A variety of evangelicals reflect on what might lie ahead in the next 12 months
Innovative evangelism? Adrian Reynolds, Associate National Director FIEC
I hope and I pray that 2021 will see churches give evangelism its appropriate focus. In general terms, the lockdown has held us back: churches have often succumbed (understandably) to survival mode – let’s just keep going! Others have seen opportunities, but have not really known how to make the most of them. Others still have not known how to adapt to a changing environment and have simply mourned what they cannot do rather than explore what they can.
There’s no doubt that the evangelistic context has changed. Whilst the death rate from coronavirus has not been as large as feared, it’s not been negligible either. Most people, even if they didn’t know any victims personally, knew someone who did. Our mortality is before us as a society in a way that it has not been for many, many years. It is true, I believe, that we can overstate the spiritual yearning in unbelievers – a desire for something more or something better. There’s some of that, for sure. But it is not comprehensive. Nevertheless, the stench of death is all around, and we have the ‘pleasing aroma of Christ’ to offer a waiting world.
But how will we do it? I’ve been really heartened in our fellowship of churches to see those churches which have sought to be as agile and adaptable as possible. If it ever worked well, the idea of inviting someone to a guest service is gone for the moment. I love hearing innovative stories of churches sharing the old, old story in new, fresh and appropriate ways. A CD through the letterbox. A USB stick given to friends. Churches that use online carefully; those that equip their members for personal evangelism in a new climate; sharing of ideas and resources – all these give hope that this might be a year of the Lord’s favour.
Sex and money? Ros Clarke, Associate Director Church Society
In the Church of England there are two big issues already in play that will dominate 2021: money and sex.
Many dioceses are in very precarious financial situations and have already begun taking steps towards cutting clergy and other posts. I’m involved in our local deanery discussions on this, and I’m praying that, for us and elsewhere, evangelicals will be heard in this process and that cuts are made in a way that allows gospel ministry to flourish, while other things wither and fade.
Of course the big story was the publication of ‘Living in Love and Faith’ at the end of 2020 and at Church Society we are working hard, along with Church of England Evangelical Council and others, to digest and respond to it all, and to produce resources that will help ministers and church members engage with the process. There will be critical General Synod elections some time this year and we’re keen for as many evangelicals to stand as possible.
I’ve got a couple of writing projects that I’ll be working on this year – a Lent book due to come out in time for 2022, and starting work on a commentary on the Song of Songs. It’ll be great to finally return to the subject of my PhD in a way that will be useful to the church. I’m also hoping to see the numbers of women training on the Priscilla Programme continue to increase as we set up new seminar groups around the UK.
And, on a personal note, I am really looking forward to finally getting a more user-friendly Church Society website so that it’s easier for everyone to find all the great content and resources we produce!
Time with the Shepherd. Linda Allcock, author of two books, works alongside her husband Jonty in The Globe Church, Central London and lectures on the women’s ministry course at London Seminary.
The very thought of 2021 caused me something of an existential crisis!
I had planned a year full of conference speaking, following the launch of my book, Deeper Still, in September 2020. Turns out the Lord had other plans.
The larger conferences in my diary have been replaced by smaller gatherings. A trend emerges here – my ministry in the pandemic has been increasingly focussed on individuals. I was encouraged recently by John 10:14, that our Shepherd’s ministry to us is personal in nature: ‘I know my sheep and my sheep know me.’ Experiencing afresh the honesty and depth of relationship such personalised ministry affords, I plan to focus increasingly on discipleship in the coming year.
I have felt increasing pressure, from outside and inside the church, to contend for the Bible’s views on marriage, complementarianism, and gender. Capitulating on any one of these issues has implications for the others. In my teaching, writing and lecturing in 2021 I will keep advocating for the authority of God’s word to be upheld in an uncompromising manner.
Within the Globe Church, through the delays in staff changes imposed by the pandemic, 2021 will see the Lord building a staff team with increasing diversity. The Lord gives! But the Lord also takes away, and to that end we face continued uncertainty over our church venue. Ministering against a backdrop of stress and constant change, I have needed to prioritise friendship, rest and time with my Shepherd who has laid down His life for His weak and foolish sheep. These will continue to be key to a sustainable work pattern through 2021.
If 2020 taught me anything it was that the Lord alone knows the plans He has.
