idea Magazine January / February 2017

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

The world on our doorstep BELIEF VS UNBELIEF

SHOULD WE VISIT A TEMPLE?

Evangelicals and other faiths

THEOLOGY

How to engage with other faiths

60 SECONDS

GOOD QUESTION

IN YOUR WORDS

HOSTILITY AND HELP

Engaging with local authorities

CONNECT

CULTURE

JAN/FEB 2017

NEWS COMMENT FEATURES

“Open my eyes, that I may see wonderful things.”

- Psalm 119:18 “Blessing is 5. If we do nothing, Blessing will be blind for the rest of his life.”

Dr Aliraki Lisbon, Ophthalmologist at Mengo Hospital, Uganda.

Dear Idea Reader, As a fellow Christian, I wanted to share with you how incredibly powerful it is to witness a child seeing for the first time, after eye surgery.

As I carry out my work with Christian Blind Mission in East Africa, I am constantly moved by the astonishment and wonder on the faces of children when the bandages are removed and they get their first clear look at their smiling loved ones.

with darkness, frustration and exclusion he could have light, colour and a future filled with opportunity. He could do well at school and find a way out of poverty.

The cataract removal surgery costs £95, but his family can barely afford even basic necessities, so I am turning to you in the hope that you can help.

If you could send a gift of £95 today, you could pay for a child like Blessing’s surgery.

You could open his eyes to the Five year old Blessing was born beauty of God’s creation. And we’ll send you an update on with cataracts. He has been how Blessing’s surgery goes. barely able to see. But his doctor said that his sight can God bless you, be restored through a simple 45-minute procedure.

Just think, in under an hour his entire life could be transformed. Instead of living

Blessing’s cataracts mean he has been living in darkness.

Laura Gore Programme Manager CBM UK

He can hardly see objects more than 50cm away.

Your gift could open a child’s eyes and transform a life.

Christian Blind Mission is a huge inspiration to me. It works in more than 60 countries, including some of the world’s poorest communities, to restore sight, mobility and independence to people living with disability. It’s putting Christ’s love into action for the most marginalised people. Will you join Christian Blind Mission by supporting this amazing work?

Diane Louise Jordan Yes, I will give £95 to make a blind child see the wonder of God’s creation. £95

If you are a UK taxpayer and if you tick the Gift Aid box when you make a donation, HMRC will add an extra 25p for every pound you donate.

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Postcode: We will send you an update on how Blessing’s surgery goes.

We like to contact our supporters with updates from the projects we support.

If you do not want to receive such messages from us in the future, tick here: In the event of there being insufficient funds to carry out a project, or in the event of a surplus arising on a project, any unspent funds will be used wherever the need is greatest.

Please return this form to: Freepost Plus RSKK-HXAX-CYGZ, CBM, Oakington Business Park, Dry Drayton Road, Oakington, Cambridge CB24 3DQ IDEA MAGAZINE /2

I want to Gift Aid my donation and any donations I make in the future or have made in the past 4 years to Christian Blind Mission. I am a UK taxpayer and understand that if I pay less Income Tax or Capitals Gains Tax than the amount of Gift Aid claimed on all my donations in that tax year it is my responsibility to pay any difference.

We will need your name and address to claim the additional 25% of your donation from Gift Aid.

Call 01223 484700 to make your donation today. THANK YOU.

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Amaris Cole: We are dealing with some sensitive

CONTENTS

issues in this magazine, but hope we have done so with care and integrity…

idea-torial There really is no denying that 2016 was a very busy year. Some will look back at this year with sadness, while others will be excited by changes that have taken place in the past 12 months. However we feel, it’s important for us, as Christians, to remember that we have no need to be anxious, for our hope is found in God. We can’t know what 2017 will bring, but we trust that He has gone before us and is preparing the way.

We thought all this was a good backdrop to find out exactly what evangelicals thought of other’s faiths – and indeed what evangelicals thought the rest of the world thought about them. Still with me? Good. To believe or not to believe; that was the question – according to our director of advocacy Dr Dave Landrum. Read the analysis of that research in our feature on pages 12 and 13.

That really sets the tone for the rest of the magazine.

We have really useful features on understanding other faiths, which 84 per cent of those who answered our survey thought was important if we are to evangelise to the people around us.

Do you know what the major world faiths think of Jesus? Well, quite a lot, actually. Turn to pages 16 and 17 to read the full story from experts in Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism and Buddhism. Having said that, many were concerned that engaging too much with certain places or practices could place us spiritually at risk. So, our Good Question feature asks: can Christians visit a temple? Turn to pages 20 and 21 for the answer.

FIVE THINGS I DIDN’T KNOW UNTIL THIS ISSUE

FEATURES 12 – 13 Belief and unbelief The results of our new research are explained.

22 – 23 A brief history of the Reformation

3,000 delegates from 95 countries went to Movement Day

As 2017 marks 500 years since the Reformation, we take a look back at what went on and why it matters.

REGULARS

Secular neutrality is a myth

4 – 5 Connect News from across the Alliance.

8 Around the WEA

Hindus learn about Jesus and love John’s gospel

News from alliances around the world.

10 The 9 – 5 With our new colleague Usha, who’s joined the South Asian Forum team.

88% think Christians should befriend people of other faiths before proclaiming the gospel

20 – 21 Good Question Should Christians visit a temple?

Evangelicals are concerned that engaging with other faiths puts them at risk spiritually.

We find out more.

Many faiths revere Jesus Christ and are open to hear stories about him

24 – 25 In the Thick of it

32 Let’s be friends – why Idea-list - Chur ch Christians are uniquely placed engaging with civic to connect with Muslims. society?

34 Last Word

Our general director tells us about his recent trip to New York to attend Movement Day.

The survey also showed that a huge number of evangelicals believe their local authority to be hostile towards Christians. But these days, they can’t afford to be, according to our idea-list writer on page 32, who said when budgets are squeezed, we’re perfectly placed to fill the gap. If you’re interested in serving your community, you must read that advice first.

We are dealing with some sensitive issues in this magazine, but hope we have done so with care and integrity. If you have any questions or feedback, we would love to hear from you, as usual. Send a letter to the editor or contact us on our social media platforms, with the hashtag #EAfaith So I guess it’s time to wish you all a happy 2017! I pray it’s our best one yet.

Amaris Cole Editor Cover: Slava Bowman

We’re on Twitter!

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ati The Reform

on .

Head Office 176 Copenhagen Street, London N1 0ST tel 020 7520 3830 [Mon – Fri, 9am – 5pm] fax 020 7520 3850 info@eauk.org www.eauk.org Evangelical Alliance leadership team Steve Clifford, Gavin Calver, Fred Drummond, Elfed Godding, Emrys Jones Dave Landrum, Peter Lynas, Chine McDonald

The Feast - we take a look at the Christian youth work charity.

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

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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 2017

IDEA MAGAZINE / 3

CONNECT

Speak Up Holyrood

News from the Alliance across the UK

Five prayer points Thank God for the ongoing testimony and witness of the Evangelical Alliances around the world – thank God for their faithfulness in diverse and sometimes challenging contexts.

Praise God for the work of His Holy Spirit, working through His Church to bring people around the UK to know Jesus.

Praise God that we know that His heart is to draw all people to Himself.

As part of the Speak Up tour, the Alliance in Scotland had a successful meeting at the Scottish Parliament in November. Around 40 lawyers, MSPs and church leaders gathered to discuss Speak Up in the Scottish context with a number of perspectives from a wide variety of contributors. This was followed up by input at the Edinburgh City Prayer breakfast the following morning and plans are being developed for further events in Edinburgh in early 2017 to raise the profile of this really valuable resource.

Give the gifts of unity and hope this Christmas

Please pray for the many evangelists around the United Kingdom who are spreading the good news of Jesus in an increasingly secular culture. Pray for courage and strength to remain faithful to the call of Christ.

Please pray for the Great Commission website, now live, which is providing a unique tool to serve Christians who want to share their faith with others.

Pray that many will be equipped and inspired to make Jesus known through what they see and hear on the website.

Please pray for our religious liberties – pray that those in positions of power in the UK would be determined to uphold principles that enable Christians to share their faith, and allow churches around the nations to flourish.

It’s that joyful time of year again, when we celebrate the son of God becoming the son of man. Christmas is upon us, a festive season of joy and gratitude, a time of peace, family and friends, and unity.

SCOTTISH PUBLIC LEADER

But this unity isn’t yet reflected across our nations. In fact we’re in a time of extraordinary fragmentation and division – in the light of the EU referendum and US election, the wounds of separation and discord often run deep.

November saw the launch of our brand new Scottish Public Leader (SPL) programme.

The SPL brings together a group of emerging Scottish public leaders from a wide variety of contexts for an eight-month journey of equipping events, mentoring and interaction with senior public leaders from across Scotland. We are thrilled with the 16 participants who are taking part in this first pilot year as well as the quality of mentors and speakers God has brought to the programme. Confirmed speakers for this year include Sir Brian Souter, NT Wright, Peter Vardy and a number of other senior leaders in Scottish public life.

Yet with these challenges come significant opportunities for the gospel.

So for our Christmas appeal this year, we hope you will allow us to write to you openly and ask: could you give a gift this Christmas to help the Church bring unity and hope to discord and disillusionment, sharing the true Christmas story of God become man to bring peace to all?

You can read the full appeal and give a Christmas gift to support this work at eauk. org/christmasappeal.

Thank you.

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CONNECT

Thousands visit new Alliance evangelism hub during first week

Do you think society needs more of God? Happy with the state of our society?

Happy with those leading in public life? Or would you like to see more Christians shaping and leading our culture?

At the Evangelical Alliance, we have a vision to see Christians once again become voices for God in our communities, leading and speaking both nationally and locally for the good of all.

Change happens when people lead.

Our Great Commission hub for evangelism resources launched at the start of October and the site was inundated with hits.

During the first week, there were more than 7,000 visits to the site.

Alongside hundreds of resources, the site hosts blogs and prayers to encourage and equip Christians to evangelise.

Each week, new videos are being released of individuals who have come to faith to encourage Christians that whatever narrative might be told by the world, people are still finding Jesus.

Head to the greatcommission.co.uk to find out more, watch the videos and get involved.

Public Leadership is about taking responsibility in the place where God has put us and stepping up, speaking out and engaging in public life. We want to support and encourage Christians in the media, politics, business, the arts and all sectors of society to take a lead from a biblical foundation.

But we know that a culture shift is only possible with the support of the local Church. This is where public leaders are inspired, equipped, encouraged and connected. This is where Public Leadership becomes a normal yet vital part of the mission of God.

United Christian Conference 2016 A group of Welsh leaders has taken part in an international event in Seoul, South Korea. United Christian Conference 2016 drew leaders from the UK, Italy and Russia. Hosted by the Seoul Full Gospel Church, delegates shared in meetings and seminars and enjoyed the hospitality of their Korean hosts.

A national Christian newspaper hosted a symposium where UCC delegates and Korean Christians reflected on missional

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017

issues affecting Europe and Korea. This event was covered in both print and TV media.

