www.eauk.org/idea
T H E M AG A Z I N E O F T H E E VA N G E L I C A L A L L I A N C E
y t i t Iden
VIRTUAL VIRTUE
Can we keep a Christ-like identity online?
IN YOUR WORDS
60 SECONDS
DUAL IDENTITY
PERSECUTED CHURCH
Being British, Asian and Christian
GOOD QUESTION
THEOLOGY
Stories of extraordinary faith in extraordinary situations
CONNECT
ON THE JOB
JAN/FEB 2014
NEWS COMMENT FEATURES
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CONTENTS
Amaris Cole: “In 2 Corinthians we learn that once we have accepted Christ, we are a new creation. Genesis tells us we were made in the image of God. We are the children of God and therefore we all know we are to find our identities in Christ…”
idea-torial Who am I? When you think about identity, what springs to mind? I asked my colleagues here at the Alliance, and answers included race, gender and nationality. Although it makes such a huge difference to how we view the world, and indeed, how the world views us, identity is often something we only think about when it comes under threat. This might be when our views are challenged, our freedoms are limited or persecution becomes a reality. In philosophy, identity, from the Latin identitas, is the relation each thing bears to itself. But identity goes far beyond ourselves. So for 21st century Christians, what does it really mean? The concept of identity remains somewhat of an enigma, especially for those who feel some aspects of their identity are incompatible with others. In 2 Corinthians we learn that once we have accepted Christ, we are a new creation. Genesis tells us we were made in the image of God. We are His children and therefore we all know we are to find our identities in Christ, but what does that really look like for Christians around the world today? In this issue, we explore. It seems every week we hear a new story of persecution. The Centre for the Study of Global Christianity estimates that 11 Christians die every hour because of their faith. Turn to page 24 to read our inspiring, and deeply challenging, article about those who choose to find their identity in Christ, despite the consequences. We also look at issues closer to home. On page 30 we ask what it means for our virtual life to be virtuous. Marika Rose considers how we can love our online neighbours. And while we use the word to define aspects of our identity, evangelicalism is a term that’s often misunderstood, especially by the secular world. We examine that in our Good Question on page 30. I hope this issue of idea informs, encourages and inspires you, as it has me. Amaris Cole Editor
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FEATURES 8 New chair for Alliance Council
Meet John Glass, the new chair of Council.
16-18 Retreat guide
Plan your retreats for the year ahead.
24-25 Illegal faith
22
Could you keep your faith when it meant possibly losing your life?
Big Interview We catch up with author Anne Lammott.
REGULARS 4-6 Connect
News from the Alliance.
8-9 60 seconds…
We chat to brand consultancy Sparks about the importance of identity.
12-13 Nations
34 Culture Damaris review The Theory of Everything.
News from Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
30 Theology
How do you keep a Christ-like identity online?
37 Letters
Idea readers respond.
38 Last Word
General director Steve Clifford writes…
36 idea-list 5 New Year’s resolution you should really keep.
Head Office Evangelical Alliance has moved: 176 Copenhagen Street, London N1 0ST tel 020 7520 3830 [Mon – Fri, 9am – 5pm] fax 020 7520 3850 info@eauk.org www.eauk.org
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
Evangelical Alliance leadership team Steve Clifford, Helen Calder, Fred Drummond, Elfed Godding, Dave Landrum, Peter Lynas
Wales Office 20 High Street, Cardiff CF10 1PT tel: 029 2022 9822 wales@eauk.org Scotland Office Evangelical Alliance Scotland, Blair Court, 100 Borron Street, Port Dundas, Glasgow, G4 9XG tel: 0141 353 0150 scotland@eauk.org
The Evangelical Alliance. A company limited by guarantee Registered in England & Wales No. 123448. Registered Charity No England and Wales: 212325, Scotland: SC040576. Registered Office: 176 Copenhagen Street, London, N1 0ST
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015
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CONNECT
News from the Alliance
Evangelical Alliance becomes a Living Wage employer The Evangelical Alliance has become one of the latest organisations to become accredited as a Living Wage employer.
In 2014 the UK Living Wage rate was set at £7.85 per hour – an increase of 2.6 per cent on the 2013 rate and 21 per cent higher than the national minimum wage of £6.50 per hour. The London Living Wage rate has been set at £9.15. The Alliance joins more than 1,000 Living Wage-accredited organisations across the country.
Marine McKenzie, the Alliance’s head of HR, said: “We believe in a generous God and one whose heart is turned towards the poor. As the UK’s leading evangelical Christian umbrella organisation we believe it is our duty to set an example to our member churches and organisations to pay salaries that reflect the cost of living.” livingwage.org.uk
Leaving the Alliance a legacy In the run up to Will Aid month in November, we asked some of our supporters to tell us why they’ve remembered the Alliance in their Will: “My desire and prayer is that the Alliance be used to strengthen and challenge the Church to teach and preach the good news of Christ and reach out with it to others and society at large.” Martin Brion “I was a personal member of the Evangelical Alliance for more than 25 years and when I retired I felt I could no longer contribute on a regular basis but wanted to still show my support.” Annabel Lauchlan IDEA MAGAZINE / 4
You too can help pave the way for future generations of Christians by leaving a legacy gift to the Alliance – ensuring future religious freedom for the Church, enabling a united Church to continue to bring transformation to our society. To request our free guide to legacy gifts or to find out more about how to leave a legacy to the Alliance, visit eauk.org/legacies or contact Nicky Waters at n.waters@eauk. org or on 0207 520 3858 for a confidential conversation.
News from the Alliance
Young public leaders: Helping the leaders of tomorrow become the leaders of today The Evangelical Alliance is passionate about public leadership because this is how we believe things change. We want leaders who stand up and speak out, and are voices for God and for good in their community. We’re hosting a weekend in July to draw together a group of young public leaders to encourage and equip them and help them learn from each other. When: 17-19 July 2015 Who: Christians between 18-35 and involved in leadership outside the Church Is this you or someone you know? Find out more at: thepublicleader.com/gathering or email d.webster@eauk.org
GATHER heads north The next major Gather event will be held at Media City in Salford, called GATHERNORTH. The two-day event is to encourage unity movements in the north to join with church leaders, Christian organisations and Christian leaders in all cultural spheres to spend a couple of days listening to God and each other about His future for the region. The conference will focus on the renewal and transformation of the north of England.
GATHERNORTH will also be providing an exciting range of tools and resources for delegates who attend, as well as ongoing support throughout the following year. Although this focuses on the north of England, other cities and towns from the Midlands and the south are invited to join. GATHERNORTH will be held at Studio4, Dallas Court, Salford Quays, Manchester on Tuesday, 3 March to Wednesday, 4 March, 2015. wegather.co.uk
Invite the Evangelical Alliance to talk on God and politics The run-up to the General Election this year is a great opportunity to look at what the Bible has to say about politics and how Christians should engage in public life. The Evangelical Alliance has speakers available across the UK to come to your church and speak either at a Sunday service or a special event. If you’re interested please email info@eauk.org
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015
Staff Profile
Katie Nurse, PA to the general director
Where: The Oast Houses, East Sussex
Leaders who desire transformation across the north of England are being called to attend an exciting conference in March.
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I grew up in a small town in South Wales and became a Christian at the age of 17. Having spent all of my working career in secular settings and coming from a non-Christian home, I always wanted to work in a Christian environment where I could be surrounded by people who had a common love for Christ and who actively served Him within their nine to five jobs. So in March 2014, I made the biggest decision of my life so far; I said goodbye to my beloved church, family and friends, I packed my suitcase – yes, just the one! – and I moved to the big city. I knew that God wanted me to be in London, but I still wasn’t sure what He wanted me to be doing. While settling into my new life, I saw the advert for PA to the general director and I felt compelled to apply for it. Usually when God is involved, things have a way of falling into place, and that’s exactly what happened. I am now in my third month at the Evangelical Alliance and I absolutely love working with Steve and the team – even if they are still struggling to understand my accent!
NEW SUPPORTERS “I’ve been impressed with how you have handled some of the challenging issues that have arisen recently and I have also found the idea magazine incredibly helpful. I would like to receive this magazine for myself and support your work.” Rebecca McDonald eauk.org/support IDEA MAGAZINE / 5
CONNECT
News from the Alliance
Alliance millennial initiative wins Christian New Media Award The Christian New Media Awards has named threads the Multi-Author Blog of the Year. The initiative, launched by the Evangelical Alliance to address the decline of church attendance by those in their 20s and 30s, was awarded the prestigious title by judges at a ceremony in November. The blog tackles issues that concern millennial Christians and has accepted articles by hundreds of contributors in the two years since it launched.
Some of the threads team: Danny, Amaris and Chine.
threads is a “collective of Christians from all walks of life, who are living, working and trying to carve out their identity in their worlds”.
Head of media and communications for the Alliance, Chine Mbubaegbu, said: “Since we launched, I’ve been stunned to see how God has used threads to bring together a group of people passionate about working out faith and life together. “Hair removal. Knitting. Fasting, ISIS and charity ice buckets. These are just some of the incredible range of topics that threads has covered so far. Topics that are real, not taboo, and are the issues that younger people are discussing in their everyday lives.” If you would like to support the vital work threads does in reaching this generation who are at risk of leaving the Church, please visit eauk.org/supportthreads
The Alliance welcomes the following new members… CHURCHES LOCATION
CHURCHES LOCATION
The Shepherd’s Flock International Church SKEGNESS RCCG Covenant Restoration Assembly BIRMINGHAM Parkwood Christian Fellowship GILLINGHAM Walthamstow Reformed Asian Church LONDON Maghaberry Elim Tabernacle CRAIGAVON Ludlow Elim Christian Fellowship LUDLOW St James’ Church HUNTINGDON Divine Christian Church LONDON Elim Central London Church LONDON Path of Life Community Church LONDON World Christian Fellowship UK HARROW Living Word Centre THORNTON HEATH Trinity Temple READING Hope Church CREWE Hope Church CORBY Calvary Chapel Norbury LONDON Divine Grace Church Manchester BOLTON The Tamil Church of God LONDON Noahs Ark Church WOODFORD GREEN Covenant Life Ministries International SOUTHAMPTON Church of the Living God TWICKENHAM RCCG His Kingdom For All Nations LONDON RCCG Rock of Redemption Rehoboth Parish LONDON Ainon Baptist Church CARDIFF Divine Life Christian Centre DAGENHAM House of Prayer Ministries HAYES London Life Vineyard Church LONDON New Hope Tamil Church SMETHWICK
RCCG Solid Rock Parish Derby DERBY Wokingham Vineyard Church CROWTHORNE Cregagh Methodist Church BELFAST Divine Restoration Christian Centre LONDON Edinburgh Elim Pentecostal Church EDINBURGH Ever Increasing Glory Ministries RAINHAM Global Ministry of Champions BRADFORD Hitchin Christian Centre HITCHIN International Praise Centre LONDON Mosborough Elim Church SHEFFIELD Praise Harvest Community Church LONDON Renewed Presbyterian Church LONDON Shalom Life Changers LONDON Ministry International SOUTH South Harrow Christian Fellowship HARROW Lisburn Grace Communion LISBURN The Bridge LONDON Christ Church Balham LONDON Lakeside Christian Fellowship WOKING Stubbington Baptist Church FAREHAM
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NEW ORGANISATIONS LOCATION Mahabba Network International OXFORD Transformations Leeds LEEDS FULCRUM LONDON Home for Good LONDON Hope Deferred TAIN Intl Council of Churches and Ministers of Great Britain LONDON
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NEWS
John Glass revealed as next chair of Council John Glass, head of Elim Pentecostal Church, which has 550 churches in England and Ireland, has been appointed as the chairman for the Council of the Evangelical Alliance.
