Bristol Baptist College, founded in 1720 on the basis of a deed of gift of 1679, is the oldest Baptist theological college in the world. It absorbed the influence of the Enlightenment and was ...dedicated to growth through the energetic preaching of the gospel. The college served as an international agency and at home became a pillar of the Baptist establishment. During the first half of the twentieth century it functioned as a Free Church institution and in the second half became more broadly ecumenical. It adapted to the needs of the twenty-first century.
This article analyses the range of positions among Evangelicals in the context of Russia’s attack on Ukraine. The “silence” characterizes evidence of the evangelicals’ strategies that had long been ...developed in the context of continued marginalization of religious minorities by the Russian authorities, with the state’s determination to create a loyal contingent of religious leaders. Some of the Evangelical leaders who were close to the centres of power were caught in a so-called trap of patriotism and have been compelled to demonstrate their support and solidarity to officials. However, public silence is far from heterogeneous and has many shades and nuances. This article analyses the anti-war statements of Evangelical leaders and shadow communication strategies in different evangelical communities. Particular attention is paid to a “guide” who suggested that Evangelical Christians-Baptists in Russia should take a consistent position, based on theological and political arguments, in Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Abstract
Similar to most Western nations, Germany has experienced a history of secularization, resulting in church decline. However, some Christian communities have been less affected by decline. The ...historical free churches (Freikirchen), usually of an evangelical nature, have not only developed a more explicit missionary identity than the mainline churches, some of them have also been able to experience church growth against the larger trends. In this paper quantitative and qualitative data are presented based on a study of the Bund Freier evangelischer Gemeinden (BFeG) in Germany. These data show that general church growth and conversion growth are correlated, that young churches grow better (in both respects) than older churches, that the net conversion growth (conversions minus decline) of younger and older churches is overall largely the same, and that growth results in Berlin outperform the results in other cities and in the BFeG as a whole. These results are put into context by extended case studies of two churches, one old and one young, and they are discussed with a view to existing studies of (free church) mission in the West.
Many of the key improvements to social conditions in the United Kingdom have been made by Christians. Most of us would be able to think of such key Anglican figures as William Wilberforce, Anthony ...Ashley Cooper, Earl of Shaftesbury or Dr Thomas Barnardo, but lesser known contributions were made behind the scenes by significant members of the Non-Conformist Churches. This book traces the Free Church contribution to society from 1800 to the present day. It looks at the work of campaigners, co-operative societies, philanthropists and politicians, and traces the ways in which conditions in slums, education, and industry were improved, including work with women and with black and ethnic minorities.  There is a growing interest in the part the churches can play today in community development and in the building of social capital. This book will show that some of the things now seen as government initiatives had their origins in the work of Free Church pioneers.
Tulisan ini membahas sejarah perkembangan musik gerejawi dalam konteks gereja-gereja Protestan yang bersifat independen (free churches) dan dilihat secara umum pada masa pasca-Reformasi gereja hingga ...masa kini. Dalam perkembangannya, ranah musik gerejawi di dalam gereja-gereja independen selalu diperhadapkan dengan adanya polarisasi pandangan, baik di dalam musik vokal (khususnya nyanyian jemaat dan peranan paduan suara), maupun musik instrumental. Penelaahan secara historis ini mengisyaratkan beberapa implikasi yang dapat dimulai dengan mengembangkan suatu sikap menghormati tradisi dan menghargai inovasi. Implikasi yang lebih konkret dari tinjauan historis ini akan dibahs dalam makalah selanjutnya.
Homosexuality, bisexuality, transgender and queer have long been a sensitive topic in Christian churches. As society has changed, some denominations have become increasingly affirming, while others ...see the changes as incompatible with Christian values. A Conditional Community is based on in-depth interviews with 29 lgbtq Christians and is the first Swedish scientific study on the subject. Using a phenomenological approach, the author investigate how sexuality, intimacy and faith are experienced by the interviewees and how their Christian identity interacts with their identity as lgbtq people. A Conditional Community is aimed at teachers, researchers and students in fields such as religious studies, sexology, gender studies and psychology. The book is also of interest to professionals who require knowledge on the subject, such as pastors and therapists. Furthermore, it can serve as a basis for discussions and reflection on faith, sexuality and lgbtq in the Free Church contexts.
Modernity and the rise of mass democracy are intertwined. This contribution to this special issue on Christian modernities therefore focuses on how the churches responded to this key aspect of ...modernity. This paper addresses this through exploring the framing of ideas about democracy expressed by leading figures in the British churches, particularly Nonconformity, in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In the process claims about the religious roots of democracy and their role in preserving Britain from the slide to totalitarianism experienced elsewhere in Europe in the early twentieth century are critically examined.
This is study about religion, xenophobic opinion, and support for Radical Right Populist Parties during their phase of initial mobilization in Sweden. It deals with two issues of investigation. ...First, are the opinions of regular church attenders xenophobic or non-xenophobic? Second, are the opinions of people who live in municipalities with a relatively high proportion of churchgoers more or less xenophobic? The main data of this study are the Swedish National Election Study of 2002, but the article also presents data on the characteristics of the Swedish municipalities. The findings show that church attendance is associated with non-xenophobic opinions such as support for refugee entries and for transforming Sweden into a multi-cultural society. While regular attendance in the Church of Sweden does not show any correlation with xenophobia, people attending Evangelical free churches show strong non-xenophobic opinions. Indeed, people living in municipalities with a marked presence of Evangelical free churchgoers show more non-xenophobic opinions than individuals in other municipalities. Along with individual effects, this indicates contextual religious effects on xenophobic opinion. Both individual and contextual religious effects tend to decrease xenophobic opinion.
PDF
