When did Texas become part of Europe?

Okay, I AM cheating. This is a video about Texas, not Europe. But it is about a church for bikers in Texas. So it is still worth a look! Enjoy.

Is Europe "free"? In relation to religion at least...

Ever wondered if there was a relationship between religious freedoms and secularity in Europe? The Nova Research Centre has taken some of the recognised measures of "religious liberty" and charted their relationship with "secularity" and "social hostility" on nifty charts.

To find out more click here.

Just don't ask me what they all mean...!

Does God care about football?

Here is a new one for you! First, watch the video:

So what actually happened? This is what a BETTING website, of all places, made of it:
"Last night, we witnessed Torres continue his recent goalscoring form after a brace against Genk in the Champions League. It was arguably El Nino’s best performance in a Chelsea shirt & one which he could of finished with 4 or 5 goals.

"Was it because of weak opposition? Was it luck? Wrong on both accounts. It was because of his Chelsea team-mate David Luiz. Pre-match David Luiz appears to bless Torres & say a prayer for the Spaniard. Thirty minutes later, Torres has scored 2 goals & seem’s to be rediscovering the form that made him a world class player."

If only they had stopped there. But no, they had to finish with:

"Whatever crazy voodoo David Luiz casts has obviously worked and we could very well see this become a regular ritual before Chelsea games."

Free churches gain ground in Switzerland

A Swiss National Science Foundation project investigating religions, the state and society has discovered "Twice as many people attend services each week in free – mostly evangelical – churches as in the state-recognised Protestant Church."


"Twenty-nine per cent of all people who attend a religious service each week go to a free church while only 14 per cent visit the recognised Swiss Protestant Church."

They also state that 690,000 (about 1 in every 11) Swiss nationals attend a weekly service.

Free churches make up almost 25% of the nearly 6,000 religious communities in Switzerland.

See full story here

1/4 of churches in the Netherlands to close in the next 10 years

When I last visited Netherlands I heard about the problem of churches there closing. The picture above is from a church that had been converted into a book store. But this has now been confirmed by Dr Arjan Plaisier, secretary of the general synod of the Protestant Church in the Netherlands:

"According to expectation one quarter of the churches in the Netherlands will be closed within the next 10 years. We read about church closure in The Hague and other cities. But churches are closed in rural areas as well. Some buildings have not been there for a very long time. They were built somewhere in the 20th century. Other churches have been there for ages. Now they are being closed down. They are being destroyed or get another utilization. A part of history is finished. A place of worship, where baptism, marriage, mourning, prayer, singing and preaching took place, ceases to exist."

Full article here

UK schools must provide "group worship" -- but aren't

The UK can be a confusing place. On one hand most people will never pass through the door of a church, mosque or temple. On the other hand, state schools are still REQUIRED to hold daily corporate worship! So are schools actually holding these collective worship sessions? Do parents want them to? A new survey reported by the BBC provides insights and answers.


"Many state schools in England are not providing group worship, despite legislation making it a requirement, a survey suggests.

"The Comres survey for BBC local radio found 64% of the 500 parents questioned said their child did not attend daily acts of collective worship.

"But 60% of the 1,743 adults asked said the legislation should not be enforced.

"The Department for Education states that all maintained schools in England must provide a daily act of collective worship which must reflect the traditions of this country, which it says are, in the main, broadly Christian.

"Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) chief policy advisor Alison Ryan questioned how much schools and parents wanted daily worship.

"When a law is being flouted on a pretty major scale that is telling you something about its use, about how maybe it should be reformed or changed, so we believe it needs to be looked at."

The 2012 Olympics. What an opportunity!

The 2012 Olympics are less than a year away. But the athletes and the olympic organisers aren't the only ones getting ready. 

Lots of Christians are thinking of ways to use this as a ministry springboard to reach people who might not otherwise be as open to the gospel.

One man involved in this is Bryan Doyle, an ECM Britain missionary who is helping Greater Europe Mission to bring short-term teams from American churches across to the UK. Here's a video about what they are doing and hope to do.

Three top trends in Europe...?

• If you want the chance to stimulate your thinking about some of the trends we are facing in Europe today... 

