I recently had the opportunity to attend Oak Hill College’s annual School of theology event. This year the title was: Class and Ministry in the UK Today. It is a one-day event, although for me it was three days, and it showed how evangelicals, while often cast as those who don’t do privilege, class and poverty too well, actually do – and are looking to God to do it better!

It formed one day of an “Impact Week” for the students, to enable them, as future leaders in churches, to start to build an understanding of the wider social, and therefore ecclesial, landscape they will minister into. You can’t escape politics or culture – you can either do them well or poorly, or just ignore it, but they will never go away.

Day One was with current Oak Hill students doing teaching and open Q&A with the other speakers. Day Two was the conference proper, and Day Three hosting some students in my South East London parish.

Monday was the practical and theory day, and we had John Funnel from Noddfa in Wales, initially self-supporting with only a few faithful pensioners in his church, to now over 300, and a ministry that works with local agencies to support thousands across the community. His is truly a church that has made its place in the area invaluable and that has been recognised. And John has done it without any compromise on how he preaches, teaches and ministers. Personally, the big point of interest was that John was working with a near homogenous group of people from the Welsh Valleys, whereas I minister in an area that now has 38 different first languages in the local school, meaning 38 different people groups on my patch, many of whom dislike others. Hyper-diversity doesn’t begin to touch it, but our approaches had both areas of direct similarity with complete difference – both saw the core human need of the “full-fat Gospel”, that life-changing encounter with Christ, as non-negotiable, while in terms of simply culture, how you shape ministry to Welsh men from the Valleys is not the same as Zimbabwean women in South East London. This was the source of many questions from the students.

Gary Jenkins, Dean of Estates for Southwark Diocese looked at how class is more a culture than an economic category, even though the two clearly overlap, and finally, Natalie Williams (Jubilee Plus) spoke about coastal poverty, but her main focus was on how she, as a unmarried working class woman, did not fit so many of the leadership models that evangelicals often work with, yet she was now a CEO. There is a need to look beyond externals to the gifts and callings God places deeper within people.

Tuesday was the conference proper, and Matthew Sleeman (Oak Hill Vice Principal) opened with an excellent overview of what class is and isn’t and how it has been shaped by history and political and philosophical movements, and become described using ever more subdivided categories. Previously class was predicted on landownership, but the Industrial Revolution changed paradigm, which then got further shaped by political ideas in the Victorian period. Both the world wars reshaped the landscape (poverty creates political problems, so let’s avoid that happening again), and various recessions, crashes and de-industrialisation in the last few decades further complicates the picture to include those who would be “generationally non-working working class”

The second session led by London City Mission was based around three short vignettes (acted out Archers like – middle-class Radio 4 reference point!) that showed how (unintentionally) assumptions can be made about people and situations, and how then the gold can be missed – e.g. talking about your mortgage or skiing holiday in a sermon as if it was a common lived experience for all in the congregation, when the single parent is simply wondering how to get to the end of the week.

The afternoon had seminars on hyper-diversity, class on urban estates, class in coastal towns, and class in post-industrial communities  followed by the final session by Kirsten Birkett with her quiet yet powerfully spoken scholarship on full view. However, one comment she made remained with me: “We are primarily children of God rather than demographic categories.”, and by always bringing it back to the Gospel she rooted and rounded off the day wonderfully.

On Wednesday some students came to see what we do on Thamesmead, considering everything from badly thought through architecture and local infrastructure, via using local gifting to the fullest, ending with a session with the local Church Army Evangelist with the very people we had been thinking about for the past two days.

Privilege, class and poverty are tricky but unavoidable issues for the church today, and Oak Hill provided an excellent way in for those called to truly engage our society.

Revd Jonathan Macy leads a church in Thamesmead, London and is author of Sowing Seeds with Songs of Joy: Growing God’s Garden In Forgotten Places, which was published in 2025.

