U.K. Evangelical Report Responds to Social Problems
U.K.-based Evangelical Alliance released “one of the most comprehensive studies” by the group on Monday with recommendations on various social challenges in contemporary society including human rights, religious freedom, terrorism, and the environment.
A 170-page report entitled “Faith and Nation: Report of a Commission of Inquiry to the U.K. Evangelical Alliance” gave 100 recommendations based on the Commission’s three years of work.
“In commissioning this report, the Evangelical Alliance Council not only wanted to evaluate the contribution of Evangelicals to society, but it also wanted to inform its strategic thinking by understanding the place of religion in the socio-political life of 21st century Britain,” wrote Joel Edwards, general director of the Evangelical Alliance in the report’s foreword.
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The Evangelical Alliance report concluded that marriage is a “divine ordinance” that is “exclusively between one man and one woman.” Furthermore, the Commission concluded that the act of church services blessing same-sex relationships is unbiblical.
Other controversial topics such as abortion and euthanasia were also addressed in the report. The Evangelical Alliance is opposed to the “individual freedoms and rights to practice abortion and euthanasia.”
A call for the defense of religious liberty, expression of faith, and human rights in Britain were also highlighted in the report.
“Protect human rights, on the basis that all people derive their values, dignity and purpose from their creation in the image of God,” read the report.
The document also urged the government to observe the right of citizens to attend Sunday worship and the rights of other religious traditions to take time off for their own religious festivals.
The Evangelical Alliance U.K. was formed in 1846 and serves as an umbrella group representing over one million evangelical Christians in the United Kingdom. The Alliance is part of a movement “uniting to change society” and acts as an evangelical voice to the state, society and the wider Church.
“We hope that some of the issues raised will help us anticipate and intelligently respond to new developments which our multifaceted society will inevitably throw up in our own lifetime,” concluded Edwards.
