Sex and culture focus in London

‘Proclaiming the Gospel in 21st-century London’ was the theme for this year’s London Gospel Partnership (LGP) Annual Conference.

LGP represents a network of churches from across London and each year the conference is an opportunity for the leaderships of those churches to gather together. The aim is to encourage and equip those churches for gospel ministry in London. The conference was hosted entirely online, with many taking advantage of easier access to be there.

A spokesman for LGP said: ‘The main speaker was Sam Allberry, addressing questions of culture and sexuality in the 21st century. He worked through various different expressions of a 21st-century mindset, each time adding pastoral reflections for how to engage that mindset with the gospel. Whilst London is a melting-pot of cultures and mindsets, Sam’s teaching resonated as being true to the city the listeners inhabit.

‘Sam is known for his teaching and writing on sexuality and his second talk engaged that subject more specifically. Whilst it was clear Sam holds to a Biblical understanding on the subject, the talk was more focused on how to engage faithfully and lovingly with people. It was obvious from the talk that this is something that Sam is a model of and his own example was as instructive as the teaching. In a culture that is increasingly antagonistic on this subject, Sam provided a lead that will help churches engage with courage and love.

Proclaiming in love

‘Sam Allberry’s talks were framed on either side by expositions from Philippians by Ray Brown of Grace Church Brockley and Jamie Child of Crossway, Stratford. In a moment when lockdown restrictions seem prohibitive Ray’s talk was an exhortation to follow Paul’s example of creative proclamation from prison, confident of the advance of the gospel. Jamie rounded off the day with a call from Philippians 2 to follow in the footsteps of Christ with an attitude of loving service of others. Both talks served to complement Sam’s more-focused teaching at the heart of the day.

‘The bonus feature was 20 minutes in the middle of the morning from the FIEC’s John Stevens. Tasked with giving a perspective on this particular moment in our culture, John rammed hours of reflection into his 20 minutes. Church leaderships would do well to listen again and digest. The session provided a stimulating perspective at the heart of the day.

‘The London Gospel Partnership is still in its early days, having emerged from the old South East Gospel Partnership (SEGP). Fruitful in its moment, the SEGP had grown too big to serve its purpose, and the hope is that a more local focus can serve the gospel better. There was much in this conference to suggest that that will be the case.

‘All the talks can be found on the London Gospel Partnership’s website.’