Idea January / February 2014

THE MAGAZINE OF THE EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE

Commemorating the First World War

Unfinished business

Scottish referendum

Big interview

A rallying call to the Church to tackle modern-day slavery

Better apart or better together?

Two Christian MSPs have their say

Anne Graham Lotz on healing from church wounds

On the Job

Good question

Culture

In Your Words

Connect

Theology

www.eauk.org/idea

JAN/FEB 2014

NEWS COMMENT features

Land and deliver LEER, SOUTH SUDAN, 24.04.2012 Get the full story on MAF’s continuing lifeline mission in South Sudan at www.maf-uk.org/life

We go the extra miles www.maf-uk.org/life Registered charity in England and Wales (1064598) and in Scotland (SC039107)

IDEA MAGAZINE / 2

Chine Mbubaegbu: Unity speaks powerfully about the restorative grace of God in our lives.

idea-torial Better lives, better communities, better together.

I can honestly say I’ve never seen such a visible display of the unity and diversity of the global Church than at the seven-yearly World Council of Churches (WCC) assembly in Busan, South Korea, which I’ve just returned from. Gathered there were Asians, Africans, Caucasians. People from Latin America, from the Pacific Islands, from Europe. Some sporting their traditional attire; some the distinct get-up of their church denominations.

All however under one banner: the Christian faith.

The faith that compels us to make whole the broken things in our societies; to bring about the kingdom of God here on earth.

That was the theme of this, the 10th WCC assembly: “God of life, lead us to justice and peace.” Peace in our lives, peace in our communities, peace in our time.

So often the Church can be mired in its factions and its theological differences, but our vision at the Evangelical Alliance is that – echoing Jesus’s prayer in John 17 – we might all be one. Not just for unity’s sake, but so that the world might believe in him.

Our general director Steve Clifford talks about his passion for the Church to model unity across ethnic boundaries in his Last Word on page 38. On page 24, you can read about how churches from different denominations came together to start a one-ofa-kind school in their community. Unity speaks powerfully about the restorative grace of God in our lives. And we can use this unity for good.

CONTENTS FEATURES 14 Unfinished business Slavery is still happening today. What must the Church do?

18 Cover story

The Church is uniting this year as the nation commemorates a century since the Great War

28 Big Interview

Anne Graham Lotz – daughter of Billy – opens up about being wounded by brothers and sisters in Christ

7 Adventurer Rob Lilwall on faith and Walking Home from Mongolia.

REGULARS 4-6 Connect

News from the Alliance

8 Good question Do we need to keep the Sabbath? Kevin DeYoung answers

26 Politics

We explore for and against arguments on Scottish independence.

36 In your words

idea readers respond…

38 Last word

30

The general director writes…

As The Bible series hits UK screens, Sophie Lister explores its implications.

This year, our friends at the World Evangelical Alliance will be hosting their General Assembly in Seoul, Korea. It will be a time when the evangelical community from around the world can come together for fellowship and also to think strategically about our mission in the places we are called to.

Our prayer is always that our togetherness will impact those around us: better lives, better communities better together.

Chine Mbubaegbu, Head of Media Twitter: @ChineMbubaegbu worldea.org

32 A New Breed: we catch up with US worship leader Israel Houghton at Big Church Day Out. Head Office Evangelical Alliance has moved:

176 Copenhagen Street, London N1 0ST tel: 020 7520 3830

We’re on Twitter!

Follow us @idea_mag Are you reading this, but haven’t yet signed up to become a member of the Evangelical Alliance?

What are you waiting for? Join us! eauk.org/join JAN/FEB 2014

(Mon – Fri, 9am – 5pm)

fax: 020 7520 3850 info@eauk.org www.eauk.org Evangelical Alliance leadership team Steve Clifford, Helen Calder, Fred Drummond, Elfed Godding, Krish Kandiah, Dave Landrum, Peter Lynas

Email address changes to members@eauk.org Northern Ireland Office First Floor Ravenhill House 105 Ravenhill Road, Belfast BT6 8DR tel: 028 9073 9079 nireland@eauk.org

Scotland Office International Christian College, 110 St James Road, Glasgow, G4 0PS tel: 0141 548 1555 scotland@eauk.org

Wales Office 20 High Street, Cardiff CF10 1PT tel: 029 2022 9822 wales@eauk.org

IDEA MAGAZINE / 3

News from the Alliance

CONNECT

elby leads call for renewed W global Church unity

by Chine Mbubaegbu, head of media and communications, in Busan

The Archbishop of Canterbury joined evangelical church leaders in making a renewed call for unity at a global gathering of Christians which took place in South Korea.

Attending the World Council of Churches (WCC) assembly in November – which represents many different denominations around the world – for the first time, Archbishop Justin Welby told delegates at the conference took place in Busan: “We are to be one, visibly one, so that the world may believe. We are to be one so that the gospel we preach is not denied by the way we live in separation. We are to be one because we are more effective together than apart. We are to be one – one people worshipping one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, eating and drinking around the one table of the Lord, for that is Jesus’s prayer for his disciples then and for us now.”

The theme of this, the 10th, WCC assembly was: “God of life: lead us to justice and peace.”

Commenting on the theme, Archbishop

Justin said: “When we are not at peace with God through Jesus Christ we cannot be peacemakers in the world. God calls us to be reconciled to reconcilers, reconciled ourselves to God and to each other.”

At the event, the WCC launched its new position statement on mission and evangelism, entitled Together Towards Life: Mission and Evangelism in Changing Landscapes.

How to enter: • Send your high-res (5 MB or less) images of church life with the subject line: ‘Why I love church competition’ to idea@eauk.org • Tweet @EAUKnews or @idea_mag with your image and the hashtag: #whyilovechurch

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“We want to make it very clear: our interest is Christian unity. And whenever we have to discuss theological differences we want to do it in an open-minded, friendly way – and not protesting against each other.”

“This has resulted in a historic document where the majority of world Christianity spoke with one voice to themselves, to all

We love church! We think the Church is good news for our friends, our communities and our nation. We think Jesus is passionate about the Church. And we think we need to celebrate it. There’s still time to send in your photos of vibrant church life to be featured on the front cover of our next edition.

eauk.org/whyilovechurch

“WCC and WEA have a common experience in giving Christian unity worldwide a higher priority than furthering their own organisations. No longer are our specific organisations the main focus, but the unity of Christianity itself.”

Speaking ahead of the launch to assembly delegates, Dr Thomas Shirrmacher, executive chair of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) Theological Commission, said the WEA was glad to have been part of the consultation process on the document over the past five years.

Why I love church

• Deadline: Friday, 10 January

Christians, as well as to the states and the world,” he said.

Why I support the Alliance

The Alliance is very close to my heart. I love that at the very core of the organisation is the vision to unite people from all different backgrounds around Christ and it’s a joy to play my part in this. This is why I have been a supporter of the Alliance financially and prayerfully for a number of years.

I love it when idea arrives on my doormat – it’s a great read and I enjoy passing it onto others once I’ve finished and encouraging them to get involved too.

Rosamund Maycock

“ In some parts of the Church there is a belief that all the media wants is dirt and muck.”

In the media

CONNECT

Terry Ally is the Alliance’s press officer @terry_EAUK

by Terry Ally, press officer, Evangelical Alliance

As Christians, Jesus commands us to spread the gospel to everyone on the planet.

There are several channels through which this can be done, including the media – the secular media. They have reach, depth, scope and agenda-setting influence, among other good attributes.

Stories that attract editors involve: 1. Threshold: The bigger, the better (nearly 15,000 children awaiting adoption or foster places is better than 4,600 awaiting adoption and 9,000 awaiting foster places).

We have seen in previous issues of idea the power and influence of the secular media and how churches were able to get coverage such as the Porn Sunday service

by City Life Church in Portsmouth (Jul/Aug 2013 issue) which turned heads and grabbed local headlines.

2. Timeliness: news has a short shelf-life, it must be reported quickly and within the news cycle.

In some parts of the Church there is a belief that all the media want is dirt and muck, while in some parts of the media there is a belief that the Church has no ‘good’ stories to tell.

The key word here is ‘good’, and it can have a different meaning depending on how you understand what counts as news.

This means that we need to understand what the media want and package it accordingly. City Life’s pastor Dan Harman demonstrated that he understood this and he was successful in making a positive splash.

And let’s not forget, the media is a business. They make money by selling audiences. The larger the audience the more money advertisers pay to reach them.

The media attracts audiences through several channels including the news pages.

This is where Christians have opportunities to shape things because whether it makes it onto the front page or page 1,019 depends entirely on how ‘newsworthy’ it is.

Newsworthiness is rated along 11 different lines of impact under three broad headings and if the Church can package their news within these parameters then the better the chances of it getting picked-up.

JAN/FEB 2014

3. Negativity: Bad news sells because it’s unexpected and easier to report.

4. Surprise: Stories out of the ordinary.

5. Clarity: Less theological language and more simple, accessible language.

Stories that attract audiences involve: 6. Personalisation: People attract people, so people-centered stories get greater pick-up.

7. Meaningfulness/cultural proximity: Close to home, in my ‘backyard’, or far away but affecting someone I know.

8. Reference to elite nations/ institutions/persons: The US will get greater attention than Mali as would the Archbishop of Canterbury or a CEO of a Christian organisation than Mrs Jones – the most effective local prayer warrior.

Inside the newsroom stories are appealing with: 9. Consonance: Stories that fit with the editor’s expectations.

10. Continuity: Follow-up stories.

11. Composition: A balance of news on that given publication or newscast.

So when next you have news to report, remember that if it is written in a manner to have an impact then it will be newsworthy. If it is newsworthy the editor will love you for it because it will give him a larger audience to sell to his advertisers and maintain his publication as one of note. All of which is a ‘win-win’ situation.

Safeguarding in member churches The Alliance and the Churches Child Protection Advisory Service (CCPAS) have come up with a new agreement to ensure safeguarding within member churches and organisations. CCPAS will offer a 20 per cent discount on their scheme to Alliance member churches and organisations. Benefits include access to CCPAS’s disclosure service and its Safe and Secure safeguarding material, as well as an update email alert which includes breaking news about changes to legislation or best practice.

Pray with us

Prayer permeates all that we do at the Alliance. Please join with us in praying for these five things in particular: 1. Give thanks for God’s provision of our wonderful new building in King’s Cross – a place to begin a new way of working and share God’s goodness 2. Please pray for the Alliance as we strive for unity in diversity with our One People Commission of church leaders from across the world’s nations 3. Praise God for the 100 fostering and adoption champions recruited around the country for Home for Good 4. Pray with us for the Church’s missing generation of 20 to 30-year-olds; that God would use threadsuk.com to provide them with a platform to question and explore how faith relates to all of life 5. Please pray for the hundreds of unity movements springing up in local communities – pray that the UK Church would be united for mission.

IDEA MAGAZINE / 5

Europe’s leading

Christian Resources Exhibition CRE East

PETERBOROUGH 2014 Peterborough Arena, 29 & 30 January

CRE On The Road – Wales

CARDIFF 2014 All Nations Centre, 26 March

30th y Birthda

CRE International

SANDOWN 2014

Sandown Park, Esher 13 – 16 May

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MANCHESTER 2014 Event City, 8 & 9 October

For up to date information and to buy tickets go to

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Christian Resources Exhibitions is part of Bible Society (Charity Reg. No 232759) Tel 01793 418218

We believe there is meaning to life and that God is cheering us on to live an adventure for Him

60 seconds with...

