Mark Woods

The great evangelical silence: What the church should say about Gaza
There's a chilling disjunction between the glossy celebrations and political love-in on show yesterday as the US embassy in Jerusalem opened, and the carnage just a few miles away in Gaza.

Indonesia's family suicide bombers represent spiritual forces of evil
The suicide bombers of our days are different. They don't die out of love, but out of hate.

Extreme baptism: Does this Orthodox priest go too far?
This Orthodox baptism has caused no small amount of online outrage, with one Twitter user likening the priest's technique to 'child abuse'.

TEC presiding bishop Michael Curry named as Royal wedding preacher
Michael Curry, primate of the US Episcopal Church (TEC), has been named as the preacher at the Royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle next week.

Tim Farron pulls out of Christian conference saying he's 'deeply concerned and saddened' by publicity material
Former Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron has pulled out of speaking at a Christian conference citing concerns about promotional material he has seen.

#ThyKingdomCome: Why should we do evangelism?
A far better motive for evangelism is to think, 'We have something that's worth sharing with the world. Let's pray that others will find it through us.'

Trump and the Iran deal: Can chaos diplomacy succeed where reason failed?
The story is about the disruptive effect of someone who is completely unfettered by logic, who has no regard for consequences â and who has enormous power at his fingertips.

Should pastors be political? How to change the world without losing your congregation
Evangelicalism has been tied, in the public mind, to right-wing causes for a good while. And yet it seems that the more headway these causes make, the more atheists they create.

Should you be offended by the 'blasphemous' Catholic-themed Met Gala?
There's been a predictable Christian outcry against the theme of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute ball â the Met Gala â last night.

Thousands of Southern Baptists call for Paige Patterson to go
The college headed by prominent Southern Baptist Paige Patterson is to hold a crisis meeting of trustees in the wake of a wave of negative publicity regarding comments he has made about women.

Thy Kingdom Come: It's about evangelism, but not as you know it
Thy Kingdom Come has been designed so that everyone from the yells-bells-and-smells, more-Catholic-than-the-pope brigade to the light-bulb-changing, happiest of happy clappers can take part.

These probably aren't the most effective preachers in the English-speaking world â and anyway, so what?
Now we know: these are the 12 most effective preachers in the English-speaking world.

Revelation for today: How to read Scripture well
CJ Sansom says in a note to one of his Tudor crime novels that it would have been better if Revelation had never been included in the canon of scripture at all, given the damage it's done.

Pressure mounts on Paige Patterson after more Southern Baptists call for him to go
Pressure is continuing to mount on Southern Baptist leader Paige Patterson after another leading figure in the denomination called on him to retire.

Weaponising faith: How the cross is being used by right-wing nationalists
The question of how the state should use religious symbols has been an ongoing and controversial feature of US life, too.

Alfie Evans: Accusations and answers
The Liverpool toddler died on Saturdays after a long struggle with illness. His case became a battleground in which conflicting interests contested over his treatment.