Gavin Calver
Gavin Calver is the CEO of the Evangelical Alliance. He has a burning passion to see the church working together to share the Gospel throughout the UK. Formerly the leader of Youth for Christ and chair of Spring Harvest, he’s an ordained evangelist and regular public speaker, and has authored six books. Married to Anne, they have two children, Amelie and Daniel. He loves new challenges, is a passionate AFC Wimbledon supporter and was part of the team that broke the World Record for the longest 5-a-side football match.
Our unity saves souls
31 August 2021There was one mission that was particularly special. We began the week by looking at John 17 with the team. We read the prayer of Jesus right before He was arrested: “I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one” (17:11). I wonder what you would pray right before your death. It’d probably be the most important prayer you’d ever pray.…
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Speaking the truth in love
28 June 2021For me, one of the strangest shifts during this season of lockdown has been the move from preaching in person to preaching into a device. I can clearly remember my first time. I thought, what on earth am I doing? How will this have an impact? Yes, I’ve been on camera before, but this was different: I’d be alone, with no one to bounce off and unable to see people’s reactions and what the Lord might be doing. That first talk involved an altar call, and it felt bizarre asking my phone if anyone…
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Euro 2020: A chance to unite after a tough season
18 June 2021After a strong start some people suddenly seem full of something that has been lacking for well over a year: hope. It was Aristotle who said that “hope is a waking dream”; it seems that some are daring to dream again. I fully fell in love with the beautiful game as a boy way back in the summer of 1990. The World Cup was on, England was doing well, everything about Italy seemed incredible, and to a backing track combination of John Barnes rapping and Nessun dorma, all appeared perfect. That was…
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Leading in the storm
28 April 2021I’m reminded of Jonah in the storm and the boat breaking up, wondering what to do. They tried to throw things overboard, they called on their gods whilst Jonah lay sleeping, but really the only thing that was going to work for them to survive the weather and the water was to call on the name of the Lord. Jesus is the only one who can rescue and save. We have to keep the main thing the main thing – however rocky the season is – for the Lord is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews…
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Faith with deeds
1 March 2021I’d be thinking, “I must enjoy this last meal; it’s a moment of life and freedom and fellowship with my friends,” if I were in that situation. Instead, Jesus comforts, cleans and prays for His followers. This extraordinary moment is heightened further by the fact that the only gentile slaves washed people’s feet. Here to the amazement of His disciples the Lord, who threw the stars into space, humbles Himself to the point of washing His followers’ feet. This is the reality of our saviour: even…
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Let hope rise again
18 December 2020Yes, the first half of this pandemic has been extremely challenging on so many levels, but the time is now to dust ourselves down, refocus and be prepared to go again. My wife Anne supports Liverpool and went to the 2005 Champions League Final against AC Milan in Istanbul. At half-time her team was 3-0 down – battered, defeated, facing an impossible comeback; many fans exited the stadium with tears streaming down their face. Their trophy dreams seemed shattered and hope of a win ebbed…
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Open letter to the UK faith minister
3 November 2020Dear Lord Greenhalgh We would like to thank you for the regular opportunities to meet with you throughout this pandemic. We recognise the importance of public health and the difficult decisions faced by political leaders; however, the Evangelical Alliance is concerned that from Thursday, 5 November churches in England will be prohibited from all acts of collective worship, except for funerals. Churches have worked incredibly hard to meet safely and to continue to serve their local communities.…
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No time like now
24 June 2020Firstly, there is a clear change in spiritual temperature of our country. The coronavirus pandemic is the ultimate bittersweet moment. The amount of people suffering, struggling and dying is absolutely tragic, and this is making this season so challenging. At the same time this crisis is presenting us with the greatest evangelistic moment of my lifetime. It’s like we are living in wartime, although we are sat on the sofa. People’s openness to the gospel is profound because they are living in…
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The church is open and here to serve
5 June 2020Anxiety, pain and anger are all heightened emotions for us in this time of crisis. Daily death tolls relentlessly remind us of our own mortality and fragility. Our freedoms have been curtailed, our relationships cut off, our future is uncertain. Lockdown has robbed us of any pretence that we are in control of our lives. The tinderbox of frustration quickly ignites into rage when we see authority misused and injustice enacted. The raw pain of watching a man’s murder played through our phones…
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A clarion call for justice
1 June 2020Let us stand together as brothers and sisters in Christ, as we cry out for justice, as we stand with those suffering oppression, as we weep with those grieving and in pain. We all have a responsibility to act against discrimination and systemic racism in our workplaces, in our churches, in our justice system and in our wider communities. We cannot view this as a white vs black issue. This is a clarion call for us to come together and fight every form of racism in all it’s disgusting…
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Prayer, faith and witness
30 April 2020Driving back from speaking at Gold Hill Baptist Church on Sunday, 15 March, there was a strange sense in my gut that things were about to change. The media stories were growing and the idea that things were about to become less free was increasingly clear. Within days, everything was being live streamed and Zoom or Skype had quickly become a friend to all. We have entered a new season, and in these days, these first few months for me of ministering as CEO at the Evangelical Alliance, we are…
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