UK & Ireland in Brief

Inspired by Nehemiah’s rebuilding of Jerusalem’s wall, ‘Eternal Wall: 52 Days of Prayer, Fasting and Worship’ is underway.

It began on 3 September in support of a crowdfunding campaign for the Eternal Wall of Answered Prayer, a Christian landmark planned for the West Midlands, UK in 2023. It is to include 75,000 ‘heritage bricks’ celebrating answered prayer as far back as 600 AD. The 52 days of prayer is a flexible prayer schedule that can be followed daily – either individually or in a small group, or in a church or organisation. For more information visit eternalwall.org

A new BBC Radio 4 comedy pilot will follow the trials and tribulations of four new Christian students at university.

God Squad will feature a Christian Union and has been co-written and created by atheist-turned-Christian Jack Chisnall (see photo). He told the British Comedy Guide that the show explores the ‘reasonableness of belief in the 21st century’. He said his hope is that people ‘see it as a fair “stating of the case” as regards the Christian religion; its vices and virtues’. Chisnall added: ‘I have an evangelical grandmother who does a good job of making the questions of Christianity unignorable.’ The show is to be recorded on 3 October at RADA studios.

Thousands of pro-life supporters turned out for this year’s March For Life UK on 4 September in central London, ending in Parliament Square. Former soldier Ebow Essel, now an evangelical pastor, attended the march and addressed the crowd.

He said: ‘Card Alpha [which defines the rules of engagement and prohibits the unlawful killing of the enemy] prevents you from taking that life, which is considered as innocent – and that person was an enemy you were fighting against a few minutes ago.

‘As I thought through this, I thought “Oh my word”, that an enemy can be considered as an innocent life, one who has killed someone a few minutes ago, and you were obligated by law to not take their life.

‘How much more an unborn baby in the womb who hasn’t killed anyone, who hasn’t threatened anyone, who is not a threat to life. And that was when I saw that there is something wrong with this, that we are sitting back to see daily the slaughter of innocent babies in wombs.’

Christians have gospel motivation for the global issue of climate change, the Evangelical Alliance UK (EAUK) said.

In the wake of the UN’s recent high-profile report on climate change, the EAUK said: ‘It is important that we too, carefully and compassionately, consider the projections made in the report, keeping front and centre our creator God’s heart for all creation.’ The UN report warned of more frequent extreme heat, extreme rainfall, and rising sea levels, and said governments and populations worldwide must take action.

More than 70 young people in Croydon took part in an afternoon of football at the Preventing Knife Crime (PKC) Academy’s summer football tournament, sponsored by Spurgeon’s College in South East London.

Principal of Spurgeon’s College, the Revd Professor Philip McCormack said: ‘As a higher education institution and a deeply embedded member of the local Croydon community, we recognise how important it is to provide young people with opportunities and pathways for self-development and success.’ The college’s mission is to train men and women for Christian mission, ministry and leadership in the contemporary world.

The British Medical Association (BMA) has abandoned its historical opposition to assisted suicide after voting to adopt a neutral position on the issue.

The vote was close, with 149 in favour of moving to a neutral position, 145 against and eight abstentions. Being neutral means the BMA will not support or oppose a change in the law. The BMA now joins the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of Nursing in adopting a position of neutrality.

As en went to press, the ReNew conference of conservative evangelicals in the Church of England was due to be meeting in Leeds.

David Short, Jason Roach and Mike Smith were the three main speakers.