Be bold, Edwards tells Evangelicals

Outgoing Evangelical Alliance leader the Rev Joel Edwards has challenged evangelicals to be bold opinion shapers in his farewell speech to the Alliance council.

Mr Edwards, who is leaving the Alliance after 11 years at the helm, celebrated the Alliance's development over the past decade, building on the foundations of his predecessor Clive Calver, to be a movement committed to effective Christian witness, passion for God in the public square and the common good.

He told council members that evangelicals are committed to Biblical truth, and passionate about seeing how it relates to their friends and neighbours in today's society.

"My hope is that the Alliance will not play it safe," he said.

"There is a real challenge for an organisation seeking to be relevant and prophetic: will we be bland or bold? Opinion shapers or servants of an old evangelical consensus? Will we take the argument to our culture or argue amongst ourselves?"

He added: "I hope that the Evangelical Alliance beyond my tenure will continue to present Christ credibly as good news for spiritual and cultural change.

"I hope God will use you to re-kindle a love for the Scriptures as you build confident churches, robust disciples and active Christian citizens. I hope you will be able to dismantle disunity between evangelicals.

"I hope that the Evangelical Alliance will be known less for its concerns about the privileged status of Christians and more as a movement committed to the well-being of our world; more leading and transforming than worried and defending.

"I hope that we will be able to help evangelicals develop the key competencies in presenting good news in a post-Christendom age. I hope we will have the courage to give up the tendency to make Christendom our highest goal, extricate Christ from religious warfare and allow him to come alive for all people of all faiths and none."

Mr Edwards said a formal farewell to friends, dignitaries - including Jamaican High Commissioner Burchell Whiteman - and colleagues past and present at a farewell celebration last Wednesday night.

The gathering heard video tributes from previous Alliance General Director Clive Calver, Jesus House Senior Pastor Agu Irukwu, Bishop of London, the Most Rev Richard Chartres and Sir Trevor Phillips, chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

The Rev Mike Talbot, Chair of the Evangelical Alliance board, said: "Joel is a visionary. He has held the vision, cast it and encouraged others to pick it up and run with it.

"Joel has been both gracious and robust in his commitment to draw evangelicals together, seeking to enable us to be good news to the world around us and in the public square.

"He's remained faithful to his commitment to Jesus Christ. He's considered everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus as Lord. That can be seen in his commitment to the Micah Challenge, so it's very right and fitting that he should be moving into that place."

Mr Edwards will take over as International Director of Micah Challenge ­- a Christian campaign challenging governments around the world to meet the Millennium Development Goals by 2015 - in January 2009.