Gethin Russell-Jones from Evangelical Alliance Wales said: “It was a privilege to meet fellow believers in such a vibrant and dynamic Christian environment. One of the highlights was visiting the border with North Korea and joining with Koreans as they prayed for the reunification of the nation.”

Join us in our vision to see God’s people become effective voices for good in society. To invite Dr David Landrum or one of our Public Leadership team to speak at your church, email Abi Jarvis: a.jarvis@eauk.org.

IDEA MAGAZINE / 5

eauk.org

News from the Alliance across the UK

eauk.org

Stay in the loop with everything the Alliance is up to online In Great Britain, one in three women will have an abortion by the age of 45 and 92 per cent of Downs diagnosed babies are aborted. Is this the type of people and place we want to create?

Does increased access to abortion help women? If a woman feels she has no choice other than abortion, that isn’t a real choice.

Real choices enable every woman in every pregnancy to choose life regardless of individual circumstances.

SUPPORT THIS BOTH LIVES MATTER In early 2017, Evangelical Alliance Northern Ireland is launching Both Lives Matter in a collaborative movement of individuals and organisations.

The vision is for a people and place that values the life and health of women and unborn children, pursuing the wellbeing of both because both lives matter.

2017 marks 50 years since the introduction of the 1967 Abortion Act in England and Wales.

In that time there have been more than one million abortions. Every year there are 185,000 abortions meaning that for every three children born alive, one is aborted.

In Northern Ireland, where the 1967 Act has never been introduced, the estimated ratio of births to abortions is 25 to one.

There is more than one life at stake in pregnancy. And because both lives matter, rather than presenting abortion as just a healthcare option, we believe women, their families and wider society deserve better care than abortion. Instead of the continuing normalisation of abortion, the campaign will work towards a society that no longer accepts the lie that abortion is required for women to flourish.

values women and unborn children before, during and after pregnancy.

Advocating for the life and dignity of both lives, for women and children, is a matter of human dignity and justice, not offence. This is the compassionate response, because both lives matter.

Find out more and get involved at bothlivesmatter.org

WATCH THIS

We stand together, from every background, all faiths or none, united in recognising the human dignity of everyone, ready to create a new culture, where compassion, solidarity and support for both lives is the norm.

We stand with women and children and, in doing so, stand for the recognition and protection of human life. When human life and dignity is at stake, this is about more than a private choice, it is of community or public interest.

We stand for women and unborn children calling for world-leading support, services and better care than abortion.

Every Monday the Great Commission team releases a new video of a believer coming to faith. There have been amazing testimonies profiled, from a former drug addict who detoxed himself when he found Jesus – to a Hindu priest who found peace in a church. Watch out for those on our social media channels, or visit greatcommission.co.uk to watch them all.

We believe that together we can change culture. We want to re-frame the abortion debate in Northern Ireland and beyond. To advocate for better care in pregnancy crises and to create a life-affirming culture that truly

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FRIDAY NIGHT THEOLOGY

CELEBRATE THIS If you’re following us on any of our social media channels, you won’t have escaped the various pictures of us celebrating our 170th anniversary. We kicked off with our special anniversary edition of idea in the summer and held a service of thanksgiving in November. We also celebrated at our staff conference in October with cake, balloons and a little line dancing.

Watching the news can be a depressing thing to do. It sometimes seems like our world is filled with more trouble than ever before, and it can be difficult to make sense of it all. Friday Night Theology (FNT) is a comment piece that’s delivered to your inbox every week to help us communicate a Christian view of the world in our weekend conversations. We hope the reflection on politics, culture, sports or media helps.

Sign up for free today for FNT by visiting eauk.org/signup

Whatever your preferred social media channel, be sure to get the latest news from the Evangelical Alliance by following us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Just type Evangelical Alliance in the search bar and join the club.

IDEA MAGAZINE / 6

NEVER STOP LEARNING

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These programmes are a joint initiative between London School of Theology and Middlesex University. All programmes are quality assured by Middlesex University and you will receive a Middlesex award on successful completion.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017

IDEA MAGAZINE / 7

AROUND THE WORLD EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE

Integral Alliance prepares for mass movement of people in Iraq

ALLIANCE GROUP PREPARE FOR A MASS DISPLACEMENT OF PEOPLE IN IRAQ Massive population displacement is being planned for by the Integral Alliance, a World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) affliate and global partner in the field of relief and development.

The group hosted a teleconference for its members to coordinate their ongoing work in Iraq, which could worsen as the Iraqi Security Forces and their allies attempt to take back control of the city of Mosul from the Islamic State.

Four members currently work on the ground in Iraq and are receiving support from other members. Three Integral members work in Iraq through their network of local partners, and a further five are on standby to assess the situation as it unfolds and support with funds from their supporters where possible.

Operational members, including Tearfund, are preparing for the situation by procuring and pre-positioning basic non-food items, hygiene kits, bottled water, water systems and cash programming.

Kendrah Jespersen, Iraq desk officer at Integral member Mission East, said: “The expected scale of the upcoming displacement demands that we be prepared to respond in advance. Being able to discuss our plans ahead of time with other Integral members allows us to share ideas and resources to make our collective response more efficient, especially as several of us consider expanding our activities to a new area in central Iraq at the same time.”

She continues: “The fundraising and staff secondment arrangement we have with some of our fellow Integral Alliance Members has been essential for filling critical gaps in funding and staffing for our response in Iraq since the beginning, and will play an important role in our response to the Mosul displacement as well.”

Integral Members will continue to use Integral’s ‘Disaster Monitor’ online forum to watch this emerging situation and share information, plans, needs and resources with each other.

Arrangments are being made to prepare for the worst.

Integral Alliance contributes to the WEA’s goal of fostering Christian unity around the world through working with its members on a more integrated and collaborative strategy in disasters. Integral has 23 members with headquarters in 14 countries and works in more than 80 countries, with more than 650 local partners, in more than 40 sectors.

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President of the Greek Evangelical Alliance George Kaloterakis and secretary general Fotis Romeo, with secretary general of the EEA Thomas Bucher.

GREEK EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE GIVEN HOPE AWARD FOR WORK WITH REFUGEES The work of the Greek evangelical churches serving refugees in Greece earned the 2016 Hope award, which is given out each year by the European Evangelical Alliance (EEA). The award was presented in a special public event in the Olga Cadaval Cultural Centre of Sintra, Portugal.

Thomas Bucher, secretary general of the EEA, presented the award to the Greek Evangelical Alliance’s president George Kaloterakis and secretary general Fotis Romeo.

Bucher said: “What the Greek evangelical churches have been doing in the last years has been just outstanding. They have gone beyond anything imaginable. They have sacrificially given and invested to make sure that so many refugees are cared for.

“They have cared about the lives of refugees who have gone through the country, but also of people have stayed or are stuck in Greece.

We are very thankful for their work.”

Frank Hinkelmann, president of the EEA, also highlighted the work of Greek evangelical churches in the midst of the crisis.

He said: “What I really appreciated to see is that churches from different backgrounds – for the first time also the migrant churches that are there especially in Athens – (…) they together have really searched for ways to help, to come alongside refugees.

“Instead of complaining and getting involved in a negative attitude, they have helped and served. Therefore I believe they really deserve this award.”

WEA PARTICIPATES AT WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM ON THE ROLE OF FAITH AND RELIGION The World Economic Forum has highlighted the growing importance of faith and religion as one of the global trends influencing future social developments at a gathering of organisations in Geneva. Under the theme Innovating Social Impact, nearly 30 representatives of influential organisations gathered in Geneva, including international companies and NGOs, including faith-based organisations. Timo Plutschinski represented the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA).

Plutschinski is the director of the WEA business coalition and member of the wider WEA leadership. He spoke of the growing concept of business for mission/transformation and the potential for spiritual input in entrepreneurship as well as social, financial and environmental input. The symposium also discussed the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the impact the massive development in digital services is

Timo Plutschinski at the World Economic Forum

having on society. The involvement of the WEA and other faith-based organisations in these discussions has been requested for the future.

The WEA is the largest international organisation of evangelical churches and ministries and gives a world-wide identity, voice and platform to more than 600 million Christians in 129 countries.

POLITICS

by Peter Lynas, director of Evangelical Alliance Northern Ireland

Pic credit: William Stitt

A very costly cake – and what this means for Christian business owners Much ink has been spilt over a £36.50 cake, not all of it accurate.

This article reflects on the case itself and the potential consequences.

First, a brief reminder of what actually happened. The McArthur family, who own Ashers bakery, run a successful family business. The bakery is named after the tribe of Israel who had many skilled bakers and created bread fit for a king.

Gareth Lee, a gay rights activist, asked Ashers bakery to make a cake with the slogan: ‘Support Gay Marriage’ on it. The bakery, who had served Mr Lee before, were happy to sell him a cake, but not to promote a view contrary to their firmly held religious beliefs. They declined the order and Mr Lee complained to the Equality Commission who supported him in bringing a case against the bakery.

The Christian bakers lost the case and a subsequent appeal. The Attorney General, who intervened in the case, has now indicated he will appeal to the Supreme Court.

The court found that Mr Lee had been discriminated against based on his sexual orientation, though the bakers never asked or knew what it was. To make this case work the court had to engage in some interpretive gymnastics. The court would normally compare how a heterosexual customer was treated ordering the same cake, but here the judges compared a different customer and a different cake - a straight person ordering a cake saying: ‘Support straight marriage’. And the law that would include discrimination of other people associated with a gay person, has now been interpreted to include those associated with the very idea.

The court rejected the bakers’ defense that to make the cake would have been against their religious beliefs. The law is extremely reluctant to compel speech and so ruled that icing a cake wasn’t speech and that writing this slogan was no different to supporting a JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017

football team. The ruling dehumanises work, failing to understand that for Christians our work is an act of worship. You can of course have your religious beliefs, just don’t try to manifest or live them out at work. A law designed to protect people with differing political views now appears to protect the views themselves. The court also found that the slogan ‘Support Gay Marriage’ is a political opinion, which is entitled to extra protection unique to Northern Ireland.

So can a wedding photographer refuse to take photos or musicians decline to play at a same-sex ceremony? No, they must use their creative talents to ‘celebrate’ this event. Can a printer refuse to print a leaflet promoting abortion services? No, unless they have a policy saying they won’t do any political work, which could be a major limitation on their business. Can a Muslim website designer refuse to design a church website?

No, unless they have a policy saying they won’t do any religious work, but this is highly restrictive as almost everything is informed by a set of beliefs.

Those offering bespoke services will have to think carefully about the services they offer. One of the disappointing aspects of the decision in this case was the failure to wrestle properly with what ‘reasonable accommodation’ looks like. We live in a plural society and we must learn to live well together. The court decided that the onus was on the business to draft policies to protect itself. This seems unrealistic and an outcome that only helps lawyers. And anyway, it is unlikely anyone would have come up with a policy to cover a ‘gay cake’ – not that you can have such a thing.

Leading gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell and others are also concerned about this case. He commented: “Ashers

didn’t discriminate against the customer, Gareth Lee, because he was gay. They objected to the message he wanted on the cake.” He argued that the judgment opens a can of worms - should Muslim printers be obliged to publish cartoons of Mohammed?

Or Jewish ones publish the words of a Holocaust denier? Or gay bakers accept orders for cakes with homophobic slurs?