Sowing Seeds with Songs of Joy: Growing God’s Garden In Forgotten Places

As Christians, many of us aren’t sure what to think about Pride month. On the one hand, we want to love people well, stand up for human rights and stand against bad treatment of people made in the image of God. But on the other hand, we believe that God has given us good guidelines for sexuality and gender that contrast sharply with so much of what is celebrated in our culture. With both these sides in mind, many of us are left unsure what to think and how to respond.

Living Out has put together some of resources that you might be helpful if Pride month raises those sorts of questions for you. Find out more.

At your Annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM), representatives are elected to serve on Deanery Synod. It may sound like a small role, but this year it carries particular importance because, in the early autumn, Deanery Synod members vote to elect lay representatives from your diocese to General Synod – this is the body that makes major decisions affecting the life, doctrine, and direction of the Church of England. Yet, often many deanery synod places go un-filled and that is a missed opportunity.

Those major decisions made at General Synod don’t stay at the national level. They trickle down to dioceses, deaneries, and local churches across the country. They affect your church.

That’s why it matters that biblically faithful Christians are willing to stand.

Serving on Deanery Synod is not an overwhelming commitment – it is often just a few meetings each year – but it is a meaningful way to contribute to the wider life of the church, build relationships across your deanery, and ensure your church’s voice is represented.

If you long to see a Church of England that is committed to evangelism, grounded in Scripture, and faithful to the gospel in every generation, then this is one practical way you can make a difference.

Could you stand for Deanery Synod this year? Don’t miss the opportunity!

What is immediately striking is the warmth of the welcome, the joy of the worship and the clear commitment to the authority of scripture. There is also a tangible graciousness in the way conversations are held and issues explored. At the same time G26 raises questions which need to be addressed if GAFCON is to offer any substantive support for those contending within the Church of England.

Some of the contributors have been outstanding: a video from Rick Warren challenged us to work missionally towards the 2,000th birthday of the church, an address by Michael Oh (CEO Lausanne Movement) reminded us that the bible is not ‘clay in our hands’ but the ‘bedrock under our feet’ and we were offered an insight into how the Lord is building His church in countries where Islam is the dominant faith.

The big news of this gathering is the launch of the Global Anglican Communion (GAC) and a new leadership structure: the Global Anglican Council. This Council replaces the former Primates Council, and now includes clergy and lay members. It also has a new governance ‘model’, in that the chair of the new Council (Archbishop of Rwanda) will exercise leadership without being primes inter pares.

The message from the stage was that GAC is neither a departure from the Communion nor a schism – rather a ‘reordering’ of the Communion from within. In practice, this will be most obvious in a commitment to withdraw from participation in the instruments of Communion (the Lambeth Conference, The Anglican Consultative  Council, the Communion Primates and recognition of Canterbury as primes inter pares).

Viewing all of this from the perspective of the Church of England raises various questions.

First, what is not clear is how, and if, the launch of GAC will have a direct impact or relevance for those of us contending within the Church of England (we do however remain grateful for the ongoing commitment of GAFCON to support those contending within the C of E as well as those who have felt compelled to leave).

Second, I noted that the stage was dominated (perhaps even exclusively?) by men. This of course might reflect various cultural sensitivities, but if GAC is to be truly global then this needs to be addressed.

Finally, it continues to remain unclear how GAFCON and GSFA might relate going forwards. It is to be hoped that the launch of GAC will not exacerbate differences between them.

Above all – and despite the questions that the launch of GAC might raise – it is a joy to see so many Anglican bishops meeting with an agenda for gospel mission, biblical authority and the honour of the Lord Jesus.

John Dunnett – Observer at G26

The Abuja Affirmation can be read here

Here are four themes we’ve noticed from our work at The Word One to One.

