Calvin Birnie
Calvin joined the Evangelical Alliance graduate scheme in 2024 as a research associate. Prior to this, he completed both a BSc and MSc in economics. Passionate about research, Calvin aims to provide valuable insights that support the work of the Evangelical Alliance and equip churches across the United Kingdom. Calvin lives in Belfast. In his free time, he enjoys reading history books, long walks and watching football and rugby. He is actively involved in the children’s work at his church.
Is there a volunteering shortage in churches since the Covid pandemic?
20 May 2025It has been suggested that churches in the UK are experiencing a shortage of volunteers following the Covid pandemic. For example, some churches have found it difficult to restart all the activities that they had been running before the pandemic. This was something that we wanted to investigate as part of our new Changing Church 2025 research. We asked almost 1,000 individuals and 300 church leaders a range of questions on volunteering, with the hope of understanding this key area better.…
Read more...
What can evangelicals learn from the life of Saint Patrick?
11 March 2025Can we learn anything from the life of Patrick who lived 1,600 years ago as evangelicals in 2025? I think we can. Behind the holiday celebrated right across the globe there is the life of a truly remarkable man. A life which should still challenge us today. Patrick’s life was one filled with many twists and turns. He was born in Great Britain to a wealthy family around 390 AD. It is likely that his father was a church deacon. Around the age of 16 he was taken prisoner by pirates and brought to…
Read more...