Ross Hendry
1. How did you become a Christian?
Growing up I attended a Welsh Baptist chapel each week with my mum and gran. Children always left the service before the sermon and so I rarely, if ever, heard the gospel. In God’s providence when I was 16, the minister was a faithful evangelical who refused to baptise me unless I knew what I was committing to. He led me to Jesus. I will be eternally grateful to him and the Lord for that. It was as a student in London that I began to grow by sitting under good teaching in good fellowship and community.
2. What lessons have you learnt since that you would want to pass on to a younger Christian version of yourself?
Faithfulness is not passive, easy, or unambitious. Faithfulness to the Lord is a great adventure and calling. Be committed to spiritual disciplines that soften the heart and enliven the spirit as well as feed the mind. Be willing to be surprised with how and where the Lord teaches you. You can trust Him in all things.
3. How would you describe your prayer life?
Never adequate in frequency, honesty, or sufficient trust in its power. It is the bedrock to every day, and I try to have moments through the day when I pause to speak to my heavenly father. Prayer is where God often reminds me of His grace, my need for His provision and mercy, and where I learn how to love others.
4. Which two or three Christian books apart from the Bible have most influenced your faith?
Surprised by Hope by N.T. Wright (which got me to read much more about our future hope), most things written by Richard Mouw, and Tim Keller’s Generous Justice. Theology and political books I disagree with can have a big impact because they make me think and examine what I believe and why.
5. Who or what have been your biggest Christian influences?
John Stott, who taught me to apply God’s word to the big and small things of life; and All Souls Langham Place, where I found community and friendships and saw this being lived out.
6. What are the main challenges you believe Christians face today?
Not to act out of fear, but hope. To be confident of God’s sovereignty over all things, including the public square, so that we can be people who hold our strong convictions firm while also being people of compassion, grace, and civility. We can be tempted to believe that we must beat the world at its own game, but our calling is to play a different game altogether, that points to a greater story than anything the world has to offer.
7. What encourages and what discourages you?
People and people. They can be inspirational, sacrificial, and generous, wise, and formative, but people also cause the greatest pain and damage. Christians and non-Christians fall into both these categories. It is often Christians who work quietly and humbly in remarkably unremarkable ways that encourage me about God’s faithfulness, and sufficiency. People who live knowing that they have a great need for Christ are my encouraging role models.
8. What makes you laugh?
Dad jokes, good puns, clips of pandas, and my goddaughters Emily and Izzy.
9. What would you want to say to the wider evangelical world?
Be hopeful, confident, courageous, creative, and generous in the knowledge that God is true, God is good, and God is omnipotent. Be willing to confess your own sin, be humble, and trust that the Lord invites us to be part of His story not because He needs us but because He loves us. That transforms what we see as our mission and responsibility. The certainty of our future hope in light of the reality of what He has done for us transforms our engagement with the world.
10. Which person (other than Jesus) do you most look forward to meeting in glory and why?
Charles Haddon Spurgeon. I learnt much more about Spurgeon during the seven years I led the children’s charity that is named after him.
He was a ‘both and’ Christian. Passionate about preaching God’s word, but tireless in seeking to live that faith out in practice through compassionate and mercy ministries. He was prolific yet struggled with physical and mental ill health and was very aware of his own limitations and sinfulness. He was deeply caring, funny, bold, honest, and innovative. The stories of his life are as deeply moving and impactful as the words he wrote and spoke. A figure who impacted public life though confidence in applying God’s word sympathetically, skilfully, and faithfully. I think he would be great, joy-filled company, and someone I’d never tire of talking to.