• If you want to hear experienced missional thinkers and practitioners deal with the challenges of Migration, Urbanisation and Islam...

• If you want a unique opportunity to network with other leaders involved in Europe with its many unique and changing facets, to share information on current activities, focus and aims, as well as future plans and dreams...

...then come to the European Consultation: Trends in Europe Today conference, lasting 24 hours during 4-5 January 2012.

Some of those leading or speaking will be:

• Robert Calvert (on Urbanisation), formerly of Scotland, currently pastors a church in Rotterdam. It is made up of people from more than forty nations and the team of elders is drawn from four continents.
• Alessia Passarelli (on Migration) consults for the Churches’ Commission for Migrants in Europe (Brussels) while also doing PhD research into the relationships between migration and churches in Italy and the Republic of Ireland.
• Bert de Ruiter (on Islam) speaks on issues related to Christian-Muslim relations and has developed a course called Sharing Lives to help Christians overcome their fear and share their lives with Muslims.
• Tony Peck (offering a church response) is General Secretary of the European Baptist Federation and an Associate Secretary of the Baptist World Alliance.
• Chris Wigram (offering a mission organisation response)  is International Director of European Christian Mission, which works in 18 European countries.
• Tim Davey (offering Biblical reflection) directs the Centre for the Study of Bible and Mission at Redcliffe College.
• Ian Nicholson (leading prayer and worship) works with 24/7 Prayer.

For more info click here

Book by the end of October and pay less!

New church planting school opens in London

Last week I went to meet with the founder of the new Amnos Church Planting School in London. Since then an article about the school has appeared in the local newspaper the Brentwood Gazette. What follows is excerpts from that article:

"The Amnos Church Planting School is opening at Trinity Church in Coxtie Green Road, Pilgrims Hatch, to create Christian leaders for the future and "plant" new churches where old ones have died out.

It is hoped the newly qualified pastors will help to reverse the rapid decline of Christianity in Europe, with more than 10,000 churches having closed in the UK alone in the last half century.

"The school is the brainchild of South Korean-born pastor the Rev Dr Daniel Chae, who says he is keen to pay back the debt of the gospel to the UK church.

"He said: "I was shocked coming from Asia and having such a high respect, especially being from Korea, where we are indebted so much to the UK church. I think the decline is sad and I think British people in general need to feel sad about this, whether they are Christians or non-Christians."

"Dr Chae has plenty of experience spreading the word of God, having previously been the managing director of a floating Christian community that travelled the world on board the MV Doulos ship.

"He most recently founded a new church on the outskirts of London but decided to launch the Pilgrims Hatch-based school in a bid to revitalise Christianity in Europe.

"He said the new school was unique in the way it incorporated the practical side of "showing the gospel" and working in the community in a positive way.

"The planting school will officially be launched with an inauguration service at Trinity Church, with Mr Kavoor [the Rev Canon George Kovoor is chaplain to Her Majesty the Queen] as guest speaker, from 11am on October  1."

New worship music CD in top 10!

Yesterday a friend posted on Facebook that the debut Worship Central live album - which has been released internationally, is making history in the UK as the first worship album to achieve an iTunes top ten position. It is currently at No. 9!

When I went to find out more (see here) I discovered that at no. 10 is the Beatles CD "1". So it is official. A worship CD is outselling the Beatles. Okay John, who is more famous now?

World's "least religious" country is found where? In Europe!

From bbc.co.uk August 26, 2011:

"When Estonians were recently asked whether religion played an important part in their life, only 20% said yes. It suggests the Baltic country is, statistically, the least religious country in the world.

"The windy streets of Tallinn offer a misleading picture of Estonia's religiosity.

"Spires decorate the old town, bells ring out on Sundays and song emanates from churches as visitors walk in and out.

"A closer look reveals that many of these visitors are tourists.

"When I went to the city's large Lutheran Dome Church one Sunday almost all of the 70 congregants turned out to have travelled from the Netherlands.

"A handful of people standing at the back - 15 at the most - were the sum total of regular Estonian church-goers.

"As the dean of the church, Arho Tuhkru, explains, it is not a new problem: "People believe, but they do not want to belong to the Church.

"We do not have such a tradition where the whole family comes to the church."

"...fewer than one in five Estonians say any religion plays an important part in their lives.


