Viewing all items in Resource Category: Looking at your Church

As 2024 begins, the eyes of the world are on the wars in Israel-Gaza and Ukraine-Russia. But meanwhile the economic and financial crisis in Lebanon is spiralling out of control. The World Bank puts it starkly: “Lebanon has been assailed by the most devastating, multi-pronged crisis in its modern history.” Just one statistic: Lebanon recorded...

January always brings us a financial reckoning, but this year things look especially grim for many people in the UK. Recent research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has found that one in five people in the UK are living in poverty. In real terms, that’s a staggering 13.4 million people. Some recent sobering statistics from...

Last year a report by UK parliamentarians heard that almost 90 per cent of all the Christians kidnapped worldwide are abducted in Nigeria. According to the charity, Aid to the Church in Need, about 5,200 Christians were kidnapped in Nigeria between January 2021 and June 2022. And last year another 23 clergy and church workers...

War in Gaza and Israel Israel and Gaza: how should we respond? Nativity Quiz in 20 Questions Food Banks across the UK may be facing their ‘worst winter’ yet Can you get benefits? Chinese Churches growing fast in the UK Help people out of modern slavery Christians in India face rising violence Hunger in Zimbabwe...

Editor: The situation in Israel and Gaza is moving so quickly that any story we offer you now is bound to be ‘out of date’ by the time your December magazine appears. So instead, we are offering you a list of some Christian UK agencies who are working in either Israel or Gaza, and who...

By Paul Woolley, CEO of London Institute for Contemporary Christianity Following the attacks on Israel by Hamas on Saturday 7th October, Israel’s Defence Minister ordered a ‘complete siege’ of the Gaza strip and the cutting off of food, fuel, electricity and water supplies. Speaking to officials from Southern Israel soon afterwards, the Israeli Prime Minister,...

Where did Mary and Joseph live before Jesus was born? a) Nazareth b) Bethlehem c) Jerusalem What was the name of the angel who told Mary she would have a child? What did Joseph do for a living? Who was the Roman ruler when Jesus was born? Why did Mary and Joseph go to Bethlehem?...

The Independent Food Aid Network (IFAN) has warned that the numbers of people needing foodbanks this year are still rising, as the cost-of-living crisis continues. The Trussell Trust, which runs the UK’s largest network of food banks, expects to support more than 600,000 people between December and February. This means handing out around one million...

Christians Against Poverty (CAP) has launched a campaign to help people gain access to the various benefits that are going unclaimed by eligible households. CAP estimates that in the past year, almost £90 million in benefits has gone unclaimed,  because of the complexity of the application systems. Pension credit is the most under-claimed benefit, and...

The Chinese Christian community is growing faster than any other part of the Church in the UK. In the last two years, 27 new congregation have emerged, as more people arrive from Hong Kong. Almost 115,000 Chinese Christians are now worshipping in 201 churches in the UK. Up to 200,000 British National (Overseas) visa-holders are...

The Salvation Army offered more than 10,000 people modern-slavery victim support  last year, under its government contract. It was the highest since the arrangement began, and included more than 3,000 new referrals. It is now 12 years since the Government contracted the Salvation Army to provide specialist support for adult victims of modern slavery in...

Attacks against Christians in India have been rising, fuelled by right-wing nationalism, while growing numbers of Christians are being arrested under anti-conversion laws. India’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, heads the list of states most hostile towards Christians. Others include Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. And in Manipur, the Telegraph India reported 254 churches were damaged in...