The Council is a group of individuals from across the evangelical spectrum representing a wide cross-section of expertise, which guides the work of the Alliance. John Glass is the 20th chair of Council since the Alliance was formed in 1846. Speaking to the Alliance following his appointment, he said: “I’ve been involved with the Alliance for over 10 years. It’s still relevant because it highlights a need for unity within the Church that’s perhaps more necessary than it has ever been.” “The Alliance has a huge role to play in advocacy – presenting the voice of the evangelical to the government and media,” the new chair said, explaining the relevance of the Alliance. “In my view, this is the strongest reason why denominations, organisations, churches and individuals should take up membership as, by doing so, those who influence what happens in government will take more notice as the Alliance’s constituency within the UK continues to grow. “There are many responsibilities for the chairman. Within Council, my role it is to
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chair the business section of the meeting. Within the Board, it’s to adequately reflect the views of the Council to the Board. Perhaps more importantly, however, together with the general director, it’s to seek to represent the views of the Alliance to the wider Church and the media. Internally, I think the primary pressures for the Alliance are that we continue to hear one another respectfully and maintain the cohesion that we currently enjoy. Externally, it’s that we are known not just for what we are against but that we are also heard making a positive case for the values that we desire to affirm.” For the past 15 years, John has been the general superintendent (GS) of the Elim Pentecostal Churches in the UK, which is defined as ‘giving spiritual leadership to the Movement and especially to the National Leadership Team’. Elim commenced in 1915 and has now grown to around 550 churches in the UK and 9,000 around the world. In the UK, they are currently involved in more than 50 new church plants around the country that have started in the past two years. He said: “As you’ll be aware, 2015 is our centenary year and we will be extremely busy as far as I am concerned. When my
tenure as general superintendent comes to a close at Conference 2016 I will be free to put more of my time and energy in the work of Alliance for what will remain in my three-year term. I’ve also been an ordained minister for 41 years and am involved in serving a number of organisations outside of my own movement. These include being on the council of reference for Youth for Christ and working with Churches Together. Most of my time is spent engaging with leaders within and outside of my own denomination. “My predecessor as Alliance chair, Kate Coleman, the former president of the Baptist Union, did a tremendous job. As always, my primary focus will remain during my time as GS to serve Elim to the same degree that I have sought to do over the past 15 years. However, in this honorary position as chair of Council, I will also do all within my power to serve both it and my fellow leaders beyond our movement. I’m totally committed to its vision and values and aims and objectives and will be honoured to serve alongside some of the finest leaders in the UK Church who are our members in the Alliance.”
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60 SECONDS WITH…
Communicating the Church Marcia Dixon is founder of MD Public Relations, a niche company that provides PR services to organisations seeking to communicate with the black Christian community. She also serves as religious editor of Keep The Faith, Britain’s leading magazine about the black faith community. Amaris Cole meets Marcia to find out more about the important work she does. Brand identity is very important to Marcia’s clients, who range from Sony Music to Tearfund and to one of her favourite projects, Street Pastors. All organisations have a vision of how they want the outside world to perceive them, she says, and this is usually what they want her to project in their campaigns. But what about the Church? “As society becomes more secular, it would appear that in some quarters the Church is losing the communication war, particularly when society’s values are at total odds with biblical values.” However, the Pope’s PR demonstrates that it’s possible for a Christian leader to effectively communicate the values the Church stands for, such as love, mercy and grace, expressed in a non-confrontational way, Marcia says. “Churches just have to communicate in a way the world understands, using powerful stories and imagery to get their messages across.” Churches and para-church organisations need to become more PR and media savvy, so they can communicate more effectively to the audiences they want to reach. Street Pastors, founded by Les Isaacs, David Shosanya and Ian Crichlow, is an example of one doing this successfully, with Marcia’s help. Established in 2003 in response to the gun and knife crime that was prevalent at the time, it has grown from a small London-based organisation to become an internationally-recognised social action project. “Its success is a template to me of how PR is an effective tool in helping organisations share their message, connect with their audience and grow.” Governments need Marcia’s help with PR, too. In 2010 she served as a faith adviser. “It was evident that the government had a respect for faith groups and the work they carried out, but it wasn’t always too sure on how to communicate that fact.” The communications expert thinks this government respects faith groups for the community work they carry out. “Politically, black Christians tend to lean more to the right than the left. However, I don’t think the government is always keen on the values that faith groups stand for, particularly when they are odds with government policies or the agendas of certain lobby groups.” Marcia calls the Church the black community’s “fourth emergency service”. “We turn to it when we experience life: it’s the institution that christens, marries and buries us, and it has played a key role in transforming broken lives and teaching people principles required
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Marcia Dixon
to succeed in the workplace and the marketplace, and also how to raise their families.” The Church is also the most stable and influential institution within the black community. “Long may it continue.” But the black Church in the UK does face a number of challenges. “These include finding ways to reinstitute some of the cultural values that helped sustain the black community when they came here in the 1950s and 60s, that have slowly been eroded.” Also, the promotion of respect for self and others, a commitment to family, and the importance of developing good character, she says. “Black churches also need to find ways to reconnect with the younger generation – don’t all churches? – as well as find ways to appeal to people of different cultural and ethnic groups. Some churches are effectively doing so, but we need more to step up to the plate.” In a trying time of secularisation and division, shouldn’t we lose the labels and join together as one Church? “In my mind, Christian unity doesn’t mean that everyone comes together, forgets who they are and becomes part of a big, boring mass. I believe that Christian unity means that we can acknowledge our cultural, spiritual and ethnic differences, but recognise that we are united in our common belief that God loves us, sent Jesus to die for our sins and that the gift of the Holy Spirit is available to all. In fact Revelation 7:9, which talks about people from “every tribe, people and language” standing before God’s throne and giving Him worship, indicates to me that we serve a God who celebrates unity amid diversity – and so should we.” marciadixonpr.co.uk
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015
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NORTHERN IRELAND
eauk.org/northernireland
Beyond belief
by David Smyth
I suppose I first realised my orientation when I was about five years old. I didn’t fully understand it at that age, but I knew that something was different. Orientation is the best word I can use to describe it. It’s core to who I am as a person. Realising my orientation has changed everything - my identity and relationships. It’s how I see and understand the world around me. It’s what makes me feel alive. Even though I believe this is who I’m made to be, it can be difficult at times. Sometimes I still struggle with it. It can be tough having an orientation that goes against the grain of the world around me. In the West people like me are sometimes called names, prevented from taking certain public positions and increasingly it can seem like our freedoms are becoming limited. There are people like me in every culture around the world, but in some places we have to hide our orientation every day. In some countries, especially in Africa and the Middle East, people like me are persecuted. In fact, last year alone more than 100,000 people were killed just because they shared my orientation.
Credit: Splitshire
It’s more than just a belief; it’s who I am. So I can’t detach it from my identity or my relationships any more than I can detach my head from my body. It’s a deeply visceral thing: body, mind, soul and strength. My orientation affects what I do, say and think. It has profoundly changed the way I love and feel loved. Now that I’m living out my orientation I don’t think I could go back, even if I wanted to. I suppose I believe my orientation is somehow both an active choice and yet something far beyond myself. I’m not convinced it is bound by either nature or nurture. My name is David and my orientation is Jesus…
“The Christian faith is meaningless without the re-orientation of our identity from self to Jesus.” The ‘orientation’ of evangelical Christianity has always been Jesus – sharing his life and love with others. Yet I believe there is a danger from within and without of letting our Jesus-orientation be reduced to nothing more than a religious belief. This is particularly the case today in the West, where evangelical Christianity is understood primarily as a religious belief, a worldview or an issue of personal conscience. These things are true, but form only a part of the richness of a living relationship with the God of the universe. The Bible strongly warns against this reductionist approach to our faith. “Faith without works is dead,” James 2, and: “If I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing,” 1 Corinthians 13. The Christian faith without gracious relationships with God and others is an anathema. The Christian faith is meaningless without the re-orientation of our identity from self to Jesus. Our faith actually moves us far beyond ourselves and our personally-held beliefs to IDEA MAGAZINE / 12
the point where we audaciously claim alongside NT Wright that “the gospel is public truth”. Jesus is the central part of the world’s history and destiny for all people and all creation. Moving from this universal perspective closer to home, even a casual observer will notice that we at Evangelical Alliance Northern Ireland write lots about evangelical identity in Northern Ireland. This past year, our focus has been on reframing the narrative of evangelicalism away from one that is backwards and regressive to one affirming of life, relationships and human dignity. We also continue to graciously challenge the conflation of evangelicalism with Unionist and Loyalist politics and culture. Key to sharing the good news of Jesus in our specific context is helping people go beyond their understanding of faith as just a set of personal beliefs. Issues like parades, flags, the past, abortion and marriage are about more than belief. They all hinge around our identity and relationships – the very things that Jesus has transformed in his followers. Articulating belief and theology is increasingly important, but so also is the tangibility of everyday Christian witness - the visible re-orientation of life, identity, relationships and values. Maybe thinking of your faith in Jesus as your ‘orientation’ is a little jarring? Maybe it’s a little provocative? My point is simply that in a time of growing religious illiteracy and a place where evangelicalism carries some extra baggage, maybe it’s time for some new thinking and language as we communicate exactly what it means to follow Jesus?