He pulled no punches: “What the court has decided sets a dangerous, authoritarian precedent that is open to serious abuse.”

Going forward Our role as Christians is to seek the shalom of the place in which we find ourselves in exile. Eugene Peterson defines shalom as “seeking the dynamic vibrating health of a society that pulses with divinely directed purpose and surges with life transforming love”.

I believe that the McArthur family acted as they felt compelled to by their faith, graciously declining an order supporting something sinful. They have conducted themselves with dignity throughout. I pray that they will be blessed for the stand that they have taken. But the sermon on the mount also challenges me to pray for Gareth Lee, that he too will be blessed.

Our Speak Up resource reminds us of the incredible freedoms we have to share our faith in the public space and work place.

When Jesus encountered the woman at the well, he met her with compassion, engaged with integrity, and moved towards redemption. The woman was so excited that she bought her friends to meet Jesus – we are always seeking these life-changing encounters.

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THE 9-5

with Usha Reifsnider, who works for the Evangelical Alliance’s South Asian Forum

Usha Reifsnider soup. I tend to nibble throughout the day. I take an hour and study for my PhD or go for a 30-minute run, which is like a reboot for my mind.

After being a Go To Nations missionary for 28 years, I found that a lot of people were asking me to train missionaries and church leaders. I had a lot of experience, but I wasn’t very good at articulating it. This led me do my master’s degree. Within 35 minutes of sending my final paper I felt God say: “PhD.” I wasn’t ready! I didn’t have the money – I remember I couldn’t even afford to buy a pen that day. But I sent an application to Oxford Centre for Mission Studies and was accepted.

As the only woman in my cohort, I was terrified and I didn’t speak to any one for the first two weeks because I felt so out of my depth. I thought Christian mission expertise came from the clever, white, ancient men – that’s what I’d come to understand. I looked at my mission experience and I realised I had always felt like I had to be like them to reach people like me. OCMS really encouraged me to research from my cultural perspective.

Usha Reifsnider.

I usually wake up at 4.30am and take a health supplement first thing. If I’m in the UK I will put some worship music on, but if I’m in the US, where my family live, I will go out and do exercise. It’s too cold to do it here!

The time before breakfast is my God time.

I eat at 7.30am – a quarter of a cup of porridge and a huge cup of tea with Indian chai spices and fresh ginger.

On my way to the office I always pick a leaf; I look at leaves as messages from God. All creation cries out that there’s a creator.

Connecting to nature to me is just a sign that God is there. I even write notes to my family on leaves! I started doing this in the Middle East when I served there with migrants and refugees and victims of trafficking, because I would see these olive leaves as a sign of God’s peace and presence despite the chaos.

At the office, the first thing I do is make some more tea. I then take a look at my task list for the day ahead. At 9.30am we come together for staff prayer. That’s probably one of my favourite times of the day – looking in people’s faces and seeing them communicate with God is a huge encouragement to the feeling of unity in the Alliance family.

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My role with South Asian Forum is new.

There are three million South Asians in the UK, but only 2.5 per cent are Christians.

South Asians have their own cultural landscape – their view of how Britain looks and their idea of the British Church. A lot of them are very separate and I long to see the body of Christ working together with that unified goal of making Jesus known. We’ve always looked at Christianity as having a Western influence, but that has to change as the majority of the world’s Christians today aren’t of Western origin anymore.

In my role I plan to arrange a variety of informative and fun events to connect people. Not looking down from a pulpit, but sitting next to them, doing life with them - not making friends so they can become converts, but just because the Jesus in you sees the potential in them.

Coming from a Hindu background I love strong family ties. I believe these should be replicated in the Church body. In our culture, family is in every aspect of life. There are lots of references to family and being a family in the Bible, but sometimes that is difficult to see in practice in Western cultures.

I have lunch at about 1pm. I have raw vegetables or some homemade vegetable

Today the majority world’s Christians outnumber those in the Western world because of the success of mission. Now it stands to reason that more mission strategy should come from that direction. I realised I had the same access to the word of God as any other theologian or mission strategist and I needed to use it. There’s room for diversity in the throne room and that to me speaks that there should be diversity in how we do mission.

I go home at about 5pm and cook food – usually a vegetable-type curry and some beans or dahl, rice and chapattis. I like cooking. I’m not a good cook but no one’s ever died! After dinner I study and Skype with my husband and kids – both my kids are at university in Florida where we’ve been serving as missionaries to refugees for a few years. One of the ways we deal with missing each other is sending videos of ourselves singing or reading stories.

My husband and I are both full-time missionaries and both doing PhDs. We’re waiting to meet Visa requirements so that he can join me here. I’m here for another four years to do my PhD and I’m open to wherever God tells me to go after that.

I usually go to bed about 10 o’clock. I put on a podcast or listen to recordings from my family to put me to sleep.

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Use the resource pack included in this publication or download from: www.realeasteregg.co.uk JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017

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by Dave Landrum, the Evangelical Alliance’s director of advocacy

Belief and unbelief To believe or not to believe – that is the question.

It’s also a question that creates more questions.

Today, UK society is increasingly diverse, and as a consequence, there are increasing numbers of those who identify as either non-Christian or non-religious.

Clearly these social changes have implications for evangelical Christians and for the mission of the gospel. So what do we know and think about this situation? We recently surveyed 1,562 evangelical Christians to find out. The research produced some significant statistics and some thought-provoking comments.

IDEA MAGAZINE / 12

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the research revealed a strong commitment among evangelicals to evangelism with a whopping 98 per cent believing that we should share the gospel with those of other faiths. In this respect we hope that the new Evangelical Alliance book The World on our Doorstep will inform and encourage this aspect of mission in the UK. The survey also showed strong support for the freedom to convert from one faith to another. Indeed, 84 per cent said that Christians should challenge Muslims about the right of all people to choose and change their faith, and 87 per cent also agreed that there should be no place in the legal system for Sharia law.

In relation to the cross-over between cultural identity and religious identity, it’s interesting that 83 per cent said that a Jewish person who accepts Jesus as the Messiah doesn’t need to change their cultural identity. Sue Perlman of Jews for Jesus welcomed this finding, saying: “We are greatly encouraged by the percentage of those surveyed who believe Jews who come to faith in Jesus need not abandon their Jewish identity when it comes to culture and practice. When you think of it the early Jewish believers in Jesus, Peter, Paul etc. maintained their Jewish identity, so why should we do differently?”

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Generally, perceptions of existing religious freedom in the UK were positive. Despite a number of high-profile cases reported in media, evangelicals said that they experience a good degree of freedom to express their faith in public, with 49 per cent having never been made to feel uncomfortable or pressured to be quiet when talking about Jesus. Alongside this, there was a very strong commitment to the freedom to proclaim the full gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ, with 92 per cent saying that preachers should have the right to express their beliefs about sin, judgement and hell, even if people find these offensive.

While 81 per cent believed that an employee or student should have the right to speak or write openly and without fear of being disciplined about religious beliefs or values they hold, even where these may cause offence, it’s encouraging that 88 per cent agree that Christians should befriend and listen to people of other faiths before jumping in to proclaim the gospel to them.

This need for confidence and sensitivity reflects the theme of the Speak Up resource, which was recently produced by the Evangelical Alliance and the Lawyers’ Christian Fellowship to highlight the many freedoms we have for the gospel, and to encourage the Church to exercise these

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017

freedoms. For more information, visit eauk. org/speakup.

Of the evangelicals polled, 82 per cent understand secularism as implying that religious beliefs and values are purely private and personal and shouldn’t influence public life. What has come to be known as the ‘myth of secular neutrality’ clearly has little credence with evangelicals, with many respondents to the survey expressing deep concerns about threats to religious liberty in the UK. Not only did 86 per cent of those surveyed not see secularism as morally and politically neutral, 92 per cent see it as something that is actively seeking to impose its own worldview on the rest of society. Indeed, the vast majority of those surveyed agreed that no ideology or religion should seek to impose its views on the rest of society.

This widespread disdain for the default secularism in our society can also be seen in the fact that an overwhelming majority of respondents agree that the government – and especially the media – do not understand religion very well. With 88 per cent identifying politicians as religiously illiterate and 94 per cent seeing the media this way, Dr Jenny Taylor of Lapido Media commented that: “There is still a zeitgeist that to govern the country and communicate with it well, you must deny yourself the effort of understanding faith. We’re

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heading for a cataclysm unless that changes fast. It’s terribly urgent we redouble our support for religious literacy enterprises in Britain now.”

Possibly reflecting the issues raised by the Ashers bakery case in Northern Ireland, 80 per cent were of the view that secularists are using arguments about LGBT rights to attack Christianity. Indeed, a huge 89 per cent agreed that a business should have the right to refuse to print, publish – or write in icing on a cake – a message it doesn’t agree with. Furthermore, an even larger number – 98 per cent – said they should have the right to teach their children (including adopted and fostered children) in accordance with their religious beliefs. This clearly represents a rebuff to attempts to reduce the influence of religion in the education system and curriculum, and to therein challenge parental authority in the home. Taken together these statistics can also be seen as a strong rejection of government attempts to register and regulate Sunday schools on the spurious basis of addressing terrorism. They also indicate the value of the Evangelical Alliance’s You’re Not Alone resource, which was produced to help Christian parents to understand their rights and responsibilities in education: education.eauk.org

IDEA MAGAZINE / 13

NEWS

Alliance joins HOPE for a year of prayer Roy Crowne with Rev Yemi Adedeji, director of the Evangelical Alliance’s One People Commission and associate director of HOPE.

UK) and member of the Alliance’s One People Commission, says: “I want to be part of a movement that will usher in a revival that I pray will happen in my lifetime. I believe that HOPE 2018 is an expression of that movement.”

HOPE’s executive director Roy Crowne presents the HOPE 2018 vision: 5,000 mince pies, 400 carol service guests, 20 on an Alpha course, two people baptised; no, it’s not a new version of The 12 Days of Christmas. These are the connection points that led to two people becoming Christians. Their journey began when their local church distributed 5,000 mince pies and an invitation to the Christmas carol service. What shape could that journey take in your area?

There’s a sense, across the UK, that it’s time for a spiritual harvest. That’s why we are bringing churches together for a year of mission in 2018. As we prepare for HOPE 2018 we are asking the question: “Working together, could we bring about 10 per cent growth across the whole Church in 2018?”

HOPE’s dream is a growing Church, showing Jesus’ love and telling the Jesus story, at the heart of every community. The Talking Jesus research shows that hundreds of thousands of people in the UK want to know more about Jesus. They are open to the gospel.

They are ready to respond.

We want every Christian in every church to be equipped to use words and action to make Jesus known. HOPE is offering loads of resources and ideas, and will help churches plan mission, offering something to do, something to say and something to give.

Will you join us in praying for 2018?

HOPE 2018 was launched at Lambeth Palace where 100 Christian leaders heard the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, say: “We exist as God’s people to enable the world to meet Jesus. HOPE provides the tools for it – the stimulation and the resources.”

I’m thrilled that churches across the spectrum of denominations are preparing for mission in 2018. I’m encouraged when a leader like Pastor Agu Irukwu, from the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG

IDEA MAGAZINE / 14

Preparation for HOPE 2018 starts in January 2017 with a year of Friday Focus prayers.

