Christians in Parliament bulletin
15 Oct 2010
This office received notice from Christians in Parliament asking the Church us to join with them in interceding for the Comprehensive Spending Review to be announced by the Government on 20th October. As the central Coalition measure to reduce the national budget deficit, this will have huge implications for the social, economical and cultural future of the UK. Christians in Parliament and Christians in Government invite us to fast and/or pray for politics and Government at this critical time. Please pray for God's wisdom in decisions relating to the priorities for cuts in the Government departments. As Westminster deals with the impact and nature of the cuts, please pray for wisdom for God's people and for justice and mercy to prevail. As Whitehall is affected, please pray for all those Christians who serve in Government. Pray: that, as the state is reduced, Government support for the vulnerable in society might be protected and that the work of the Church will be extended to meet this need. (Isa.25:4) More: http://www.christiansinparliament.org.uk/home/tabid/91/Default.aspx
Christians in Parliament
07 Oct 2011Recent weeks have seen political party conferences debate environment, climate change, international development and the economy, the Olympics, Paralympics and the NHS. Within our Government God has placed many Christian MPs who consider it a duty and a privilege to serve the nation. It can be a lonely place. The Christian Conservative party’s website requests prayer for their MPs in positions of responsibility, naming David Burrowes, Caroline Spelman, Gary Streeter, Nicky Morgan, Jeremy Lefroy, Margaret McVeigh, Alexandra Wilkinson, Colin Bloom, Kofo Sanusi and the many other Christian MPs, that they may have clarity, vision and a Christ-like witness to the Party and all whom they meet. Prayer is also requested for The Big Society initiative saying, ‘Christians do not need a definitive answer to the question 'What does Big Society mean?' For many Christians this is easy to embrace, as those who follow Jesus have been preaching the importance of giving for centuries and many churches are experienced in promoting social justice. See:http://www.ccfwebsite.com/home.shtml
Pray: for Christians in local and national government to be led by God to be an influence in policy making and strategies. (Ps.23:3)
Worshippers do more voluntary work than non-believers. Yet the government is doing little to support them in their faith. The success of the ‘big society’ initiative will not just require the help of faith organisations; it will need actively to promote them. So concludes a fresh report, The Big Society in Context: A means to what end? published by the Christian social reform charity Jubilee Centre. Recent research by Evangelical Alliance and Christian Research showed that 81% of evangelical Christians do some kind of voluntary work at least once a month. This compares with a much lower figure of 26% for the population at large. David Cameron said: ‘The big society is about a huge culture change where people feel both free and powerful enough to help themselves and their own communities.’ Yet it seems he is still not taking the action necessary to guarantee Christians their freedoms. (See Prayer Alert 08-2011) Pray:for the Government to recognise and embrace the potential that Christian and other faith groups can offer the nation. (1Th.5:11) More: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2011/mar/17/christians-big-society-voluntary-work
Judges have been accused of diluting the rights of Christians after a key judgement on whether they can refuse to work on Sundays. A new ruling by a High Court judge - the first on the issue in nearly a decade - says that Christians have no right to decline working on Sunday as it is not a “core component” of their beliefs. The judgement - which upholds an earlier decision - means that individual Christians do not have any protection from being fired for not working on Sundays. Campaigners said the decision puts Christians at a disadvantage to other religions such as Muslims, Jews and Sikhs. and means the judiciary are deciding what the core beliefs of Christians can be, which they say is an interference in the right to practise religion. They pointed to cases where the courts offered protection to other religions even when only a minority of adherents were affected.
Pray: for all Christians around the world who find that secular requirements contradict their practice of faith. (Ex.20:8 and Mk.2:27)
More: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/9770825/Christians-have-no-right-to-refuse-to-work-on-Sundays-rules-judge.html
Christians harnessing Facebook to share faith
26 Apr 2012Christians in the UK are turning increasingly to social media sites like Facebook to share their faith, new research has found. In a survey on attitudes to online mission by Christian Vision and Premier Christian Media, 64% said they were using social networks like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to share their faith in an intentional way. Of the 700 Christians surveyed, 84% agreed that the online space was a huge mission field. More than two-thirds (71%) said they post links to Christian sites or content with missional values, while 73% said they intentionally post or link to content in order to share their faith. Interestingly, the study found that interaction with social media was prolific across the age spectrum, rather than just among young people.
Pray: that the Church will grasp hold of the new technologies to share our faith. (1Cor.9:23)
More: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/christians.harnessing.facebook.to.share.faith/29753.htm
Christians feel that they are being forced to hide their religion because of “silly” interpretations of equality laws, a senior MP has said. Sir Alan Beith, chair of the Commons Justice Select Committee, has likened the misunderstandings to those surrounding health and safety regulation, where the rules can be over zealously applied for the wrong reasons. Referring to recent high profile cases involving people being told not to wear religious symbols in the workplace, Sir Alan said that many Christians feel that they have to keep their faith “under wraps”. But rather than being an issue of the law, the 70-year-old MP for Berwick-upon-Tweed said that an ill-informed sense of what it means for the state to be secular often led officials to try and hide anything relating to religious views while in “civil society”. “You get silly things happening, which were not the intention of any legislative change.”
Pray: for a clearer understanding of the law and of the freedoms of speech and religious faith by all quarters of our society. (Jn.14:27)
More: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/christians-forced-to-hide-their-faith-by-equality-laws-says-senior-liberal-democrat-mp-8817694.html
Christians in Britain are feeling persecuted because of ‘paradoxical’ human rights laws and the ignorance of local councils, according to a major BBC documentary to be broadcast on Easter Sunday. Nicky Campbell, the presenter of the corporation’s flagship programme for Holy Week, argues that Labour’s anti-discrimination legislation has led to clashes between religious conscience and equality for homosexuals. He blames local authorities for rebranding Christmas celebrations as winter festivals because of a misguided belief that they are standing up for minority faiths. He concludes that although Christians do not face violence and suppression in Britain as they do abroad, their treatment can seem unfair in a modern democracy. The programme, called Are Christians Being Persecuted?, looks into widespread claims that the faith is being driven out of public life in Britain while its followers are being treated less fairly than minority groups. Campbell believes council leaders have no understanding of what followers of any religion want.
Pray: that the message of this programme and the cross will be heard this Easter. (1Cor.1:18)
Britain's most senior policeman has been urged to issue guidelines to his officers to protect Christians’ rights to free speech, amid claims they are suffering intimidation and discrimination from police. Christian activists have called on Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, to inform all his officers that it is legal to cite traditional Bible teaching which describes homosexuality as a sin when speaking in public. The campaigners say free speech is under threat after a series of cases in which street preachers were arrested for delivering sermons which referred to the traditional Christian view of homosexuality. Andrea Williams, the director of the CLC, has written to Sir Bernard insisting that human rights laws allow Christians to express their genuinely-held views without fear of arrest, providing they do not incite a breach of the peace. Mrs Williams suggested Christians were becoming “fearful” of expressing their lawful views because of the police’s “intimidatory tactics”.
Pray: for the police in their difficult role but that they will recognise the legality of free speech in these matters. (Dt.32:1)
More: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/10206335/Christians-demand-free-speech-guidance-from-Scotland-Yard-chief.html