SCOTLAND
eauk.org/scotland
Breaking new ground Our Church in Scotland needs to address how we help people live as disciples – wherever we are are called to serve. How do we support each other as we serve Jesus in our work, in college or school? How does our Christian identity help shape what we do and where? Recently, we have been encouraged by people who are starting businesses shaped by their faith – Christian community entrepreneurs. There appears to be a growing number in Scotland. Fred Drummond, director of the Evangelical Alliance Scotland, met with two of them. VELLOW WOOD, GLASGOW I’m Philip and I run an architecture practice and a start-up company manufacturing timber-frame houses in Romania for import to the UK, working in partnership with a local charity that works with Roma people. It came out of several factors: I’ve always been interested in home, and how good homes can shape our quality of life, families and communities positively. From working in an architectural practice I saw that in order to produce better, more individual homes, the fields of design and construction needed to connect closer together. While exploring these ideas, I was on a short-term mission team to Romania working with FAST, a charity that helps Roma people build homes and trains them in construction skills. Connecting my work and mission together, I realised that by manufacturing houses in Romania, there was the potential to create a commercial enterprise that worked alongside their charitable work, creating jobs and utilising the skills learned. This way of making houses has cost benefits and results in improved home design.
BLEND COFFEE, PERTH We are a group of four friends who met in church and after hours of conversation about our faith and its relevance in today’s society, we decided to set up a new coffee shop ministry. All of us had been involved in youth work within our churches and had all come to the conclusion that most people, including the youth of today, are hungry for the gospel, but we just don’t have churches ready for them. We aren’t unique in realising that some young Christians today don’t want to just sit in pews listening to 50-year-old men download theological data into their minds. We are relational, educated, connected, ambitious and resourced. However, our churches only require of us what fits into their requirements. While this suits many, there’s a majority of people struggling to express their desire to seek and be available to a calling. Blend is about creating a space where there’s no line between the sacred and secular. Your work is worship. The aim is to simply bless people in their day and allow God to reveal what He is already up to. Discipleship is a hijacked word. To us it simply means to walk with someone for a part of the faith journey, show them what you know and direct them to do the same with someone else. People will belong before they believe. People would rather share an experience than convince you of a belief. In our business, we treat all our staff and ourselves as part of a learning journey. The staff are nurtured so that JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015
So far the business is at an early stage, with one build complete. The biggest challenge has been understanding that God values and wants to be a part of all of my life, not just the ‘spiritual’ parts. In knowing that He created my passions and interests for a purpose, I see that I’m as much called as a designer to pioneer sensitive and personal architecture as I am called to help improve lives in Romania. Follow the dreams of your heart, and get prophetic input from others. Words of prophecy from Glasgow Prophetic Centre have helped guide me in exactly where to go, and what steps to take first as I pursue my calling. www.vellowwood.com
they will nurture others. This has already shown a great response from our customers, Christian and non-Christian staff, as well us as other business owners. If we had to give one piece of advice to others, it would be not to make your hobby your business. This isn’t about getting an off-the-shelf solution to ministry problems. It’s about seeking God first in your life, and then allowing Him to reveal a plan already prepared for you. Give God your best! Set the highest standards and don’t compromise on it. Too much ‘ministry’ is done part-time by half-hearted people. This is insulting to God. Trust Him and give Him your best. Therefore if you fail or succeed, it’s His presence with you that’s all important. Blend is a journey. We are at the beginning of it. We don’t have a monopoly on a good idea, we only have a passion for people and a desire to seek God. www.blendcoffee.co.uk Facebook: blendcoffeelounge Titter: @blendtogether IDEA MAGAZINE / 13
WALES
eauk.org/wales
The Bible is alive and kicking in Wales by Gethin Russell-Jones
It all started in 1588 and it’s still going strong today. As surprising as it sounds, Wales had its own Bible before the King James’ 1611 Authorised Version. In 1588 a young theologian produced Y Beibl Cysegr Lan – the Holy Bible – enabling Welsh speakers to access the scriptures for the first time in their native tongue. William Morgan translated from original Hebrew and Greek the texts, and also drew heavily on an earlier Welsh version of the New Testament produced by William Salesbury in 1567. After his labours, William Morgan was made Bishop of Llandaf, later becomming Bishop of St Asaph. Like Luther’s translation of the Bible into German in 1534, Bishop Morgan’s work had a profound impact on the nation’s language and culture. This ongoing influence was recently marked at the National Assembly for Wales, where representatives from Evangelical Alliance Wales and the National Prayer Breakfast presented a copy of this Bible to Presiding Officer, Rosemary Butler, the Assembly Member for Newport West. The idea to donate a Bible to the Assembly was birthed 12 years ago, with all 32 Christian denominations agreeing to it. Donations were received and a copy of the Bible, costing some £1,000, was purchased. However, despite the Bible being offered to the Assembly, the presiding officer at the time declined, believing that the Assembly was a secular space and that there should be no religious symbols on display.
“New tablet friendly apps and touchscreen technology are being developed to make the Bible even more accessible” But in 2014 a fresh approach was made and on this occasion the offer was accepted immediately. Elfed Godding, national director of Evangelical Alliance Wales said: “ The identity, language, culture and politics of Wales have all been enriched by this Bible and we hope that this gift will remind assembly members and visitors to the Assembly of the tremendous influence that this work still exerts on our national life.” Around the same time, Bible Society opened a new visitor and education centre in north Wales. Mary Jones World celebrates the story of 15-year-old Mary Jones, who walked 26-miles from Llanfihangel-y-Pennant to Bala in 1800 to purchase a Bible from Rev Thomas Charles. Mary had saved for six years and Mr Charles was so IDEA MAGAZINE / 14
moved by her determination to own a Bible that he helped establish Bible Society four years later. The story of Mary Jones and her Bible is known throughout the world, spawning a vast number of books, articles and even a musical. In 1988 a revised version of the Bible appeared. Y Beibl Cymraeg Newydd – the New Welsh Bible – updated the grammar of Morgan’s original work and was warmly welcomed by the Church and wider public. But there’s a new kid on the Bible block. Back in 1999, the former national director of Evangelical Alliance Wales, Arfon Jones, formed a new organisation to communicate the Christian message to Welsh speakers. Hope for Wales, or Gobaith i Gymru, was set up to address the lack of resources in the Welsh language and to promote the hope found in Jesus Christ. After more than a decade of translating the scriptures from their original languages and into contemporary Welsh, Arfon’s work has been published online at www.beibl.net It flows as easily as The Message and is as readable as the Good News or NET Bibles, except that beibl.net is a literal translation. It’s perfect for people who are learning the language or whose grasp of grammar is less than perfect. In other words, people like me. As if this isn’t enough, Hope for Wales has a few more dynamic plans in its pipeline. New tablet friendly apps and touchscreen technology are being developed to make the Bible even more accessible, especially for children and young people. And there’s talk of a good old fashioned printed version of beibl.net, which could be available as soon as 2105. So, as you can see, the Bible really is alive and kicking in Wales.
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015
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F
TURE
Why more evangelicals by Chine Mbubaegbu
“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty” (Psalm 91:1)
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F
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are going on retreats Once a practice found predominantly within the Catholic tradition, an increasing number of British evangelicals are taking time away from the hustle and bustle of modern life and heading on retreats. For many, the beginning of a new year is the perfect time to get away from it all; to clear their heads, reflect on the past 12 months, spend time in God’s presence and look ahead to what He would have them do in the coming year. Keith Hagon is executive director of CCI UK, which has for the past 30 years provided membership services to centres, including those offering retreats, and organisations involved in Christian residential ministry as well as resources for people looking for a place to go.
Keith, who became a Christian while working at an international bank in the City, said they are seeing more evangelicals going on retreats and quiet days. “There is more openness and interest now from the evangelical wing of the Church as people have come to appreciate the depth and breadth of our heritage,” he says. “Interest in contemplative spirituality is on the rise, perhaps particularly as more Christians see the need for space and time in which to listen to God and be refreshed in their faith.” He added that the definition of retreat has widened over recent years, along with the venues that can accommodate them. Retreats in their current form are thought to have been started by Ignatius of Loyola – a 16th century hermit, priest and theologian who founded the Jesuit movement. “There is a lot of choice, from silent to guided, themed and group. As a result, more venues offer retreats and more people are taking them up.” Helen Calder, the Alliance’s executive director: finance & services, went on her first quiet day at Highmore Hall in Oxfordshire in 1987 and since then has been on at least 50 or 60 retreats and quiet days at more than 10 venues. “I appreciate returning to familiar venues,” she says. “In recent years I’ve spent time at St Andrews in Edenbridge, which has now sadly closed, and Penhurst Retreat Centre near Battle. I particularly appreciate their peaceful, rural settings. Sometimes I attend a led retreat and sometimes I spend all the time alone to pray, plan and review, to read extended passages of the Bible or a Christian book and to discern how God is directing my life.
