. In his chairman’s address,
William Taylor of St Helen’s outlined the
history, necessity, and strategy of ReNew and
introduced this year’s theme - ‘Shoulder to
Shoulder; partnering
together
in mission
and ministry’. He stressed the need for interdependence – in prayer, people, and finance.
IVP / SPCK
Julia Cameron
Date posted: 1 Dec 2015
Dear en,
Like many, I was very grieved at the sudden and somewhat shocking news that IVP
had become a wholly-owned subsidiary of
SPCK. I write now only to reassure en read-ers on a question raised by your editorial
comment in the November news piece.
The working class and Christ
David Binder
Date posted: 1 Dec 2015
David Binder interviews SixtyEightFive founder, Ian Williamson.
Many have argued that the evangelical church in the UK has been largely dominated by the middle class.
Is our leadership wasting talent?
Catherine Cowell and Sean Kennedy on releasing the enthusiasm of church members
‘No, the church won’t be able to support your project, because it’s not part of what we do,’ said the Revd Simon.
UBM: Oxbridge mission
UBM
Date posted: 1 Aug 2014
In the city centres of Oxford and Cambridge in June, people from Saudi Arabia, Iran, Libya, Turkey, China, Russia and atheists from the UK stopped to hear a presentation of the gospel as a United Beach Missions ‘Christian Answer’ team preached and witnessed for the Lord Jesus.
Many stopped, asked questions and listened to reasoned, interactive, Christian presentations: ‘How can God allow evil?’, ‘Who am I?’, ‘Reasons not to be an atheist’, ‘Did Jesus rise from the dead?’ And then there were the very many personal conversations as people willingly and eagerly discussed the claims of Jesus Christ.
Work in Progress
Being a big noise?
Roger Loosley
Date posted: 1 Oct 2015
Subject: Dr Phil Harper, CEng MIMechE MInstNDT PhD MEng, who runs his own company in Sheffield making ultrasonic measuring and monitoring equipment for engineering applications. Married with two children.
Age range: 30–40.
Interests: Food, cooking, DIY.
RJL: Were you were brought up in Sheffield?
Phil: No, I was brought up on a farm in Kilkenny in Southern Ireland.
The Third Degree
IFES World Assembly
Kate Duncan
Date posted: 1 Oct 2015
What do you get when you gather 1,000 evangelicals from 148 countries in a Mexican resort?
Nothing less than una fiesta grande: a plethora of culture and a little foretaste of Revelation 7.9: ‘…there before me was a great multitude that no-one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb…’
When is failure faithful?
Dr Mike Ovey
Date posted: 1 Nov 2015
Dr. Mike Ovey asks if current evangelicals are in denial about some important matters
A week ago I was at a major Church of England jamboree as a friend was installed in a new and more senior post.
Reaching for the summit?
Chris Sugden
Date posted: 1 Nov 2015
‘Summitry’ was a regular part of the Cold War. The USSR and the USA faced each across the Iron Curtain with separate alliances, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and the Warsaw Pact. Their leaders could not meet as part of one organisation, without recognising the unrecognisable: the West did not recognise the division of Berlin. In 1963 John F. Kennedy proclaimed across the Berlin Wall: ‘Ich bin ein Berliner’.
But US and Russian Presidents did meet in ‘summits’. And Archbishop Justin Welby has called a summit of Anglican Primates in Canterbury for 11–16 January 2016 in these words:
Scots train
FIEC
Date posted: 1 Nov 2015
The Fellowship of Independent Evangelical
Churches (FIEC) in partnership with the
Free Church of Scotland is to offer a new
training course at Edinburgh Theological
Seminary
(ETS),
it was announced
in
September.
FIEC directors will deliver the
lectures
alongside other experienced pastors which
will enable participating students to obtain a
new ETS certificate in ‘Independent Church
Ministry’.
Special needs?
Sophie Killingley
Date posted: 1 Nov 2015
Book Review
THE LIFE YOU NEVER EXPECTED
Thriving While Parenting Special Needs
Children.
Read review
How to pray for the war
Balance is crucial. It is especially crucial when it is easy to swing to extremes.
Following the Commons’ decision on 2 December for RAF airstrikes against Islamic State in Syria after the terrorist atrocity in Paris, there is a new recognition that the UK is at war. Our security forces are thwarting many planned attacks, but there may be reprisals meted out on us. The question is: how can Christians be praying in a biblically sensible way?
Facing extremism
Of course we need to be balanced towards Islam. Many Muslims are civilised people of peace and we need to honour them. But with Hilary Benn’s speech to Parliament the penny seems to have dropped that those supporting Islamic state are as much fascists, seeing themselves as superior beings willing to liquidate all ‘inferiors’, as the Nazis. The West is now engaged in a Third World War. So, how should we pray?