Evangelical Alliance
The Evangelical Alliance (EA) is a London-based charitable organization founded in 1846 with a claimed representation of over 1,000,000 evangelical Christians in the United Kingdom. This constituency is made up of individuals, churches, denominations, and organisations. As a UK Alliance it has Alliances established in Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. It was a founding member of the World Evangelical Fellowship (now the World Evangelical Alliance) as well a being a member of Global Connections, the UK network for organisations and churches involved in evangelism around the world.
Overview
The Evangelical Alliance has over 3000 churches affiliated to it[1]. Several well known Christian organisations are also linked to the Evangelical Alliance, for example Tearfund, Hope 08 and Serving In Mission (SIM).
The Evangelical Alliance lobbies the government on various political issues. For example, the Evangelical Alliance played a leading role in the opposition to certain sections of the Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006.
Currently the General Director is Joel Edwards and its Public Affairs Director is Dr. R. David Muir. Stephen Cave Directs Northern Ireland, Fred Drummond, Scotland, and Elfed Godding, Wales.
Recent controversy
Recently the Alliance has had to face up to questions over what it means to be 'Evangelical'. An example of this came with the publication of Steve Chalke's controversial book The Lost Message of Jesus in 2004. The Evangelical Alliance published a statement, which included:
"...we do not believe that penal substitutionary atonement can be rejected as it is rejected in The Lost Message of Jesus, and as Steve has persisted in rejecting it since. While affirming the many gifts which Steve has to offer, we urge him, as a much-loved brother in Christ, to reconsider both the substance and style of his recently expressed views on this matter."
However, this press release was later moved to the 'archive' section of the Alliance's web site, and subsequently quietly disappeared altogether.[citation needed] Now, according to a statement in 2005 by the General Director, it welcomes the fact that Steve Chalke has: "affirmed [his] willingness to continue creative engagement with penal substitutionary atonement, and to work alongside its proponents in the cause of the gospel." [1]
Notes
- "Joint Evangelical Alliance - London School Of Theology Atonement Symposium". Evangelical Alliance (2005-07-08). Retrieved on 2007-08-26.
References
- Evangelical Alliance UK official website
- Opposition to the Religious Hatred Bill coverage in BBC News
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia; from the article "Evangelical Alliance". Image Credit.