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“I also use a retreat as an opportunity to journal, paint, walk and sleep. It’s great to leave behind the distractions of everyday life and to have someone else prepare my meals. It always gives a refreshed sense of perspective, usually makes me feel closer to God and helps me to recognise God’s sovereignty in fresh ways. “As an evangelical this has become an essential part of my devotional life. I’d recommend anyone to try it and to experiment with what spiritually nourishes them.” With so many retreat centres around the country to choose from, the choice may seem overwhelming. So how do we pick the best centre for us? The decision is pretty simple, says Keith, and the CCI website can provide you with hints and tips on choosing where to go. “Evelyn Underhill wrote that a retreat centre should provide food and warmth in a comfortable environment. That leaves the retreatant free to focus on finding God. The particulars are down to location, choice of style and cost.” Once the decision is made, retreats can prove a pivotal point in discerning God’s will for your life and finding space to hear him. “Taking time out for refreshment, whether physical, spiritual or emotional, opens us up to new experiences of God and enables us to create opportunities to reflect on who and where we are. A retreat has the potential to create a greater sensitivity to the presence of God in the ordinary, amid the pressures of our over-busy and noisy lives.” cci.org.uk
IDEA MAGAZINE / 17
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Retreats: 10 of the best Lee Abbey
Devon www.leeabbey.org.uk
Penhurst Retreat Centre near Battle www.penhurst.org.uk
Ashburnham Prayer Centre near Battle www.ashburnham.org.uk/ individiual_retreats
Scargill House
Wydale Hall
Worth Abbey
Stanton House
Ffald-Y-Brenin
Iona Community Retreats
Yorkshire www.scargillmovement.org Crawley www.worthabbey.net Pembrokeshire www.ffald-y-brenin.org
Pickering/Scarborough www.wydale.org near Oxford www.stantonhouse.org.uk Iona www.iona.org.uk
Northumbria Community
Felton www.northumbriacommunity.org
IDEA MAGAZINE / 18
Dave Landrum: director of advocacy for the Evangelical Alliance
POLITICS
Evangelical identity and British values Identity is a funny thing. It’s hugely important, yet often we take it for granted. It’s unique to each one of us, yet we all have many identities. I’m a father, a brother, a friend, English, a scouser, and an Everton supporter, to name but a few. These identities are like layers of an onion: each one more or less significant than another. The question is: what’s at the irreducible core? Who are we when everything else has been stripped away? In the years ahead, we can expect this question to come into sharp focus for evangelical Christians. That’s because, alongside the daily claims on our allegiances by our consumer culture trying to sell us particular ‘lifestyles’, a public debate is now developing about ‘British values’. Who we are as a nation – or nations – and what direction our society should go in is under the spotlight. Ordinarily, this kind of debate would provide an ideal opportunity to highlight the historical biblical roots of our national identity. In the UK, it’s not hard to illustrate the value of Christianity to our language and our culture. The 800th anniversary of Magna Carta provides the latest example of such an opportunity. However, despite such appeals to history being legitimate, the latest British values debate is set to be far more challenging and complex than previous discussions about national identity. In recent years the context for the debate has changed dramatically. The goalposts have moved. Rightly or wrongly, we have lived under the assumption that Britain is a Christian country for centuries. While constitutionally – in terms of the monarchy and the established Church – this assumption may still hold in a purely legal sense, the reality is that culturally our country is now far from Christian in its character. As we emerge from the failed secular experiment of the 20th century, our society is ever more diverse, individualistic and fragmented. Whereas in the past it was the Church that gave us a vision for society and for the common good, now it’s secular liberal elites in politics, the media and academia who are the primary shapers of our social ecology. At the Evangelical Alliance, we encounter this new status quo in our public policy work in the parliaments and assemblies of the nations of the UK. Whereas once there was a default Christian viewpoint, there is now a default secularism in government and the media. Alongside this, there is widespread religious illiteracy in society – a lack of knowledge about the motivations and actions of people of faith. Yet paradoxically, the social contribution of Christians is increasingly valued and needed at this time. JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015
All of this presents the Church with a number of important tasks: defending the freedom for the gospel and expressions of authentic Christianity; challenging ideas about a sacred/secular divide that sees faith as a private pursuit; educating the government and the media about the vital role of faith in public life; exposing the myth of secular neutrality and providing public leadership, both locally and nationally. The advocacy team at the Alliance is committed to pursuing these tasks as a matter of urgency – not least because the recent redefinition, or privatisation, of marriage has ushered in a completely different statutory understanding of human nature and society: a new social orthodoxy. In the years ahead, as the state becomes increasingly set against all those with traditional Christian views of sexuality and marriage, our understanding of ‘British values’ will be challenged. In the absence of any reasonable accommodation, in education, employment and welfare, we can expect the state to legally – directly – and coercively – indirectly – push against any identities that express dissenting views. How will our evangelical identity fare under these pressures? Will we acquiesce and compromise? Or will we opt-out and pursue piety? Will we stand and speak with courage and hope for a distinctively biblical way of life? Although this is a challenging context, perhaps we should be thankful for the opportunity to affirm what is at the core of our identities and to witness a distinctive, counter-cultural faith. In Hebrews 12, Paul describes the qualities needed to prosper under pressure. He teaches that everything that’s not of the Kingdom will be shaken. Consequently, the degree to which evangelicals identify as being British should probably be in accordance with the degree to which British values reflect the values of the Kingdom. In the years ahead, it will be important that strong foundations are in place for our identity as Christians. We will need to watch our life and doctrine closely. And we will need to know who we are in Christ and who Christ is in us. IDEA MAGAZINE / 19
IDEA MAGAZINE / 20
ON THE JOB
The Christian responsibility of creativity The identity of a brand, and the way it communicates that, is key to good marketing. Amaris Cole caught up with Michael Gough, the founder of Sparks Studio, a branding and communications company that sets clients apart from their competitors by recognising their unique identity. Basically, there are two aspects to good branding, Michael explains to me. It’s about brand promise and brand experience. Brand promise is all about the client’s shop window – what the world sees. “Brand promise is knowing who you are talking to and why you’re relevant,” whereas the experience is all about what the audience – the customers or the consumers – think of the brand. “Good brand communications bring brand promise in line with brand experience.”
above: A pocket-sized John’s gospel, a replica of one of the 43million articles of scripture given out during the first world war, designed for SGM Lifewords
Michael Gough
right: An example of Sparks work online
For Michael, listening is the first and most important part of his work with clients. Sparks identifies what the organisation does, and crucially why it does it, as it’s usually the ‘why’ that helps to distinguish them from their competitors. But how do we, as Christians, juggle the challenge of finding our identity in Christ and setting ourselves apart from the world with the industry’s need to make aesthetically pleasing design? The early days of Sparks were heavily influenced by the writings of Calvin Seerveld. “Based in Canada, he’s a Dutch guy who’s written a lot on what it means to be an artist and a Christian. His most famous book, Rainbows for a Fallen World, talks about the redemptive role of art,” Michael explains. His essay, The Freedom and the Responsibility of the Artist, is Sparks’ manifesto. It explains what it means to be a Christian in the arts. “What we were really struck by in that essay was his challenge not to settle for a subculture when it comes to making creativity, but to actually be thinking about the culture in a broader sense.” Michael believes the language used in the Christian context is inherent to the subculture, but doesn’t translate well in the mainstream: “Our challenge always to our faith-based clients is to make them think about what the mainstream culture is. We think about how we can lift that from the assumptions of a Christian subculture, turning that into something meaningful, engaging and relevant to the mainstream culture.” For Sparks, it’s all about helping clients see that opportunity to speak in a relevant way about an authentic Christian framework, but in a language that is engaging to a wider audience. And they’ve had a lot of experience, working with organisations such as Christian Aid and OMF, as well as singer Duke Special. But their work is diverse, stretching to financial companies, the legal sector and entertainment. This gap between the Christian culture and the mainstream is something Michael has thought about, in relation to both his work and his faith. “I used to do artwork for the UCCF in 1990s and I always used to challenge the students, asking what the connection was between what you believe as a Christian, to the creativity that you’re making. I think at a headline JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015
above: Work done for the Christian charity OMF
level, what we’re interested in is an honest, authentic representation of a particular client.” This honesty and transparency is rooted in the gospel, he says. “The gospel calls us to be real about ourselves and honest about ourselves. I think that’s a direct extension of our business model. The client can be authoritative and genuine in what they stand for in their brand.” Sparks is also influenced by Francis Schaeffer, who spoke about the lordship of Christ, ruling over every aspect of life. “What I get up to on a day-to-day basis is as useful and meaningful as what I get up to in my church context, my small group context, my evangelism context. There isn’t a dichotomy between being missional or what I get up to as a business owner; Christ rules over all of it.” So let’s imagine the Church as a whole became a client of his, what would he like to do to the ‘brand’? “The problem is the Church has an assumption about its culture, which sometimes gets in the way about people engaging and meeting with the true biblical expression of who Christ is. Lots of language we use in a church context is tied exclusively to this culture – it has little meaning outside. “I think the more we can do to help people outside of the Church to engage with the biblical text, the more we move away from this subcultural context and engage with the truth of the gospel.” sparks-studio.com IDEA MAGAZINE / 21
BIG INTERVIEW
Improbable grace by Chine Mbubaegbu
In her own unique way, novelist, writer and commentator Anne Lamott tells stories of her faith as it relates to her real life. Having experienced alcoholism and depression, her selfdeprecating humour regales readers with how she has dealt with the troubles of life and single-motherhood all the while keeping her eyes fixed on God. Lamott is the author of the New York Times bestseller Help, Thanks, Wow. We caught up with her just before her appearance at last year’s Greenbelt festival…
You write in Stitches that hope is a conversation. What did you mean by that?
idea: The world is pretty awful; wars, horrific crimes, planes being shot down from the sky. As we look at the world around us, how can we find hope?
Help, Thanks, Wow is a stunning little book and it’s helped many people – including me. But have you found your own prayer life has changed since writing it? Why do we find prayer so hard?
Anne Lamott: I love what Mr Rogers’ [The Mister Rogers Parenting Book] mother told him when he was young, and a tragedy was unfolding: “Look to the helpers.” Over and over again, in global and private circumstances, I see the most incredible love and mercy demonstrated in the people who respond to loss and tragedy – it so comforts my heart, and makes me shake my head with amazement and hope.
I’m not sure my prayer life has changed since HTW came out. It’s been these prayers and commitments for several decades. It seems to be working. I keep things very simple. When I don’t have the willingness to be truthful and real, I pray for it – and then the phone rings or the mail comes, and there is someone there who will listen without judgment, and help me clean out whatever wound is causing me pain or mental strife.
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I mean that we need to be both open, receptive, and sharing from a deep place within us. So it’s a flow, a circuit. We need to participate, give forth our best stuff, and take in from others. We open up to hope by telling the truth of our fear and hopelessness and ‘stuckness’ and pre-conceptions and prejudices, and we keep breathing, and we hear back something that is reassuring, such as that we’re not alone. And we’re all in the same boat. How do you start your day? I get up early, and say my prayers immediately upon waking. I read my daily devotionals, tend to the pets, then I have a strong cup of coffee and read the New York Times. You recently wrote about Robin Williams’s death. How would you advise the Church to help people suffering from mental health issues and addictions? Does the Church have any role to play? Are we kidding ourselves by thinking we can make a difference? No, we’re not kidding ourselves that we make a huge difference. This is how God heals and sustains us – through each other, sharing our experience, strength and hope. Telling our truth, and saying no to power in the Church – exposing lies, hypocrisy, abuses. The main thing is that no matter what, we show up to be God’s hands and eyes to the poor and suffering.