Rob Lilwall, the adventurer

by Richard Woodall, assistant editor

For someone who’s walked 3,000 miles across unforgiving terrain in China – some of it while towing 100kg worth of kit – Rob Lilwall seems somewhat surprisingly down to earth, perhaps even somewhat shy.

The 36-year-old former geography teacher – now a motivational speaker, author and adventurer – first started to get known when cycling home to London from Siberia in 2007.

he said. “Whether that be knocking on someone’s door in the middle of nowhere to see if you can stay there or scrambling along next to the Yellow River.

On that trip, which took him three years, he rode through 28 countries, was robbed at gunpoint, chased by machete-wielding thugs and braved temperatures of -40 degrees.

“As a Christian we can sometimes have a carefree attitude to life because we believe there is meaning to life and that God is cheering us on to live an adventure for Him. I try to treat my whole life as an adventure.”

Upon completion of the adventure, deals with publishers and television companies followed.

But that particular trip was not enough to satisfy his thirst for adventure and in October 2011 Rob chose to fly to Mongolia with then 25-year-old cameraman Leon McCarron and start walking: a journey he said “was supposed to take three to four months but took six.”

Their adventure would see them trek through the Gobi Desert, stretches of China’s Great Wall and numerous other memorable places before arriving in Hong Kong.

Rob, who lives in Hong Kong with his wife Christine, was also able to get a four-part series commissioned for the National Geographic Channel. His second book, Walking Home From Mongolia, details the adventure and has just been published.

“I just like giving myself tests,” he said.

“I quite like the image of a pilgrimage and they are good for faith and character if you get through them.

“When I thought about walking across China, I was thinking being an adventurer was kind of my job but also wanting to see more of China.”

For a man who confesses to have had little confidence in his abilities in his mid-20s, he certainly seems to have no problem with things edging on the dangerous and crazy.

“I think it’s getting out of your comfort zone that can make you feel really alive” JAN/FEB 2014

This brings us neatly to Rob’s Christian faith. Does he feel comfortable talking about his faith in his books?

“I try to be a bit honest about the fact I am a Christian… in my first book (Cycling Home from Siberia) I talk about my faith more. In that book I encountered lots of different things so I had whole chapters where I would just tell stories and that was more Christian.

“The first book was a rite of passage, a chance to grow up and learn about myself and the world. It was a chance to test myself – to do things I never thought I would have the guts to do.

“With Walking Home From Mongolia there are little hints of how my faith helped me through.

“The book is more about struggling through the things I experienced, getting on with my cameraman, struggling through the physical ordeal, missing my wife Christine.”

Why not start from his home rather than picking seemingly insignificant places on the map and flying to them?

“I like starting an expedition somewhere where it’s bleak and wild and a desperate place to get out of,” he says.

“If you start from home you’re really aiming for some spot on the map you hope is romantic but when you get there it can be disappointing. Going from north to south you really get a cross-section of China and for me that’s really appealing.

“You begin with desert region before entering mountainous areas and there are still 30 million people living in caves.

“You’re walking along and you see a chimney coming out of the ground… it’s like some kind of hobbit village. Filming was very hard because there was a lot of pressure professionally. In terms of the hours it took out of the day it just meant we finished very late because you don’t have hours to get it done.”

Spending three months on the road also brought other challenges including getting on with his cameraman Leon.

“We called it ‘headgames’ where we would get into negative frames of mind about each other and we just had to be very intentional to deal with those thoughts. I think Christians have a big advantage in the sense we can look at ourselves and think ‘maybe I am not right even if I think I am right’.”

Rob – who along with his wife helped to set up a Hong Kong office for Oxford-based international development charity Viva – said he remains open as to whether he will undergo such an adventure again.

After 10 million steps, -30 degree blizzards, interrogations by Chinese police, meals with nomads and using just three pairs of shoes, Rob is back in Hong Kong.

Will there be more adventures?

“People keep asking me that. Going on adventures is something I’ll do for however long it lasts – whether that be 10 years or whatever. I’ve been able to write two books and film television shows so it might be I move into something else. I work part-time for Viva and can see myself getting more involved with that.”

Walking Home From Mongolia is published by Hodder and Stoughton.

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Kevin DeYoung: senior pastor of University Reformed Church in East Lansing, Michigan. @RevKevDeYoung

Good Question

Do I really need to keep the Sabbath?

Knowing what to believe about the Sabbath is harder than it looks.

Some Christians believe little has changed in relation to the fourth commandment and Sunday is now a Christian Sabbath.

Others argue the Sabbath was fulfilled in Christ and there is almost complete freedom in our weekly routines. A minority believe Saturday is still the proper day for Sabbath rest and worship. Personally, I resonate with New Testament scholar Greg Beale’s three conclusions.

First, the seventh-day commemoration in Genesis 2:3 and Israel’s Sabbath ordinance is transferred from the first day of the week because of Christ’s resurrection. Second, Israel’s way of observing the Sabbath, with all its detailed requirements, falls away, and there is a return to the creational mandate.

The observance of this mandate is a day of commemoration of God’s creative rest, a celebration that Christ has entered that rest, that believers have begun to enter and a pointing forward to believers completely entering that rest. In addition, Christ’s coming fulfills Israel’s unique Sabbath commandment, since he is Israel’s Messiah.

I think the most important part about the Sabbath commandment is that we should rest in Christ alone for our salvation. But along with that is still an abiding principle that we ought to worship on the Lord’s Day and trust God enough to have a weekly routine where we cease from work.

I hope every Christian can agree that God has hard-wired us for rest. He built it into the creation order and commanded it of His people. He made the Sabbath for man, not man for the Sabbath (Mark 2:27).

He also offers us Sabbath as a test; it’s an opportunity to trust God’s work more than our own. When I go weeks without

“ God has hard-wired us for rest.” taking adequate time off, I may or may not be disobeying the fourth commandment, but I’m certainly too convinced of my own importance and more than a little foolish.

It’s easy to find people who think work is good and leisure is bad (i.e., you rest to work). You also find people who think the opposite (i.e., you work to rest). But according to the Bible both work and rest can be good if they are done to the glory of God. IDEA MAGAZINE / 8

The Bible commends hard work (Proverbs 6:6-11; Matthew 25:14-30; 1 Thessalonians 2:9; 4:11-12; 2 Thessalonians 3:10) and it also extols the virtue of rest (Exodus 20:8-11; Deuteronomy 5:12-15; Psalm 127:2). The hard part is putting them in the right places.

It’s concerning that our lives are getting more and more rhythm-less. We don’t have healthy routines. Evening and morning have lost their feel. Life becomes a malaise, until we can’t take any more and spiral into illness, burnout, or depression.

Many of us are less busy than we think, but life feels overwhelming because our days and weeks and years have no rhythm. One of the dangers of technology is work and rest blend together. We are never completely ‘on’ and never totally ‘off’. So we dawdle on YouTube at the office and then catch up on emails in front of the television at home. Perhaps this arrangement works for some employers and may feel freeing for many employees but most of us work less effectively and find work less enjoyable when there is no regular and concentrated break.

If this article on rest seems like hard work, that’s because it is. It’s hard to trust God, hard to let go, and hard to stop. When thinking about busyness, people talk as if hard work is the problem. But we’re not actually in danger of working too hard. We simply work hard at things in the wrong proportions.

People say life is a marathon not a sprint, but it’s actually more like a track workout. We run hard and then rest hard.

We charge up a hill and then drink some sports drink. If we want to keep going we have to learn how to stop.

We may feel like more work is the answer to our goldfish-like attention span, but rest is often the antidote we really need. The Israelite calendar had times for feasting and times for fasting.

We don’t realise we have to work hard just to rest. I can’t make it through Sunday without a rhythm. I won’t make it far in life without one either. There must be times when I won’t work, otherwise I won’t rest.

And there must be times I have to sleep or I will keep borrowing what I can’t repay. I’m not so important in God’s universe that I can’t afford to rest. But my God-given limitations are so real that I can’t afford not to.

Kevin DeYoung is the senior pastor of University Reformed Church in East Lansing, Michigan. He blogs at the Gospel Coalition and has authored or coauthored numerous well-known books such as Just Do Something, The Hole in Our Holiness and Crazy Busy, from which this article is adapted.

Colossians 3:23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord

On the Job

Photo credit: Claire Kendall/Bible Society

Translating the Word

by Lucy Cooper

Albania’s communist history makes people like Bible translator Oldi Morava hard to find.

“There was persecution – churches and mosques were shut, religious leaders were in prison and parents stopped teaching children faith in case they got into trouble,” says Oldi Morava.

Growing up in communist Albania meant that, for Oldi, not only was religious input completely banned but he was taught at school that faith was wrong. “I came from a nominal Muslim family background but my parents did not contradict what I heard at school.”

After the fall of the Berlin wall and communist regimes, religion was permitted again and in 1991, when Oldi was just 11, missionaries began to enter the country.

“Missionaries stayed at Hotel Tirana, where my mother cleaned. She got to know a lady from Brazil who became her close friend. It was the first time we got to spend time with foreigners and while she stayed at our family home for a few months, I, my mother and sister became Christians.

“I loved my first children’s Bible, particularly the illustrations. I remember the first Christian meetings in stadiums, as it was before evangelical churches were set up, and I got involved in local fellowships from then on.”

The New Testament was being translated into Albanian by an Interconfessional Albanian Bible Society team (a six-year process) and Oldi was regularly sent text for external consultations suggestions as an external reader but on completion of the New Testament he was invited to work with them on the Old Testament.

“In Albania it is difficult to find people who have theological and linguistic skills to translate well because of our national history and lack of Biblical grounding during communist years. I had the knowledge of theology but I needed to develop my linguistics so I went to study an MA in Biblical Hebrew at Oxford.”

“Normally if you look at Bible translators in Western countries they are professors in their late 50s or 60s but in the case of my country we had to be trained, so we are translators of a younger generation.”

Interconfessional means that there are three team members: one from each of the Orthodox, Catholic and evangelical traditions, working together.

Even when Oldi went through a time of doubt in his teens he knew he couldn’t deny his experience of reading the Bible.

“I knew it would stay with me, regardless.”

“Albanian Bible translations had been written by missionaries in the early 90s but these were either paraphrased or not translated from original languages. It is valuable, well-used and a helpful translation but I recognise the unique value in bringing the church traditions together.”

At 18, and with no recognised theology colleges in Albania, Oldi followed his local youth leader the Alliance’s Krish Kandiah’s suggestion to go abroad to Redcliffe College, Gloucestershire. “Engaging with the Bible was thrilling; I couldn’t wait to learn more. I love to see others discover the same joy as they wrestle with God and study deeper. There isn’t anything more enjoyable than that.”

“I love debating and discussing,” Oldi says. “It is both difficult and enjoyable. We are from different theological backgrounds so it is important that we feel it is a joint

JAN/FEB 2014

translation and not a biased interpretation.

“Another challenge is that Albanian is not very rich in theological vocabulary, partly due to our history, so sometimes we have to work very hard to find words that are faithful to the text but also relevant and understandable. We have to hold that tension of being faithful to the text but using the freedom to give meaning.

“We have tried hard to reflect the aesthetic side of the Albanian language, especially when it comes to poetry. Our main target is the general Albanian Christian audience, keeping in mind that most of them are newly converted or come from a nominal religious background.”

Oldi and Larissa are now based in Swindon with their two-year-old daughter Reya. The Interconfessional Bible Society team, after three years, have almost completed the Pentateuch, Proverbs, minor prophets like Jonah and are half way through the Psalms.

Oldi concludes: “The best thing would be to see the completed translation being used, enjoyed and read by the people. It is not for our sense of pride but for the benefit of others to find inspiration and for the glory of God.”

