Haiti's agony As aid agencies and missions carry on caring for the sick and dispossessed in the aftermath of the Haitian earthquake, new troubles are springing up for the country. Last month, ten US missionaries were arrested and detained under charges of abduction and criminal association for 'trafficking' 33 children across the border to the…
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Get smart on law Churches and charities are asking questions such as: 'Can we still insist that the church secretary be a Christian?'; 'Does the law stop us preaching on certain topics?' and 'How should we comply with the Charity Commission's public benefit rules?' This unease, exacerbated by recent legal cases, threatens to constrain Christian…
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Victory for peer pressure Until recently, Baroness Detta O'Cathain was relatively unknown outside Westminster. But after defending churches from certain clauses in the new Equality Bill, her name is now linked with a victory for religious freedom. Lady O'Cathain moved three amendments to the Government's Equality Bill, which had passed through the Commons and was on…
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Snow joke Sixteen volunteers from Africa, Asia and South America got more than they bargained for when they came to the UK as part of Careforce. While on an orientation course in Windsor as part of their year's ministry to serve churches in the UK, the volunteers had their first experience of snow during…
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Carey Conference The annual Carey Conference was held on 5-7 January in snow-covered Swanwick. For some delegates, this involved several hours of travelling in difficult weather. The theme was 'Confidence in God's Word'. Kees van Kralingen addressed the topic of the church's witness in the world from the early history of the Ephesian church.…
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Movers and shakers Richard Tiplady will become the new principal of Glasgow's InternationalChristian College (ICC) in August, following the retirement of Tony Sargent last year. Mr Tiplady is currently British director of European Christian Mission. Prior to this, he worked as a consultant for several Christian organisations, including Tearfund, and taught theology at Samuel Bill…
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The pill The Government's latest campaign - 'Contraception: worth talking about' - encourages young women to choose contraception such as 'the pill' to avoid unwanted pregnancies and abortions. But this campaign now has an unlikely detractor in the form of the Ecologist, which reports that the pill has been found to alter…
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Plea for Birstall A lack of committed members has put the future of the Birstall Community Church at risk, but the six members remaining believe God will bless their small, shepherdless fellowship. The spiritual needs of the local community are considerable and there is not much evidence of other vigorous gospel work going on…
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The dirty bank Pressure groups are taking the Treasury to court for the second time in a year over a failure to assess the environmental and human rights impact of RBS.According to the Ecologist, the UK Government's £25 billion cash injection into Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is being challenged by three pressure groups because…
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Sound of victory Lambeth Council has had to climb down after attempting to slap a noise abatement ban on a 600-strong London church. The All Nations Centre in Kennington was served with a noise abatement notice from the council on 25 September last year. This prevented the church from amplifying their music or sermons to…
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A day with Dick GaffinIt is always a delight for a theological college to welcome a renowned scholar to speak on a subject of importance. Should that delight bring with it a whole day of cancelled lectures, then it is easy to imagine the anticipation surrounding such an event, particularly for those students who…
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A Bible college on your doorstep The Christian Ministry Training Course (CMTC) is now up and running with 16 students. While the course offers in-depth training for those considering pastoral leadership, there are no college buildings and all the students have other full-time interests. Martin Woodier, Director of CMTC and pastor of Bethel Evangelical Church,…
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In God he trusts? The President of the US has 'appropriated Christianity for the Democrats', according to Dr Robert Beckford, who conducted a wide-ranging exploration of Barack Obama's faith for a BBC documentary. His documentary 'God bless you, Barack Obama' was screened on 25 January and showed how faith, race and politics have combined…
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Mercy killings Dr Peter Saunders, head of the Christian Medical Fellowship, has spoken out against the trend of public softening to mercy killings. Speaking on Premier Radio about whether those who assist their loved ones to die should be protected by law, Dr Saunders said: 'Parliament has looked at this twice over the past…
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Nigerian violence In a recent upsurge of violence in Plateau State, Nigeria, atrocities were committed on both sides. It is reported that mobs of nominal Christians attacked and killed Muslims. This happened in retaliation for Muslim attacks on Christian areas, which had led to the loss of lives, churches, homes and businesses. Nigerian church leaders…