You can join HOPE’s 2017 year of prayer at hopetogether.org.uk/prayer As in Hope08, the emphasis is on using words and action as we work together to make Jesus know. As Steve Clifford, general director of the Evangelical Alliance, who also chairs HOPE explains: “10 years on from Hope08, HOPE 2018 will be continuing what we started but more so. More churches. More creative ideas. More opportunities for people to become followers of Jesus.”

HOPE offers churches a rhythm of mission through the Church calendar: Christmas, Easter, and harvest. Resources are being prepared for 2018 for each season and also for remembrance as the country will mark the centenary of the end of First World War on 11 November 2018. HOPE Revolution is mobilising evangelistic youth ministries, inspiring young people to reach their peers with words and actions.

Here’s how to get involved: •

Sign up to receive news updates from HOPE at www.hopetogether.org.uk/ signup

•

Join HOPE’s 2017 year of prayer at www. hopetogether.org.uk/prayer

•

Prepare for mission together in 2018.

Order the free HOPE 2018 brochures to give away to inspire churches in your area www.hopetogether.org.uk/shop

•

Use the HOPE logo on your mission activities – download the logo free at hopetogether.org.uk/logo

by Roy Crowne

W H O

I S

JESUS? Who is Jesus? What was His mission? Did He really exist? How can He make a difference in my life today? The Who is Jesus DVD tackles these questions and many more. It includes five powerful stories that demonstrate how Jesus impacts and transforms lives.

Available in discounted ministry packs ideal for gifts, evangelism and outreach!

F E AT U R I N G

B E A R

G RY L L S

Bear Grylls is known around the world as an outdoor adventurer, survivalist - and the star of Discovery Channel’s Man Vs Wild series, but most people aren’t aware of his deep love for God. “... faith has been the wildest ride. And Jesus, the heart of the Christian faith is the wildest, most radical guy you’d ever come across."

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W W W. C B N E U R O P E . C O M / J E S U S

For thousands of years God’s Word has radically impacted lives, communities and even societies.

In 2017 we celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, when Martin Luther asserted that his conscience was ‘captive’ to that Word.

At Keswick 2017 we’ll see how this powerful Word brings life, reveals Christ and motivates mission. By God’s Spirit it will captivate our hearts and minds, and transform our lives, families and churches.

WEEK 1: JULY 15 - 21 | WEEK 2: JULY 22 - 28 | WEEK 3: JULY 29 - AUGUST 4 SP EA KE RS

DON CARSON, ALISTAIR BEGG AND IVOR POOBALAN

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017

IDEA MAGAZINE / 15

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Jesus - what other faiths th The Talking Jesus research the Alliance conducted with HOPE and the Church of England showed that more than a third – 39 per cent – of people thought Jesus was a myth. You might assume that some of those people were followers of other faiths, believing Jesus to be just someone Christians believe in. But that’s not the case.

Many faiths hold Jesus Christ in high regard, despite not believing him to be the son of God. Whether thought to be prophet, saint or wise man, Christians can use these connections to our saviour to guide conversations with Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists. As Amaris Cole found out, many of those who reject Christianity don’t reject Jesus, and that can help with evangelism.

ISLAM

HINDUISM

BUDDHISM

Speaking to an evangelist working in secret

In the Hindu tradition, Jesus’ stories are told

In 2001, the Dalai Lama spoke of his belief in

in Pakistan gives you an insight into Jesus

as the actions of a saint called Ishu. Many

Jesus. Said he was an “enlightened person”,

in Islam. “Jesus is right through the Qur’an –

children are taught the story of a special

telling other Buddhists to view him similarly.

he’s mentioned more than 700 times. Jesus’

baby being born in a stable, and later being

But many Buddhists have never heard of

stories are so powerful in the Qur’an, which

visited by three wise men. “Hindus consider

they came up with, that you can prove your

the Lord Jesus to be a great teacher and

point. In one of the stories Jesus picked

hold him in high regard because of his life

up the dirt and created a bird. He turned it

of sacrifice and devotion to God. Hindus

into a bird, he breathed life into it. Through

are drawn to John’s gospel because of its

this we can prove that Jesus is a life-giver.

philosophical and mystical nature,” says

That’s God’s attribute – Allah’s attributes –

Kumar Rajagopalan of London Baptist

their Allah – and they start to wonder, how

Association.

can a man have that?”

We should have confidence in sharing the

In countries where Bibles are forbidden

truth about Jesus Christ with our Hindu

– or even when speaking to people who

friends, says Manoj Raithatha, who leads the

wouldn’t accept the Bible as truth, this

Evangelical Alliance’s South Asian Forum.

can be helpful. Therefore, Christians need

“Many Hindus believe that the world’s main

to know their Qur’an very well, he says. “I

faiths are valid pathways to God. Hence, the

don’t do Bible studies; I do Qur’an studies.

majority of Hindus I have encountered have

It helps Muslims to see Jesus in the Qur’an.

been very receptive to Christianity, seeing

Once they see Jesus in the Qur’an, they

Jesus as a prophet or God incarnate.”

read the Bible.”

And it doesn’t just have to stop with

He asked for prayer for all those working

speaking about faith, he says. “In my

in Muslim communities to share the good

experience, most Hindus are open to being

news of Jesus Christ – sometimes at risk

prayed for by Christians in the name of Jesus.

of their lives. He also encouraged prayer

A number of my close Hindu contacts have

for Muslims who were giving their life to

accepted an invitation to a church service

Christ, as they are also in danger, and have

with the clear majority readily accepting

to change their way of life.

prayer at the end.”

IDEA MAGAZINE / 16

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ink about the son of God Jesus before. Dr Lousia Evans, a lecturer at

he met us was: ‘What does Christianity teach

All Nations Bible College, said: “Growing

about being good?’ He was so desperate to

up in a Buddhist family, I never heard of

be ‘good’ that he was prepared to look for

Jesus until a Christian friend invited me to a

insights from other religions on how. We told

Christian fellowship at school. It was a real

him that Jesus taught that “no one is good,

revelation – the fact that someone loved me

except God” (Mark 10:18) and that Christians

unconditionally and died for my sins so that

do good not in order to gain access into

I can spend eternity with God in heaven.

heaven, but because we are responding to

That is incredible because as Buddhists, we

what Jesus had done for us. That set him off

were taught to keep doing good and there

on a journey of discovery of who Jesus is.”

was never any assurance that one is ‘good enough.’ Jesus was indeed good news!”

This is therefore a useful insight when considering sharing the gospel. Dr Evans continues: “A Buddhist young man came to talk to my husband and I because he had heard we were Christians. His question when

SIKHISM “Sikhs don’t really have a strong feeling about Christianity,” said Steve Uppal of All Nations church, Wolverhampton. “They see Christianity as the ‘white man’s’ religion.

Some will have the view that all religions are good and if that works for them, then great.”

But some Sikhs do see a parallel between Jesus and the first Sikh guru, Nanak. The guru used language that at times mirrored that of Jesus, including imagery of light, stressing the importance of love and talking

Many faiths hold Jesus Christ in high regard, despite not believing him to be the son of God. Whether thought to be prophet, saint or wise man, Christians can use these connections to our saviour to guide conversations with Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists.

of being a messenger of the divine. The guru also taught followers that cleanliness was not found in external codes and behaviours, but instead in human condition. However, gurus don’t claim to be eternal or the only

Pray For…

way to God. They are just enlightened

•

people. This is where Christians can show

give their lives to Christ.

the difference, and the importance of accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and saviour.

•

Christians working in other

faith communities sharing the good news of Jesus Christ – pra y for their safety, wellbeing and for many opportunities for the m to speak about Jesus.

But this takes time, and lots of support for those who may convert. Steve said: “The only time Sikhs will become hostile to Christianity is if someone in their own family converts. That is perceived as a rejection of their own culture, heritage and family.”

many more people of other faiths and those with none to

•

the chance to talk about Jesu

s with a friend or acquaintance

of another faith this week.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017

IDEA MAGAZINE / 17

An evening with JAIME SAINT Featuring Cathy Burton and 4front Theatre

Jaime Saint is the grandson of Nate Saint who was part of a group of missionaries, including Jim Elliot.

In 1956 they launched ‘Operation Auca’ to share God’s love with a previously unreached tribe in Ecuador. 60 years later this story of love, forgiveness and faith continues.

The evening of entertainment will feature accounts from Jaime Saint, worship from Cathy Burton and performances from 4front Theatre.

Join us to experience what it is like to be part of this inspirational story.

UK Tour March 2017 Tuesday 7 – GLASGOW Wednesday 8 – CUMBRIA Friday 10 – MARGATE

MORE DATES COMING SOON

For full details and to book your tickets visit www.maf-uk.org/jaimesaint MAF UK Castle House, Castle Hill Avenue, Folkestone, Kent CT20 2TQ Scotland Office 29 Canal Street, Glasgow G4 0AD T 01303 852819 E supporter.relations@maf-uk.org

www.maf-uk.org

MAF UK

@flying4life

MAFUK

Registered charity in England and Wales (1064598) and in Scotland (SC039107) ® Registered trademark 3026860, 3026908, 3026915

IDEA MAGAZINE / 18

MAFUKFILM

by Danny Webster, advocacy and media manager at the Evangelical Alliance

THEOLOGY

The unicorn of political philosophy Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there was a system for organising society that provided space for many different systems of belief. Each was free to practise their beliefs without hindrance or interference from the state, but the state took no position on matters of belief and didn’t favour any particular view. The state was intentionally neutral and secular in order to allow religious beliefs to flourish without the burden of state patronage or prescription.

Secular neutrality is an attractive proposition, but it’s a myth.

It’s especially attractive when considering the history of how religious beliefs have been used to enforce conformity among non-believing, or different-believing, populations at certain times. The idea of structuring society so the state stays away from the affairs of religious beliefs has appeal for the believing and non-believing alike.

But it’s also a myth because it’s impossible, it doesn’t exist and it can’t exist. It’s the political philosophy equivalent of a unicorn. The idea of secular neutrality requires religious beliefs to be treated without fear or favour, but the only way to do this is to limit the role of religious belief. Neutrality suggests that it’s possible to step away from the different systems of belief and make decisions aside from their influence. But everyone has beliefs. Some of these may be based in religious identity and attachment, others based on what we consider ‘the good life’ to look like. A neutral state has to use something to decide what is permitted and outlawed. Removing religion from this process automatically privileges non-religious belief. It’s like strapping an ice-cream cone to the head of a pony and calling it a unicorn. As illustrated.

When secular neutrality has been tried it has been anything but neutral. France is perhaps the best example of a state that has tried to be neutral. All it has done is remove religious belief from public life. In the United States a different form of secularism developed, one where the state was formally neutral, but the religious beliefs of voters and candidates still have a significant effect on the political process.

Secular neutrality is worse than just a myth, it’s highly problematic. It suggests that religious beliefs shouldn’t have influence on how the state operates. Christians believe that truth is not just good for them. but for society, and there is therefore an imperative towards telling other people about it. This means we share the good news of Jesus with people, and it means we seek to influence society in ways that reflect God’s character and righteousness.