With the blessings of working on the interconfessional team for the long eight to nine-year process, also come challenges.

The team take one book of the Bible to translate and then meet for a week or two to pore over each sentence.

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21st century evangelicals

Research for the Church today

by Lucy Olofinjana, advocacy administrator, Evangelical Alliance

Planning your preaching, teaching or small group series for 2014? Looking for the most up-to-date statistics and information on what evangelical Christians really think and do? Then the 21st Century Evangelicals research series is for you.

Some of the questions explored by the series include: What is a typical evangelical Christian? What contributions do they make to society? What do they believe? What is distinctive about their lifestyle? What opinions do they hold about the most pressing issues of the day?

Up to 1,800 evangelicals have taken our regular surveys on relevant issues ranging from work, education, globalisation and money to the family, church life and evangelism. We have used the findings to produce handy A5-sized reports which are perfect for discussion in small groups.

Discussion questions are available for each report and PowerPoint presentations can also be downloaded online.

The findings are sparking conversations and ideas in churches across the UK, helping them make more effective plans for mission and ministry today.

Snapshot: food for thought • Almost a third of respondents felt they received no support from their church when they were made unemployed

Louise Chick from Network Church St Albans has used the reports in her church: “These are such fantastic little booklets, jam-packed with fascinating and thoughtprovoking information. We have encouraged our cell groups to use them for prayer and discussion and made a copy available for each church member, along with the discussion-starter questions.”

The reports prove challenging reading and reveal some gaps between what we say we care about and how we actually respond. For example in our recent Working faithfully? research we found that while evangelicals say they are very concerned about unemployment in the UK, only 13 per cent are in a church that runs a specific project for the unemployed.

The full range of reports is available to download from eauk.org/snapshot: • Working faithfully? (Oct 2013) • Life in the Church? (May 2013) • Do we value education? (Feb 2013) • Confidently sharing the gospel? (Nov 2012) • Does money matter? (Sep 2012) • The world on our doorstep? (May 2012)

• 45% are in a church that regularly prays for one or more of their local schools

• How’s the family? (Feb 2012)

• 72% came to faith before they were 20 years old

• 21st Century Evangelicals (Jan 2011)

• Over a quarter of grandparents see themselves as having an important role in the Christian nurture of their grandchildren • 60% feel they have missed a chance to speak to others about God in the past four months IDEA MAGAZINE / 10

• Are we communicating? (Dec 2011) • Does belief touch society? (Sep 2011) The 21st Century Evangelicals research series is run by the Evangelical Alliance in collaboration with our research club partners – CARE, Christians Against Poverty, Compassion, CWR, MAF, Open Doors and Prospects. If your organisation would like to hear more about becoming a research partner please contact Lucy Olofinjana on 020 7520 3843.

Visit eauk.org/snapshot to: • download all the reports and order paper copies • access free downloadable discussion questions and PowerPoint presentations for each report to further explore the issues raised • get involved by joining the research panel “ Once again, through precise analysis and helpful insight, the Evangelical Alliance has provided us with a reliable lens through which we can better understand the context in which we seek to serve – and so enabling us to focus with clarity on issues we should prioritise” John Glass, General Superintendent, Elim Pentecostal Churches “ The Confidently sharing the gospel? research highlighted that many Christians are too scared to share the gospel, and that they often doubt that such sharing is even necessary. The report provided a useful stimulus to our church to continue to teach others about why we share the gospel, and how.”

Ben Epps, pastor, Longmeadow and Immanuel Evangelical Churches, Stevenage “ I have certainly found previous reports very helpful and fully endorse the ongoing surveys and information.”

John Partington, National Leader, Assemblies of God UK

Dave Landrum: director of advocacy at the Evangelical Alliance. Twitter: @DrDaveLandrum

COMMENT

“ As society has secularised, people have become obsessively and exclusively focused on themselves.”

The debt default As the Christmas spendfest is followed by the annual sales-mania, many of us will soon be confronted with the sobering task of paying down our store cards, credit cards and overdrafts. And we will convince ourselves that we are dealing with debt. But are we?

Today in the UK, over 11 million households have mortgage debt worth around £1.2 trillion. Unsecured lending or consumer credit stands at around £160 billion. Taken together, we owe around £29,000 for every adult in the country: more than an entire year’s income for the average person. Until the global financial markets collapsed in 2008, this was seen as acceptable. Then it became apparent that our indulgent wealth was in fact a mirage. Indeed, the ‘credit crunch’ was actually a debt wake-up call.

We are both fascinated and paralysed by debt. Even the government spends far more than it can raise in taxes. Indeed, our national debt is an eye-watering £1.2 trillion – and rising.

Debt has become such a common, accepted, and even expected part of life today that we need to ask whether we have forgotten what God’s view on being ‘in debt’ is?

In Romans 13:7-8, Paul perfectly summarises the Lord’s guidance on debt: “Give to everyone what you owe them …

Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another.”

This echoes the many Old Testament calls to avoid debt, and also reminds us of the jubilee principle which proposes set times for the cancelling of what is owed.

Designed by God, this system protects against the development of a culture of debt IDEA MAGAZINE / 12

in which the rich get richer and the poor get poorer – until they are permanently enslaved. But what do we do when we have no jubilee principle?

While previous generations avoided debt wherever possible, it seems that we are the only generation in history to see debt as a convenience. The Bible clearly teaches that we have obligations to: respect the dead (those who have gone before us); dignify the living; and bless the unborn (future generations). But as society has secularised, people have become obsessively and exclusively focused on themselves, and the now – leaving a huge legacy of burdens for those yet to be born.

Debt is not new, but our modern understanding of it has changed due to people being less willing to defer gratification and being compelled to ‘have’ by a sense that ‘it’s my right’. After re-branding it as ‘credit’, it seems we willfully forget that by definition debt inevitably requires repayment which involves accepting certain limits on what we can do with our hardearned money. Misleading ourselves that our room for manoeuvre in life is not actually being restricted by debt, we also wilfully forget (until we default) that our obligations are enforced by the law. This self-delusion about debt is no doubt compounded by the fact that marketing now far exceeds people’s ability to resist it. So, being in denial that debt is dependency, we keep spending – on

things we don’t really need – for a lifestyle we increasingly can’t afford.

Unsurprisingly, it’s the less wealthy and less educated who are hit the hardest by this ‘affluenza’. Today, the poorest 20 per cent have more credit card, store card, overdraft and personal debt than they have in savings, and the poorest 10 per cent owe four times as much as they hold in financial assets. All of which helps to explain the explosion in payday loans, instant credit, buy-now-pay-later schemes and pawnbrokers. After living through the longest economic boom in history, our poorest are now forced to take out loans to pay the rent and put food on the table. This is a consequence of being conditioned to accept debt as normal, when the Bible tells us that it’s something to be avoided.

We should thank God for the wonderful work of Christians Against Poverty, Christian credit unions and the vast range of poverty relief that the Church gives in the UK. However, if we really want to address the causes of this suffering, we all need to take responsibility for modelling good stewardship of money. Rejecting the ‘much-wants-more’ debt junky culture, this means getting a plan to pay things back and sticking to it. After all, as people who have had our debts paid for us, our example of freedom and prudence can be a powerful witness to a world in bondage.

And we know that there is life beyond debt.

Marriage Week: 7-14 February 2014

NEWS

Celebrating marriage

by Amanda Pilz

Given that few evangelicals would dispute the fact that healthy marriages are the bedrock of a stable society, it is concerning that UK rates of people tying the knot have fallen considerably over the last three decades, and are lower now than at any time in the last 100 years.

Figures published by the Guardian citing the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that the number of women marrying per 1,000 unmarried females in 1909 was 41 per cent, whereas the figure for 2009 was 19.2 per cent.

In addition there were 2.9 million opposite sex cohabiting couples in 2012, a number which had doubled over the previous 15 years.

The latest divorce figures from the ONS estimate that 42 per cent of marriages in England and Wales now end in divorce, and since the 1990s there has been a growing trend of people aged 60 and over getting divorced.

In spite of this there is an ongoing struggle for the preservation of marriage by various groups within the UK. Marriage Week and the Big Promise are part of that.

Marriage Week will be taking place 7-14 February 2014. It will seek to celebrate all the nuptial promises made down the years and to encourage and support couples in their marriages.

The week is part of The Future Way Trust which began in 1996. It is primarily a preventative campaign which seeks to highlight the effects of healthy marriage to society, media and governments, while seeking to educate and inform couples regarding the benefits of an ever improving relationship, through largely church-based events and media coverage.

The centre-piece of the week is the Big Promise taking place on Saturday, 8 February, when at various venues across

“ 42 per cent of marriages in England and Wales now end in divorce.”

a bit dull, but when I went to one and watched what happened I instantly turned from being a scoffer into being a fan.”

the UK, couples will be re-affirming their vows to one another at 5.15pm.

To add to the fun there will be an attempt to break the world record for the number of marriage vows simultaneously being renewed. Currently the record stands at 1,087 couples, set in Miami University, Ohio, US, in 2009.

Marriage Week founder Richard Kane initially had reservations about couples coming together at a joint venue to re-affirm their vows: “When I first heard about a re-affirmation service I thought it sounded

To register your interest go to: bigpromise.org.uk E D FE EN O T N AT TO

2014

THE KESWICK CONVENTION

Kane says: “We can easily smash that, getting a whole nation simultaneously re-affirming their vows”.

VAUGHAN ROBERTS

WEEK 2 19 – 25 JUL

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Something for everyone – Bible teaching, worship & fellowship – all in the wonderful setting of the Lake District.

IDEA MAGAZINE / 13

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Slavery unFInished business

by Danny Webster

"It might not be justiFIed as an essential part of an economic strategy, or premised on racial superiority. But slavery goes on."

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Daniel Webster: Alliance’s advocacy programme manager. Twitter: @danny_webster

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" Ultimately we want to put ourselves out of business.

We do not want to be here, we don't want to be in this business. In 20 years' time why don't we gather back here and say slavery is over, it's done and dusted."

That's the goal of Andrew Wallis, CEO of Unseen, which in November won a prestigious award from the Centre for Social Justice for the organisation's work tackling slavery.

T

he slave trade was banned in 1807, abolished across the British Empire in 1834 and yet is still with us today. There are men, women and children taken against their will both across borders and within countries and forced to work, made to fight and sexually abused. It might not be justified as an essential part of an economic strategy, or premised on racial superiority.

But slavery goes on. Across the world there are somewhere between 21 and 30 million slaves in the world today.

Children are sold into slavery to pay family debts, people pay for passage over borders only to find not freedom but forced labour of many horrific forms. Across the world children are forced to fight, men and women are forced to work under inhumane conditions and sexual abuse is a weapon of repression. In India alone it is estimated there are nearly 14 million slaves, with China, Pakistan and Nigeria also contributing a high proportion of the global number. In Mauritania four per cent of the population are in slavery. However, the UK is not immune. There are probably between 4,200 and 4,600 people in slavery in the UK, this is a global problem but it is also one on our doorstep.

The numbers are inevitably estimates; no global record is kept when someone’s life is traded. When something is wrong you ban it.

But when it continues you can’t ban it again.

The modern abolitionists have to be smarter, because there is no regulatory regime to monitor, or processes to ensure maintained.

It inevitably happens in a shadow world that eschews tracking or analysis.

