Affinity: Standing Together

Over the coming months in Evangelicals Now I want to explain some of the things happening at Affinity but a good question to start with is ‘Who are Affinity and what do we actually do?’

The British Evangelical Council (BEC, renamed Affinity since 2004) was founded in 1952 by George Collins and Murdoch Macrae from the Free Church of Scotland, and Theodore Bendor-Samuel and Edward Poole-Connor from the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches. They wanted to express gospel unity across denominational divides, but also to be a defence against movements for unity based on sharing the name Christian, but not necessarily the same core beliefs. In the 1960s Affinity (BEC as it was then) gained the enthusiastic support of Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones and many church groups joined.

1966 And All That

It may be hard for many of us to imagine what it was like then for Christian leaders in churches, denominations or Bible Colleges which to their surprise were openly questioning or denying the gospel. These men were often isolated and sometimes expelled just because they stood up for what we would call basic Christian beliefs. Basil Howlett’s recent book 1966 And All That gives insight into those days and how much of an encouragement Lloyd Jones and Affinity was for them.

Today, Affinity includes individual churches, denominations, fellowship networks and Christian agencies. Through our members, Affinity connects with about 1,200 churches and Christian groups in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The evangelical landscape has changed. The Proclamation Trust was formed in 1986, drawing in evangelical Anglicans and Independent churches. There’s been the emergence of Gospel Partnerships and the continued development of the FIEC along with an explosion of Christian conferences, publications and blogs. Alongside this, many churches have links across traditional and denominational boundaries.

Relevance

So is Affinity even necessary any longer? It’s easy to either romanticise those past days or to dismiss the battles of last century evangelicalism as irrelevant. The battles may not be quite the same, but doctrinal challenges continue within the church and Affinity can facilitate understanding and debate. There are also new challenges where beliefs and practices we might consider essential are treated as optional. Outside the church we experience an increasingly secular and hostile world, a world that is so profoundly lost and leaderless and in desperate need to hear the authentic good news of Jesus Christ. We believe Affinity still has a part to play in helping churches publicise and defend the gospel.

The main aims of Affinity can be summed up as follows:

• Encourage

We promote fellowship and gospel partnership by our meetings and conferences. We can hear stories of blessing and challenge and have a broader view of what is going on in churches across the British Isles. Affinity is the natural place where conservative evangelicals can meet. We complement the work of Gospel Partnerships which are focussed on training, evangelism and church planting and can connect denominational or fellowship groupings even though they may have differences on ecclesiology or a different history and culture.

• Educate

Affinity equips churches for the challenges to orthodox theology as we engage with current theological debates, thinking and cultural trends. Affinity publishes online Foundations Theological Journal and a Social Issues Bulletin dealing with ‘citizenship’ issues in the realms of medical ethics, education, work, law, politics, marriage, disability and gender.

• Engage

Our ambitious aim for the coming years is to provide a voice for conservative evangelicals in the secular press, where the voice of evangelical Bible-believing Christians is rarely heard. We want to support the churches we represent by presenting a Christian world view and defence of the truth and relevance of Jesus Christ.

Graham Nicholls is the Director of Affinity

(This article first appeared in Evangelicals Now: www.e-n.org.uk)