During the 28 - 29 January the World Prayer Centre hosted an event that was attended by a number of leaders within the prayer movement. It was held at The House of Bread at The Mill in Shipstonon-Stour -  and the statement they produced is called THE MILL GATHERING. They asked the question - ‘What is God saying to us in the British Isles at this time?’ and ‘What is our response?’ A link to the statement can be found when you click the 'More' button below. The leaders believe that God is preparing us for an unparalleled spiritual harvest and that there is going to be a great increase in turbulence and uncertainty as the Lord continues to shake the nations. He is calling us to mobilise prayer and be ready for action. This is a time of awakening - a time when many will come to know Jesus and a time when many will come back to the church. It’s not like anything we have experienced in our nations before. This is a time of great opportunity. Are we ready? Can we gather it in? Do we have enough capacity to cope with what is produced? Jesus warned that the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few (Matthew 9: 36-38).

Christian values can still turn the world upside down and transform people's lives from within, according to the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu. ‘Young people know in their bones that there must be something better, something more worthwhile than the self-centredness which is attracted by the promise of endless pleasure but which somehow never seems to deliver,’ he says in the The Yorkshire Post. It is not simply about numbers: It is renewal and revival, both at a personal and a corporate level, that are necessary today, he added, warning against the temptation to slide into ‘compromise and apathy’. Christians today must do a regular ‘spiritual workout’, with 'honest self-examination’ conducted in the searchlight of Christ's all-seeing, ever-gracious love. ‘In the eyes of most young people, the status quo has been tried and found wanting. Something far more worthwhile and exciting is needed.’

The UK is among the least religious countries in the world, according to a new survey. In a global ranking of 65 countries, the UK came six places from last, with 30% of the population calling themselves religious. While 53% of people said they were not religious, only 13% said they were a convinced atheist and the remainder did not know how to define themselves. This compares with 94% of people in Thailand and 93% of people in Armenia, Bangladesh, Georgia and Morocco who said they were religious. Jean-Marc Leger, president of Win/Gallup International, said that globally an average of two-thirds of people still consider themselves religious. ‘Religion continues to dominate our everyday lives,’ he said. ‘Furthermore, with the trend of an increasingly religious youth globally, we can assume that the number of people who consider themselves religious will only continue to increase.’

In a blog post entitled Mission Agencies 2050, the former executive director of Wycliffe UK, Eddie Arthur, compared declining church attendance in the UK since 1970 with the sharp rise in the number of mission agencies coming into existence during the same period. There are more and more agencies seeking support from a shrinking constituency. This is not sustainable even in the short to mid-term, much less by 2050.’ He added: ‘It isn't rocket science to suggest that the number of mission agencies based in the UK will decline drastically over the next 35 years.’ Most agencies will go by 2050. The demographics are against us. ‘Arthur suggested that too many agencies were trying to do the same sort of thing, that they should refocus on supporting indigenous Christians and that they should prepare for radical change. ‘The hardest thing in the Christian world is to stop doing something,’ he said.