BIG INTERVIEW
Who are your favourite authors? What do you like to read? I love narrative non-fiction. A nice, juicy true story about people in impossible and scary, challenging circumstances. Loved Behind the Beautiful Forevers, Gypsy Boy, Going Clear by Lawrence Wright. Thomas Merton, Virginia Woolf, Wallace Stevens, T.S Eliot. I love lots of modern novelists and short story writers, like Kingsolver, Munro, Michael Cunningham, Kate Atkinson – all the same people you love. Love Mary Oliver, Sharon Olds, Yeats, Gary Snyder. CS Lewis, Phillip Yancey. I’ve seen your writing described as a “millennial gospel”. In the UK, like in the US, many millennials who grew up in church leave at some point in their 20s – when life happens: the depression, the eating disorders, the divorce, the doubt. Is there anything the Church can do to stop that? I can’t speak for any church, except that the message needs to be that all are welcome, 24/7, because that is the main message Jesus preaches – and that we need to take care of the poor, the suffering, the marginalised. I think healing tends to take place one-on-one, rather than through institutions. One person who has experienced profound healing becomes available to share the process/path with a few other people, offer a listening ear, a phone number, the willingness to show up for a cup of coffee. A few people in a church set up a mentoring or literacy programme – again, they just show up, with the willingness to listen, and share their truth. The millennials I know look at how we have screwed up the world, and how their elders tend to tear around being busy, trying to achieve and impress, looking hassled and grey and self-important, and pious, and they want something so different and way better than that, lives with a sense of immediacy and presence, much more authenticity. Anne Lamott’s new book Small Victories: Spotting Improbable Moments of Grace is out now. Anne Lamott
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IDEA MAGAZINE / 23
GLOBAL
Counting the cost of following Christ by Lucy Olofinjana
The Centre for the Study of Global Christianity estimates that 11 Christians die every hour because of their faith This summer the persecution of Christians reached the national headlines, as Meriam Ibrahim was released from a death sentence in Sudan and Iraqi Christians were driven out of their homes in their thousands. According to secular group the International Society for Human Rights, Christians face 80 per cent of all acts of religious discrimination in the world today, while the Centre for the Study of Global Christianity estimates that 11 Christians die every hour because of their faith. So what is it like to live out your faith in the face of opposition, simply because of your identity as a Christian? Wilson Chowdhry, chairman of the British Pakistani Christian Association, describes what life is like for Christians in Pakistan. “They face fear, poverty and discrimination on a daily basis. Many are locked in a cycle of poverty and illiteracy, and there is continuous fear of attack or blasphemy accusations. “About 40 per cent of Christians in Pakistan are effectively slaves – bonded labourers of one sort or another.”
School textbooks describe Pakistani identity as synonymous with Islam, with Christians made to feel they are abandoning their national identity and treated as second-class citizens. Christians are particularly vulnerable to blasphemy accusations under Pakistan’s Blasphemy Laws (Section 295C of the Penal Code). Pakistan has been named the number one enforcer of blasphemy laws in the world, and many Christians are falsely accused by others and kept on remand for years. Even if they are acquitted, they face a life on the run hiding from violent mobs. These mobs often take the law into their own hands, as seen on 4 November 2014 when Shahzad Masih and his pregnant wife Shama Bibi, brick-kiln workers in Kasur, near Lahore, were falsely accused of burning the Qu’ran. News of their ‘blasphemy’ spread to surrounding villages, with several mosques using loudspeakers to call for their deaths. Tragically, the couple were beaten, paraded naked and then burnt alive, leaving their three children orphaned.
Pakistani Christian couple burnt in brick kiln, with their mother IDEA MAGAZINE / 24
Christians mourning in Pakistan
Many families flee their homes in fear of their lives. Sheem Gill, former chairman of the Scottish Asian Christian Fellowship, explains that usually only those from well-off families are able to seek asylum abroad. On arrival in the UK, many face intense questioning to prove that they are Christians. Groups such as the Scottish
Burying the couple
GLOBAL
I gave up everything, including my family, for Christ, and all I got in return was meetings. “If I return to the Islamic community in any town, I’m considered an apostate and would get into trouble.” But for Mohamad there is no question that he will continue in his faith, despite the opposition he faces: “When you know the truth and reality of who Christ is, you can’t turn away from it. You’d have to be totally mad to turn away. I stand firm in that.” Mohamad’s story offers a sobering challenge to the UK Church, which he has often found to be “superficial”. “I gave up everything, including my family, for Christ, and all I got in return was meetings.”
Asian Christian Fellowship and the British Pakistani Christian Association, members of the Alliance, provide a network for Pakistani Christians living in the UK, and also arrange protest marches and petitions for the persecuted Church in Pakistan. Pressure to convert to Islam is intense, with Christian women and girls facing kidnap,
rape and forced conversion, followed by forced marriages, which often mean they never see their families again. In most cases the police side with the kidnappers, with parents sometimes beaten by police. Fathers who refuse to convert to Islam can be punished through the rape of their daughters, some as young as two. Christians who are born into a Muslim family in Pakistan can be identified as ‘apostates’ through compulsory identity cards that display the religion they are born into. Wilson Chowdhry explains that while the civil service has procedures to change identification from Christian to Muslim, there is no such process for those converting from Islam to another religion. Mohamad Fiaz was born into a Muslim Pakistani family in the UK and chose to become a Christian in his late teens after questioning Islam. He experienced love and compassion from Christians while living in a Salvation Army hostel, confirming to him that Jesus was the true way. “I haven’t seen my family for almost 30 years. They took it as a personal attack,” Mohamad told me. He has lived outside of the Asian community in the UK ever since, explaining:
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Mohamad feels that genuine fellowship and practical support is lacking in churches, describing stories of Christians from all walks of life who have experienced a lack of care. These include a single friend in Scotland who has never been invited to visit anyone from her church, and an elderly man who was not visited by his church leadership or house group members while in hospital. Rather than making excuses for our own inactions, he calls on us to treat each other as we would our own family. The reality is that under Christ we are one family, and: “If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it,” 1 Corinthians 12:26. Because of this, the Evangelical Alliance’s Religious Liberty Commission exists to bring together organisations working on behalf of persecuted Christians to speak with one voice. Along with member organisations CSW, Open Doors and Release International, we are encouraging the UK Church to pray and act on behalf of our persecuted family across the world. Find out more at eauk.org/rlc If you would like to invite Mohamad to speak at your church, contact Lucy on l.olofinjana@eauk.org Mohamad Fiaz’s full story will be released in 2016 in the book Apostate. IDEA MAGAZINE / 25
IN THE THICK OF IT
Beyond access: enabling the Church
by Lucy Cooper
My disability is not the only problem in my life. When I request prayer don’t assume that it’s the only thing I want prayer for The first issues many think of when disability is mentioned are physical access, hearing loops and large-print hymn books. While vital, these facilities were not what concerned the majority of respondents. Of more concern were attitudes and a lack of real understanding of what their lives are like or what their needs are. Others recounted insightful experiences. A woman in a wheelchair who was used to being overlooked happened to break her leg and have a plaster cast. Everything changed when people thought she is a ‘normal’ person who was temporarily unable to walk: people spoke to her. But once the cast was removed, she returned to where she was before, unseen and separate. A Christian speaker noted that since becoming a wheelchair user she has received far fewer invitations to speak. One man deeply involved in the life of his church hurt his back and had to use a mobility scooter. He commented that now no one was interested in his opinion.
Prospects working in a church.
Two thirds of people do not feel at ease talking to a disabled person, according to Scope’s End the Awkward research. This is uncomfortable reading. Respondents agreed that disabled people face prejudice, but also admitted to deliberately avoiding disabled people. But surely the situation is different in the Church? Think again. While we profess that every person is made in God’s image and of equal value, people with all kinds of disabilities continue to feel excluded and even unwelcome in churches. Alliance member Through the Roof asked disabled people about their experience of church. The feedback is mixed, but all too often, disabled people have encountered damaging attitudes, including the message that “we want God to change you” - implying that they are not acceptable as they are. The message from the disabled community to the Church is clear: go beyond ticking the box that requires a ramp and accessible toilet to actually creating a place of inclusion and participation for all.
I wish churches knew how hard and how lonely it is to bring up a child with a disability, it’s not just a “bad day”, this is every day IDEA MAGAZINE / 26
So why the awkwardness? Roy McCloughry, national disability adviser to the Church of England, said: “One of the reasons people can be so uncomfortable around disabled people is that they realise that their lives are fragile and at any moment they could be thrust into a world that they are not prepared for. People are too busy to invest in deep relationships.” Annie Rey, a mother of a boy with Down’s syndrome, wishes the Church would give her a break: “At any service, a little empathy goes a long way. Forget ‘Christ is risen!’, we were welcomed with the far more important: ‘Will he behave?’ Er, pass the crystal ball please!” The Church should be the place where the most marginalised or vulnerable groups in society are welcomed. Some churches have successfully ensured that disabled people are an integral part of the community, even in the presence of practical difficulties. But by contrast, others have all the physical access requirements in place, yet leave disabled people feeling belittled or overlooked. “There’s still more practical access work to be done, of course braille, large-print, ramps, loops and visuals,” says Gordon Temple, executive director of Torch Trust. “But the deeper issue is creating a place where disabled people truly belong, where we discover our true identity and find wholeness.” There is a concern that some attitudes may in fact be regressing, as Haydon Spenceley, who has cerebral palsy, noted: “As a Church of England minister and wheelchair user, I fear that the belief that impairment equals weakness is creeping back into society. Social disablement - constructing things in a way that others are excluded and unable to
Revd John Bradley.
IN THE THICK OF IT
work with children or take part in the flower rota, but no one thinks to offer them the opportunity. Some are called to, and more than capable of fulfilling a prayer ministry, a pastoral or leadership role. John Bradley, a retired Methodist minister and wheelchair user with multiple sclerosis, was disappointed that “in modern buildings, the worship area for the congregation is accessible but the platform is not. This implies an expectation that disabled people will not lead.” “My disability is far from the most important thing about me, but I’m ready to speak about how I make sense of it in my own life and faith. I hope I give a visible example that being disabled isn’t the end of being involved in leadership,” added John.