JAN/FEB 2014

That it goes on, both across the world and at home, is something that cannot be ignored. And it is often Christians taking the lead in raising awareness of this sickening marketplace, supporting victims and campaigning for change. The Salvation Army are the government’s main provider of victim support, offering care to victims of trafficking through their own services and in partnership with other charities.

offence. The proposed legislation will tackle this confusion and hopefully enable more frequent prosecution of the perpetrators of these crimes. Under the current system different bodies address the status of those who may be victims of trafficking, it is hoped the Modern Slavery Bill will clarify this arrangement and ensure this decision is not affected by questions or concerns relating to immigration.

Louise Gleich works on trafficking policy for member organisation Care, who are active campaigning for changes to the law.

She said: “We strongly urge the government to go beyond prosecution measures and set a new standard in protection, prevention, compensation and rehabilitation for the thousands of men, women and children who are deceived, bullied, assaulted and oppressed for the financial gain and sexual gratification of others.”

The new law is also expected to create a single individual responsible for overseeing how modern slavery is addressed by government. Christian campaigners are pushing to ensure this role is independent from government and has real powers to call it to account if it is not doing enough.

Soul Action, a partnership between Tearfund and Soul Survivor, handed in a 9,000- strong petition to home secretary Theresa May. The petition requests supply chains are made clear of slavery through greater transparency so that everyone can be assured of safe, fair and ethical working conditions and all consumers can buy goods that are guaranteed slave-free.

Receiving the petition, the home secretary said modern slavery is “one of the greatest evils of our time and requires everyone to make a stand for freedom and fight for justice on behalf of the millions who are trapped”.

The government are introducing a Modern Slavery Bill to draw together legislation and to strengthen both protection for victims and punishment for perpetrators. The current move follows the significant report It Happens Here from the Centre for Social Justice, which uncovered the practice of slavery in the UK, and what can be done to tackle it.

Current legislation means different trafficking crimes are handled under different legislation. If someone is convicted of sex trafficking, one law is used. If it is for forced labour a different crime is committed, and it is dealt with as an immigration

Many Christian organisations are involved in different aspects of supporting and caring for victims, as well as campaigning for change. The Evangelical Alliance is joining with them and many others in pressing the government to ensure the new law is an effective step in addressing slavery at home and abroad. Passing a law does not solve a problem, and an ineffectual law can be worse than nothing at all if the government is seen to do something, but in reality nothing changes.

A further substantial change being pushed for as the law goes through parliament is to make sure supply chains are fully transparent.

When we take something off the rack in the shop we do not know who produced it, how they were treated and whether they were enslaved. By making companies account for where they get their goods from the usage of slavery can be highlighted and tackled.

The fact slavery continues in the world today should shock us into action. It has.

Across the world Christians are campaigning against this injustice, and working to remove this blot on our collective conscience. By working together as the government introduce a new law this work can be strengthened and hopefully, in the future, such campaigning will be needed no more. eauk.org/modernslavery

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NORTHERN IRELAND

National eauk.org/northernireland

An Irish Spring?

by Carla Prentice, Evangelical Alliance Northern Ireland

A new dream is unfolding. One of hope and renewal. Allow me to briefly paint an alternative picture of what is happening in Northern Ireland.

One of the biggest stories to emerge from this island in the last year has been about flags. Last December, Belfast City Council voted to fly the Union Flag on designated days from the City Hall. The resulting violence over the following months made headlines across the world.

It was a situation that left little to inspire.

As Christians though, we do not place our hope in flags or politics. Our hope is found in Him, Yahweh; the God who redeems all things. We don’t lose our hope because of political strife.

As divine image-bearers we are charged to bring a message of life. For some this means political involvement and for all this means pursuing peace and reconciliation.

Some of us need to stop avoiding power, some of us need to stop abusing power and all of us need to steward it well. After all it is the power of Christ living in us that will transform our society.

We welcome the decision to invite Dr Richard Haass, former US special envoy, and his colleagues to Northern Ireland to chair talks between the main parties. Haass and his team are charged with the difficult IDEA MAGAZINE / 16

task of leading talks on three key issues: parades and protests, flags, symbols and emblems, and the past. Dr Haass pointed to the need for diversity of opinion and contribution and this has been an exciting time as hundreds of groups and individuals across society have put forward their hopes and dreams and practical policies for a better Northern Ireland. Could this even be something of an Irish Spring? A sociopolitical, grass roots shift?

with dreams and visions for the future.

On the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s famous “I have a dream” speech, the Bishop of Down and Dromore, the Rt Revd Harold Miller, delivered his vision sharing his bold dreams for the diocese. “I have a dream of a Church which rids itself of sectarianism once and for all. And loves everybody in the community which is not two communities but one community”.

We too have been prompted to create our hopeful contribution entitled Past/Future/ Now. Our submission identified the big issues that are preventing us from moving forward and provided a vision for the future. It gave a message of overwhelming hope for our country, a loving mandate to politicians and leaders to repent from the harmful actions and mindsets of the past, to forgive and to show grace. We challenged them to move beyond legal codes of conduct between themselves to forming real relationships with each other.

This speech can be found at www.downanddromore.org.

We called for a break between a ‘them and us’ mentality between Catholics and Protestants. We are not the only ones here

We see hope, expectancy and opportunity for our divided community.

There is no quick fix to all our problems but we aspire to see real progress in the issues of flags, marching and cultural expression in the coming months. We dream big for Northern Ireland as we walk the path towards peace and reconciliation.

Please continue to make your dreams known to your Church leaders and MLAs (member of legislative assembly) in the days and weeks ahead. eauk.org/northernireland/past-future-now

JAN/FEB 2014

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SCOTLAND

National eauk.org/scotland

Training for a new season

by Fred Drummond, national director, Evangelical Alliance Scotland What type of training is required for potential church leaders? Are we equipping leaders with the correct tools for leading the Church in Scotland into a rapidly changing situation?

These were the questions at the heart of a consultation held at International Christian College last month. Around 50 leaders gathered to discuss the future of theological education and what is required by those going into church and mission leadership roles.

Several key areas of interest arose during the conversations. First, there appears to be a change in the stage at which people want theological education. In previous generations many young leaders wanted training and academic understanding before they began ministry. However, today this pattern is changing. More people are getting involved in local church ministry then, a little later in the journey, they want to reflect upon their praxis and fill in some of the theological gaps. This group of potential students are neither interested nor able to engage in full-time study.

Rather they are looking for shorter, sharper courses that can be fitted around the ministries they are already engaged in.

This need for growing flexibility of access to lectures and time with tutors is also important to those who are seeking to balance workplace and study. There was a lot of discussion around accessing lectures online and more use of Skype and other forms of conferencing. However, I am well aware from my own times of study the value of a communal learning experience; sitting around with others from a class, having a beer or coffee and chatting through ideas.

Fred Drummond addressing leaders in Inverness.

Dissecting what was learned and sharing thoughts, ideas and dreams is very much part of the learning process. It is where academic iron sharpens iron. How do we give easier access to material but keep the balance with shared learning and experience?

One of the other topics that got people very animated was the changing place of church within the nation. Attendance in church is in steep decline within Scotland. While academic study has always been viewed as very important in Scotland, with many leaders doing some form of postgraduate research, at the same time we seem to have lost relevance when we communicate with the wider cultures around us. Has our theological training really equipped us for leading the Church in such a time as this?

Have we been helping people prepare to lead a church that no longer exists? Have we been giving Christendom management courses when we should have been journeying with adventurers? It is clear that if we are to re-engage with all sectors of society in Scotland we need an energetic

and renewed Church and a generation of creative, bold church planters. Part of the education process must involve identifying potential church planters and giving them the tools they need to help build authentic Christian communities in every city, town and village in Scotland.

The conviction of those in the consultation was that the Scottish Church needs to hold onto its tradition of theological rigour in training. However, much more focus will be required upon cross-cultural issues, new forms of church, church and culture and mission.

As the position of church moves rapidly from the place of centre and power in society to margins and powerlessness we need to be radically altering how we prepare people to lead and serve the Church in Scotland.

The challenge to produce a generation of leaders who handle scripture well can see renewal of church and creative cultural engagement is one of the key issues for the future of the Church in Scotland.

Alliance Scotland takes to the road The autumn saw the Evangelical Alliance Scotland team take to the road as part of an effort to connect with churches all across Scotland. On top of their usual work liaising with church leaders and politicians, Fred Drummond and Kieran Turner spent time meeting groups of leaders in towns and cities to hear about local challenges and encourage increased unity for mission.

Commenting on the first events in Inverness and Dundee, Fred said: “With a land mass that takes up a third of the UK Scotland is not the easiest place to get around, but it is important that we hear what God is doing right across the nation. I’ve been really encouraged by the unity that we’ve seen and the desire of leaders to come together to pray and work for the transformation of their city.”

They also took the opportunity to bring together churches and organisations with local authorities as part of the Faith in the Community consultation series.

On the meetings with local authorities public policy officer Kieran Turner commented: “It has been fantastic to see the local work churches are doing

IDEA MAGAZINE / 18

meeting community needs and the recognition this is starting to receive from local authorities. Faith in the Community is an idea whose time has come and all across Scotland there are open doors for the church to be catalyst for community transformation. The question is will we walk through them?”

There are a number of other events in Scottish towns and cities being planned for the New Year. If you would like to be kept informed or to arrange an Evangelical Alliance Scotland event for your area please contact Scotland@eauk.org.

WALES

National eauk.org/wales

A silent abuse

by Gethin Russell-Jones

There’s a silent form of abuse going on in churches and other faith communities.

And statistically speaking it’s almost certainly happening in your church.

At a recent meeting of the Cross Party Group on Faith in the National Assembly for Wales, the topic under consideration was Women, Violence and Faith Communities.

Chaired by Darren Millar AM, a range of guests heard a presentation from Josephine Wakeling, training manager for the Christian charity Restored – ending violence against women. As a male member of the human race, I found her short address was disturbing. In laying out her case, Josephine cascaded a torrent of statistics.

Globally, women between the age of 15 and 44 are more likely to be maimed or die as a result of male violence than through cancer, malaria, traffic accidents or war combined, according to the UN. Domestic violence is the largest form of abuse of women worldwide, irrespective of religion, culture, ethnicity, education, class and religion. Women’s Aid reports that in the UK, two women a week die due to intimate partner violence. In the UK a woman is assaulted in her own home every 60 seconds. And the Home Office says 25 per cent of women will experience domestic abuse at some point in their lifetime.

Speaking of the last statistic Josephine said: “That’s one in four women. Let me show you what that looks like.” After a quick head count she asked four women in the room to stand up to illustrate her point.

It worked. Domestic violence against women is everywhere.

But all is not lost. Restored works with churches in identifying and tacking the problem of domestic violence. Leaders are encouraged to model and promote equality in relationships. Also there needs to be greater signposting of domestic violence through use of publicity material and encouraging victims to report these matters to their leaders and for these leaders to follow through on these reports.

JAN/FEB 2014

Faith in Wales Although not an auspicious anniversary, 2013 marks the 109th anniversary of the 1904 revival. At the revival’s epicentre, Moriah Chapel, Loughor, a recent gathering drew 100 Christians from Wales and beyond. These included a number of Koreans because the Welsh revival is still regarded as the crucial factor in Christianity coming to their nation. The meeting focused on the theme of “Wales Past, Present and Future” and the service was the brainchild of Gwent-based Korean Pastor Peter Cho and retired GP Stephen Price who lives in Abergavenny, the home of Robert Jermaine, the Welsh missionary credited with the birth of the Korean Church.

A number of speakers talked realistically about their hopes for the gospel in modern Wales, including Evangelical Alliance’s national director for Wales Elfed Godding. “I was pleasantly surprised,” he said. “There was a

balanced approach reflecting our past present and future. It had a good positive feel. It did not simply relish in the glories of the past and people were certainly aware that if God moves in Wales again He will do it differently.

