Evangelical church network Affinity says it sees a “broader opportunity” to have interaction people frustrated by high levels of immigration and the erosion of values with the reality of Christianity.
Graham Nicholls, Director of Affinity, was less condemnatory than other Church leaders in regards to the recent Unite the Kingdom rally that was organised by far-right activist Tommy Robinson and attended by at the very least 100,000 people, possibly even as much as 1,000,000.
Christian leaders have shown themselves to be divided on the difficulty of Robinson – who apparently recently converted to Christianity – and the movement he has inspired.
Various Church of England bishops and the CEO of the Evangelical Alliance signed an open letter condemning “the co-opting of Christian symbols, particularly the cross, during Saturday’s ‘Unite the Kingdom’ rally” and what they described as “racist, anti-Muslim and far-right elements”.
Nicholls, while acknowledging the concerns of critics in regards to the appropriation of Christian symbols and “hateful language”, noted that the rally was a response by normal people, a lot of them Christian, to “the erosion of British values” and “unsustainable immigration”.
He cautiously welcomed using Christian symbols as indicating, on the very least, a “recognition amongst many marchers that Christian values have a positive effect on communities and nations”.
“To be clear, we don’t equate carrying a cross or using Christian symbols with being a Christian. However, we’re glad that some people recognise the worth of our Christian heritage and are, ultimately, in search of to reconnect with it. Surely, this cultural moment presents many gospel opportunities for us,” he said.
“We say to those that marched or observed from a distance that the reply lies not in carrying a cross but in living under the cross – not as a logo of Britishness or a set of self-defined values, but as a logo of the death of Jesus Christ for sinners like us.
“The empty cross demonstrates that Jesus Christ is King, and we humbly bow to his majesty, deriving our values, our understanding of what it means to be human, our ideas, our sense of nationhood, and our definitions of affection from his example and teaching.”
Apologist David Robertson suggested it was hypocritical of Church leaders to sentence the “co-opting” of Christianity by people concerned about immigration when liberal and progressive Christians “recurrently use Christianity to proclaim their particular political opinions”.
“Did you write an open letter concerned in regards to the use of Christian symbols at Pride parades or anti-Israel marches? Many individuals and communities feel anxious, unsettled and even threatened by features of those marches. Do their feelings not count?” he said.
Peter McIlvenna, creator at The Federalist, who was on the Unite the Kingdom rally, described the Christian elements in positive terms, saying, “The gospel choir that were there … it was actually true worship, and the people on the front leading, I believed I used to be in Kensington temple on the Sunday morning, and never in the midst of Westminster on a Saturday.
“The worship was beautiful … they were worshipping and so they were leading individuals who were. There is something powerful about that. Maybe a lot of them there will not be Christians. [But] possibly that might have been their first encounter with Christ.”
 Evangelical church network Affinity says it sees a "broader opportunity" to have interaction people frustrated by high levels of immigration and the erosion...){kind=link}