Trying to be secular requires quietening religious belief. Under the guise of attacking religious privilege it ends up privatising religious

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017

belief. That does deep discredit to the beliefs people live their lives by. As Tom Wright says: “The whole point of Christianity is that it offers a story which is the story of the whole world. It is public truth.”

The other problematic aspect of secular neutrality is that it denies the evident reality that religious beliefs conflict. Different religious beliefs have different ideas of what makes the good life, and trying to make the state secular requires shutting down this disagreement and shutting out religious voices from public debate. Secular neutrality can only succeed by being anything but neutral. It has to privilege some form of reason to determine what can and cannot be said in public, and it chooses to privilege non-religious reasoning.

Those without religious beliefs are free to say what they like in public life, but those with a faith have to accommodate themselves to the terms set by others. This is secular privilege.

There is a better way. We should acknowledge the reality of religious disagreement, but not try and shut it out. People of different beliefs should be free to live out and articulate what they believe in public life, they should not be afraid to voice an opinion that is deeply rooted in their beliefs. In fact, surely to do otherwise is religious discrimination? This is what Lord Sacks, the former Chief Rabbi calls the dignity of difference.

We need a confident pluralism, not the theological sort that suggests that all religious beliefs are different angles on the same ultimate truth, but the sort that is mature enough to cope with different beliefs in a shared public space. As Christians, this means we will not always get our way, and we shouldn’t in a society with many different and competing ideas of the good life. We should try where possible to make our case in ways that people who don’t share our belief will understand and accept, but we should not be tied to terms of debate set by people seeking to remove religion from public life.

We should acknowledge the reality of religious disagreement, but not try and shut it out.

IDEA MAGAZINE / 19

GOOD QUESTION

by Kumar Rajagopalan

Should Christians visit a temple?

Our recent survey on belief and unbelief found that 26 per cent of evangelicals who answered were worried that engaging with other faiths could leave them spiritually at risk. Does this mean Christians shouldn’t eat halal meat, visit places holy to other faiths or read the Qur’an? Kumar Rajagopalan from the London Baptist Association explores.

In seeking to share Christ with those of other faiths, is it necessary to do anything other than befriend and share the gospel? Is there any reason to visit a temple or any other place of worship? Is there anything to be gained by reading their scriptures or attending social or religious events that you are invited to? Are there any spiritual dangers to the believer engaging in any of these activities?

In the first 19 years of my Christian life I had one opportunity to share the gospel at my father’s request. Since taking the above steps, and visiting the temple on other occasions, I have had many opportunities to share with my parents. By obeying the Lord’s command to “go and make disciples”, I have entered my parents’ space, rather than inviting them into my space, and been able to share the gospel.

Evangelicals, who sincerely desire to share the gospel and see others embrace Christ as Saviour and Lord, will have a range of opinions on these questions. However, it’s important that we don’t misjudge or criticise those with opposing views, but that we “make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3). Praying that the diverse approaches fellow believers take will bear fruit is, in my view, the best approach.

By visiting a temple, mosque or other place of worship there is the opportunity to learn about a faith and its practice, in order to share Christ in a relevant way with Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and others.

Visiting can also help dismantle the perception that Christians have an arrogant disregard for other faiths and cultures.

Having embraced Christ from a Hindu background, I have been on a journey with respect to these matters. In my early years as a believer I cut myself off from all aspects of my family’s Hindu life, by refusing to attend the temple, rejecting the food (prasad) presented at the temple, and withdrawing from many of their social activities.

This was painful to them, and placed my parents in a difficult and embarrassing position with their friends. However I did read about Hinduism, primarily to find ammunition to attack their faith; enthusiastic stupidity!

At some point my brother shared his perspective on my refusal to eat food from the temple: “Mum and dad love you unconditionally; they know you are and will remain a Christian. When they give you prasad, their intention is to bless you and they are showing you love in the only way that they know. When you refuse, you think you are standing up for your faith, but you are just trampling all over their love.” I thought about this, considered Paul’s teaching in 1 Corinthians 8, and started to accept prasad. In 2004 when my father turned 70, my mother was fearful that I wouldn’t attend the service at the temple, thereby hurting my father and causing discontent among their friends. My wife and I did attend, and my father was delighted.

IDEA MAGAZINE / 20

Before you go to the place of worship you intend to visit, it’s important to prepare carefully and prayerfully. Since many have a website, you can prepare by visiting their site, which will give you an idea of what takes place, the service times and list of special events.

Some places have clear directions for visitors, while others are more informal. Wherever you visit, you will be welcomed, permitted to observe and ask questions. Please ask permission before you take photos, as this will not be allowed in some places. Be careful to dress appropriately and be ready to remove your shoes. You don’t need to participate in any activities, and you can politely decline if invited to do so.

If you are offered food at the temple or you are in a setting where halal meat is being served, which is probably the more prevalent issue, note that in Mark 7:1-23 and Matthew 15: 1-20, the Lord teaches that all food is clean. 1 Timothy 4:1-5, teaches that everything received with thanksgiving is consecrated. A key principle in 1 Corinthians 8-10 and Romans 14 is not to cause a fellow believer to stumble into sin by exercising one’s freedom to eat such foods. While I eat prasad, I don’t compel any other believer to do so, and I never flaunt my freedom to do so.

Before the personal experiences cited above, I engaged with the biblical text through the lens of my bias against entering a temple

GOOD QUESTION

and eating foods offered there. Through and after these experiences, I have been able see scripture with fresh eyes. When Paul speaks to the Athenians he says: “…as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship...” (Acts 17:23) Paul spent time paying careful attention to their objects of worship and discovered a way to share the gospel in a contextually appropriate manner. In the course of his sermon, he quotes a Cretan and Cilician philosopher to make his point; he shares the gospel in a manner that is accessible to them.

Therefore a familiarity with the scripture and culture of another faith community can be helpful. In 1 Corinthians 9:22 Paul states: “I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.” The most daring example of cosmic contextualisation is the incarnation of the Lord Jesus, who entered and lived in a sinful world, but lived an exemplary sinless life and became sin for us, thereby rescuing us from sin and death.

As you form friendships with those of other faiths I would encourage you to prayerfully consider visiting their place of worship, if possible with other believers, to learn and understand better what they

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017

By visiting a temple, mosque or other place of worship there is the opportunity to learn about a faith and its practice, in order to share Christ in a relevant way… believe. Also read and learn about other faiths, including their scriptures, to equip you to share Christ effectively.

Above all let us not be fearful of undertaking these tasks, because since the Holy Spirit resides in our hearts, He that “is in [us] is greater than the one who is in the world” (1 John 4: 4).

This is Kumar’s story.

What do you think?

For an alternative viewpoint visit eauk.org/christiansand-temples

IDEA MAGAZINE / 21

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by David Hilborn, chair of the Evangelical Alliance Theology Advisory Group (TAG)

A brief history of the Ref Theologians can change the world. In 1517 Martin Luther was a devout Augustinian scholar teaching at the University of Wittenberg. His dedication to the Church of Rome had led him to become a monk in 1505, but his intellect was spotted early and from 1508 he focused on lecturing in biblical studies.

By 1517 he was making full use of a fresh edition of the New Testament in Greek, and became convinced that scripture was at odds with various teachings of his own Catholic tradition.

On 31 October that year he published a document that would alter the course of history, and whose implications are still very evident as we prepare to mark the 500th anniversary of what came to be known as the Protestant Reformation.

Luther is often depicted dramatically as nailing his ‘Ninety-Five Theses’ to the door of Wittenberg’s Castle Church on All Hallows Eve those five centuries ago.

In truth, it was the mass printing and dissemination of the theses across Europe in 1517-18 that established what he also called his Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences. Indulgences were granted by the Church as a means of reducing the punishment due to sinners, their loved ones or others in purgatory.

Traditionally they required some form of ritual action to become effective - from repeating set prayers, through reverencing relics, to going on pilgrimages. In the decades before Luther’s protest, however, they had become heavily corrupted, with charges being made for them that would not only be diverted to the building of the grand Basilica of St Peter in Rome, but also to pay off bribes taken out by Prince Albrecht of Brandenburg to secure the Archbishopric of Mainz.

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Whereas indulgences were deemed acceptable because the Pope had authorised them, Luther the biblical scholar could find no scriptural warrant for them – indeed, he argued that they contradicted scripture, and since scripture must guide the Church’s teaching, they must be rejected.

Faced with accusations of betraying his Catholic heritage at the Diet of Worms in 1521, Luther famously replied: “I consider myself convicted by the testimony of Holy Scripture, which is my basis; my conscience is captive to the word of God.” Today, our Evangelical Alliance Basis of Faith affirms the “supreme authority of the Old and New Testament Scriptures, which are the written Word of God — fully trustworthy for faith and conduct”. In doing so, it echoes Luther’s emphasis, which he in turn believed was reflective of scripture’s witness to itself, and the use of scripture by Jesus.

Luther’s protest against indulgences was more specifically a protest against the idea that salvation could either be earned by human effort or will, or bought by human funds or goods. The outcome was his and other reformers’ formulation of the signature Protestant doctrine of justification by grace through faith. Rome had taught that righteousness could be accumulated through acts of ritual penance

and devotion. For the reformers, however, justification was sola fide and sola gratia – dependent purely on a saving faith that was itself a free gift, or grace, of God, secured

by Jesus’ atoning death for sinners on the cross. This liberating idea has been central to evangelical preaching, teaching and witness: while the precise relationship of grace to works in ongoing discipleship has been interpreted differently in different strands of evangelicalism, the common commitment of evangelicals to this foundational principle is expressed by the Alliance’s Basis of Faith when it affirms “the justification of sinners solely by the grace of God through faith in Christ”. The Lutheran World Federation has chosen to mark the Reformation quincentenary by applying this principle to the three-fold message that salvation, human beings and creation are ‘not for sale’. This bears out the rich implications of justification not only for personal faith and redemption, but also for wider society in a world marred by the sinful exploitations of peopletrafficking and ecological profligacy. As such, it resonates with our own Evangelical Alliance work in public policy and advocacy, and the connections we seek to make between the necessity for personal faith in Jesus Christ and the call to bring the good

Note: We will be m arking the 50 0th anniversary of the Reform ation throughout 2017 in idea magazine.

ormation

On one level, our diversity reflects the fact that the Reformation led to a more plural Church, and at times this plurality has curdled into division and conflict. From the Peasants’ War of 1523 to the Thirty Years’ War of 1618-48, the Reformation became a focus of severe national and international conflict, with millions of lives lost. The resonance of those conflicts can still be felt in more recent sectarian tensions in Northern Ireland, Liverpool, Glasgow and elsewhere. For all his genius, Luther himself could be cruel and conflictual, lapsing at times into gruesome antisemitism. Yet it was he himself who recognised that while Christians are justified we remain sinners, challenged by fight of faith.

news we know as individuals to bear in our communities, and in society as a whole.

