Founded August 1846 | Origins London, United Kingdom | |
Founders Edward Steane, John Henderson of Park, Ridley Haim Herschel and Sir Culling Eardley, 3rd Baronet Type Evangelical Christian union Focus Evangelical Christianity Location England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland | ||
The Evangelical Alliance (EA) is an umbrella grouping for evangelical Christians in the UK. Formed in 1846, the Alliance aims to bring Christians together and help them listen to, and be heard by, the government, media and society.
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With offices in London, Cardiff, Glasgow and Belfast, the Alliance works across 79 denominations, 3,300 churches, 750 organisations and thousands of individual members. It is also a founding member of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA), a global network of more than 600 million evangelical Christians, which in January 2015 announced plans for closer cooperation and witness with the World Council of Churches.
History
The Evangelical alliance was formed in 1846. The major founders were Ridley Haim Herschell,Rev. Edward Steane, a Baptist pastor from Camberwell, John Henderson of Park and Sir Culling Eardley, 3rd Baronet. Eardley became the first chairperson and he led the new organisation as it campaigned internationally for religious freedom. In 1852 he campaigned on behalf of the Tuscan prisoners of conscience Francesco Madiai and Rosa Madiai. (They had been imprisoned when they announced that they had become Protestants).
Overview
The Evangelical Alliance has over 3300 church members. Several well-known Christian organisations are also members of the Alliance, for example Tearfund - which was originally established by the Evangelical Alliance - Hope 08, Fusion and Serving In Mission (SIM).
The General Director of the Alliance is Steve Clifford, replacing Joel Edwards in April 2009. Gavin Calver is Director of Churches in Mission, while Dave Landrum was appointed as Director of Advocacy in March 2011. Peter Lynas directs Northern Ireland, Fred Drummond, Scotland, and Elfed Godding, Wales.
Positions
The Evangelical Alliance has supported ecumenism with the Roman Catholic Church. This has been countered with claims that ecumenism is not consistent with the historic evangelical practice or doctrine of its founders.
The alliance is openly opposed to same-sex relationships and homosexuality, preaching sexual abstinence for those with same-sex attractions and only allowing lesbian and gay people to join the organisation on the basis that they "come to see the need to be transformed". Through Gweini, Stephen Crabb MP is associated with the evangelical group.