A small group, including partially blinded members.
take part - should have no place in our lives or churches. Churches with disabled people in them are stronger, not weaker, and more reflective of the body of Christ.” Some key ways to ensure disabled people feel valued is to give time, develop real friendships, include invitations to social events, provide opportunities to serve, listen and consider modifying things like schedules, or indeed expectations, to allow disabled people to be involved. Sarah, from Lincoln, benefits from a Prospects group as they allow for her needs: “I don’t mind people knowing that I struggled with church because of my learning disability. I just couldn’t understand what people were talking about in church.” Roy McCloughry maintains that friendships and groups like this are vital: “If you change your values, slow down and really get to know people that are different from you, you would find that life is richer than you ever thought it could be.” Other answers in the survey show that many would like the chance to do a Bible reading, man the sound desk, lead a house group,
It’s no good to say ‘we don’t need a ramp as we have no disabled members’ – as long as they have steps no wheelchair users will come!
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Haydon Spenceley ends with a challenge: “We have a mission opportunity and it’s imperative not just to anticipate that people with diverse abilities and impairments will come to church, but to throw open our doors and allow people to find a home with us.” Disability remains a vastly under-represented topic and this article only touches the surface of a small number of issues. It should be noted that many disabilities are unseen, including mental illness, chronic pain or fatigue. Articles in previous editions of idea have looked at the Church and mental health and Church and the d/Deaf. RESOURCES & ORGANISATIONS •
Churches for All - Christian disability charities have come together under the banner of Churches for All to encourage churches to become enabling churchesforall.org.uk
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Talks/scripts from Enabling Church conference available online churchesforall.org.uk/enablingchurch
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Sign the Churches Inc pledge to make your church disabled friendly livability.org.uk/church/churches
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Become a ‘Roofbreaker’ to champion the needs of disabled people in your church throughtheroof.org/shop2/ be-a-roofbreaker/
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Have a church consultation and get resources from Livability who work with churches livability.org.uk/church/ church-livability/
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Find out more about Prospects groups prospects.org.uk/index.php/whatwedo/2/7
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Worship for All system by the Torch Trust can help turn those screen words into large print or braille torchtrust.org/smartweb/literature/literature
IDEA MAGAZINE / 27
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Identity and purpose
The question of identity is answered best in Jesus Christ. Who am I? Am I Indian? Am I British? Yes, but the most satisfying answer I have a found is I belong to Jesus Christ. I am his and he is mine and his banner over me is love.
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The question: “Who am I?” has echoed throughout history. It’s expressed through film, theatre and music. It’s debated in universities and in conversations around the world. It’s a search for identity – with a longing for purpose. If we can answer this first question, the second may seem easier to answer: “Why am I?” That’s a question of purpose. Perhaps the greatest struggle we all go through regardless of race or colour, is one of identity, and therefore purpose. Both my parents were born and raised in India, but were married here in the UK. They set up home in the Midlands and in 1974, I came along. I was born into an Indian family with a strong cultural heritage, and yet schooled and surrounded by a British culture. We were and still are living in England, but my family wanted to retain their Indian culture. Both cultures presented challenges in language and values, and there was the potential for misunderstanding. Differences were often perceived as threats. As if those challenges weren’t enough, my parents
became Christians. The wider family saw this as rejection of both them and the Indian culture. I found myself with a foot in both cultures, and at times confused trying to navigate through the various challenges, trying to find my bearings. The stabilising factor really came in my own personal walk with Jesus.
Clash of cultures As a 14-year-old schoolboy, I was stopped on a street and questioned by three older Indians boys why I was wearing a badge that said: Jesus. They asked: “Are you English now?” I wasn’t sure how to answer and tried to help them understand that following Christ was not a rejection of my Indian culture, but a change of faith. I could be fully Indian and still believe in Jesus Christ. I also remember the struggle in referring to English history as mine or ours. I had to think twice: “Is it my history, is it my country?” My personal conclusion was that it is, as I was born here and feel like I belong. I’m aware that others may answer that question differently and don’t believe there is a right or a wrong point of view. I
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Who Am I? The challenge of contrasting cultures by Steve Uppal
settled the question very early on, while still in my teens. I am proud to be Indian and absolutely love the heritage I have. At the same time, I’m grateful to have the British heritage too. I count myself privileged to have been part of both worlds and believe myself to be a richer, better person for it. I decided that if a clash of cultures arose, the Kingdom of God would win in my life. Conflicts would be settled by what the Bible says and what my heavenly Father expects from me. His way would always win in my life. I am first a Christian – a Jesus-follower – and then Indian or British.
Whose I am defines who I am My ultimate identity and purpose comes from whose I am as a child of God. Through the precious blood of Jesus shed on the cross, the way was made possible for me – and every other human – to be reconciled to Father God. My greatest joy and my deepest identity comes from belonging to Him. And then from that belonging I find my purpose in the family of God. Paul told the Roman Church that they have received the spirit of adoption and can JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015
now cry: “Abba Father.” It’s the reality of this belonging that really changes everything. The truth of adoption in Christ silences many lesser arguments and tensions; a higher truth is now revealed and accepted. My identity as a blood-bought child of God supersedes my colour or where I was brought up. It’s not that I lose those things, but they find their meaning ultimately in Christ – 1 Romans 8:15. In my Church over 30 nations are represented. I love the diversity and richness of being part of such a congregation. There is always much to learn from others and their way of life, but the one thing that joins us is Jesus Christ. He gave his life for each of us. We know our ultimate identity is in him. Our sins are forgiven and we are washed clean. We are lavishly loved and accepted by the Father. John the Apostle seems to have a revelation of this extraordinary love and belonging. “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are...” 1 John 3:1.
Yet to all who did receive him – to those who believed in his name – He gave the right to become children of God – John 1:12. The cross provides the way to a new family, a new name and a significant eternal purpose. The question of identity is answered best in Jesus Christ. Who am I? Am I Indian? Am I British? Yes, but the most satisfying answer I have a found is I belong to Jesus Christ. I am his and he is mine and his banner over me is love.
Our Father’s business As we come into the reality of our identity in Christ and our belonging to Father God, we will say with Jesus: “I must be about my Father’s business.” Our purpose is to do the will of Him, to whom I belong. So the question of purpose is answered in the truth of belonging. Many Christians may know some of these truths in their minds, but they have never become a reality in their hearts. My prayer is that they will become a revelation to you today. Meditate on these truths, pray about them and the Holy Spirit will make them life to you. And you too can cry: “Abba Father!” 2 Luke 2:49. IDEA MAGAZINE / 29
THEOLOGY
Can we keep our virtual identity virtuous? by Dr Marika Rose Research Fellow in Digital Discipleship at the CODEC Research Centre
For Christians, the question of who we are and what we’re called to can’t be separated from the question that a lawyer once asked Jesus: “Who is my neighbour?” Jesus’ answer to the lawyer’s question probably seemed uncomfortable to his listeners. Your neighbour is the person who offers you kindness, even if – perhaps especially – they’re not the sort of person you’d usually choose to spend time with; even if they’re not religious in the right way; even if they’re someone you would normally consider not to be your neighbour, but actually your enemy.
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A lot has changed since Jesus first told the story of the Good Samaritan. The long history of social, political, and economic transformations that Christians have played a significant role in, both for good and for bad, means that we’re more connected than we have ever been. We can’t even go to the shop without getting caught up in complicated economic systems that stretch across the world in ways we can’t begin to comprehend. That has all sorts of consequences for the way we think about what it means to be Christians, but perhaps one of the most significant is the way it changes how we think about our answer to that basic question: who is my neighbour? What becomes clear online is something that has been true for a long time, but that Christians haven’t always been good at acknowledging: the choices we make about who to spend time with, who to listen to, who to learn from as we continue to figure out what it means to be a Christian today, are always political. We can’t possibly know all of the people whose lives are affected by our decisions. When we choose to care about some issues, we are choosing not to care about others; when we choose to ask what it means to love this person as our neighbour, we are choosing not to love that person. Evangelicalism has tended to prioritise individual people over social structures. It tends to be more concerned with people’s personal relationships with Jesus than with the big systems that control all of our relationships with one another. It’s much easier to care about the people who are right in front of us than it is to care about the people on the other side of the world who make the clothes we wear and the food we eat. And even when we do care about those people, it’s all too easy to assume that we know what’s best for them, without doing
the hard work of listening to what they’re saying. One of the best things about the internet is that it makes us harder for us to ignore the ways that our lives are caught up with the lives of other people around the world. The internet makes it harder to hold onto models of engaging with the world that assume we can love our neighbours without paying attention to what they really need or want. Offline, we can sometimes convince ourselves that the whole world looks and thinks like we do. Online, it’s harder: we keep rubbing up against people we know from years ago, people on the other side of the world, people who insist on intruding on the conversations we’re having about them, to demand that we listen to their opinions. We can choose to shut ourselves off from those opportunities to listen to unfamiliar voices if we want. We can build an online world for ourselves that’s as gentrified or homogenous as the physical neighbourhoods we increasingly live in. We can keep talking about the poor and the needy as though they’re helpless, voiceless victims who just need us to condescend to help them. We can surround ourselves with people who look like us, talk like us, think like us. Or we can take up the opportunities that the online world offers us like nothing else: to listen to and learn from people whose lives are even more different to ours than the life of the Samaritan was to the lives of the respectable religious people of Jesus’ day. Maybe if we do that, we start to learn who we are, and what it means to love our neighbour in a complicated, connected world; in a world where Christianity is always political, where we have to make decisions about who we stop to help, and where we might find that the neighbour who saves our life is the very person we once looked down on.