TWR-UK is a charity registered in England and Wales, number 233363

Although it arose in the 16th Century, the Reformation was not so much an innovation as a recovery – a recovery of the essential content of the ‘evangel’ or ‘good news’ of salvation proclaimed by Jesus Christ himself, and by his apostles. That work of recovery is reflected in our own designation as evangelicals. Indeed, as evangelicals, we owe a great deal to the Reformation. Those of us in Lutheran, Reformed, Anglican,

Baptist and Anabaptist traditions can trace a direct line back to the seismic theological and ecclesial renewal led by Luther, and taken up by John Calvin, Huldrych Zwingli, Thomas Cranmer, John Knox, John Smyth, Menno Simons and other leaders of the Reformation as it developed in various forms across Britain, Europe and the world. Others of us in Methodist, Pentecostal, independent and new Church traditions give thanks for the Pietist and Revivalist development of Protestantism in the 17th and 18th centuries.

For 170 years, the Evangelical Alliance has sought to honour the many positive legacies of the Reformation, while also seeking to overcome the divisions that accompanied it. Across and beyond the various streams of evangelicalism, we seek to make common cause for the good news, that the world might believe. Significant differences remain between our theological understanding and that of the Roman Catholic Church against which Luther protested, but in recent decades various evangelical networks have co-operated effectively with Catholics in campaigning against abortion and euthanasia, for traditional marriage, and on social justice concerns like poverty and homelessness.

We might not individually change the world as momentously as Luther did, but five centuries on his legacy reminds us that we are part of a movement called to transform people and society by the grace of God, with the word of God, for the glory of God.

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leading you from

doubt to decision to discipleship

IDEA MAGAZINE / 23

IN THE THICK OF IT

Featuring Alliance members SAT-7 and Mahabba Network

How Christians are well placed to connect with Muslims In our survey, 84 per cent of evangelicals thought they should gain some understanding of other faiths before sharing the gospel with their adherents.

So, how do we, as Christians, understand Muslims?

Are there any similarities in how Christians and Muslims see the world? In our secular society, where religious literacy is low and most people have very little time for organised religion, how are we as Christians positioned to relate to and connect with Muslims?

Here, two of the Alliance’s member organisations who work with Muslim communities help us to consider some of the ways that we can better engage with Muslims.

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SAT-7 is a network of five Christian satellite television channels broadcasting across the Middle East and North Africa.

Alongside proclaiming the gospel, they are also working hard to encourage and increase mutual care, tolerance and respect for people of all faiths and different worldviews, seeing them equally as people made in the image of God. As citizens who live in mixed religious communities or close to different faith communities, SAT-7’s Christian presenters know and respect their concerns – to love their neighbours. Christians are experiencing persecution in parts of the Middle East, yet in most communities in the region, the different faiths live peacefully side by side and Christian-run schools and hospitals are open to all. SAT-7 is very much committed to encouraging and increasing this mutual care,

IN THE THICK OF IT

Pray that our Muslim neighbours would see in Christians a friend as people of faith.

Photo: David Evers

tolerance and respect for people of all faiths and different worldviews.

Mahabba Network works here in the UK, helping Christians to engage positively with Muslims through care, prayer and understanding. They produce evangelistic resources for Christians to use during the season of Ramadan, and have a network of 40 prayer groups throughout the UK. Although there are clearly huge differences between us as Christians and Muslims, there are also common themes that we can draw on while speaking to Muslim friends, colleagues and neighbours, to find shared ground on which to build a relationship.

Both these member organisations see the importance of understanding our Muslim neighbours in order to express the love of God and to share the good news of salvation in His son, Jesus. Finding common ground is often the first place to start.

Mahabba say: “Christians and Muslims share belief in a creator God, who sustains His creation and who will hold people to account for their lives on earth, but who guides people through revelation.”

For Christians, it’s the Holy Spirit and the Bible that provide the source of revelation.

While for Muslims it’s the Qur`an. While we know the Bible to be sacred and don’t see the Qur’an as a holy book, Mahabba finds helpful comparisons for engaging Muslims in conversation: “The Bible and Qur`an talk about Abraham who did the will of God, and one of the Qur`an’s terms for Jesus is, ‘the Word of God’. Both Muslims and Christians interpret the world through these texts, to try to discern the will of God in their life.”

Sat-7 agrees: “Although Islam sees the Qur`an as superseding the Hebrew and New Testament scriptures, it reflects many aspects of them. Christians and Muslims share many of the same moral concerns and there is also a desire among committed believers to honour and serve God above all else.”

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017

On their channels, they tackle this by clearly explaining what it is Christians believe and how this impacts their lives - without criticising the beliefs of others. This is great way to start a conversation about faith with your Muslims friends, discussing the application of these texts to 21st century life. For more information on this, read our feature on pages 16 and 17.

Living in what some in the UK describe as a post-Christian country, it can be difficult at times to try to answer questions and address the problems of the day from a position of faith with non-believers. But for those with a religious faith this is a starting point to form a common foundation to think about how to live together in peace, said Mahabba.

“The secular/anti-faith world don’t accept religious answers to the questions that face the world. They discredit reasons that are based on faith in God, and often ridicule them so that it is difficult to talk together about what is good for society.”

And that rejection of faith isn’t just a European phenomenon, say SAT-7.

“Religious scepticism is a growing phenomenon in the Middle East and North Africa. This has partly been a reaction among the young against authoritarianism and in favour of independent thinking, and partly a result of dismay and questioning prompted by sectarian violence and the actions of extremists in the name of religion.”

But this has given the channel an opportunity in the region, as there’s a growing openness to learning from Christians who are seen as being people of peace and forgiveness. SAT-7 has identified new trends of critical thinking and enquiry.

What can we learn from this? Are we always open to questions about our faith?

The social status of women is another topic that could be useful when finding a connection.

“Christians may reach out to any woman because they believe that we are all created in the image and likeness of God. The Bible tells us that humans look at the outward appearance, but God looks at the human heart (1 Samuel 16:7). Christian women can therefore help their own communities and Muslim women to discern the real issues behind clothing and lifestyle which are merely external things,” say Mahabba.

As Christians, when we demonstrate the dignity and equality of women in our own communities, we’re well placed to support and encourage the Muslim women around us, growing friendships and showing the value and respect Christianity gives women.

While we must always acknowledge the profound differences between our faith and Islam, it is helpful to be aware of areas that position us to build relationships in which we can share our faith. You might find others in your context.

WHAT SHOULD CHRISTIANS BE PRAYING FOR? Pray that our Muslim neighbours would see in Christians a friend as people of faith that would allow the building of friendships and relationships in a divided world.

Pray that many Muslims will have an encounter with the living God through the Holy Spirit revealing Jesus to them, and that the body of Christ will be ready to receive them when they do commit their lives to the Lord.

Pray for the young people in the Middle East and praise God for the growing openness to learning from Christians who are seen as being people of peace and forgiveness.

Pray for the work of SAT-7 and Mahabba.

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60 SECONDS WITH…

The Feast The Feast is a Christian youth work charity, specialising in helping young people of different faiths and cultures to live well with each other. So Tim Fawsett. is this about evangelism?

No, says the charity’s CEO Tim Fawsett.

“What we do is enable Christians, especially those on the evangelical side of the Church, to meet with people of another faith and talk about their faith, without compromise or watering down, in a way that allows us to form friendships based on trust and respect.

So maybe it is evangelism?”

WHAT DO PEOPLE REALLY LEARN DURING THESE DIALOGUE SESSIONS? Many of our young people or their adult leaders are struck by the rules we use to guide our discussions. These include speaking positively about my own faith rather than negatively about other people’s, acknowledging similarities and differences between our faiths and not judging someone by what some people of their faith or community do. We often hear stories of how people keep using these rules and even teach them to their family or friends.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE MEMORY FROM ONE OF THESE SESSIONS?

Traditional “interfaith dialogue” - a term we don’t like because of its baggage - is so often serious and formal, like dry Ryvita. Instead we want to create a fun, noisy and happy environment for young people to connect up with their friends. It’s our dream that people would share their lives with people who are different to themselves, inviting them from the front door right through to their kitchen and dining room to share a full and welcoming meal.

As a Christian I’m probably more proud of the change that happens in other Christians, as we are changed by our Muslim friends. Once we had some boys come from a church, which even the vicar said was “a little bit racist”, to spend a weekend with some Muslim peers. Afterwards they spoke in their church about the experience - how they had made friends, with names, senses of humour, similar interests, and not the ‘stereotypical Muslim’.

This lead to a woman in the church saying hello to a Muslim receptionist who she normally ignored or avoided, for the very first time. This church has now been on a journey of reaching out to the Muslims who have started to come into their community and their young people were a vital part of that.

WHY DO YOU WORK WITH TEENAGERS?

WHY SHOULD WE HAVE FRIENDS OF OTHER FAITHS?

We were founded by Dr Andrew Smith, who was the Scripture Union youth worker in Birmingham. One aspect of his ministry took him into schools, and increasingly he found himself in schools that were made up of mainly South Asian students, of the Muslim, Sikh and Hindu faiths. He found so few Christian youth work resources on how to engage these young people that it lead him to pioneering the approaches we now use.

Because Jesus said that we should love our neighbour. He taught his original followers the parable of the Good Samaritan, but today we tend to miss the impact of this story. Samaritans were despised by the people of Israel because of their corrupted faith, ethnicity and history, and avoided at all costs. However to demonstrate what he meant he described a Samaritan who really knew how to love, with humility, self-sacrifice, generosity and persistence, right across the huge racial chasm. I started to understand this when I realised that today it could have been the Good Muslim. Our love needs to overcome our fears and prejudices.

WHY ARE YOU CALLED THE FEAST?

There are other clear benefits of working with young people. Unlike many of their parents, they are already much more engaged with peers of a different faith and culture, and are growing up in a country where diversity is normal. Our work gives them opportunities to share and explore what they believe, and so contributes to the discipleship journey of Christian young people. Finally we have found that young people can have a big impact on challenging the stereotypes, fears and prejudice that is held by their families, faith group and community.

STEREOTYPICALLY WE OFTEN DON’T THINK OF TEENAGERS AS GREAT COMMUNICATORS. DO YOU HAVE TO GIVE THESE YOUNG PEOPLE A LOT OF ENCOURAGEMENT TO TALK? The centre of our ministry are what we call Youth Encounters, where say five young Christians come together with five Muslim peers, around normal, fun youth work activities like sport, ten pin bowling, or doing art, creating times for them to speak to each other about their faith and cultures. To do this we put in place simple rules that will guide their discussions, and then let them go. To be honest, we rarely find they need a lot of help to talk together.

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Sadly, so many people of other faiths in this country don’t know this sort of love. Some may hear our messages, but they don’t hear or experience real, tangible love in friendships, in homes and over meals - through the good and bad times.

WHAT ARE YOU EXCITED ABOUT AT THE MOMENT, AND WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR THE FUTURE? The Feast works in four locations - Birmingham, Bradford and Keighley, Tower Hamlets and Luton. We love working with hundreds of young people. But the thing I’m most excited about is The Feast becoming more of a movement, sharing our experience and resources, offering training or advice, inspiring and challenging more - especially in the Church - so that many more young people will be able to love their neighbour better. God has blessed us with a little role in His kingdom, and our prayer and hope is that we can be yeast in mix, helping build bridges and enliven the churches engagement with its communities.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017

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Our regular look back through the Alliance archive

by Kim Walker, research and information officer for the Evangelical Alliance

Other Faiths Working Group Members of the Alliance have always been busy working to bring the news of Jesus Christ to people of other faiths. In the 19th century they were travelling around the world, working as missionaries and sharing their experiences at Alliance conferences and in the Alliance’s magazine Evangelical Christendom.