Eschatology and media? Graham Nichols, Director of Affinity
Affinity is a network of about 1,200 churches seeking to promote Christian unity and partnership across the UK between church groups (e.g. FIEC, Free Church of Scotland, Evangelical Fellowship of Congregational Churches, etc.) and Christian organisations.
Encourage: We will be working to promote fellowship and gospel partnership through the council meetings and other links created and developed to express our unity in Christ. We hear stories of blessing and challenge; pray for one another; work together where it makes sense; and have a broader view of what is going on in churches across the British Isles.
Educate: We will be seeking to equip the churches for the challenges to orthodox theology from some parts of the church and our secular culture, and to promote world mission. This includes engagement with current theological debates and thinking and cultural trends. We are excited at two new issues of our theological journal Foundations with our new editor, Donald John Maclean.
We are looking forward to our Theological Studies Conference – ‘The Undiscovered Country’. The theme of Biblical Eschatology was agreed months before we’d heard the word ‘coronavirus’ entered. But it seems more appropriate than ever, given the circumstances through which we have been living. The conference is open to anyone, especially pastors and preachers, wives and women involved in ministry. Our prayer is that wonderful glimpses of ‘The Undiscovered Country’ will be revealed to us.
Engage: We aim to provide a voice for conservative evangelicals within the church networks, but also the secular press where the voices of evangelical Bible-believing Christians are rarely heard. We have made significant impact with the Christian media and some local and national radio, but we would love 2021 to be the year that we make more of a breakthrough into the national secular radio and TV networks.
Harvest ready: workers not? Gavin Calver, Director of The Evangelical Alliance
Looking forward to 2021 and the developments that might happen in the church is very challenging: the arrival of Covid and lockdowns has slowed us in some ways and yet brought such an unexpected sudden rate of shift and change that a key strategy for the people of God must continue to be a posture of flexibility and remaining malleable.
I wonder how our churches will look when they fully reopen? When those people who have discovered online services in lockdown show up in person, having encountered Jesus?
I believe that we have already had glimpses of that. It will be fascinating to watch the old faithful of the church meet the new Christians who have come to faith during the pandemic. How we respond to their discipleship needs will be crucial in reforming the Body in the next season.
If Covid was one wave, there are many more to come. The UK will continue to find itself in the midst of many challenges, and the key question will be: ‘What are the new ideas and strategies that the Lord is revealing to His people to respond to the need that is in front of us?’ We have seen foodbanks, CAP, Street Pastors and many incredible ministries respond to crisis, but there will be many many more new assignments that Jesus releases to His people to respond to a changing UK. The harvest is ready, the question is – are the workers equipped to gather it in?
At the Evangelical Alliance we give thanks to the Lord for the way He united His church in prayer on 13 November 2020, but we also know that every day needs to be covered in prayer, and in an increasingly fragmented society we must be strong together to reach out to others.
Women and youth? Rachel Sloan, Women’s Ministry Coordinator FIEC and at Charlotte Chapel, Edinburgh
2020 was a year of change for me.
I finished my theology degree at Edinburgh Theological Seminary, in a very different way to how I started it! I also began a new role with the FIEC as their Women’s Ministry Coordinator. This meant going part-time in my job at Charlotte Chapel, Edinburgh and making changes to my ministry commitments there.
So what I am most looking forward to in 2021? Stability, as much as I can expect it. One thing this Covid period has taught us is that our plans are firmly in God’s hands and timing, rather than ours. However, I am looking forward to getting fully stuck into my new role with the FIEC to see how we can continue to support and resource Women’s Workers across our network.
Developing local support networks for Women’s Workers in FIEC churches. Having spent time getting to know some of the women working for FIEC churches I am looking forward to distilling a plan from their ideas and suggestion. The role of a Women’s Worker can be at times isolating, so having the support of others in similar ministry situations to ask for advice regarding pastoral concerns and to have prayer support can be invaluable.
Establishing a women’s ministry training programme at Charlotte Chapel to equip the women to think seriously about how they can be involved in discipling women in their specific contexts.
Word-based youth ministry. This summer I missed my time away with Contagious ministries and I am very much looking forward to the conferences running again. We will most likely have to think creatively about what the conference will look like, but teaching young people to be passionate about God’s word will still be at Contagious’ heart.