GOOD QUESTION
by Dr David Hilborn Principal of St John’s Nottingham
What is an Evangelical? As a ‘public evangelical’ I have frequently found myself correcting journalists and others when they have mistakenly equated evangelicals with ‘evangelists’ or ‘fundamentalists’, or when they have more crassly used ‘evangelical’ as a synonym for ‘bigot’. No doubt we need to reflect on why these misunderstandings have arisen. But more importantly, we need to emphasise that to be ‘evangelical’ is in the most authentic sense of the word to be a faithful Christian disciple. The word ‘evangelical’ derives from key New Testament term euangelion, meaning ‘good news’, often rendered ‘gospel’, after the Old English translation the same Greek word. The gospel describes the core proclamation of the Christian faith, centred on Jesus Christ and the divine plan of redemption fulfilled in his life, death, resurrection and renewal of creation. On these grounds evangelicals have characteristically presented themselves as ‘gospel people’. Indeed, as Geoffrey Grogan notes, before they claim descent from any subsequent phase of Christian history, evangelicals will claim to represent the faith “once entrusted to the saints”, Jude 1:3, spread abroad by those saints in mission, and summarised in the great creeds and councils of the early Church. On this basis, the leading Anglican evangelical John Stott properly insisted that evangelical faith is “neither an eddy nor a backwater but mainstream Christianity”. While it is important to stress this apostolic, orthodox dimension of evangelicalism, we also need to recognise that the term ‘evangelical’ achieved more distinctive prominence in the early 16th century, in relation to the Protestant Reformation. There, it defined those who held to Martin Luther’s teaching that sinners are justified solely by grace through faith rather than through works, and who derived this from a Bible they had come to regard as supremely authoritative with respect to tradition and reason. Later, ‘evangelical’ came to be used of other Protestant communities like the Puritans and Pietists, who arose over the succeeding two centuries. Despite this, the most influential modernday definition of evangelicalism in the British JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015
and American context has been advanced by David Bebbington, who associates it more especially with the 18th century revivals led by John Wesley, George Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards and others. Bebbington sees these revivals as reshaping Protestantism on a more distinctive four-fold pattern marked by: “conversionism, the belief that lives need to be changed; activism, the expression of the gospel in effort; biblicism, a particular regard for the Bible; and what may be called crucicentrism, a stress on the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.” Bebbington’s ‘quadrilateral’ is debated, but it is not intended to be a comprehensive account of everything that evangelicals believe and practise. Rather it is a summary of what they most distinctively emphasise within the wider spectrum of Protestantism, and of Christianity as a whole. Indeed, one of the virtues of Bebbington’s grid is that it allows that evangelicalism as a whole has long displayed considerable diversity – encompassing Anglicans and nonconformists, paedo-baptists and believers’ baptists, and so on. In this sense, evangelicalism is neither a single church nor doctrinal system, but a dynamic movement committed to an essential core of beliefs and to the transformation of individuals and society by the power of the gospel. As Derek Tidball has noted, this means that evangelicalism is also quite often a contested tradition. Since 1846 the Evangelical Alliance has been active in uniting a wide range of evangelicals around a common Basis of Faith. Yet neither the Alliance or its sister bodies overseas can claim to speak for all
who own the name ‘evangelical’. In the 19th century evangelicals like Lord Shaftesbury and Hannah More achieved remarkable social reforms, but others were nervous that such activism would detract from more traditional evangelical concern for personal conversion and renewal. Likewise, some evangelicals sought to reconcile Darwin’s ideas on the origins of life with evangelical teaching, while others rejected them as unbiblical. In the early 20th century the rise of the ecumenical movement engaged some evangelicals, while others rejected it as compromising evangelical integrity. In the US, such tensions resulted in a divergence between ‘Neo-evangelicals’ like Billy Graham who were relatively more open to social action and dialogue with other traditions, and ‘Fundamentalists’ like Bob Jones who focused on the purity of their own approach. In Britain John Stott argued that evangelicals should remain within ‘mixed’ denominations while Martyn Lloyd Jones called for a realignment of evangelicals within a new network. More recently further tensions have arisen in relation to biblical inerrancy, spiritual gifts, same-sex relationships and the nature of hell. While it cannot definitively ‘rule’ on these issues for all evangelicals, the Alliance has played a major part in guiding the evangelical community through them, and helping it to understand the key points at stake. Above all, however, it has sought to foster that vision which motivated its foundation, and which drives it on today – the vision of evangelicals united in gospel essentials and witnessing to them more effectively together than apart.
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LEADERS’ QUESTIONS
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What does the word ‘evangelical’ mean to you? There are two million evangelical Christians in the UK, yet there are still disputes about what the term really means, so we have asked four Church leaders: What does the word ‘evangelical’ mean to you?
Revd Rachel Marszalek, All Saints Ealing Common, London Scripture has the highest authority for life and discipleship, read through the lenses of reason, tradition and experience. God’s truth is encountered in the person of Jesus Christ who died and rose again, making a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction for the sins of the whole cosmos to reconcile it to God. This is good news. Invited by the Holy Spirit we share in that reconciliation project.
Dr Lucy Peppiatt, principal of Westminster Theological Centre The word ‘evangelical’ to me connotes a set of shared values based on a commitment to witness to the truth of Jesus Christ as unique Lord and Saviour, of humanity first and then of creation as a whole, effected ultimately through his death and resurrection. In addition, I understand evangelicals perceiving scripture as the primary authoritative lens through which and against which all other texts, ideas, cultures etc are interpreted and measured.
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Matt Valler, director of The Alchemy Project Being an evangelical, for me, is about being part of a family of faith – albeit one in which the parents now sleep in separate rooms. We are divided by common language; all believing in the Bible, in the cross, in the need for conversion, and in the activism of the Church, but meaning different things. We can be reconciled, but it will require radical openness towards those with whom we disagree.
John Glass, general superintendent to the Elim Church and chair of the Evangelical Alliance’s Council We believe that Jesus Christ and his dying on the cross for our sins is good news for all society, and that everyone can enter into relationship with him if they turn away from their sin and devote their lives to him. We also believe that the Bible is our ultimate authority and governs the way we live our lives and act in our world. Spurred on by a desire to bring good news to our communities, we are passionate about bringing about change for the good and so social action forms a central part of how we live as Christians locally, nationally and globally.
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CULTURE
Holly Price is a writer with Damaris, which provides free resources for Damaris Film Clubs
Who are the Hawkings? The Theory of Everything, released 1 January, tells the love story of a unique couple. It follows an icon of our time back into his past, as he attempts to trace the very origins of our existence. It’s not only the character and convictions of Stephen Hawking, played by Eddie Redmayne, that make this film so captivating, but those of the fellow Cambridge student who becomes the love of his life, Jane Wilde – Felicity Jones. As a young man, Stephen is not just known for his genius; he is sporty, witty and charming. He is full of the hope of new love, passionate about the prospect of scientific discovery, and raring to make something of himself. But, at the age of 21, his future is apparently obliterated when he is diagnosed with a terminal illness that will rob him of his faculties. “The brain isn’t affected,” the doctor tells him. “Your thoughts won’t change; it’s just no one will know what they are.” As we reflect on identity, it’s a sobering situation to imagine ourselves in. Without the chance to share our breakthroughs, to demonstrate our abilities, to confide our feelings, who are we? Now factor in the ambitions of one of the greatest thinkers of our time, and his belief that he – along with the rest of humanity – is merely an accident of cosmology, and imagine the despair. Stephen is not alone in this battle, however. Jane is determined to stand with him, for however long he has left. “This will not be a fight, Jane,” her father warns her. “This is going to be a very heavy defeat.” But, love makes her tenacious: “I know what you all think: that I don’t look like a terribly strong person. But I love him, and he loves me. We’re going to fight this illness, together.” They marry, staring down the barrel of Stephen’s prognosis. As their life together unfurls before them, Jane must summon all her inner strength to contend with the everyday reality of her role as a carer. How will their marriage evolve to meet the demands of Stephen’s condition, his career and their children? What about Jane’s needs? Will she receive the support necessary to keep giving sacrificially? We see Jane go to church on more than one occasion, and there is the suggestion that her faith gives her an unshakable hope. In many ways her identity is wrapped up in her role as Stephen’s wife and carer, having sacrificed so many of her own pursuits in the process. Nevertheless, the God of the Bible IDEA MAGAZINE / 34
gives his followers an identity that does not depend on status. Stephen’s identity is impacted by his belief that the origins of existence can be explained without God, that, “spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists, why we exist.”1 The real Hawking says: “We are such insignificant creatures on a minor planet of a very average star on the outer suburbs of one of a hundred thousand million galaxies. So it is difficult to believe in a God that would care about us or even notice our existence.”2 When God is taken out of the equation of existence, the inherent value of people is easily lost. Our identity becomes the sum of our achievements, our image and our legacy. We must create it ourselves. When our ability to succeed in these areas is threatened, we run the risk of feeling worthless, a mere victim of chance. Conversely, the foundation of Jane’s identity is that she is made, loved and chosen by God. This is the love that she can lean on in the face of bereavement and illness, and the daily struggles that accompany each. In the film, Stephen says: “There should be no boundary to human endeavour. However bad life may seem, while there is life, there is hope.” But the Christian hope soars further than even the greatest human mind could
fathom. There is no limit to God’s love for us, regardless of what we have done. However bad life may seem, there will always be God, so there will always be hope. The Theory of Everything is released in cinemas on 1 January 2015. For free official resources, see damaris.org/ theoryofeverything Stephen Hawking in Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow, The Grand Design (Bantam, 18 August 2011) p.180
1
Stephen Hawking quoted in Albert Mohler, ‘What Breathes Fire into the Equations?’ (9 January 2012)
2
Holly Price 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.
CHARTS
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5 IDEA-LIST
New Year’s Resolutions you should actually keep
1 – Lend some sugar Make 2015 the year you get to know one neighbour. It may be the elderly couple to your left or the young family to your right. Whoever you choose, practise friendship, hospitality and kindness, just as the Bible teaches. Talk to your neighbours. Share life with them. Share a meal with them. Share your home with them. Being lonely is so 2014.
2 – Pack your own It’s simple, really. All our Welsh readers are a step ahead, where shops now have to charge their customers for the plastic privilege – but it’s time we all moved on from the carriers. Plastic bags take between 400 and 1,000 years to break down. Nearly 90 per cent of the debris in our oceans is plastic, and 100,000 turtles and other sea creatures die from discarded plastic that makes its way into our seas. So don’t use them. Instead, keep a canvas alternative with you when you pop to the shops.
3 – Get political The RSPB has more than double the members of the top three political parties combined. As Steve Holmes wrote in the last edition of idea, it is our Christian duty to engage in politics. Voting is just the first stage of that. But can we do more? Join a political party; get involved in campaigning for your chosen local candidate or even pray with your local Christian politicians. We constantly hear that there’s no point in engaging with politics because we won’t be heard. Well, if we go by that, it just means the voices of those who do speak will be even louder. Add yours to the conversation.
