Affinity seeks diversity, welcoming ethnic minority churches

It has been an exciting first half of 2022 for Affinity, a network of around 1,200 churches and Christian organisations working in partnership for the sake of the gospel, writes Graham Nicholls.

We were delighted to welcome new members to Affinity – churches from a diverse range of backgrounds including majority Jamaican, Congolese and Chinese churches.

We also welcomed London City Mission (LCM) who work alongside churches in London to share the gospel with the diverse cultures across our capital city with a particular focus on those who through circumstances and culture are those least likely to hear it.

It is great that these churches and organisations want to associate themselves with other like-minded Christians and to stand together for the gospel.

Also this year, one of Affinity’s founding members, the Free Church of Scotland, have encapsulated their vision as ‘a healthy gospel church for every community in Scotland’. This will include church planting and numerical growth, but the main focus is for churches to be thriving spiritually – a great aim for any country. The Free Church of Scotland is the largest evangelical Presbyterian denomination in Europe.

Back in April the Affinity Advisory Council (see photo) met and were led through an excellent presentation from David Hilborn on ‘What is an evangelical?’ You might want to say that evangelical Christianity is original, apostolic, New Testament Christianity, but what are the characteristics, where are the boundaries, and how can we be Biblically faithful in our teaching and generous in our fellowship without compromising?

During this time, Affinity Director, Graham Nicholls, has made numerous appearances on local and national radio and TV, most recently discussing the proposed ban on so-called conversion therapy – something that has appeared in the Queen’s Speech.

Pray for Affinity as they seek to promote gospel unity across the United Kingdom, for healthy gospel churches in all our communities and for their presence in the Christian and secular media.