“Maybe there will a greater impact on communities with the transformation of society as a whole and a greater engagement with politics, business and the market place. The Welsh revival of 1904 witnessed a great number of conversions and missionaries sent out all over the world. The impact on Welsh society was quite minimal. Maybe the revival was too pietistic.”

Elfed added: “My personal opinion is that we are in a season of hope and advance and if we pray together and are committed to work together we will witness and increasing number of conversions and churches growing once again across Wales.”

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Throughout 2014, the nation will be celebrating 100 years since the First World War. At the start of this commemorative year, Richard Woodall explores the work of the organisations involved and finds out what the Church is doing to mark the occasion‌

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“The government is investing in making sure the First World War centenary commemorations are marked throughout the generations. If the Church is not involved with it, we are missing out on engaging with something significant.”

observe two minutes of silence. At this poignant moment, many individuals and communities reach out for a spiritual dimension to life.

Such mention of a “shared history” refers to the fact that 140,000 men from the Indian Army served alongside the British on the Western Front.

These are the words of Roy Crowne, executive director of mission movement HOPE, a Christian umbrella group seeking to work change across communities in 2014.

As 2014 arrives and we mark the milestone of 100 years since the start of the First World War, we would do well to remember it was a conflict with resounding repercussions.

“My prayer is that the Church points to the ‘Greater Love’ Jesus has for us.”

Other Christian organisations involved include Youth for Christ which will provide school resources on the themes of war, heroes, sacrifice and the concept of remembering. SGM Lifewords will echo some of its own historic wartime work during which it distributed more than 43 million pieces of literature to training

During the First World War conflict, 1.2 million soldiers from undivided India fought with the allies with 74,000 making the ultimate sacrifice.

In 1914 the conflict was ambitiously called the “war to end all wars” but as the 20th century unravelled it became abundantly clear this was not the case.

What the conflict did do was give birth to the right of women to vote in 1918. It also altered the political map of Europe, gave birth to the rise of air warfare and became the first conflict to be termed a ‘global war’.

Outlining its significance therefore, the government has committed £50 million to the national commemorations, the BBC has commissioned 2,500 hours of programming while two young people from every state secondary school will visit the battlefields in France and Belgium.

It is a phenomenal programme designed to engage the whole country. Marking such a landmark gives the Church the chance to decide what part it should play in the commemorations.

But should the Church be commemorating something which saw nearly 10 million soldiers killed before the guns fell silent on 11 November 2018?

Should society be marking the start of the conflict rather than the end? And if the Church is involved, should it use the occasion as a chance to share the good news of Christ?

The commemorations do represent a politically sensitive issue, not just for the Church but for pacifists.

Announcing the package of events to mark the centenary, David Cameron said it would be the foundations on which to build “an enduring cultural and educational legacy” and ensure “the sacrifice of 100 years ago is still remembered in 100 years’ time”.

Roy Crowne believes the Greater Love campaign is also a chance to talk about the gospel.

“Remembrance Day is a key mission moment in the calendar when communities expect churches to play a part. As we remember those who lost their lives during the First World War, millions of people will JAN/FEB 2014

But British Future’s survey shows just 44 per cent of those questioned knew Indian soldiers fought alongside British troops.

However, the commemoration does raise questions for a certain spectrum of society.

Earlier this year it emerged that a pacifist

“My prayer is that the Church points

to the ‘Greater Love’ Jesus has for us.” corps, troops, and civilians. For 2014, the charity will produce material containing the words of John’s gospel and short pieces about wartime distribution and its impact.

Christian Vision for Men (CVM), a movement seeking to spread the news of Jesus among men, is producing a Greater Love DVD alongside other resources.

organisation which hands out white poppies had been given £95,800 in funding to hold alternative activities to those planned. The Peace Pledge Union – Britain’s oldest pacifist group – was granted the money from the Heritage Lottery Fund to hold an event remembering conscientious objectors executed during the war.

The film features stories of current Christian servicemen talking about the frontline and drawing parallels to the First World War.

The event will be organised by the No Glory campaign which has backers including Jude Law and the Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy.

“Many men are walking away from the Church. CVM is about making church relevant to men,” said CVM’s Jeremy Geake.

But should the Church be using such an occasion to “evangelise”? Perhaps some might feel uncomfortable about using the milestone to talk about their faith.

A report from think tank British Future named Do mention the war: Will 1914 matter in 2014? seeks to find out what the conflict means to people.

Its results found that people primarily saw the centenary as an opportunity to learn about the UK’s shared history with more than 80 per cent supporting a centenary focused on preserving peace through commemorating the sacrifice of those who lost lives.

The poll also showed many thought it important to know about the Commonwealth contribution.

Matthew Rhodes, director of strategies and partnership for British Future, said: “Since the last Tommy died (Harry Patch, aged 111, died five years ago) the First World War is now passing from living memory.

If we want to understand our multi-ethnic society today, we need to understand where it has come from.

“It will help bring to the table discussions about identity, integration and shared history but the government does not want this to be some kind of nationalistic thing.”

Roy Crowne said: “This is not going to be a sudden overnight awareness of our eternal future, but it presents us with an opportunity to connect and to have conversations about faith. Whenever we’ve told church leaders about Greater Love, they have been hugely enthusiastic about it; the importance of the First World War and pointing to something eternal through that.”

Jim Currin from Churches Together said: “War is a time when we think about the ultimate issues and the sacrifice of life.

When the First World War finished it was named the ‘war to end all wars’ – that was clearly not the case.”

And so this year as we collectively remember perhaps the most defining and tragic event of the last century, let us pause to think of how it relates to our faith in Christ’s death and resurrection. But equally – let’s make sure we show society how important it is that the Church honours those who served their country and paid the ultimate sacrifice. hopetogether.org.uk/greaterlove IDEA MAGAZINE / 21

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Acts 2:47 – “The Lord was adding to their number daily those who were being saved”

Theology

an you make disciples C without ‘going’ anywhere?

Should we invite our friends to our church and to Alpha courses, or should we take the gospel to where they hang out: the bars, clubs and cafes? This year the leaders of Keswick Ministries are asking Christians to bring their friends and family who don’t have faith to the Keswick Convention. Here, John Risbridger, chair of Keswick, discusses the pros and cons of inviting them to an event like Keswick alongside the call to go to them when we’re trying to share our faith.

In 2014, the Keswick Convention is going out of its way to open its doors to people who are not yet Christians in an innovative third week. We’re challenging Christians to bring their friends and families to enjoy the Lake District together and take advantage of a range of seeker-friendly ways to explore the faith and help draw people to Christ.

Notwithstanding the fruitfulness of courses like Alpha and Christianity Explored, not all are convinced about this approach to evangelism. Should we not rather be going to where the people are? Is that not, after all, the force of the Great Commission in Matthew 28, which tells us to ‘go’ and make disciples?

Of course there are really important examples in the Bible of people going across cultural boundaries to make disciples, such as the missionary journeys of Paul. Keswick has long encouraged exactly this approach, with our passion for world mission, which continues to this day. But alongside this ‘boundary-crossing’ mission, the New Testament also demonstrates the immense missional power and attractiveness of a Christian community living, working and worshipping together. And that’s what we’re praying people will experience at Keswick next summer.

Acts 2:47 says: “The Lord was adding to their number daily those who were being saved.” The Church was a living, breathing, worshipping community, which was both gathering publicly in the temple courts and dispersing into the homes and communities of the city. As they worshipped and shared life together, God’s people were attracting people into the community, where they found the life of Christ.

Coming back to the Great Commission, scholars are increasingly suggesting that we could better translate it: ‘As you go, make disciples…’ In other words the key command is to make disciples, and we are called to do that ‘as we go’ into all the JAN/FEB 2014

circumstance and interactions of our lives.

So for us today, it might be that we make disciples as we go to work, or as we go to another nation or even as we go on holiday to the wonderful Lake District!

Often our thinking on mission is quite individualised: you go to your friends, I go to my friends – we go separately. But in the New Testament, there is also a lot of emphasis on the people of God working together in mission, so that the message we preach is also worked out visibly in loving relationships. So the opportunity to draw people into an event like Keswick, where Christians from many different life situations, generations and backgrounds, are wonderfully united – that is itself part of our mission. Francis Schaeffer said that love is the final apologetic of the gospel.

So what better way to preach the gospel, than to draw seekers into this loving, worshipping community of believers who are excited about who Jesus is?

Keswick is in a unique situation to facilitate this kind of mission because it is based within an extremely beautiful part of

the country, with lots to do outside of the convention events. It’s also free on entry, relying wholly on donations from faithful Christians. So people who aren’t yet Christians can come and enjoy creation, exercise and the outdoors with their Christian friends – in that sense, you could say that we are going to where people are as we share a holiday with them. But at the same time there will be the opportunity for those friends to hear the best apologists and communicators of the Christian faith that we have access to, in a way that wouldn’t normally be possible in a local church setting.

So our aim is that Keswick 2014 will enable the gospel to be preached in both of these ways: inviting people into our communities and also going to where people are. We can see that the Bible has room for both methods, and that both are used by God to bring people to saving faith.

John Risbridger is the chair of Keswick Ministries, minister and team leader of Above Bar Church, Southampton, and a member of the Evangelical Alliance Council.

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A school of many colours Trinity School is the only free school in the UK led by churches of different denominations. How did they do it and will it act as an inspiration to others? Richard Woodall finds out…

“We use restorative justice with a focus on grace and love rather than punishing pupils and telling them off,” says Matthew Tate, the 38-year-old headteacher of Trinity Schools, Sevenoaks.

“Children are made in the image of God and extremely special to him. That undermines everything we do.”

In September, Trinity School – the only ‘free school’ in the UK led by churches from across denominations – welcomed its first pupils and joined more than 170 other free schools that opened in England in the past two years. Free schools are a key plank of the coalition’s education policy and as such Trinity has benefited from a £300,000 grant.

But as a school supported by a wide range of denominations, Trinity is breaking new ground and symbolising the unity of the body of Christ. Anglicans, Methodists, Baptists, United Reformed and Newfrontiers have all played a part in establishing it.

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Talk of not punishing children but instead helping to guide them to a greater sense of justice and morality would probably be seen as touchy-feely by some but it just emphasises how leaders at the school want education to be more than gaining a piece of paper with a qualification on it.

“We use something in our curriculum called ‘What If Learning’”, Matthew tells me. “This is all about how we can influence children to have a different mindset than they might have from a standard curriculum.

“Traditionally, when children learn a language they learn how to complain about something, how to buy things or how to ask for directions but they don’t learn any core values such as hospitality and how, for example, they might be able to relate to others from another country. In our German lessons, we teach pupils how they might be a blessing to people from Germany.

“It’s not about adding Bible verses to

the existing curriculum, it’s how can we make sure our community is built up? We want Christianity to be at the core of what we do as a school.”

And since 4 September, this is what the 92 year seven pupils have been part of.

Addressing concerns voiced recently by the Liberal Democrats about the need to make sure free schools teach the national curriculum and have fully-qualified teachers, Matthew says: “All of our teachers are qualified. Our curriculum is broadly the same as the national curriculum; we add to it rather than take away. I’ve worked in schools that are in special measures and have turned them around.

“My skillset is making sure children achieve. We give them opportunities to serve in their communities – packing bags at Tesco or picking up litter. We want our pupils to have an influence outside school too.”

The school’s current location until

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“When there is unity in the Church we can do great things.”

September 2015 is on the site of former office blocks which have been renovated.