4 – Make one new friend at church It is so easy to go to church each week and just speak to those who you know and get on with, but try and welcome a new member into your life in 2015. For some, church is quite a nerve-racking place, but a friendly face and a conversation about their week could make them feel welcomed and loved. We are called to love our neighbours, so let’s start with those in our churches.
5 – Read one book a week If you have a little time on your hands, this one is for you. One member of the Alliance advocacy team, who suggested this one, attempted this last year and called it “fun but ridiculous”. I think that is a recommendation. Keep notes of the books you work through and feel smug when you put down your 52nd book this time next year. Extra points if your books are Christian. IDEA MAGAZINE / 36
REVIEWS
by Amaris Cole
WHY SUFFERING? by Ravi Zacharias & Vince Vitale (FaithWords) Addressing the well-worn challenge of whether a good and powerful God can be reconciled with the suffering we experience, this book looks at a variety of responses the Christian faith has to offer. The different approaches are not pitched against each other but as cumulative witnesses building the evidence to help understand why suffering happens. This broad approach is the book’s main strength along with the pastoral wisdom that comes through strongly in the final chapters. The chapters written separately bring the advantage of bringing two different voices to the subject, but the upshot is the book doesn’t seamlessly flow. The book attempts, sometimes successfully and on other occasions not, to address complex philosophical questions in an accessible way. In Why Suffering? the authors suggest that asking hard questions of God is not only allowed, but welcomed by God. Reviewed by Danny Webster
ROC YOUR WORLD: CHANGING COMMUNITIES FOR GOOD by Debra Green OBE (River Publishing) This book is a story of hope. In it, Debra Green OBE inspires, challenges and encourages us all to have a passion to see our communities transformed socially, physically and spiritually with the good news of Jesus Christ. Founded in 2004, Redeeming Our Communities now has more than 50 projects across the UK. Committed to creating strategic partnerships, which open up opportunities to reduce crime and disorder, ROC works towards better community cohesion. ROC Your World: Changing Communities for Good is a challenge to us to, like Debra, commit to God’s calling upon our lives and see his kingdom come right where we are. Reviewed by Chine Mbubaegbu
VOTEWISE 2015 by Guy Brandon (Jubilee Centre) Following similar titles produced before the last two General Elections, this completely new book comes out ahead of May’s vote. It provides helpful insight from a Christian perspective on many major issues likely to be debated in the coming months including the economy, the NHS, Europe, immigration, the environment and education. Added to the policy chapters are five helpful short pieces from Christians in the Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrat, UKIP and Green parties explaining how their faith influences their political persuasion. Getting Christians to think before they vote would be a great outcome from this book, prompting longer lasting engagement would be even better. Reviewed by Danny Webster
LETTERS: HAVE YOUR SAY
In your words
We love hearing from you, so have your say on any of the issues raised in idea or make any comments about the Evangelical Alliance by emailing idea@eauk.org
Celebrating the elderly
Ashers Bakery
Thank you for your article “Celebrating the Elderly” (Nov/Dec.) about how people from Jesus House church in Brentford, London, visit care homes for the elderly to share God’s love with them. Another charity called ‘PARCHE’ (Pastoral Action in Residential Care Homes for the Elderly) hold Christian services in almost all Eastbourne’s elderly care homes. They work with Churches Together in Eastbourne on this. Details on www.parche.org.uk.
I think it’s unjust that Ashers Baking Company in Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland, has been accused of discrimination by equality bodies. They had not refused to make a cake for that person and had not refused to serve them, which would have been discrimination. All they objected to was using their skills to put a gay propaganda slogan on, which was opposed to their religious beliefs. Similarly, if I went into a T-shirt printing shop and asked for an offensive swear word to be put on my T-shirt, it would be acceptable for them to refuse to print that word. They wouldn’t be discriminating against me if they agreed to print a T-shirt for me but without the offensive word on.
It is important to share the good news of Jesus with them, as many older people have to face bereavement, ill-health, frailty and losing their home. It would be good if a network could be set up by churches so that when an elderly person has to leave their home & church and go into residential care, someone from a nearby church could visit them. Most areas have more churches than care homes, so it could be possible to arrange this. Parche have a DVD showing their work, as they would like the idea to be taken up nationally. Many older people appreciate having Christian fellowship - and the Bible tells us that older people are precious to God. Best wishes, Ann Wills Leadership prerequisite In his helpful article ‘What is wrong with polygamy’ (Idea Nov/Dec 2014) Don Horrocks refers to 1 Timothy 3:2: “The overseer must be beyond reproach and the husband of but one wife,” and Titus 1:6: “An elder must be blameless, the husband of but one wife.” Don could be misconstrued as suggesting marriage rather than monogamy (when someone is married) ‘is a prerequisite for leadership in the church’ and that single people are disqualified.
Best wishes, Anon Thank you…
Simon Thomas @simonthomas0504 @NewGenChurch great to see #larkinthepark in @idea_mag this morning, was fun to be part of the journey with @miraclestreet #thisischurch Jason Clark @jasonclark Exciting to see Sutton Vineyard Church mentioned in the EA UK Idea Magazine #vcuki #suttonvineyard eauk.co/1oBbg5C via @ idea_mag Chine Mbubaegbu @ChineMbubaegbu Great first edition of @idea_mag by @ AmarisColeEA - great to have her in the team. Check it: eauk.org/idea/
Editor Amaris Cole – idea@eauk.org Consulting editors Steve Morris, Krish Kandiah Contributing writers Catherine Butcher, Lucy Olofinjana, Gethin Russell-Jones, David Smyth, Kieran Turner, Nicky Waters Advertising manager Candy O’Donovan c.odonovan@eauk.org Design & Print Cliffe Enterprise Head of media & communications Chine Mbubaegbu
for the inspiring article on the impact of the Billy Graham crusade in 1954. The numbers who attended - over one million - with 38,000 registered professions of faith is wonderful to hear and inspiring as to what is possible.
idea is published bi-monthly 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.
And yet I find myself asking the question what happened to the country in the next few decades? It would seem to be a growing turning away from the Lord in so many parts of British society. Why did such a staggering response in 1954 appear not to affect the overall trajectory of British society?
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.
Is it something we should expect? That as the gospel advances then darkness too will advance? We know God does not keep grandchildren, but what are the lessons we learn from the subsequent decades as to how God works in a nation?
Had Paul intended this he would have invalidated his own ministry!
I can’t say I have any answers, but it would be interesting to know what reflections and observations others have made.
Yours sincerely, Roger Philpott
Kind regards Sunil Raheja
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015
heard in tweets
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LAST WORD
Steve Clifford the general director, writes…
Navigating the future of our country I remember with fond memories when I would plan a car journey using a map – maybe some of my readers still do – but I have to admit, maps pretty much left the Clifford household a few years ago. Our travels are now dependant on the satnav. I feel nervous if I haven’t got the background voice instructing me as to the next manoeuvre, and occasionally when I make a mistake to “turn around when possible”. I have to confess: the satnav has also reduced marital tensions over map reading skills. However satnavs, great as they are, depend on putting in the right information as you start the journey. It wasn’t long ago, while making my way to an important conference at a large city centre church, that I found myself increasingly worried as I was being guided in to a social housing project at the edge of Southampton. Despite the friendly voice of my satnav guide, I was being taken completely in the wrong direction. This wasn’t my desired destination. A bit like the ambulance that sets out on a 20-minute journey but arrived 14 hours later by putting the wrong postcode. I have to confess as I watch my TV, listen to the radio, read the newspapers, the confident voices of so many in public life leave me with the same convictions: we’re going in the wrong direction and we’re not going to end up at the destination we desire. In case you haven’t heard, there’s an election coming. The early months of 2015 are going to be dominated by a campaign that has to be the most difficult election in recent history to predict. Nobody knows the impact UKIP, the Greens and SNP will have on those who have traditionally voted Conservative or Labour, or whether the Liberal Democrats can re-establish themselves, having sunk so low in the polls. Perhaps most seriously for democracy in the UK, can politicians of all political parties address the deep levels of disillusionment felt by so many, convinced that those in power ‘just don’t understand our lives’, or even more worryingly, ‘don’t really care’. IDEA MAGAZINE / 38
Battle lines are already being drawn, the party machines are gearing up and key issues are already emerging; migration, EU, NHS and of course: who do we trust to manage the economy? While not wanting to diminish the importance of any of these issues, I’m convinced there are bigger and more fundamental issues that need to be addressed. One of the Alliance’s contributions to the Scottish Independence debate was an amazing document written by Fred Drummond, director of Evangelical Alliance Scotland, and Kieran Turner, public policy officer in Scotland, entitled What kind of Nation? Manifesto for a future Scotland. It asked some big questions and called for strong responses from politicians from both sides of the Yes/No campaign. Calling for a values-based debate, with wisdom, justice, compassion and integrity, providing the key markers for the kind of nation they would like to live in. The implications of these Christian values were then explored with chapters asking: what kind of economy? What kind of family? What kind of society? What kind of environment?
Wow. That sounds like the kind of nation that I want to live in, indeed, the kind of country the Bible takes us to.
The document concludes: “We desire a Scotland where… the economy is based on values; poverty is unacceptable, welfare is effective and dignified, relationships are treasured, families are supported, marriages honoured, children are nurtured, freedom is protected, justice is transforming, communities are empowered, our environment is cherished, resources are stewarded and land is shared.”
What kind of Nation? is available online at eauk.org/scotland/what-kind-ofnation.cfm and hard copies available from Evangelical Alliance Scotland. Call 0141 353 01501 for more information.
As we approach 7 May 2015, the UK election date, we as an Alliance will be looking to support you. Working with Christians in Politics and all-party groups of Christians and peers, we will be providing you with all kinds of materials to help you get involved. Supporting you in prayer, perhaps joining a party, holding local hustings, contacting the press and media, connecting with your local candidates and of course ensuring that we all show up and vote. If we as a Christian community do not get involved you can be assured that other interest groups will. It’s no good complaining our voice hasn’t been heard if we haven’t taken the time and trouble to speak. Back to my satnav. The next few months of election campaigning, provide us with the opportunity to influence the UK’s journey of travel, and indeed our destination over the next few years. Let’s not miss this opportunity.
Learn more about the General Election in the next issue of idea…
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