Helping Everyone Play Their Part 

I love this story from a church in Northern Ireland. A woman new to church turns up one Sunday. A chat with the person she sits next to leads on to a coffee, then to the 321 course. Alongside, they read John’s Gospel together. Through friendship,looking at the Bible and getting to know the church family, wonderfully this lady comes to faith and is baptised. I love it because it sounds so ordinary, but God has been at work in an extraordinary way.

We can sometimes forget that the work of ‘making disciples’ isn’t just a job for church leaders. We might expect Ephesians 4 to say that leaders are given to do works of service. But it doesn’t say that. Leaders are given to equip God’s people for works of service, so that the whole body matures in Christ. This means that we are all called to play our part.

What also stands out to me from that story is the believer’s availability.  They understood the pathways the church had created for those curious about Jesus and prayerfully chose to walk alongside someone through them.

If we’re church leaders, we can pray for our people to be available like this, with hearts ready to meet others and help them take steps towards Jesus. Resources such as A Passion for Life training videos and materials have proved a valuable way of envisioning and equipping everyday believers for this work.

And we can all ask ourselves the question: “In this season of life, how can I help others come to know and love Jesus?’

Offering Connection 

Another thread from that story from Northern Ireland is the importance of relationships. Many who come to church for the first time are not just exploring faith – they are seeking connection. Whether they come back is not often to do with how polished the service is, but whether they are noticed, welcomed and known.

Inviting people into our lives through opening our homes, sharing meals, and making time for a walk or coffee, can feel unremarkable. Yet in an age marked by loneliness, this kind of a connection carries surprising weight. When people not only hear the gospel explained, but see it lived out, following Jesus begins to feel tangible and real.

Blend the Organised and the Organic 

Structured evangelistic courses such as Alpha, 321, or Christianity Explored are a great option for churches, offering welcoming spaces for people to ask questions and explore the claims of Christ. But the question often follows: ‘What’s next?’

Often, discipleship flourishes where there is a healthy blend of the organised and the organic.

One natural next step after a course is to open the Bible together. Resources like The Word One to One, available as books or a free app, provide a simple, structured way to read John and Acts 1-to-1 or in small groups. There’s a double benefit. Christians grow in confidence as they read the Bible with others, trusting God to work. And those exploring faith deepen their understanding of Jesus, discover how to read the Bible for themselves, and are gently drawn into the rhythms of church life.

In South Wales, one church invites every newcomer for a coffee and the opportunity to read the Bible. Almost everyone says yes. They’re now preparing for twelve baptisms – and many of these new Christians say reading the Bible with someone was central to their journey to faith. ‘It doesn’t feel like revival,’ the church leader reflects, ‘but it feels a bit like what we see in the book of Acts – share the Word, and the church grows.’

Remember where the power lies 

Of course these stories remind us where the real power lies in evangelism and discipleship. It’s not in the strategies we employ, the slickness of a course, or the intellect of the Bible sharer – but in the Spirit of God working through the Bible and His people to bring people to Christ.

In this “quiet revival”, God invites His church to faithful dependence on Him. As we pray, open His Word and invest in others, we can be confident that He will be at work, drawing people to Jesus and making His glory known.

Allen is The Word One to One’s Regional Field Manager in Ireland. Allen joined the team in April 2025 and is based in Belfast.

The Dean makes five points in relation to the LLF process, and I shall consider each of them in turn.

The first point he makes is that he feels able to affirm: ‘… with heartfelt certainty, that although I get it wrong pretty regularly and need to hearken to the Baptist’s cry to repent, who I am in my creation, is essentially what God intended. That I am not an aberration, a mistake on God’s part, but, like all of you, a gift from God, and trying in my life, to be a gift back to God through loving service.’

The question that this statement raises is who the Dean thinks God created him to be. If he means that his creation as a male human being made in the image and likeness of God is willed by God and is ‘very good’ (Genesis 1:31), I don’t think that there is anybody in the Church of England, even those who the Dean calls ‘hard line fundamentalists,’ who would disagree with him.