This evangelistic activity among our members continued into the 20th century, but as immigration increased in the 1950s and 1960s, some started to choose to focus on reaching out to those from other faiths now living in the UK. In the 1970s, cross-cultural ministries were starting, but the feedback the Alliance was getting was that ordinary Christians were finding encounters with people from other faiths difficult.

The Alliance published Christianity and other faiths in 1983. The aim was to provide an evangelical contribution to the challenges of living in a multi-faith society.

Following on from this the Alliance, in partnership with the Evangelical Missionary Alliance (EMA) set up the Other Faiths Working Group (OFWG).

Made up of representatives from churches and mission agencies working amongst people of other faiths in the UK, the group met three times a year to share ideas and resources. In between meetings, various subgroups worked together on more practical joint projects and prayed together for the work of their individual ministries.

Co-operative working was one of the key aims of the Alliance when setting up the OFWG. An appeal was issued via a promotional leaflet for the group, asking supporters to let them know if there any areas where the Alliance could further encourage cooperation between churches and mission agencies; their view was there was a unique opportunity to reach out to people of other faiths if Christians worked together.

The group ran for about 10 years between the mid-1980s and mid-1990s.

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NEWS

Reaching the world on your doorstep – thanks to this new book Engaging with people of other faiths is an essential task for Christians in the UK. Reaching out to people in our neighbourhoods with the good news of Jesus always requires that we have a clear understanding of the challenges and opportunities involved, and this is particularly true with people from other faiths.

This book provides a clear theological basis for mission to people of other religious groups, and some of the key challenges that will have to be navigated. In an immensely practical way, Dewi Hughes considers some of the pastoral issues for churches as they welcome people from other faiths with case studies from across the UK to inspire and encourage. Religion is increasing in significance across the world and our work, schools and neighbourhoods will bring us into contact with people of all faiths and none. This book equips Christians to do it wisely, while demonstrating the love and good news of Jesus.

Writing in the foreword to the book Steve Clifford, general director of the Evangelical Alliance, says: “Growing up I heard about Hudson Taylor, Jim and Elisabeth Elliot, and countless others who were heroes of our faith.

“I look forward to sharing stories of new heroes who commit their lives to telling their neighbours from diverse beliefs and backgrounds that Jesus’ good news is for them, and trusting in him brings salvation and abundant life. It is time for us to reach the world on our doorstep.” eauk.org/the-world-on-our-doorstep

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017

THE IDEA TEAM GETS MUDDY – FOR A GOOD CAUSE Editor Amaris Cole and some other members of the idea team will be dragging themselves around a 12mile obstacle course at the Tough Mudder challenge in May 2017.

Training is already underway for the event, which includes challenges such as scaling a wall, wading through a skip of ice and crossing a muddy expanse with monkey bars.

The team is taking part to raise some money for the work of the Alliance.

If you’d like to support their efforts, please do visit our website eauk.org/toughmudder

IDEA MAGAZINE / 29

CULTURE Edited by threads.

For more posts like this, visit threadsuk.com

by Joel Leakey

Eutah Mizushima

A way forward with friends who’ve lost faith

There’s a story about Saint Therese of Liseux that both puzzles and warms me.

In Easter 1896, the young nun went through a wild change in how she treated atheists. Before then, she had the kind of attitude towards atheists that you might recognise from some Christian circles today. “I could not believe that there really were godless people who had no faith at all,” she said. “It was only by being false to their own inner convictions that someone could deny the existence of heaven.”

She prayed through that Easter, and then God changed her mind. She felt God give her access into what people felt like when they knew He didn’t exist. This insight into how unbelievers saw the world took away her certainty.

I reckon most Christians have an inner atheist in our heads – if you’re not a believer, maybe you’ve come across the opposite, an inner believer, before. For Therese, it was like both suddenly existed side by side.

And after that Easter, she found herself happiest when she was eating meals with atheists, letting their questions shake her beliefs, and hers theirs.

There’s something I recognise in Therese’s story. Not her superheroic mission to connect IDEA MAGAZINE / 30

with atheists by living precariously on the edge of faith. But her movement towards empathy. Probably the closest thing I’ve had to Therese’s experience is when friends have drifted away from faith.

I remember when a friend stopped believing in God. In our first conversation, she quietly – almost apologetically – broke the news.

I couldn’t bring myself to argue. Instead I listened while arguing with myself in my head instead. It’s funny how the first impulse is to argue.

I found I was then able to open up about times I’ve doubted God was even there. And we talked for a while about what made us believe in the first place – family, the Bible, a strength of feeling. We came round to why I’d gone back to faith, and why she hadn’t.

Once I let her experience be her experience, there was some shared ground to work from. Because we were both coming from the same place of faith, there wasn’t a need to chat the usual evangelism or apologetics stuff. In fact, it forced me away from those rote discussions.

Almost because of how rare they are, moments like the conversation with my friend feel strangely precious to me.

Arguments or metaphysical debates have their place, but having spent a good amount of time in a university Christian union, they can feel a little like thwacking your head against a wall after a while.

The way Therese of Liseux discovered was different. And it’s what I’ve learnt from friends who’ve left faith. The empathy our friendship’s built up brushes away the usual wall I put up against unbelief. Instead, I can honestly share with friends about the faith I have, while not bulldozing the conversation with arguments.

If you’re in a place where a friend’s leaving faith, I guess I’d offer that to you. If you can – both of you, vulnerably – reach that place of ‘hey, we’re both just trying to figure this out’, then I reckon the conversations you’ll have will be much more fruitful than any arguments.

We need your help to ensure the “missing generation” is no longer missing. threads is reaching out to the missing generation, young adults in their 20s and 30s who are leaving the Church in droves as they see faith as irrelevant, out of touch and side-lined from the very real issues they are facing.

For as little as £3 a month, you could become a supporter of threads and play your part in ensuring this generation is no longer missing – visit eauk.org/supportthreads or call 0207 520 3848

MUSIC

CULTURE

The Welsh song contest - new songs needed from the Land of Song One of the UK’s leading Christian choirs is looking for fresh inspiration. Based in south Wales, Cambrensis Ministries is launching Christian New Songs 2017 in a bid to profile new songwriters. It’s a competition designed to give a platform to people who are writing new songs of worship and which are being sung in their local church, or those that have not yet been sung.

Cambrensis Musical Director, Jeff Howard, said: “We seek to glorify God through excellent musicianship, and to spread the good news of Jesus Christ in Wales and beyond. Wales is known as the land of song and we’re looking for songwriters who will help us and our churches sing a new song to the Lord.”

Cambrensis Ministries supports two main choirs, a symphony orchestra and a range of smaller groups. It embraces a wide spectrum of ages and talent, ranging from select ministry teams to large scale celebration events, and in venues from church halls to St David’s Hall in Cardiff.

The deadline for submission is 21 January 2017 and the songs will be judged by a panel. The best songs will be performed at a special celebration at Moriah Baptist Church, Risca on 18 March and will be published and made available for download from cambrensis.org.uk

Cambrensis Ministries has made it possible for thousands to hear the gospel and enjoy inspirational music drawn from every age.

Please email your songs to owenprojects@hotmail.co.uk. Terms and conditions are available by visiting www.cambrensis.org.uk

REVIEWS ENID BLYTON’S FAITH BOOKS: NOAH’S ARK AND OTHER STORIES, THE FIRST CHRISTMAS AND OTHER STORIES AND THE LAND OF FAR BEYOND Hodder Children’s Books I loved reading Enid Blyton books when I was little. I just couldn’t get enough of her stories of children having exciting adventures and solving mysteries. It was Enid’s wonderful writing that encouraged my love of books and my desire to be a librarian. I thought everyone should be able to enjoy such books, so I wrote book record cards for each of my books and started my own library for my neighbours. I don’t think it was a particularly successful library as I found it hard to see my much loved books leaving my bedroom, but 40 odd years later I’m still making a living from being a librarian.

So when I found out that Enid’s retelling of Bible stories were being re-published I immediately asked if I could do a review of them; I had never had the opportunity to read her stories from the Bible when I was a child.

I was really hoping to experience again Enid’s lovely simple, clear but nonpatronising writing style that enabled me to enjoy such exciting stories. I wasn’t JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017

disappointed. The writing style is typical Blyton, but sticks very closely to the original Bible tales.

We all know that the Bible is full of exciting mystery and adventure stories that are great to share with children. Enid’s careful retelling of stories such as the good Samaritan, the prodigal son, Noah and his ark, David the young shepherd, the three wise men, the parting of the Red Sea give children a really fun and accessible way of enjoying these amazing true stories.

Each story is very short, often just five or six pages and each has one simple line drawing to illustrate the story.

I would recommend these books for adults who want to read the stories to children or for young confident readers to enjoy by themselves.

Kim Walker

Congratulations to David McAllistair, Cassie Louise and Daisy Watson who entered our competition on social media to win a copy of one of the books, thanks to the publisher Hodder.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for your chance to win goodies in future.

IDEA MAGAZINE / 31

IDEA-LIST

by Roger Sutton

If local authorities are hostile to Christians, how can the Church engage with civic society?

In our latest research, more than 1,000 evangelicals said they felt their local authority was hostile to Christians.

But that perception isn’t always reality, says Roger Sutton, director of Gather, the Evangelical Alliance’s unity programme.

2 – GO TO THE TOP AND WORK DOWN

6 – LEARN THE LINGO

Ask to meet with chief executive of the council or the chief superintendent of the police or the chief executive office of the housing trust.

If you go as a small team on behalf of other churches they are often more than willing to have a conversation with you. Try and begin the engagement at this level then work down to the more local and junior level. Buy-in with those in most authority will make your local work much easier.

If this is your first time in engaging with statutory authorities, you have just entered a foreign land where you need to learn the language and culture of civic organisations.

The jargon is at times impenetrable, and the culture very complex. We need also to understand that Church culture and language to the outsider is just as bewildering. The important thing is to keep asking questions, challenge the jargon and learn as fast as you can.

A chief executive officer of a local council recently described the current round of austerity cuts hitting local government as the greatest crisis affecting local communities since the war. Many councils have reduced their spending by up to 33 per cent and they are now facing another 50 per cent cut over the next five years. This level of reductions is also being felt in the police force, the third sector and other social institutions with education and health probably to follow close behind. The basic citizen-civic agreement is under threat with many local authorities wondering how it will be able to meet even their statutory responsibilities to the young and the elderly.

Go to the authorities and engage them in a conversation specifically asking them about their key priorities. Ask them to give you three things they need you to help with. You may not be able to meet all those needs, but you would be able to meet some of them. We are here to be a blessing to the place God has called us to – not a drain on it. The authorities often feel pressured by local groups and charities to serve their needs, it will be a welcome conversation for them to be asked about their needs.