Along with the latest technology, the school has eight classrooms including a science laboratory, library, worship hall and music room. Pupils are also able to use facilities at a leisure centre in the town.

“It’s quite hard to get parents to agree to send children to a school that does not exist at the time. A third of our intake come from a Christian background. But Sevenoaks is also an 11-plus area. If your child doesn’t pass the 11-plus test, there is limited choice.

Faith schools have got good results.”

But with the number of pupils set to expand year-on-year, there will not be enough space within two years’ time. The school plans to move to the site of a former school in the town to solve this.

Reverend Chris Smith, aged 41, is rector at St Botolph’s in Chevening, and was one of the three people who believed God had a vision for a Christian school in Sevenoaks.

Bill Lattimer, chair of the governors of Trinity School, says the original idea for a Christian school stretched back to 2010 when he and two others met to pray about establishing a school.

A working group was established and a planning application drawn up in May 2011. This was then submitted the following February to the Department for Education before being approved last July.

He says: “I moved to Chevening from the north-east and it became apparent no one was going to a local secondary school – as a newcomer I thought that was very strange.

“My hope as an Anglican vicar was that a new school would be a Church of England school. But God had something more important in mind. I think it’s given the local churches a real lift. What free

schools do is give local people a chance to make a difference. There is an enormous opportunity when churches work together.”

Can Trinity School act as an inspiration to other groups of churches to do the same?

“It already is,” says Matthew. “We have had three other Christian groups visit us already who are interested in doing the same. I have found it really exciting being part of Trinity School. I’ve always believed that when there is unity in the Church we can do great things. This is the fruits of that unity as different churches work together.”

Free schools, which are monitored by Ofsted, can be set up by groups of parents, charities, religious groups or businesses once a business plan and demand is demonstrated. Headteachers have more control over the curriculum, teachers’ pay and the length of school terms.

There are now 27 churches from every colour and creed supporting the school and taking an interest in its running.

“The point about this school is that it is a non-denominational group of churches,” Bill says. “We are not formally linked with a denomination. This is very much a bottom up locally led organisation.

Half of the churches are Anglican, two are Methodist, three Baptists, one is Newfrontiers, two are independent and there is a United Reformed too. The Catholic school are supportive of us too.”

Describing how it started off, headteacher Matthew says: “A small group of Christians believed God gave them a vision for a Christian school in Sevenoaks.

They prayed about it and then got others involved with the idea.

MOORLANDS MIDLANDS Children & Schools Work Studies; Community & Family Studies; Cross-Cultural Studies; Missional Leadership Studies; Missional Youth Work Studies.

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Politics

Should Scotland be an independent country?

On 18 September, Scotland will take to the polls to vote on whether they should be an independent country. Here, we asked two Christian MSPs with different opinions on the independence debate to air their views…

NO: ‘We’re better together’ Next September voters in Scotland will be faced with the most significant political decision they will probably ever be asked to make.

There are good Christian people in all political parties and on both sides of this argument. I do not believe that there is any single specific Christian view on independence, but I hope Christians will be fully engaged in this vital debate about the future of their country.

The partnership of the four nations comprising the United Kingdom not only has a great history but is something well worth preserving into the future. We have done many great things together, be that the abolition of the slave trade, the creation of the NHS, or the defeat of the Nazis in the Second World War. Now is not the time for us to go our separate ways.

Scotland benefits from being part of the UK in at least three specific ways. First, our influence on the world, be that in the EU, the Commonwealth, the UN or NATO, is far greater as part of the larger unit that is the UK. We can all think of great Scots who have contributed to the world through our place in the UK. Second within the UK we share risk and reward with our neighbours in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. We enjoy a higher degree of social protection than would be the case if we were a small country with just five million people. That goes for pensions and benefits as much as for security and safety.

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Third, we are economically stronger as part of a bigger unit. Scottish businesses export to the rest of the UK four times as much as they do to the whole of the rest of the world combined. That vital single market that Scottish businesses require needs to be preserved and is at risk if we go down the route of voting to become a separate country. The recent banking crisis showed the value of the safety and security of the broader UK economy, at a time when smaller countries were being buffeted by world economic conditions.

Theologian Professor Donald MacLeod, wrote recently: “The burden of proof lies on the apostles of negativity who consistently disparage the last 300 years of Scottish history as if the Union had prevented all progress and sapped us of all self-respect.

Listening to them, you would never believe that during these years we have successfully negotiated the industrial revolution, produced such world-class writers as Robert Burns and Sir Walter Scott, nurtured leading scientists like Alexander Fleming, John Logie Baird and James Clerk Maxwell and reared outstanding athletes such as Kenny Dalglish and Sir Chris Hoy.” I agree with Professor MacLeod. We bring out the best of Scotland by working together with our partners in the rest of the UK. Now is not the time to abandon the shared endeavour that is the UK. That is why I, and many of my fellow Christians, will be voting “No” on 18 September.

Murdo Fraser has been Conservative MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife since 2001, prior to which he worked as a solicitor in Aberdeen and Edinburgh.

He is Convenor of the Scottish Parliament’s Economy Energy and Tourism Committee and speaks for the Scottish Conservatives on Economics and Energy issues. Murdo is a patron of the Conservative Christian Fellowship.

Independence: Two Christian MSPs debate the pros and cons

Politics

Photo credit: Adam Elder/Scottish Parliament

Yes: ‘We need to stand on our own two feet’ So how is God voting in September 2014?

Is He supporting or opposing Scottish independence? Well I do not think God is taking sides on this! And just as there are committed Christians in all the main political parties, so there are committed Christians on both sides of the referendum question.

My own thinking about Scotland changed in the early 80s while I was working as an accountant with Interserve in Nepal. It is also a small country with large neighbours (India and China) but the Nepalis are keen to maintain their independence. While there and during my previous time with Operation Mobilisation I worked with New Zealanders, Danes, and Canadians, none of whom wanted to be confused with or annexed by their larger neighbours. Living outside one’s country can give a different perspective and I returned home convinced Scotland could and should stand on her own two feet.

When I left home in my early 20s it was not for economic reasons. I would probably have been able to live more cheaply with my parents. But I was keen to set up my own home and run my own life. In fact my relationship with my parents improved after I moved out – we seemed to get on better after that! In the same way it has been said England would lose a surly lodger and gain a good neighbour if Scotland was independent. In previous years Canada, Australia, Ireland and others have left the

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British Empire and we continue to have good relationships with all of these.

How might Scotland be different if we left the UK? You may have noticed that there is currently only one Conservative MP in Scotland and most voters seem to want a left of centre agenda choosing either Labour or SNP. The money Scotland currently pays to subsidise the rest of the UK could be better used. We could tackle the rich-poor gap (as small Nordic countries have done) rather than spending on nuclear weapons, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, or aircraft carriers.

My own constituency of Shettleston in the East End of Glasgow has low life expectancy and high levels of poverty. If this is the result of 300 years of Union, then that Union has failed and I want something better.

John Mason is the MSP for Shettleston.

A trained accountant, he was first elected as the first SNP MP for Glasgow East in July 2008. At Westminster, he was the SNP’s spokesperson on work and pensions.

But does the Bible have nothing to say on all this? I would maintain there is no one Christian line to take on Scottish independence. However, there is a principle from the time of the Tower of Babel that God split the peoples up as too much centralisation was a potentially a dangerous thing. So it could be argued that we should be wary of larger national units and supportive of smaller ones.

Anyway I and many Christians in Scotland are looking forward to voting Yes on 18 September 2014. Others will be voting NO. Ultimately our unity in Christ is what matters more than which nation we live in.

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Big INterview

Lotz: “The most desperately painful things are what some people do to fellow believers.”

Wounded by God’s people Anne Graham Lotz, the daughter of American evangelist Billy Graham, talks to idea assistant editor Richard Woodall on her latest exploration of whether there is a danger we can give up on God as a result of wounds inflicted by His own people Many of us could pinpoint a time when we felt so aghast at how someone in church had treated us that it made us never want to go back.

But the danger with these kinds of experiences is that it leaves us open to confusing God’s character with God’s people – a sometimes fatal error.

Such potential wounds should not cause us to walk away from God in the process, according to Anne Graham Lotz, who has just released her latest book Wounded by God’s People.

Anne tackles the painful question of what we should do when we suffer rejection and hardship at the hands of believers.

The book is threaded together with both poignant personal stories and lessons from the Old Testament story of Hagar.

That Anne spent four years writing it shows how important a topic it is to her.

“When someone wounds you the natural tendency is to wound that person back,” Anne, who founded AnGeL Ministries based in North Carolina (a ministry focused on bringing revival to churches), says.

“It becomes a cycle that has to be broken. When you hold onto bitterness it’s like drinking the poison but hoping the other person dies.

“The wounds we inflict on other people are hard for us to see – others need to help us to see them.

“The most desperately painful things are what some people do to fellow believers.”

And this is where her “healing journey”, as she refers to it in Wounded by God’s People, gives us a good example of continuing along the road.

Anne, a grandmother-of-three, uses the book to draw on how she and husband Dan felt like “believers in exile” following a ‘wounding’ experience at their former church 25 years ago.

As loyal members of a church in the city of Raleigh in North Carolina for 15 years, they suddenly came up against the unexpected.

“The church was going through pastoral change with the minister retiring and a new one being chosen.

“But they decided my husband and I had too much influence and the leaders called a business meeting for the Sunday morning IDEA MAGAZINE / 28

where they removed my husband from his leadership position.”

At the time Dan headed up the men’s ministry and the deacons’ ministry.

“I remember feeling very humiliated but also that God was not like that church was,” Anne adds.

“I felt that when I walked out, God walked out with us. It was a life-defining moment. We thought that would be the church we would stay in for the rest of our lives.”

Although more than two decades ago, the way she describes

it tells you all you need to know about how painful it was but perhaps, more importantly, how she allowed God to use it as part of her own journey.

Hurt from those within the Church can have a profoundly painful effect.

“These kinds of wounds hurt more because they are people in the Church we have come to love and respect.

“The book talks about how you too can begin a healing journey – it gives practical help for getting past your wounds.

“One reason I can move on is that at the end of the day I know God is going to sort it all out.”

Throughout the book Anne consistently gives the message that this is not her just getting something off her chest; it’s real life.

Later in the book she refers to another incredibly painful experience – not too dissimilar to the first.

The church called a young man to be pastor but a subsequent disagreement between elders on his ministry sparked a difference of opinion with husband Danny, with the latter supporting the pastor.

“The elders removed the young pastor and so for a year we were outside the church – we were believers in exile.”

Sometimes with such situations the temptation is to throw the towel in with God. “At that point I did not care if we ever went back to church – I was fed up with the power play and positioning.

“It was very painful and broke my heart. If you don’t have a strong relationship with God at a time like that, you can end up rejecting Him.” So how can members of the Church prepare their hearts for similar battles?

“We have to know our bibles and have a strong faith in Christ.

When this kind of thing happens to us from others in the Church we do not know what to do about it. Jesus understands, but he did not stay in his wounding. God has used the wounds in my life.”

Throughout her book she draws upon the story of Hagar from Chapter 16 of Genesis which unravels the story of Sarai’s Egyptian servant.

“Sarah was wounded herself. But what Hagar shows is an amazing example of someone who did not live in the past.

“There is a lot of drama in the story but between this there is this beautiful love story between God and Hagar.

“We shouldn’t become people who are easily hurt – some people get hurt very easily,” she says.

Anne and her husband are now part of a church they helped to plant – a place she calls a “very warm and loving congregation”.