If, however, what the Dean means is that he was created by God to be a gay man then there would be many who would rightly disagree with him. This because, to quote Sean Doherty (who is himself same-sex attracted) describing his own realisation about how God had made him: ‘God did not create straight women, straight men, gay women and gay men. God created two sexes, with the capacity to relate to one another sexually.’ [2]

This truth is taught in the creation accounts in Genesis 1 and 2 and, as Paul notes in Romans 1:26-27, it is also taught by nature in the sense that the observation of human biology teaches us that human beings have bodies that are designed to engage into the kind of ‘one flesh’ sexual union with a member of the opposite sex that has the capacity to produce offspring.

In the light of this truth the Pauline teaching that same-sex sexual attraction and the same-sex sexual activity that results from it are a result of the Fall makes perfect sense. If human beings are created to have sex with members of the opposite sex, it follows that desires and actions that are contrary to this must be seen not as a reflection of God’s original creative intention, but as a result of the distortion of the created order consequent upon demonic and human rebellion against God.

The second point the Dean makes is that: ‘I, as a consequence of believing myself NOT to be an aberration, claim access to the deep and ancient wisdom about human relationships which scripture, tradition and sacrament teach us is marriage. The exclusive, faithful, lifelong journey which we believe is reflected in God’s covenantal relationship with us and Christ’s relationship with the Church.’

If what the Dean means here is that as a male human being, he should have the possibility of entering marriage with someone of the opposite sex, again no one would disagree with him. However, in context what he means is that as a gay person he can rightly claim access to marriage with a person of his own sex.

This argument is problematic, because as the Dean is surely aware, what ‘scripture, tradition and sacrament’ universally tell us is that marriage has been created by God as a relationship between a man and a woman, and not between two men or two women. In the words of Darrin Belousek in his study Marriage, Scripture and the Church:

‘Scripture, consistently, presents a single picture of marriage and approves a single pattern of sexual relations: male- female union. Jesus summarizes this witness: ‘the two’ of ‘male and female’ joined into ‘one flesh.’ The Holy Spirit has woven this pattern of holy union throughout Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation, in the form, function, and figure of marriage. Tradition, East and West, also has consistently taught a single standard of sex and marriage: marriage is man-woman monogamy; all sex outside man-woman monogamy is sin. This doctrine has been taught always by the church, beginning with the apostles’ testimony to Jesus teaching; It has been proclaimed throughout the worldwide church, among all people in every place and epoch, as God’s will for sex and marriage; it has been articulated by apologetic writings and theological treatises, transmitted through baptismal catechesis and canonical discipline, celebrated in monastic vows and nuptial rites.’ [3]

What this means is that someone who calls a same-sex relationship ‘marriage’ is not acting in accordance with the ‘deep and ancient wisdom’ offered by Scripture and the Church universal but is instead rejecting that wisdom.

If we ask why the Dean thinks that this wisdom should be rejected, the answer is that he holds that the result of the belief that marriage can only be between people of the opposite sex is that ‘gay clergy have been condemned to lives of loneliness, self-denial and self-loathing.’ The problem with this argument is that there are innumerable counter examples of same-sex attracted people (both clergy and lay people) who have lived in the light of the Church’s traditional teaching, either as people who are single (and sexually abstinent), or as those married to members of the opposite sex, and whose lives have not been marked by ‘loneliness, self-denial and self-loathing’ as a result.[4] The evidence shows that the claim of inevitable misery which the Dean makes is simply untrue.

The third point the Dean makes is that there is nothing ‘life giving, holy and good’ about the compromise that has resulted from the LLF process in which only limited forms of blessing (not including weddings) are allowed for same-sex relationships, and in which those in same-sex sexual relationships are not allowed to be ordained.