100 missionaries! Efrem Buckle, Director of Traning & Mentoring, Deputy CEO, London City Mission
I am looking forward to seeing more than 100 missionaries, filled with the word of God, trained and equipped, impact the local church in London in a powerful new way.
I’m looking forward to seeing ordinary Christians, working alongside trained missionaries, reach out with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ to those in London who are yet to hear the good news. I’m looking forward to seeing God’s saving grace reach people on the margins! I’m also looking forward to training at London City Mission never being the same again.
At London City Mission we are undertaking significant internal restructuring, not as a result of coronavirus, but because over the past few years we’ve felt led to refocus the vision to one which more decidedly serves and equips churches for mission to the least reached. As a result, we have had to embark on retraining 80+ staff, one whole day per week, REMOTELY. Trying to adapt and negotiate this during the peak of the global pandemic has required fully reliant faith in God’s providence.
As Director of Training and Mentoring I have been given much cause for thanksgiving. Our June Practical Evangelism Training (PET) day, focused on Muslim Engagement, was delivered remotely and attended by approximately 45–50 people, some joining from as far afield as Derby. This proved the extended benefits of remote training, as that training would otherwise have been inaccessible to many who attended.
I look forward to, and foresee, hybrid gospel training (in-person simultaneously combined with remote participation) becoming a normal experience; to the extent that churches will be better equipped to reach marginalised communities wherever they are.
No doubt it will have significant infrastructure, cost, and delivery challenges, but expanding the reach of gospel-equipping is a joy worth striving for.
Conversation and honesty. Mary Davis, a freelance editor and is married to CJ, who is minister of St Nick’s Tooting
Not all parts of London have a sense of community – but Tooting in south London certainly does.
It’s an unusually diverse place and a generally friendly one. We’ve seen people helping each other out a lot during the pandemic – which has been great – but the area seems to have lost a bit of the ‘ease’ it usually has.
Mask-wearing and social distancing make it hard to communicate with a smile or start a conversation about the gospel and invite someone to church. And working from home and lockdown, etc., have obviously kept people at home much more. So, one of the things I’m looking forward to in 2021 is all the incidental conversations that take place as you walk around the streets, in the local shops and on our brilliant Tooting Common, as well as the chance to build relationships again.
I’m hoping and praying that sense of easy conversation will return – and with it, a new readiness to talk about things that matter. We’re an area of many different faiths and determined secularism/materialism. I’m praying for an honesty that recognises that we don’t have all the answers and we can’t sort out this world on our own – and asking God for a new openness to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
We are expecting much greater levels of physical need, as well as spiritual need, post-Covid. So we’re praying that the Lord would show us the best ways of serving the community in how we share the gospel and in how we show the love of Christ practically. The pandemic is making us think again about how we do things – what’s the best and easiest way for people to start thinking about Jesus for the first time? Where are the needs that are not currently being met? We are praying a lot for God’s wisdom – we really need it!
Contending resumed Colin Hart, Director of The Christian Institute
Life will not be typical in the early months of 2021.
We normally do around 400 local meetings a year, with more than 15,000 coming along altogether. So not being able to hold them due to Covid restrictions significantly affects our ability to inform Christians. We’ve had great meetings using Zoom, but online access is a big challenge for many. It’ll be good to get back to normal.
Next year we’ll campaign on some issues likely to get a good public hearing and on some issues which won’t. Many ordinary parents question trans ideology. For homework, children under the age of ten have been asked to decide whether they are a boy or a girl. Public opinion is moving against this practice.
Another issue certain to come up in 2021 is hate crime, which can have concerning implications for gospel freedom. There’s new legislation making its way through Holyrood, and similar proposals for England and Wales from the Law Commission.
Christians campaigning against trans ideology or for free speech will currently get a fairly good hearing. But on contentious issues like a so-called conversion therapy ban or making DIY home abortions permanent, it will be much harder for the Christian voice to be heard. Yet we must still speak out.
Euthanasia is a massive issue on the horizon. The pandemic has well illustrated the dangers of legalising it. There were attempts at local level by public health officials to issue blanket ‘Do not resuscitate’ orders to every resident of a care home or even in one case to stop ambulances answering 999 calls from those aged over 90.
Thank God that all of these moves were blocked! As a nation we acted to preserve life. That is a good thing to take into 2021, whatever our views on tackling Covid.