She says writing the book helped her to understand more that she “was also a wounder”.

“I would be amazed if there is anyone who has been part of a church and not been hurt by people within it. My prayer for the book is that people would begin their healing journey.”

Wounded by God’s People: Discovering How God’s Love Heals Our Hearts Published by Hodder & Stoughton £13.99 paperback

JAN/FEB 2014

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Sophie Lister: is a writer with Damaris which provides free resources for Damaris Film Clubs as well as the Damaris Film Blog. See damaris.org/filmclubs and damaris.org/filmblog.

Culture

From scripture to screen In a way, the only surprising thing is that it didn’t happen sooner. In a golden age of television, when stories of daring scope and epic scale belong on the small screen as much as the big, the world’s bestselling book seems a perfect fit.

After all, it’s got a fascinating cast packed with unconventional heroes and heroines – not to mention some memorable villains. It’s got exotic locations, ancient cultures, dramatic battles, love stories, family sagas, friendships, betrayals. In other words, the Bible has all the ingredients of great television.

The Bible, a 10-hour mini-series being broadcast on Channel 5 this winter (followed by a release on Blu-Ray and DVD) takes the audience on a journey from Genesis to Revelation. Some of the stories highlighted – such as Noah’s Ark, Samson and Delilah, and the tales of Jesus – will be familiar to many people. Others, such as the stories of Rahab and of King Zedekiah, less so. Some viewers switching on their televisions this Christmas will have their first direct encounter with the book which – arguably – forms the basis of Western civilisation.

Patterns For many, watching the series may mean laying aside preconceptions and engaging with the stories just as they would with any great literature. After all, as literature, the Bible operates on a number of levels.

It’s packed with symbolism and metaphor, and many of its phrases and images carry underlying messages. In this respect, getting the chance to watch it unfold onscreen as one continuous story is invaluable. The IDEA MAGAZINE / 30

patterns – slavery and freedom, promise and fulfillment, rebellion and redemption – become all the more clear.

The Bible also highlights certain scenes and narratives in order to make a point, and the makers of the series are able to draw out these ideas as they adapt it for the screen.

Hence the stories in the second episode, Homeland, in which characters learn lessons about choice and consequences.

Some of these are the positive consequences of faithful action – such as the walls of Jericho crumbling for Joshua (Andrew Scaborough) and his men. Others are the painful consequences of wrong choices, like Samson’s (Nonso Anozie) loss of strength, or King David’s (Langley Kirkwood) loss of his friend and his child.

Of course, the Bible wasn’t written by a single author, and so it also provides insight into the cultures in which it was recorded.

The third episode, Hope, finds individuals and communities weighing their convictions, and their identity, as the world around them changes. Jeremiah (Raad Rawi) prophesies even as his community refuses to hear; Daniel (Jake Canuso) and his friends stand up for their values in a foreign land. Finally, we witness the Jewish people struggling under Roman occupation – and meet the man who might just start a revolution.

Perspectives Even when viewing The Bible series as a dramatic TV serial rather than holy scripture, we can’t escape the fact that the Bible has a point of view. This perspective comes sharply into focus as we watch Jesus (Diogo Morgado) going about his ministry in episodes four and five, and those around him react to his teachings. Contrasting opinions abound as political and religious leaders, along with the ordinary people, try to decide who this man really is. It’s a debate which we, the viewers, find ourselves drawn into, wherever we might think we stand.

Ultimately, the Bible claims to be more than a collection of exciting and intriguing stories. It claims to say something significant about who we are, why we’re here, and how we should live. It claims – outrageously, perhaps – to point us towards God himself. Whatever we make of it all, it’s got to be worth turning on the television, and witnessing the story which some have called the greatest ever told.

Reviews 100 STANDALONE BIBLE STUDIES

by Penelope Wilcock (Monarch) This is a unique and well-researched resource for anyone who leads a home or Bible study group. Each study is refreshingly minimalist and contains three thought-provoking questions (a great change from wading through a list of dull questions), which will free up your group to get talking and sharing in a stimulating and relevant way.

Topics range from key moments in the lives of both New and Old Testament characters to five main themes in each of the four gospels.

These are discipleship, the life of Jesus, the church year, the law and the prophets. Wilcock also includes a very helpful introduction which could help to transform any flagging group.

Reviewed by Amanda Pilz

CS LEWIS VS THE NEW ATHEISTS

by Peter S. Williams (Paternoster) How would CS Lewis have coped with the arguments of the so-called “new atheists”? Philosopher Peter Williams shows how many of Lewis’s arguments for the Christian faith anticipated the objections of Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens and others. There is a useful chapter on the evidence for Jesus and the author re-visits Lewis’s arguments on how human reason and the sense of right and wrong point in the direction of a Creator.

There are extended quotes from Lewis and other apologists but the author also fairly represents the views of his opponents.

Reviewed by Graham Hedges

WALKING HOME FROM MONGOLIA

by Rob Lilwall (Hodder & Stoughton)

The official Souvenir Guide provides discussion questions to enable individuals and groups to explore themes – such as those covered in this article. Obtain your copy from www.thebibleuk.org.

THE BIBLE first appeared on our screens on Channel 5 on Saturday 30 November. The end of the series will be followed by a release on Blu-ray and DVD.

Rob Lilwall is no pretender. He openly admits to “bumbling along” when it comes to adventure and travel. But this is what makes his new book so attractive – he is just a normal guy doing immensely difficult things.

Walking Home From Mongolia – a follow-up to Cycling Home From Siberia – has a narrative which allows you to accompany him on the adventure through Mongolia and China.

You feel you too are struggling across the Gobi Desert with 100kg of kit in tow, surviving freezing blizzards or being welcomed into a “ger” by a Mongolian nomad. Rob also weaves into his tales a sense of history. You learn about Genghis Khan and the discovery of fossils in the region. Rob explores and then he writes. You won’t want to put it down.

Reviewed by Richard Woodall

JAN/FEB 2014

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Worship: If people can see the character behind the ability then we have made it.

MUSIC INTERVIEW

A new breed of worship leader

by Claire Musters

A multiple Grammy, Stellar and Dove Award-winning American Christian singer, Israel Houghton has been leading worship for well over 22 years.

He is a worship leader at his local church, which just so happens to be America’s largest –Lakewood Church, in Houston (the 43,500 people in it are pastored by the renowned Joel Osteen). Israel has also sung with artists such as Aretha Franklin, Alicia Keys, Yolanda Adams and CeCe Winans.

Representing the multicultural heart that Israel has, he and his wife also head up New Breed Ministries, an organisation comprised of world class musicians and singers who serve their local churches but together serve the wider Church.

You are well known for your cross-cultural style of gospel/ Jazz/rock music that has a really soulful sound, but tell us a little about your background.

I was a black kid living in a white family [his mum is white and they lived with his stepdad from the age of one] in a largely Hispanic area. It provided multiple streams of influence, and I loved the diversity. Today I have a huge desire to draw people of all races, ages and cultures together. When you check into heaven you are not going to be asked what area/musical tradition you want to go to!

How do you balance your busy working life with your family?

Well my wife and I have been married almost 19 years now, and we have three children. It’s one of those things where we had to first of all redefine our version of normal – normal for the family. As we started having our family so too our platforms for our ministry grew so we had to say, ‘Okay as much as we would love to work a nine to five job that’s not our version of normal’ so we redefined that. I travel with my family a lot, we try and make sure the quest for that balance is uppermost – and it is certainly a quest that I’m not sure you ever truly master as there isn’t anything predictable about the lifestyle of a worship leader and worship artist. We have our own internal balance. But it comes down to this: I cannot get on a plane and travel all over the world and encourage people to have an abundant life and encourage them in their marriages and family life if mine is all messed up so I have a first ministry – our household. As long as that is prioritised and nurtured properly then and only then can I get out and do what I do.

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You’ve been leading others in worship for many years, what are the visions and passions that keep you going?

I will answer the second part first as I think that is what motivates me – being trusted to being a part of equipping the Church. To sit down and write a song that I hope helps people find the words to prayers, that facilitates their prayers and praise and then months later to get responses back from people that say ‘you said in this song exactly what I was wanting to say’ to me – that’s huge. What drives me now – and continues to drive me – is that moment when you watch the light come on in people’s eyes. When you are out and you are leading worship and you see the pain and the emptiness and the struggle that people are going through (you can just tell when you look out) and at some point you watch that switch and that moment of surrender in some people – there is nothing greater than that as far as being used. Being called upon to be a part of any type of metamorphosis in somebody’s life is just huge. When you genuinely see God move in an environment, in a concert setting or a Sunday morning worship and you realise ‘wow that had nothing to do with my singing and the song it had everything to do with God saying okay I’m going to act’ you chase that, get on stage thinking ‘God do it again – that was awesome I want to see it again!’ As a group we remember cities by such moments that we got to see happen.

What would you like your legacy to be?

We had a friend die way too early recently and it stirred me to drill down my will. But it also made me realise that all I care about when all is said and done is that it is said of me ‘this guy didn’t just talk about it, didn’t just sing about it, he actually walked it out – lived it out’.

That could be best explained by my wife and children saying ‘he was legit’. I want to be the kind of guy that is a true friend, a great father, a legitimate husband – and a friend of God (not to tip my hat to my own song!) If that’s what’s said of me than that’s a good enough legacy – because if that’s what said then all the things you hoped your legacy would be should be in tact. If people can see the character behind the ability, the platform and all of that then we made it!

This interview was conducted at Big Church Day Out.

CHARTS

Positions shown indicate total sales during the sales period Sunday, 6 October, to Saturday, 23 November 2013

1

Your Grace Finds Me

2

We Are Young & Free

3

The Flood

4

Glorious Ruins

5

Tides

6

Voice of Joy

7

10000 Reasons

8

Zion

9

God’s Great Dance Floor - Step 02

Matt Redman (Six Steps) Y&F (Hillsong Music)

Soul Survivor & Momentum (Integrity Music) Hillsong Live (Hillsong Music) Bethel Music (Bethel Music) Friar Alessandro (Decca) Matt Redman (Six Steps) Hillsong United (Hillsong Music)

Martin Smith (Integrity Music)

10

Kingdom Come

11

Let It Be Known

12

Burning Lights

13

Bryan & Katie Torwalt (Jesus Culture Music) Worship Central (Integrity Music)

Chris Tomlin (Six Steps)

Zion Accoustic Sessions

Hillsong United (Hillsong Music)

14

Rise

15

Cornerstone

16

LOUDER THAN THE MUSIC

Skillet (Warner Bros) Hillsong Live (Hillsong Music)

Voice from Assisi

Friar Alessandro (Decca)

17

The Ascension

18

Sing Like Never Before

19

Campfire

20

Homemade Worship By Handmade People

Phil Wickham (FTS)

including

Matt Redman (Six Steps)

"My Lighthouse" from Rend Collective Experiment @SoulSurvivorGB

Rend Collective Experiment (Integrity Music) Rend Collective Experiment (Integrity Music)

©2013 Official Charts Company IDEA MAGAZINE / 33

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LEADERS’ QuestionS

My hope for my city…

Church leaders across the country are involved in unity movements and bringing churches together for mission and transformation in their town, village or city. As we begin 2014, we asked some of them what their hope is for their area…

Paul Barratt, executive of Croydon Churches Forum and pastor of Croydon Jubilee Church “To see churches coming together to bring the kingdom of God and share the gospel with our community. We must tackle the issues of homelessness, poverty and support immigrants. We don’t want to just scratch the surface but make a real long-term impact.”

