Helen Locke
Helen joined the Evangelical Alliance in October 2020. Prior to this, she trained in ministry for a year in Birmingham where she worked with students and was immersed in church life, in between summers working for the charity Open Doors. Helen studied English literature with creative writing modules, and loves writing, painting and walks with friends in all weathers.
Meet Rani Joshi, our new South Asian Forum co-ordinator
8 November 2023Rani, can you tell us a bit about yourself? Hello, I’m Rani, based in wonderful Leamington Spa, single, a convert originally from a Hindu background. As well as my SAF role, I am a marketing consultant and coach. I spend some of my ‘spare’ time podcasting as well as reading, walks, growing veg, and experiencing other cultures through travel and conversations. How did you find God and what does Jesus mean to you? I had a powerful encounter with the Holy Spirit in a church in Windsor during a…
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Heart Behind the Art: an interview with Cath Woolridge
2 October 2023“Hope, not hype” is what revival is all about, says Cath – and it’s clear that undeterred hope is what’s fuelling her bubbly personality too. Cath’s ministry springs from a willingness to “remain” in the quiet, alone with God, His word, her journal and her imagination. She seeks to be part of the story of revival in her nation and minister to worshippers and non-Christians, from reworking old Welsh hymns in new ways from her home in the valleys, to jet-setting to Singapore with the ministry she…
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Alcohol ruled my life – until I experienced God’s CPR
5 July 2023Born in 1946 into a large, loving family, David (Davey) Hoy was his mum’s “blue-eyed boy”. Growing up, he was taught right from wrong and attended Sunday school, but as a teenager his life went in a totally different direction from the one he had been brought up in. Ex-drinkers in that time would say that drink makes you feel like John Wayne – until the morning – and this felt very true. “In my ignorance I liked this new world, it took away all shyness and gave me a confidence and courage. I…
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Heart behind the art: an interview with Sam Suriakumar
28 June 2023Growing up, Sam had a longstanding “deep and trusting relationship with God”, but over time he grew to realise the extent of God’s faithfulness. A child of immigrant parents from Sri Lanka, Sam was encouraged in his twin passions of South Asian and Western music. His mum and dad supported him to start learning classical piano aged six, and a drummer got him into the mirudangam (Indian drum) after spotting young Sam tapping away at a party. Sam confesses he has always been “quite loud, wanting…
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Being human in an AI world
20 April 2023Every week, I hear more stories about the rapidly accelerating capability and applications of Artificial Intelligence (AI). There are some good news stories – from helping to diagnose health problems in sick patients, to ongoing efforts to analyse wildlife and poacher data and predict their behaviour to aid conservation. But, for every good news story, it feels like there are 10 more that cause concern. Here’s just a few you may have seen recently… Goldman Sachs warned AI could replace 300…
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Heart Behind the Art: an interview with Emily Feltham
31 March 2023Emily, 33, has a huge sense of FOMO and wants to join in every interesting conversation she overhears around her. Friends might even joke that she has an opinion on everything, and that those opinions are liable to change, but Emily says she just loves other people and is curious about exploring their point of view. Born and raised in Bristol, she lives with husband Joseph, and says she loves the town’s “friendly, creative feel – scruffy and authentic.” As a child, Emily’s mum took her to…
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Ukraine, one year on: how the UK church can keep doing its part
24 February 2023"Everything has changed for us... It was a nightmare we couldn’t wake up from.” That’s how the Orlov family, from Kherson Oblast, remember the early months of the invasion when they were forced to leave. When they returned, they found their home and village destroyed - but they’re determined to rebuild. “It will become our personal victory,” they say. Mission Without Borders (MWB) has been working to supply families in Ukraine and Moldova with what they need to survive. Working with local…
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Eight ways to shine bright this Halloween
18 October 2022Halloween is a time of year when some of our neighbours, friends and colleagues become more aware of the thin line between this world and a spiritual realm, a topic the Bible has much to say about. So, we can speak bravely, knowing that we contend with real spiritual forces (Ephesians 3:16). Yet, hand in hand with this, we can shine out with the kind and wonderful love of Jesus in good deeds, showing kindness and generosity to our neighbours (Matthew 5:16). An opportunity for the church to…
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Christian GP: how I live out my faith in a time of NHS crisis
13 October 2022I sit down for a Zoom call with Dr Debisi Olunloyo to find out. Born and raised in Nigeria, she became a Christian aged 13 at school, and trained to become a doctor. She moved to the UK in 2000, where she joined one of our member churches, Jesus House in London, and continued her postgraduate medical training before becoming a GP. She puts in long hours on her clinical days, so I’m chatting with her on a day when she’s at home, but doing administrative work. We kick off the interview by praying…
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What I've learnt from Jordan Peterson
4 August 2022Truth and the limits of the postmodern lens To do that, I need to take you back to my university experience. One of the first modules on my literature course was about “ways of reading”, the different ideas and lenses through which we can read a book. Some are helpful as we try to understand the world around us (others less so). My favourite “-isms” were Post-colonialism and New Historicism. Looking through these “lenses” helped me learn a bit about the historical and colonial baggage that…
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Dance Fever and the freedom fallacy
23 June 2022The meanings of Florence’s songs on the album are hard to pin down, allowing her to explore freedom and death without being pinned down to one meaning. But there is a popular and enduring cultural idea underpinning her body of work: freedom is living your fullest life of self-expression, exuberance, and pleasure here and now – since we all have to die in the end anyway. ‘Free’, a new track on the album, explores Florence’s anxiety and momentary freedom in music. Her voice is incredible, but dig…
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