Those who accept the traditional Christian wisdom concerning marriage and sexual ethics would agree with the Dean that the compromise which has allowed blessings but not marriages is neither life giving, nor holy, nor good. However, from their perspective this is because if, as Scripture and tradition have always taught ‘all sex outside man-woman monogamy is sin’ then any blessing of a same-sex sexual relationship (whatever form this takes) is necessarily wrong for the simple reason that you cannot rightly ask God to bless sin.

The current compromise is wrong not because, as the Dean thinks, the Church of England should have permitted same-sex marriages to be solemnised, but because it has permitted the blessing of that which Scripture and tradition teach is contrary to the will of God. It is not that the Church of England has not yet gone far enough, but that it has already gone too far.

On the issue of the prohibition of the ordination of those in same-sex sexual relationships, what the Dean fails to recognise is that this also follows on from the traditional Christian wisdom concerning marriage and sexual ethics. The simple point here is that, to quote the 1662 Ordinal, the clergy are called to provide ‘wholesome examples and patterns to the flock of Christ.’ Those who are living lives of unrepentant sexual sin cannot provide such examples and patterns and therefore they cannot rightly be ordained. This necessarily excludes those in sexually active same sex relationships from ordination because ‘all sex outside man-woman monogamy is sin.’

The fourth point the Dean makes is that:

‘The Jesus I encounter in Scripture is one whose teaching and practice challenged tradition, treated women, gentiles, the excluded, with compassion and respect. I find nothing inconsistent with his teaching and practice and the full inclusion for which so many long, and towards which in this regard, the Church seems unable to make progress.’

On this point the Dean is right to says the testimony of the gospels is that Jesus’ ‘teaching and practice challenged tradition’ and that he ‘treated women, gentiles, the excluded, with compassion and respect.’  However, what he fails to recognise is that testimony of the gospels regarding Jesus’ teaching about the continuing validity of the Torah, including its prohibition of homosexual activity as an ‘abomination’ in Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13  (Matthew 5:17-20), and about what makes people unclean in the eyes of God (Mark 7:14-22/Matthew 15:10-20) precludes the idea that Jesus accepted same-sex sexual relationships.

In the words of Michael Brown:

‘Jesus spoke very clearly not only in reaffirming the standards of sexual morality taught in the Torah, but also in stating decisively that all sexual acts outside of marriage are defiling and sinful, to be listed side by side with evil thoughts, murder, theft, false witness, and slander, among others.’ [5]

Furthermore, in his teaching on marriage and divorce in Matthew 19:3-12 and Mark 10:2-12 Jesus reiterates the teaching of Genesis 1 and 2 that the God who made human beings male and female ordained marriage as a relationship between a man and a woman  (‘a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife’ – Matthew 19:5).

Taken together this gospel evidence makes it clear that we cannot appeal to Jesus in support of same-sex sexual relationships or same-sex marriages (which is what the Dean means by ‘full inclusion’), since we would be going against his recorded teaching.

The fifth and final point the Dean makes is that:

‘… although it is true that the Church which marries the spirit of the age will end up a widow, I find myself increasingly wondering about how the Church of England can still claim to speak for a nation which has made leaps and bounds towards the inclusion and celebration of its gay and lesbian citizens, while remaining demonstrably institutionally discriminatory against them.’

The question raised by this statement is whether it is the job of the Church of England to ‘speak for the nation’ in the sense of giving expression to its values and convictions. Surely this depends on the extent to which these values and convictions align with the will of God? If this is not the case, as with current British acceptance of same-sex relationships,  then the Church’s role has to be to declare that this is the case and call the nation back to obedience to God and it cannot do this if its own teaching and practice have become compromised by listening to the world rather than to God.

In summary, what we have seen is the each of the five points made by the Dean are unpersuasive and that they therefore do not provide a basis for continuing further with the LLF process in the New Year.