Anni Douglas, co-ordinator of Refresh in Weymouth and Portland “Weymouth churches worked together well for the Olympic sailing – cafés, kids clubs, exhibitions and bands.

Now we’re building on Christians Against Poverty and foodbank work. We have resources to use for the gospel – the needs can be met within our own community.”

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Lloyd Cook, Saltbox, Stoke-on-Trent “My vision and prayer is to see the glory of God revealed in every sector of society and for Christians to be more focused on their ‘Monday ministry’ (work) than their ‘Sunday ministry’ (church). We plan to refresh our Faith Action Audit, hold the annual civic prayer breakfast and support new united mercy ministries and push prayer through our city’s amazing house of prayer.”

Ian Mayer, Doncaster “Many non-churchgoers see a Church that is out of touch with society and divided. We must celebrate our different streams and styles and unite to be a blessing to our communities. My dream is that when people think about Doncaster they think about one Church, a place where you can’t see the join.”

Andy Glover, Chester and West Cheshire “A group of church leaders in Chester have been developing a stronger sense of unity across our patch. With a faith sector audit, Link Up is developing relationships with agencies, our local authority, and parts of the borough so we do not reinvent the wheel and see the bigger picture.

It would be amazing to join the dots and be a one-stop shop for the local authority to engage with faith organisations.”

Idea-list

Top 5 things to look forward to in 2014

by Richard Woodall

Noah Jonny Gios, Sandylands, Kendal, Cumbria.

“We long to work alongside people of our community for the good of all and not just serve them. Giving things together. Joining with police and housing associations to take ownership of projects together. I hope for people to see the local Church in a different light and be provoked to ask questions about what is different about us.”

In March the eagerly awaited Noah film will hit cinemas. An allstar includes Russell Crowe playing Noah and Anthony Hopkins as Noah’s grandfather Methuselah. Also in the stellar cast is Emma Watson as Noah’s adopted daughter IIa. Produced by Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan), it has already been dismissed by some who call the film’s protagonist an “environmentalist wacko” but others have said it will be “redemptive” and “God-centred”.

Hope 2014

Mandy Harvey, Swansea

HOPE wants to see the “whole church, reaching the whole country, for the whole year”. Dozens of local churches across the UK are involved and plan to demonstrate God’s love through serving their communities in practical ways and sharing the gospel. Training sessions will be taking place across the UK as the Church looks to take the lead in a historic year.

“My hope is to see the Church’s reputation restored in Swansea. We want a reputation for love, support and care. We are more powerful when, as churches, we realise we have the same goal and suspicion and mistrust disappear – more people will ask questions as a result.”

Football World Cup 2014: Brazil Depending on your predisposition to the wonderful game, this could be a great thing...or just a good thing. Either way, with lots of samba dancing, football every day and predictable but ridiculous expectations for the England team, it represents a great chance to get together with friends and enjoy community.

The Scottish Referendum

Steve Uppal, Wolverhampton “I would love to see a community saturated with God at every level and sphere. My hope for Wolverhampton and the surrounding region is to see a community saturated with God at every level and sphere. It has begun with the Church across the City working more closely and less isolated. People preferring and serving one another is more commonplace than 10 years ago.

This gives me huge hope for the days ahead.”

JAN/FEB 2014

Depending what happens, 18 September, 2014, could be a date to go down in history. After much discussion, Scottish National Party leader Alex Salmond nailed down the day for Scots to have their say on the future of the country. With Christian MSPs representing both sides of the argument (see page 26) it represents an interesting conundrum for the Church.

COMMONWEALTH GAMES It’s a busy year for Scotland as not only is the referendum taking place, but Glasgow plays host to the Commonwealth Games.

Their vision is to stage an “outstanding, athlete-centred and sport-focused Games”. We’re praying that they do and that local churches get stuck in too.

IDEA MAGAZINE / 35

Letters: Have your say.

IN YOUR WORDS

In your words We love hearing from you, so have your say on any of the issues raised in idea or any comments about the Evangelical Alliance by emailing idea@eauk.org

No conflict Whilst agreeing with David King (“In your words” Nov/Dec 2013) that many young people leave school with the belief that “science has proved that God does not exist”, I disagree with his conclusion that this is because of “lop-sided evolution teaching in schools”. Indeed, I would argue that church leaders who teach a literal interpretation of Genesis 1-2, and insist that the theory of evolution is “atheistic”, are partly to blame. The consequence of this teaching is that when young people evaluate scientific evidence, they rightly conclude that a literal interpretation of Genesis is indeed simplistic and incompatible with our understanding about the origins of the universe and life. Unless they are helped to reconcile the two, they are likely to throw out the baby with the bathwater, and reject the whole of the Christian faith. I therefore commend projects such as Exploring the God Question (highlighted in the same edition of idea) and Test of Faith, produced

by Christians in Science, in helping people of all ages to come to appreciate that there is no conflict between science and the Christian belief.

Alan Cram, Swansea

Saving Christmas I was very interested in the article in the latest idea. The general lack of understanding of Christmas has worried me for a long time. Yes, it is tragic that the Church has lost contact with so many people that the vast majority of our population is no longer aware of the details of the story of Jesus’s birth. So to remind people that it is actually about Jesus Christ is important. But what to me is, in a way, even sadder is that a lot of church-goers do not seem to make the connection between the birth of Jesus and the purpose of his life, and are therefore not able to communicate the importance IDEA MAGAZINE / 36

of Christmas. The virgin birth is certainly a miracle; and it is wonderful that “God so loved the world that he sent his only Son.” But Jesus wasn’t born just to provide us with some lovely stories; nor was he born just to give some inspirational teaching.

He came on earth in human form to die for us, to give his life for us, so that, by faith, we can enjoy the life of his kingdom.

I fear that Christmas needs to be saved within the churches, almost as much as outside them. To this end I am currently writing a course for use next Lent in the churches where I help out under the title The Cross at Christmas. It is asking what we celebrate, not just in the remarkable nature of the events themselves, but more in terms of what they mean to us in our daily lives, in the traditional festivals of the Christian year, drawing out the centrality of the cross.

Simon Crittall, via email

Heard in tweets @davidbunce: “ Today I’m thankful for: the Evangelical Alliance. What a great resourcing body & example of unity in mission. @EAUKnews” @PhilTimson: “ Great meetings in Perth with Scottish youth leaders talking #MissionAcademy and @HopeRev_2014. Bring on the Scottish Mission Academies!” @johnccavanagh: “ I liked John C Lennox’s quote on atheism: Fairy stories for people afraid of the light! In @idea_mag” Follow the Alliance on Twitter: @EAUKnews @idea_mag

Editor Chine Mbubaegbu – idea@eauk.org Assistant editor Richard Woodall Consulting editors Steve Morris, Krish Kandiah Contributing writers Phil Green, Lucy Cooper, Sophie Lister, Claire Musters, Gethin Russell-Jones, Kieran Turner, Daniel Webster Advertising manager Candy O’Donovan – c.odonovan@eauk.org Design Red & Green Marketing Printer Halcyon Print & Design idea is published bimonthly and sent free of charge to members of the Evangelical Alliance. Formed in 1846, the Alliance’s mission is to unite evangelicals to present Christ credibly as good news for spiritual and social transformation. There are around two million evangelical Christians in the UK, according to a 2007 Tearfund survey. idea is published in accordance with the Alliance’s Basis of Faith, although it is impossible in every article to articulate each detail and nuance of belief held by Alliance members. Articles in idea may therefore express views on which there is a divergence of opinion or understanding among evangelicals.

Letters and story ideas from members are welcome, and will be considered by the editorial board, which reserves the right to edit letters and stories for length and style. We regret that we are unable to engage in personal correspondence.

Unsolicited material will only be returned if accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed envelope.

idea accepts advertisements and inserts to offset printing costs. Advertising in idea does not imply editorial endorsement.

The Alliance reserves the right to accept or refuse advertisements at its discretion.

Articles may be reproduced only with permission from the editor.

word alive 7–12 April 2014 12–17 April 2014 www.wordaliveevent.org

Steve Clifford: The general director writes...

Twitter: @stevemclifford

LAST WORD

One family, one hope

Gathering with my church in west London on a Sunday morning, I often reflect upon the fact that all over the world Christians are meeting.

We are praying, worshipping, reading scripture, breaking bread and being encouraged in the faith. This body of Christ stretches across every nation expressing faith in different languages, cultures and styles. One family with one faith and one amazing hope.

Recently I agreed to host the launch of my friend Israel Olofinjana’s book Turning the Tables on Mission. The evening involved hearing some of the stories from migrant Christians of the global South as they responded to their sense of call to ministry and mission here in the UK. There was much to be thankful for – churches planted and growing, communities changed and lives impacted for good – but there were also other stories of misunderstandings, pain, rejection and just downright prejudice.

Church volunteers threatening to boycott the crèche if it included ‘black children’; plastic beakers locked up out of fear of contamination; new converts refused baptism because they could be ‘illegal immigrants’. The stories continued and while not all migrants have experienced such rejection, those of us who are white British Christians need to recognise and, as appropriate, repent of our prejudices. Many of us weren’t welcoming or thankful for our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ as they arrived from so many parts of the world often with a deep sense of calling from God to His mission here; that sense of calling that has sustained so many over the years and bears fruit in some vibrant expressions of the body of Christ.

A few weeks ago I was privileged to visit my good friends Dr Tani and Dr Modupe Omideyi for a weekend at their church and dedicated their newly opened free school.

In the autumn of 1980 Tani and Modupe were led by God to plant a church in Liverpool. Anfield, their area of choice, was not an easy place for two Nigerians to do ministry – and that’s an understatement A predominantly white working-class area with strong racist elements and a political environment not supportive of Christian mission. As Tani and Modupe shared their story, I realised the enormous sacrifice they have made. These two highly-educated,

IDEA MAGAZINE / 38

talented individuals could have chosen a life of ease, comfort and wealth but God called them and so they have dedicated their lives to Anfield.

Today, Temple of Praise is a genuinely multicultural community of faith occupying an ex-cinema a few hundred yards from the Liverpool FC stadium. The church and its associated ministries are committed to proclaiming and demonstrating the good news to their community. They run projects addressing the loneliness of the elderly, disaffected young people, poor health, unemployment, poverty and the needs of asylum seekers and refugees. I enjoyed an enormous slap-up meal with entertainment and awards for all those involved in any of their projects. I left thankful to God – this is the Church at work, looking to meet the spiritual, social and physical needs of their community.

These experiences have caused me to reflect upon the biblical account of Joseph’s conversation with his brothers following the death of their father. Fearing Joseph’s vengeance for the way he had been treated, he reassures them “you intended to harm me but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives” (Genesis 50:20).

Could it be that God is turning around the rejection and prejudice that was faced both inside and outside the Church by our brothers and sisters in Christ and is in the process of working it out for good?

As the Evangelical Alliance we are committed to playing our part in this unfolding drama. On 15 September 2010 at the Alliance’s UK council meeting, following a short address by Bishop Wilton Powell (national overseer Church of God of Prophecy) and Pastor Agu Irukwu (senior pastor of Jesus House), there occurred a powerful God moment – men and women were on their knees responding to God recognising the fresh challenge to find an expression of unity that crosses all ethnic divides. A call to unity in the midst of diversity; a unity for purpose expressed in the great prayer of Jesus (John 17:21) that “the world might believe”. The Alliance, I trust, will never be the same and our One People Commission works to see this reflected in every area of our work.

Turning the Tables on Mission: Stories of Christians from the Global South in the UK is edited by Rev Israel Olofinjana and published by Instant Apostle.

It is available from Amazon in both paperback and electronic versions.

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