Theos Report on Creating a Neighbourhood Health Service

The latest report from Theos has recently been published:

Marianne Rozario with contribution from Esther Platt, Creating a Neighbourhood Health Service: The Role of Churches and Faith Groups in Social Prescribing (London: Theos, 2025).

Here’s a quick summary:

‘The NHS and social care services in England are stretched to breaking point, grappling with record-high demand for GP appointments and secondary care services. Yet, one in five GP appointments are not for medical reasons, but rather requests for help with issues like loneliness, housing, or debt.

‘Lord Darzi’s 2024 report paints a stark picture of the NHS’s current state but also offers a vision for its future: a shift towards neighbourhood-level care, preventing ill-health and tackling health inequalities, a vision echoed by Health Secretary Wes Streeting MP’s ambition to turn the NHS into a “neighbourhood health service.”

‘Social prescribing – connecting people to community-based activities to benefit their wellbeing – can be part of that preventative solution. Churches and faith groups not only contribute significantly to social prescribing offering networks and resources, but with their focus on community, relationship and holistic wellbeing, they can play a foundational role in preventative healthcare.

‘Our research found that faith groups across the country already host a wealth of friendly, welcoming, and “referrable” activities. These groups act as “anchors of the community” with the ability to network and convene, provide resources, buildings and volunteers, and offer pastoral and spiritual care.

‘However, there are barriers preventing a more integrated approach between faith and health including communication and administrative challenges. Therefore, this report outlines a model of relationship-building through active networking, engaged collaboration, and forward planning, unlocking the full potential of faith-based support.

‘Ultimately, this report highlights the contribution of faith groups in social prescribing and puts forward recommendations for proactive collaboration between faith groups, the NHS and wider healthcare networks at the level of “neighbourhoods”, “places” and “systems”.

A summary blog of the report can be found here.

A pdf of the full report is available here.

A guide for faith leaders looking to engage more deeply with social prescribing, and especially looking to build connections with social prescribing link workers is available here.

A guide for Social Prescribing Link Workers looking to work more effectively with churches and faith groups in order to support the wellbeing of individual is available here.

Mission Frontiers 47, 2 (March–April 2025)

The March–April 2025 issue of Mission Frontiers, published by Frontier Ventures, contains a number of articles devoted to the topic of ‘Spiritual Formation at the Edges’.

Here’s the issue blurb, which sets the scene:

‘In this issue, we dive into formation at the edges of mission. The process of spiritual formation is the same whether we are in our home culture or across the world. Though the timing and experiences will vary, the call to be with Jesus in community in suffering leading to loving our neighbor is the same for all God’s children.’

The issue is available here, from where individual articles can be downloaded, and the entire issue can be downloaded as a pdf here.

Rebecca McLaughlin on Easter

Every month, The Good Book Company make available digital versions of one of their books at no charge. This month (March 2025) it’s Is Easter Unbelievable? Four Questions Everyone Should Ask about the Resurrection Story by Rebecca McLaughlin, a short but excellent exploration of the reality and significance of Jesus’ death and resurrection, which is available in exchange for an email address here.

Centre for Public Christianity (March 2025)

Among other items, the Centre for Public Christianity has posted a ‘Life and Faith’ interview (here) with Rod Dreher on his most-recent book:

‘Life & Faith kicks off 2025 with an eye-opening interview with journalist Rod Dreher, author of Living in Wonder: Finding Mystery and Meaning in a Secular Age. In this wide-ranging chat, Rod talks about the budding religion of technology worship, the experience of art and beauty as a gateway to enchantment, the possibly malign spiritual forces at work in our world, and his increasing conviction that the world is not what you think it is.’

Christian History Magazine on Oswald Chambers

The latest issue of Christian History Magazine is devoted to Oswald Chambers.

From the blurb:

‘My Utmost for His Highest is one of the most enduring and best-selling Christian devotionals of all time. It has been in print for a century, translated into 39 languages, and has sold more than 13 million copies worldwide. You have probably heard of it. But what do you know about Oswald Chambers, the devotional’s author?

‘In this issue of Christian History, meet the Scottish poet, artist, intellectual, and minister whose approachable and sincere faith allowed him to speak effectively to the spiritual challenges of the modern world. Oswald Chambers’s preaching and teaching took him all over the globe, even to the Egyptian warfront of World War I as a YMCA chaplain. You will also meet the woman behind My Utmost: Gertrude “Biddy” Chambers, Oswald’s wife and partner in ministry. This gifted stenographer, typist, administrator, and teacher preserved and presented her husband’s wisdom to audiences worldwide, launching a publishing empire and Oswald’s world-renowned devotional.

‘Discover the dynamic, faith-filled, and inspirational story of Oswald and Biddy Chambers– two believers who truly gave their utmost for His highest.’

The whole magazine is available as a 3.5 MB pdf here.

Foundations 87 (February 2025)

Issue 87 of Foundations: An International Journal of Evangelical Theology, published by Affinity, is now available from here (requiring an email address for a link to a downloadable pdf, though check here) which includes the below essays (abstracts posted where available).

Donald John MacLean

Editorial

Ian Shaw

Slavery, the Slave Trade and Christians’ Theology Part Two: Theological Themes

Stephen Steele

Garnishing the Sepulchres of the Righteous: Textual Criticism in the Free Church Fathers

The continued publication of the “Textus Receptus,” for example, a new edition by Grange Press, the publishing arm of the US Presbytery of the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing), provides the incentive to investigate the text-critical principles of the Free Church fathers. How did they view the Textus Receptus? Did they defend it in the face of new manuscript discoveries in their own century? The clear evidence is that they did not hold to a “Received Text” that was “fixed”, indeed, the leading figures among the Free Church Fathers explicitly disowned such a view. Advocates of the so-called “Textus Receptus” have a track record of claiming support from figures in church history who were far from claiming its perfection. Famously, the Anglican Dean John Burgon (1813-1888) would not be admitted to the Dean Burgon Society (founded in 1978). The society named after him exists “To Defend the Traditional Received Greek Text of the New Testament which underlies the King James Version.” Yet while believing the TR to be “quite good enough for all ordinary purposes”, Burgon was “far from pinning my faith to it”. “In not a few particulars”, he wrote “the ‘Textus receptus’ does call for Revision”.

Alison Umpleby

Review Article: She Needs

Nick Meader

Resurrection: Apologetics and Biblical Theology

Mark Roques and Steve Bishop

The ‘Christian’ Mysticism of Meister Eckhart and Terese of Ávila

In this article, we probe the so-called “Christian” mysticism of Meister Eckhart and Teresa of Ávila. We scrutinise the Orphic creation myth and Neoplatonism’s roots. We unpack how these two mystics would answer the six worldview questions. What is God like? What is the universe like? What is a person? Why do we suffer? What is the remedy? What happens after death? We conclude with a critique of “Christian” mysticism and show how it is both world-denying and auto-salvific. Neither option is Christian.

Book Reviews

Lausanne on Polycentric Christianity

As part of Lausanne’s Theological Foundation Paper series, the latest Occasional Paper, ‘Polycentric Christianity: Theological Multiplicity and Unity’, authored by Tite Tiénou, explores ‘how the global body of Christ can navigate theological diversity while remaining anchored in the mission of God. Drawing from voices across traditions and regions, this paper invites us to consider how different theological expressions contribute to a richer, more faithful witness. How can we hold both multiplicity and unity in balance as we engage in global mission?’