For the full story click here

What do we believe in the "North" and what do they believe in the "South?"

Okay, so Europe isn't the centre of Christianity it used to be. 


But have you ever wondered about do we agree, or for that matter, disagree with Christians from other parts of the world about issues such as how we see the Bible, our world and other religions? Here is a chance to take a snapshot view of some of those areas:


http://pewforum.org/Christian/Evangelical-Protestant-Churches/Global-Survey-exec.aspx


If you want to know more about where this survey came from, keep reading.


" In 1910, by one estimate, there were about 80 million evangelicals, and more than 90% of them lived in Europe and North America. By 2010, the number of evangelicals had risen to at least 260 million, and most lived outside Europe or North America.


"As the evangelical movement has grown and spread around the globe over the past century, it has become enormously diverse, ranging from Anglicans in Africa, to Baptists in Russia, to independent house churches in China, to Pentecostals in Latin America. And this diversity, in turn, gives rise to numerous questions. How much do evangelicals around the world have in common? What unites them? What divides them? Do leading evangelicals in the Global South see eye-to-eye with those in the Global North on what is essential to their faith, what is important but not essential and what is simply incompatible with evangelical Christianity?

"To help answer these kinds of questions, the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life conducted a survey of participants in the Third Lausanne Congress of World Evangelization."  

- taken from http://pewforum.org/Christian/Evangelical-Protestant-Churches/Global-Survey-preface.aspx

Thousands of kids flock to Lighthouse week in Buckinghamshire, England

During the last week in July I was was surrounded by almost 500 kids at a giant children's outreach event. As Chair of Trustees of Lighthouse High Wycombe, I helped volunteers from many different local churches to come together and reach out to their community in this unique way. The following article is taken from The Bucks Free Press, 3 August 2011:

MORE than 6,000 Buckinghamshire kids took part in the Lighthouse Christian activity program as the school holidays began. 

There are eight sites based in Princes Risborough, Great Missenden, Hazlemere, Marlow, Thame, Burnham, High Wycombe and Cressex.

The week-long program kept the children busy with pottery, painting and playing tennis and cricket just a few of the fun and games on offer.

There were 900 children taking part in Great Missenden, where the project began 24 years ago.

Site Caretaker Trevor Darley said Lighthouse, traditionally held on the first week of each school holidays, had become quite a generational affair.

He said: “Some who came as young people met at Lighthouse and got married and are now bringing their children.

“We have 500 helpers ranging from the ages of 13 to about 90-something. There are some approaching 90 and some founding members who still come.”

More than 750 children attended the Hazlemere Lighthouse week at Sir William Ramsay School. The week's theme was Madagascar which used the Dreamworks film to teach children about the biblical teachings of Peter.

Clips from the film were used to illustrate Christian teachings.

Chairman of Hazlemere Lighthouse, Peter Lock, said: “It has gone very well. We have had 750 children here. We have had up to 1,000 before but other Lighthouses have split off from us.

“A lot of the children who used to come now go to other sites, which was the idea as it is more convenient for them.”

He said all the children, who are aged four to eleven, had a great time and are now “Madagascar mad.” There are various activities on throughout the week, which is free, although donations are asked for towards running costs.

The Princes Risborough site has been running for ten years and this year was the last year for Ingrid Gardner as chairman.

She said they also had a Madagascar theme. She added: “It worked really well. The film clips are more accessible for the children.”

About 450 children attended and she said there were 220 helpers aged 12 to 18-year-old.

Ingrid said: “I had a 13-year-old who grew up going to Lighthouse say to me, 'This is the best week of my year. I wait all year for this.' That is something special.”

Non-religious in Switzerland

If you asked people in Switzerland what their religion is, how many do you think would claim to be 'non-religious'? According to a survey by Swissinfo.ch (31 March 2011) it is one in four! That is massively up from only 1% who would have claimed to be non-religious in 1970 or 11% in 2000.

One in four! Wow.

So I compared that to figures in the 2011 Operation World about how many people in Nigeria consider themselves to be non-religious. In this West African nation the figure drops like a stone to 0.3%. What a massive difference.

It makes you wonder if needing to say "Give us this day our daily bread" really does help you to believe in a God that is alive and active today.

