Charlene Winkel must have struck a chord with ‘Christian Today’ readers given the popularity of her article 'Being the Christian amongst non-christians'. 

She writes: “Having been a faith-based and committed Christian for over a decade you could easily think I had become accustomed to the strange looks when I tell people more about myself; for example, that on Sunday mornings I go to church instead of recovering from a boozy session with friends, that my life manual is the Bible, and that I have a personal relationship with God. However, with so many prejudices attached to Christianity, it can sometimes be hard to speak candidly about my faith.”

Such comments are symptomatic of a worrying lack of confidence often found among many believers today. Mark Greene referred to this in the Evangelical Alliance’s recent report ‘21st Century Evangelicals’.

He wrote: “Good news. Bad news. Evangelical Christians believe they should be talking about their faith and many are. But lots aren’t. Many have said that confidence is the key. And that certainly means more than going through a training programme.”

So how can we help beleaguered believers recover, or possibly discover, the kind of …

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The Queen has renewed her pledge of service to the British people on the 60th anniversary of her accession to the throne.

In a message released by Buckingham Palace today, the Queen said she was moved by the messages of support sent to her and the Duke of Edinburgh during her Diamond Jubilee year.

She also spoke of her hope for united families and communities, and a spirit of “neighbourliness”.

“Today, as I mark 60 years as your Queen, I am writing to thank you for the wonderful support and encouragement that you have given to me and Prince Philip over these years and to tell you how deeply moved we have been to receive so many kind messages about the Diamond Jubilee,” she said.

“In this special year, as I dedicate myself anew to your service, I hope we will be reminded of the power of togetherness and the convening strength of family, friendship and good neighbourliness, examples of which I have been fortunate to see throughout my reign and which my family and I look forward to seeing in many forms as we travel throughout the United Kingdom and the wider …

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Having been a faith-based and committed Christian for over a decade, you could easily think I had become accustomed to the strange looks when I tell people more about myself; for example, that on Sunday mornings I go to church instead of recovering from a boozy session with friends, that my life manual is the Bible, and that I have a personal relationship with God.

However, with so many prejudices attached to Christianity, it can sometimes be hard to speak candidly about my faith.

In addition to ‘being strange’, the common labels attached to Christians these days vary from the ‘party pooper’ to cult follower.

As part and parcel as they are of being a Christian today, stereotypical generalisations are not without their impact. A law student and friend of mine recently confided that he was annoyed by the ignorance of many who equate the church with a religious cult without asking what the Christian faith is actually about.

Recently I had a conversation with a group of non-Christians and aside from analysing current affairs, we somehow ended up talking about evangelical Southern Americans. It was clear that the consensus in the group was against …

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The head of the Scottish Episcopalian Church has added his voice to the chorus of criticism surrounding the decision to strip former Royal Bank of Scotland boss Fred Goodwin of his knighthood.

The Most Rev David Chillingworth said the move “says as much about the Honours system as it does about Fred Goodwin”.

“Stephen Hester gives up his bonus and Sir Fred Goodwin is stripped of his knighthood. But it seems to me that these responses fail to satisfy.

“They feel more like unhealthy scapegoating than an atonement which resolves.”

There had, he continued, been a “rather unsatisfying pursuit of bankers as a substitute for a comprehensive political and social response which would make some clear statements about the kind of society which we are now going to build”.

He said Hester’s pay had been “excessive” and called for “proportionality” to return to the earnings of Britain’s top tier of business leaders.

“I believe that societies in which the gap between rich and poor is smaller tend to be more contented societies. And we have lost that.”

Goodwin was knighted for his “services to banking” in 2004, four years before the bank …

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The Roman Catholic Church and Oriental Orthodox Churches in the UK have welcomed an “unprecedented” move towards unity this week.

They have launched a new book entitled “Joint Statements” outlining areas of theological agreement between the two denominations.

The book was developed by the Catholic-Oriental Orthodox Regional Forum (COORF) and presented by the body’s co-chairs Bishop Angaelos, General Bishop of the Coptic Orthodox Church in the UK, and the Catholic Archbishop of Southwark Kevin McDonald.

Bishop Angaelos said that the areas of common faith and witness outweighed the issues that had separated them for the last 1,600 years.

“It is very well for us to stand at our pulpits and preach love, but if our faithful do not see our Churches working together they see this as being quite hypocritical,” he said.

“If we, as Church leaders, as priests and pastors and shepherds in the Church cannot actually portray this, if we cannot have this relationship and the wider relationship in this room and indeed between our Churches in this land that we live in, then we will find it very difficult to stand and preach love and forgiveness and acceptance, that …

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