Danny Webster
Danny joined the Evangelical Alliance in 2008 and has held a range of roles in the advocacy team. He currently leads the advocacy team's work across the UK including public policy work an engagement with the parliaments and assemblies, and respective governments. Before working for the Evangelical Alliance, Danny, who has degrees in politics and political philosophy, worked in parliament for an MP. Danny is passionate about encouraging Christians to integrate their faith with all areas of their life, especially when it comes to helping them take on leadership outside the church, and helped initiate the Evangelical Alliance's Public Leadership programme. He frequently provides comment on current political issues, both in Evangelical Alliance publications and to the press.
Church in lockdown will continue until at least July
12 May 2020Many of the changes only apply to England and separate regulations stipulate the rules in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Each of the devolved administrations has reiterated that the ongoing message remains to stay at home and only minor amendments have been made to the regulations, for example, allowing exercise more than once per day. Our director of Wales, Siân Rees, has taken a look at some of the differences between England and Wales. The Government has sought to start the process…
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Impact of coronavirus on charities
1 May 2020The Evangelical Alliance has spoken to all its member churches and organisations over the last month and has heard incredible stories of how they are responding to this crisis: from making practical changes to deliver church meetings online to caring for the vulnerable in their community in new ways. We’ve heard how the church in the UK is committed to making Jesus known through their words and actions. However, we’re also very aware that it’s not easy. From decline in income, to increased…
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Why leadership and trust can’t be separated
30 April 2020In a critical situation leadership is essential to ensure action is taken to prevent worse consequences – that much is straightforward. In the regular course of life there are innumerable tame problems that require tackling; these require leadership and might be difficult but have been done before. Wicked problems, according to the Leadership Centre, are complex problems that hold a multitude of other problems within them and have no known solution. These are the situations where good…
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Prayer, fasting and witness this Easter
9 April 2020Yet, as Christians remember Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross and look ahead to Easter weekend where they’ll celebrate His glorious resurrection and victory over sin and death, we are acutely aware that across the globe the coronavirus pandemic continues to take its toll on lives, communities and nations. The need for victory over death and darkness is not something we remember as a historic event but something we believe in and pray for today. We believe that in Christ’s death and resurrection,…
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Silence, grief and the everlasting hope
8 April 2020In the UK we are fortunate that, so far, we have been spared the scenes of hospitals overflowing with patients fighting for their lives as seen in Italy, Spain and New York. The talk of parks being dug up as temporary resting places for the deceased the system cannot cope with shocks us into realising that this isn’t a normal illness. It reminds us that being able to walk – socially distanced – in parks is a luxury. Maybe the first phase of this lockdown has been a respite from the hectic…
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Connecting churches with the most vulnerable
2 April 2020These are troubling times: it is a time of shock and it is a time of lament, and we know there are hard days ahead. But it is also a time for us to reach out – however we safely can – to help those in greatest need. The restrictions we are living under does not remove our obligation to care for those around us. The shutdown ordered by the Government means that people should not leave their houses without – in the words of emergency legislation passed before the Houses of Parliament– a…
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Government powers for coronavirus must be proportionate
23 March 2020We at the Evangelical Alliance recognise the incredible times that we are living in and the need for emergency legislation both to equip public services in their response and to keep the population safe. The legislation being considered by Parliament this week is broad in scope and contains provisions which would be unthinkable in normal circumstances. The planned law makes provision for the Government to take action in different areas should the need arise. This is why it is a complex and…
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Heroes and hoarders
19 March 2020The country may not literally be on fire, but it's the imagery of the person running into the flames rather than away from the risk that we are buoyed by, that we admire, that is lauded so strongly on social media and the news. One of the challenges of this specific crisis is how inactive and intangible our help and selflessness must be. We can't lean in, lend a hand and be present in the ways we would normally try to. Distance is a form of kindness and yet feels very unnatural. We have huge…
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Coronavirus: a Christ-centred response
5 March 2020Across the UK 85 cases had been confirmed as of Wednesday, 4 March. This is a relatively small number compared to the 80,000 so far confirmed in China and the further 10,000 in other countries around the world. It will probably never be known how accurate these figures are, with the BBC reporting that infectious disease specialists suspect that as many as two thirds of cases in China have not been detected and recorded. In Italy more than 2,000 people have tested positive, with more than 70…
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New decade, renewed conviction
2 January 2020Radio call ins reflected on all that had happened and all that had changed. You may have seen the clip from Tomorrow’s World in 1989 speculating on what the home of 2020 would be like. Some aspects were remarkably prescient, the suggestion that you would be able to walk into a room and say what music you wanted, and it would play, others less so – the idea that electricity would be in the walls of buildings and sockets would be obsolete doesn’t look like coming to fruition anytime soon.…
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Book review: Reappearing Church
2 January 2020A church leader from Melbourne in Australia, he has wrestled for many years through finding ways for the church to thrive in the post-Christian culture endemic in the places he lives, works and travels. From pioneering formats of church to reach those disillusioned with traditional church to realising the paucity of deconstructing faith with nothing left in its wake, his latest book offers a manifesto for hope and renewal in this cultural moment. Perhaps best known for the podcast This Cultural…
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