This fact is important because from a liberal perspective what the Dean says in his sermon is not idiosyncratic. As anyone who has followed the debate about sexual ethics in the Church of England will be aware, the five points the Dean makes are the key points that liberals in general have been making throughout the LLF process and in the decades leading up to it. What the Dean is offering in his sermon is the basic liberal argument for the Church of England continuing the LLF process until it reaches the point of unreserved acceptance and affirmation of gay and lesbian relationships and same-sex marriages. However, as we have seen, the argument does not hold water. The cupboard is bare. The emperor has no clothes.

This being the case, when the House of Bishops meet next Tuesday [16 December] the decision that they should rationally make is that the LLF process should be brought to an end and should be replaced instead by an initiative to promote the understanding and acceptance of traditional Christian sexual ethics across the Church of England and to support the important work being undertaken by Living Out and the True Freedom Trust to help those with same-sex attraction to discover the joy and fulfilment which come from living as obedient disciples of Jesus Christ.

[1] Nic Tall, ‘Dean of St Edmundsbury Speaks Out on LGBT+ Inclusion,’ at: https://togethercofe.org.uk/dean of-st-edmundsbury-speaks-out-on-lgbt-inclusion/.

[2] Sean Doherty, The Only Ways is Ethics – Part 1 :Sex and Marriage (Milton Keynes: Authentic, 2015), p.10.

[3] Darrin Belousek, Marriage, Scripture and the Church (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2021), KindleEdition, p.284.

[4] See, for example, Doherty, Ch.1, Rosaria Butterfield, The secret thoughts of an unlikely convert (Pittsburgh: Crown and Covenant, 2014) and Ed Shaw (ed), A Better Love (Epsom: Good Book Company, 2025).

[5] Michael Brown, Can you be Gay and Christian?  (Lake Mary: Front Line, 2014), p.132.

You can read this blog and others by Martin Davie here.

This roundtable brought together leaders from organisations from here in the UK (e.g. CEEC, Crosslinks, CMS) and across the globe. It was a conference that focused on evangelism and mission (with a wide range of subjects under scrutiny).

I saw plenty in my visit to challenge the historic and perhaps unfair perception that Christianity in Africa was ‘a mile wide and an inch deep’. The African bishops and church leaders were people of theological understanding, creativity and deep Christian commitment. Their inspiring vision was humbling – one example being the new cathedral in Kampala, which has taken the best part of twenty years to build, will seat 5,000, and has two underground car parks! Yes, Uganda is a ‘Christian country’ with church attendance phenomenally higher than here in the UK, however, it’s still a big cathedral to build these days!

It was humbling to meet individuals who themselves had been refugees as a result of war (one young man shared his story of being forced to flee South Sudan a number of years previously, lived in refugee camps and now works for the Church in South Sudan). From others, we heard stories of Islamic persecution, and from others we heard of the terrible plight that mothers and children often have to face fleeing their country and living in refugee camps. The scale of problems across the continent is enormous. One bishop told me that the main problem facing bishops in Africa is poverty. No visitor to Kampala can miss that.

As part of the conference, we visited Uganda’s Christian University – an inspiring testimony to the power of education and theological study to strengthen the Church and provide leaders. We also visited the Museum of the Ugandan Martyrs, and were humbled by the ultimate sacrifice paid by young Christian converts who were executed for their faith between 1885 and 1887 on the orders of Kabaka Mwanga II, the king of Buganda.

If there’s anything we should learn from church leaders and Christians in the countries represented at the GSFA roundtable, it would be (a) the thankfulness to God in their hearts that constantly spills over, and (b) their belief that God is able! To put it slightly differently,  it struck me that they live more consciously in the presence of God: for example, they thank him for all kinds of things – and more often than we do ! And when it comes to mission, they have a BIG vision of what God can do (even amongst those who came from countries dominated by Islam or secularism).

Let’s thank God for brother and sister Christians around the world. Let’s plead with Him for His gracious provision for those whose lives are shattered by war, famine, poverty. And let’s learn from their faith, vision and trust.

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Pete Lynas, UK Director of the Evangelical Alliance (CEEC member), explains more about the current debate.

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