Lithuanians reaching Poles... in the UK?

There are around 10,000 Polish immigrants in Gloucestershire, England. With 80 or so churches in Gloucester you might think that there are plenty of people reaching out to them. Well, it is actually quite difficult. But a couple from Lithuania has stepped forward to minister to these Poles. This is your chance to meet them!

Want to find God in Belgium? Get on your bike!

Thanks to Incarnate Network for sharing a video about a unique ministry in Belgium.

According to the intro to the video: 'Moto ConneXion is a missional church plant for the open road, a motor bike church. The church meets regularly for road trips to seek Christ. Every trip is a double journey: a ride on a motorcycle and a spiritual journey. During the day the riders gather at pre-determined stops for a Bible reading, meditation or prayers, then back on the road where the rider is left alone in his or her helmet. It sounds almost monastic..."

But it doesn't look monastic! Brooom brooom....

Take a look at the video here

Need a hug?

If you really really need a hug, then Peterborough in England is the place for you. BBC Newshas discovered a new city centre ministry there based on, well, hugs!

"The Reverend Chris Duffett said: "I'm known as the free hug man. I'll hold a sign saying 'free hug', and I've hugged thousands of people." "

Find out more here

Art during church?

A few weeks ago we had 6 baptisms at the morning service of the church I attend. I was asked to do art during the service as part of the worship experience. Here is what happened...

The people at the end were selecting images that represented either things they had been set free from or things they had been set free into through new life in Christ. One person picked a penguin. I am still trying to figure that one out!

Are churches ready to help the needy?

This morning over breakfast I was reading "I", the stripped down version of the British newspaper "The Independent". Two lines jumped out at me:

- "More than one in seven retail stores across the UK are empty and in some small towns the number of boarded-up shops is nearly as high as two in five."

- "The number of people contacting a debt advice charity for help online doubled during January as growing numbers of people struggled to keep up with their borrowings."

People are increasingly in need. Local authorities are planning to lay off up to 20% of their staff. Companies are downsizing as the economy struggles. 

And for once the government isn't offering to step in and fix it all. In fact in the UK they are calling for charities like churches to step forward and help! But are we, as Christians, ready to help? 

I have a friend who isn't working so that she can have the time to set up a food bank for the town she lives in. She wants to involve churches, but also local food stores, social services, schools, etc. She is a Christian and she wants to be ready to help by the time it gets worse.

Will you be ready? What will you do?

Image: Mantas Ruzveltas / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

A snapshot of Spain

I am just back from Spain and thought I would share a glimpse of what it is like there with you. Enjoy!

It's really not about buildings

I love churches. I love the windows, the light, the shadows, the pointy bits, the carvings... All the architectural cool details. And when I visit anywhere I try and get into them and take a few pictures. I did that a few weeks ago in Linz, Austria. That is where this picture is from.

From my travels, cities and towns across Europe are FULL of cool church buildings.



What they are NOT full of is people. Certainly not people that know Jesus. Country after country that I go to has an evangelical population of under 3%.

But I will admit -- it is a strange world when it is hard to get a photo of a European skyline that doesn't have a church spire in it and yet my job is to see more churches planted in Europe...

What does it mean to be an "Evangelical" in the UK today?

If you have ever wondered what it actually means to be an "Evangelical" Christian in the UK today, here's a GREAT resource for you.

The Evangelical Alliance and Christian Research have just released some insightful research that they call "A snapshot of the beliefs and habits of evangelical Christians in the UK". Complete with easy to understand charts and insights by Christian leaders such as Derek Tidball, Elaine Storkey and Roger Forster, it deals with topics as diverse as Bible reading and assisted suicide, giving and abortion, women in leadership and miracles.

Well worth a look and available free online at http://www.eauk.org/snapshot/

Church planting in... the Balkans?

Recently I was in Croatia, Bosnia and Serbia meeting people involved in church planting. It is pretty challenging. There could be almost as many evangelical Christians in my church as there are in all of Bosnia! But some exciting stuff is going on, with more to come. Watch this to find out more...

Saturday night in Austria

What is there to do on a Saturday night in Austria? I visited a town where churches are ministering to young people out clubbing...