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Five helps with GuidanceWhether it is 'What career should I aim for?' or 'Where shall I apply for uni-?' or 'Whom, if anybody, should I marry?' or something as seemingly insignificant as 'What should I wear today?', every one of us has countless choices to make. Every decision has consequences which can shape your…
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Caring for the elderly Christian charity Pilgrim Homes is compiling a resource pack to help people dealing with and caring for those suffering from dementia. Called Helping to put the pieces together, the dementia resources pack was created after the charity conducted wide-ranging surveys of individuals and churches about their understanding of the issue,…
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Ministers martyred Two street ministers in Boynton Beach, Florida, were killed by a man to whom they were witnessing. Tite Sufra, 24, and Stephen Ocean, 23, were shot and killed in January after preaching to a man known as 'Woody'. According to police reports, quoted in theFlorida Sun Sentinel, the ministers preached to him for…
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Doubting Darwin Theos, the public theology think-tank has published a wide-ranging report called Doubting Darwin, exploring evolutionary and non-evolutionary beliefs in the UK today and their relationship with theism and atheism. The survey, conducted with polling company ComRes and independent research agency ESRO, was commissioned in the light of the apparent increase of anti-evolutionary…
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Milnrow's French connection Milnrow Evangelical Church took two steps forward on Saturday 16 January. Hicham was recognised as a new pastor for the work in south-east France which Tony Hynes has planted and faithfully developed for many years. And to help fill the gap Hicham leaves, Julian Hurst was also recognised as a further…
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Selhurst minister retires Over 150 friends, family and members of the congregation praised God for nearly 40 years of faithful service by the Rev. Winston Saunders, retiring minister of Selhurst Evangelical Church, in South Norwood. Pastor Saunders, who has been the under-shepherd at Selhurst since 1970, gave a moving testimony to God's calling and continual…
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Care for children Nearly 85 per cent of China's orphans in state care die before reaching adulthood, according to shocking statistics from charity International China Concern. Founder David Gotts said that ICC was like a 'lifeboat' to these orphans, as it works throughout various provinces with children of different age groups. To help raise…
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Psychology and the Bible Christians, the Bible and Psychology - not often are these three put together in the same sentence. But All Souls' Church, Langham Place, is running a special one-day conference on 20 March to explore these themes. The conference will cover such topics as the world's search for truth in psychology, and…
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Waiting on God We all struggle at times to be sensitive to the still, small voice of God speaking to us through the Scriptures. So did Samuel in 1 Samuel 3, as he listened for the audible voice of God. Samuel was a young lad probably about twelve years of age, dedicated to the…
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New pastor for Holywell The weather outside was frightful, but inside Holywell Free Church, Loughborough, it was delightful as 250 folk gathered on 9 January to witness the induction of Joseph Pettitt. Attendees came from Hayes Town Chapel and Alexandra Road Congregational Church, Hemel Hempstead - churches where Joseph had previously served - to…
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Professor Donald Wiseman (1918-2010) The passing of Donald Wiseman on 2 February marked the end of an era for Tyndale House and the Tyndale Fellowship. Wiseman saw Tyndale's strategic potential and gave much time and thought to its affairs, serving as chairman of first the Biblical Research Committee and then Tyndale House Council from…
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Helping the depressed Adriana Sofrac People who are depressed need help. Many will withdraw into silent isolation. Our assistance will be more valuable then, than at any other time. The Bible tells us that love is kind. If we really love a person, we will be considerate, not only when they are strong, but…
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Dutch find their roots A group of Dutch Baptist pastors and leaders is setting up a conference and web site to call Baptist churches back to their theological roots in the Reformation. It will be called Sola 5 Baptisten (Sola 5 Baptists) based on the five 'Solas', that is (translating from Latin into English) five…
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Defenders of Calvinism A men's conference called 'A defence of Calvinism' took place in December for the second year running. It was held at Bawtry Hall Conference Centre near Doncaster. Jared Bryson from Penistone described the weekend as 'intellectually and spiritually engaging', while Marius Wahrlich from Berlin, Germany, said that it was 'challenging but…
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