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Nicola Laver

Date posted: 1 Nov 2022

Income levels across more than 100 evangelical mission agencies in the UK dropped in the year to 2020 by £13 million – with the smallest missions hardest hit, a snapshot report has revealed. But missions which are more overtly involved in proclaiming the Christian message did not see a drop in income.

Eddie Arthur, a specialist in mission agency theology, reported that 105 mission agencies suffered an overall fall in income of 4.6%. Between 2018 and 2020 it declined by around 6% and it was not expected to have recovered in 2021. He said it was too early to judge the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on their incomes.

Nicola Laver

Date posted: 1 Dec 2022

A radical ‘gospel rescue mission’ that began just last year in Derbyshire is seeing powerful conversions to Christ – and community leaders witnessing the extraordinary impact of the gospel.

Edge Faith Community, part of the national Edge Ministries, is pioneering a form of church and faith community in super-deprived communities. Carl Beech (see photo), who runs Edge Ministries, said white working-class people are probably the most unreached people in Europe and among the most vilified.

A new statue called ‘Antelope’ has been unveiled on the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square in London.

The artwork depicts Malawian pastor John Chilembwe standing next to a white pastor, John Chorley (see photo below, bottom left). Chilembwe came to faith in Christ in 1893 and was baptised on 17 July that year after getting to know Joseph Booth of the Zambesi Industrial Mission (now Zambesi Mission).

Around 15% of the entire population of Ireland – if not more – may have engaged with the What’s The Story? mission held across the island.

Statistics released by the organisation behind the initiative state that out of a total population of 5.1million, of which only around 1% are currently evangelical believers:

Nine churches have been planted in just ten years in a pioneering Scottish project – thanks to believers who have grasped the concept of ‘missional living’.

20schemes is a church planting ministry set up and run by Niddrie Community Church, which is located in the scheme of Niddrie, south-east Edinburgh. And this year the initiative is celebrating a decade in action.

What does mission in the local church look like in 2022?

The answer is that it is as gloriously varied as each individual congregation and its members.

A pioneer of the Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) has marked his 101st birthday by taking to the skies again.

Jack Hemmings, who is also a former RAF Squadron Leader, was given the flight as a surprise present.

Milla Ling-Davies

Date posted: 1 Jul 2022

If you were asked how a Christian Union runs an evangelistic event, you might guess it would look something like this: a short talk, time for a Q&A, and perhaps some food.

You’d be right. CUs have long operated within this structure and seen encouraging fruit come from it. This year, however, the CUs in Leeds pioneered a different approach.

Nearly 1,000 pastors, elders, women’s workers, youth leaders, and others in church leadership gathered at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool in November for the 2022 FIEC Leaders’ Conference.

It was the first national conference for three years, due to the Covid pandemic, but came just in time to mark FIEC’s 100th anniversary.

For some guests at London City Mission’s Webber Street day centre, near Waterloo, rehabilitation and restoration is a life-long journey. This is Josef ’s story.

Ten years ago, during the winter that Josef slept on the streets of London, the only way he could find reprieve from the biting cold was by sleeping on the vents that blow warm air out from the Underground.

Frank Entwistle will best be remembered for his leadership of Inter-Varsity Press (IVP) for 25 years, retiring in 2002.

Set up in 1936 as the Publishing House of the Inter-Varsity Fellowship (later UCCF), IVP was the strongest and most widely-known independent evangelical publisher of its day. Frank Roland Entwistle grew up in Lancashire, imbibing a love of books and of reading from his father. Following his conversion aged 14, he set his heart on ordination, and later studied theology at St John’s College, Durham, choosing a special option on Luther and Calvin. He was prepared for ordination at Cranmer Hall. The fairly conservative faculty, and the strong inter-collegiate Christian Union (DICCU), gave Frank a thorough Biblical grounding. While at Durham he met his wife, Beryl, and they married during his curacy at St John’s Harborne in Birmingham. In 1965 Frank joined the home staff of what is now Crosslinks, editing the Society’s magazine and books.