Into this growing vacuum in social support the Church has an opportunity to increase its service to its local area, because unlike other organisations the Church relies less on grant funding and more on the generosity of its members. If civic authorities are to survive, they must partner and outsource as much as possible.

These golden nuggets of advice for civic engagement emerge from a missional perspective for long-term relationships.

1 – DO IT IN UNITY The authorities want one phone number to ring, one group to deal with, not several individual churches all competing for time and resources. It’s not only strategic to do things as joined up as possible, but it’s of course witness to the gospel that when we are in unity we better express the love God has for this world. If you don’t already have a local unity movement, consider establishing one. Go to gather.global for more information.

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3 – ASK WHAT THEY NEED

4 – DEAL WITH THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM If they do have hesitations in working with you it may be because they have had experience with some church groups who sought to use public money to proselytise.

It’s often best at the start of the engagement to name the elephant in the room and deal with these misconceptions. State that you are here to serve everyone and not just one group and that although sharing your faith is important to you, you will not use publicly funded initiatives to do that. If the people you serve wish to connect with your other church activities then they are very welcome, but assure them no one will be forced or coerced into church. You could even develop a code of practice.

5 – BUILD THE CASE FOR CHURCH PARTNERSHIP You may need to consistently state that faith groups provide the largest voluntary cohort in the area, they probably employ the most youth and children workers and studies have shown they provide more than 50 per cent of any social capital in the area. They are on the ground, with buildings and volunteers and mostly pay their own way.

7 – UNDER PROMISE AND OVER DELIVER It’s vital that we build up over time an impressive catalogue of effective sustainable community impact. We need to be trusted, but we only gain trust if we have the credibility regarding delivery on the commitments we have made. We do of course need to be imaginative and dream big, but it’s vital we don’t over promise what you can deliver.

AND REMEMBER: SERVE – DON’T RULE The right attitude is fostered by a spirit of service to the community and its leaders.

YOU ARE PART OF A BIGGER PICTURE We must at all times be humble, taking our part in the larger picture and not seeking to exaggerate or boast.

REMEMBER YOU ARE UNIQUE We are a large voluntary force, with significant assets serving in every neighbourhood of the area. Our faith is the driving force behind our activity, resulting in great commitment and ambition.

DON’T FORGET THE CHURCH As we engage in with the civic authorities we also need to engage with our local churches, encouraging a heart for the city, to seek its peace and prosperity.

BE LED BY THE SPIRIT Soak these opportunities in prayer, lead by divine guidance and be enabled by the power of God.

In 2013 the Alliance produced a report called Faith in the Community. Read it on our website here eauk.org/faith-in-the-community

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 LOOKING BACK AT OUR ANNIVERSARY Thank you for the anniversary edition of the magazine - an enjoyable read, and thought provoking on a number of fronts.

First, you rightly stress unity and quote Jesus’ prayer that those who believe may be one. But I felt it was not always clear whether we are talking here about unity between evangelicals, or unity between Christians generally, or both.

It seems to me that there can be a tension - too strongly stressing unity between evangelicals can lead to us distancing ourselves from other Christians, and so weakening that wider unity, but too strongly stressing unity with nonevangelical Christians can lead to dilution of gospel truth and impact. Somehow surely both areas of unity need to be pursued, but to do this we do need to be aware of the possible tension between the two.

Second, in considering whether the term “evangelical” should still be used, there was no mention of the differing situations of rural and urban/suburban churches. The latter can very easily wave a particular churchmanship flag, and people can choose what type of church they want. But in a rural area things are often different. As a retired Anglican ordained minister I serve on a ministry team covering five parishes in south Devon, four of which are decidedly rural, and in each case the Church of England church is the only church in the village/community. This means the church must be the focus for all, and to wave an evangelical banner could be counterproductive and divisive. It would also be difficult because members of the team come from a variety of backgrounds. So we don’t use the term, but we do preach from the Bible and we do seek to draw people to the saving love of God in Jesus, which are surely two key evangelical aims.

Third, both the subject of unity and the issue of whether or not the term “evangelical” remains helpful bring in the problem of deep-seated divisions between evangelicals.

So, in the C of E, most evangelicals are committed to the ministry of women at all levels, including as bishops, whereas other evangelicals, sometimes in some quite influential churches, ensure that they have provision to guard against them coming under the ministry or authority of women.

This means that on this issue I feel far apart from some of my fellow evangelicals, (and therefore somewhat wary of using the term), and at times can be much closer to many of liberal or catholic persuasion. And much the same is happening in connection with the issue of same-sex relationships, where some conservative evangelicals are not even willing to discuss the issue, or they ensure that when there is discussion only speakers following the conservative line speak. So here again, many evangelicals, whether or not they personally believe same-sex relationships should be accepted, find it easier to talk with nonevangelicals than with some of the evangelical bodies, such as diocesan evangelical fellowships. So on such matters we have a deep division between “conservative evangelicals” and “open evangelicals”. What this will lead to in the future, (particularly, but not exclusively, in the C of E), remains to be seen.

Thanks again for the magazine, and, wow, has the appearance improved since those early days!

Rev George Day SHORT BUT SWEET Excellent and inspiring article on stories by Barry Cooper – thanks.

Howard Thompson

Editor Amaris Cole – idea@eauk.org

Director of communications and membership Chine McDonald

Consulting editors Chine McDonald and Peter Lynas

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.

Contributing authors Alexandra Davis, Daniel Webster, Dave Landrum, David Hilborn, Joel Leakey, Kumar Rajagopalan, Roger Sutton Advertising manager Candy O’Donovan c.odonovan@eauk.org Design & Print Cliffe Enterprise JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017

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

HEARD IN TWEETS

Danny Webster @danny_webster Article for the next issue of @idea_mag is about a unicorn. Yes, really.

Elim Pentecostal @elimpentecostal @garyjgibbs shares 5 ways to start a conversation about your faith in the @EAUKnews @idea_mag j.mp/2fjoIv8 #Elim Sailors’ Churches @SailorsChurches It’s not just because @SailorsSociety are on the back page of @idea_mag that we say ‘get your copy today’! (honestly!)

David Hilborn @david_hilborn Helpful stuff from the Evangelical Alliance - Prayer for Trump and the United States: bit.ly/2g26E5o via @EAUKnews Premier Christian @PremierRadio Do you make a habit of sharing your faith? @ianbritton talks to @GavCalver about “The Great Commission” #InspirationalBreakfast @EAUKnews Creation Fest @creationfestuk Brand new packed resource from @EAUKnews to WATCH faith stories, READ about evangelism and EXPLORE ideas buff. ly/2fzNQM8 Evangelical Alliance@EAUKnews Having a whale of a time at EA towers celebrating shoe box packing season…

Have you packed yours? Thanks @OCC_ UK #ipackshoeboxes

TWITTER TALKS: Which of these four religions do you have most interaction with?

We asked Twitter about who they engaged with beyond their Christian friends, with the choice of the four most followed faiths after Christianity: Islam, Buddhism, Sikhism or Hinduism.

86% Islam 4% Sikhism 4% Buddhism 6% Hinduism We love hearing from you! If you have any thoughts, questions or feedback about this edition, do send a letter to the editor, or contact us via Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. Search for the Evangelical Alliance to get all of our news in your Timelines.

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, selfaddressed 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.

IDEA MAGAZINE / 33

LAST WORD

Steve Clifford the general director, writes…

In the world of fragmentation, God is bringing His people together As I sat in the great Jacob K. Javits convention centre in the heart of New York, I was overwhelmed with a sense of gratitude to God. I realised afresh that what God was doing with us in the UK was part of something much bigger - we had been caught up in a global, Holy Spirit-inspired initiative, which was working to see transformation – physical, social and spiritual – in towns and cities across the world.

I have to confess, I’m not usually one for the big international conferences, but Movement Day seemed different somehow, with more than 3,000 delegates from 95 countries. There were more than 200 from India alone, along with 90 delegates from the UK. I sat in awe as I heard the stories of what God is doing for His Church in cities across the world. Here was the body of Christ in all of its diversity - age, gender, ethnicity, but also in ecclesiastical and theological persuasions - together and committed to learning from each other. Leaders from Asia, Africa, the Middle East, North and South America, Europe and Australasia were exchanging stories of good practice and biblical insights.

As I look back on the event, which took place just a few weeks ago, I’m struck by the contrast of the CNN news reports that I watched on my hotel TV. Has there ever been a time of such global fragmentation?

Wherever I look, local, national and regional conflicts and separation seemed to be the order of the day - the US election, the UK referendum, destabilised relations with Russia and conflict across the Middle East and so many parts of Africa, and growing instability in Asia. The post-Cold War period of relative stability is increasingly under threat. It seems that as I contrast what was happening at Movement Day with the news reports on the TV, in a world of growing fragmentation, God is bringing His people together, united by a common cause.

I have often reflected on my conversation with Roger Sutton, then a former minister IDEA MAGAZINE / 34

of Altrincham Baptist and director of Reaching the Unchurched Network. He was half way through a sabbatical and I suggested he make contact with me when he was finished. I wondered whether there was something we should be doing together – I don’t remember having such a conversation with anyone before or since. And so it was that Roger came and joined us at the Alliance and we began to explore what we both sensed God was doing in towns and cities across the UK. What Roger discovered was amazing. We began calling them unity movements.

While the practical outworking varied from place to place, there were some common factors. These unity movements involved Christian leaders, not just church leaders, but leaders in business, charities, social concern, politics, education and healthcare.

Here were leaders building relationships, and out of this, a passion for their towns and cities was emerging - a desire for transformation and prophetic insights as to God’s agenda for their communities. It was out of these relationships that so many citywide initiatives have emerged. Currently, 54 per cent of the world’s population lives in cities, but it’s expected to be 66 per cent by 2050. The Church of the city is engaging in joint enterprise to see change in the lives of individuals, and indeed whole communities. It was in response to what God was already doing that we launched Gather to encourage and support these unity movements where they already existed and looked to encourage new ones into existence where they didn’t. In the last four years, Gather has connected with more than 120 unity movements and new ones are emerging on a regular basis.

What I realised, as I sat in that convention centre, is that what Gather is supporting and encouraging in the UK was part of

something bigger and we have the privilege of being included in it. God was calling us to encourage and celebrate unity in His family and to see that unity expressed - to quote the great John 17 prayer of Jesus “that the world might believe”. So, let’s pray for and encourage these unity movements.

But let’s also recognise that the call to unity challenges us in our own relationships at home, among family and friends and indeed in our local churches.

Next year, Movement Day comes to London and we’d love for you to be there, so do put the date in your diary: 6 – 7 October 2017.

P.S from Steve…

I’m sure you’ll agree that we’re in a time of extraordinary fragmentation and division in our nations. Yet with these challenges come significant opportunities for the gospel. As the Church, we are called to wade into this mess, get our hands dirty, and offer unity and hope. We are commissioned to share the good news of the Prince of Peace that we celebrate at Christmas.

So for our Christmas appeal this year, I hope you won’t mind me asking if you could prayerfully consider a gift to help the Church bring unity and hope to discord and disillusionment, to help the Church share the true Christmas story of God become man to bring peace to all?

You can read the full Christmas appeal letter and give a gift at eauk.org/christmasappeal

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