In recent days, many Christian leaders have lamented the darkness we witnessed in Parliament with the so-called “Week of Death,” with MPs voting in favour of abortion up to birth and assisted suicide. Such moments stir grief and urgency in the hearts of many. But these policies were not unforeseen. They are the fruit of seeds sown over decades.
It’s worth reflecting, not in accusation, but in honesty: Were we, the Church, watchful in the months and years leading up to this? Did we speak with clarity and consistency on the value of life, on the sanctity of God's image in every human being? Did we offer truth as well as love and hope?
At Christian Concern, we’ve been calling attention to these issues knowing that faithfulness to Christ includes standing for truth in the public square. Before the recent votes, there were opportunities for the Church to engage more actively. With greater unity and resolve, perhaps the outcome could have been different. Not all churches disengaged, but many struggled to prioritise these matters as central to gospel witness.
To those asking “What now?” we offer this invitation: let’s talk. Let’s work together. For decades, we and others have sought to serve the Church in speaking to culture with compassion and courage. What we often lack is not conviction, but resource and a Church fully engaged and united in purpose.
My own journey began as a young barrister in 1988. I loved sharing Jesus, hosting carol services, leading evangelistic efforts. But as I stepped into the legal world, I began to see laws shaping culture in ways that deeply contradicted God’s truth. Speaking about the sanctity of life, family, and freedom to speak the gospel often brought resistance, not only from culture, but sometimes and more painfully from within the Church.
Words like “passionate,” “shrill,” or “divisive” were sometimes used to describe this kind of public witness. Yet over time, it’s become clearer to many that these were not fringe concerns. They were, and are, gospel issues.
We now live in a moment where unborn children may be denied protection up to the point of birth. Where the elderly, vulnerable, and mentally broken are at risk, not of care, but of being offered death as dignity. We must ask ourselves again: how did we get here?
Too often, we’ve declared vital issues as “secondary” or “too divisive,” and stayed silent. But when culture redefines life, family, and truth itself, these are not distractions from the gospel they are opportunities to proclaim it more fully.
Is it a coincidence that this ‘Quiet Revival’ has taken hold at the same time that public figures, often outside the Church, have spoken clearly about moral and social issues? When the goodness and wisdom of Jesus Christ’s ways are publicly proclaimed – even on contentious issues – it sets the national mood and temperature. That’s what makes ordinary people reconsider Christianity as a viable option.
All this time, the Church’s silence has not produced salvation. Our culture has not softened toward the Church. Instead, the worldview shaping our society has hardened, leaving generations uncertain of their value, their identity, even their humanity.
And then, just one week after Parliament voted to strip protections from the unborn and the vulnerable, many gathered again for the Parliamentary Prayer Breakfast. It looked like a great event and I have immense respect for many of those that I saw attended and spoke. But it also appeared to be ‘business as usual’. Speeches were given, prayers said, dignitaries applauded.
My immediate reaction: where was the public repentance?
Where was the national lament for what had just taken place in that very building? There should have been weeping. There should have been deep soul-searching. A national challenge to the Church and those governing us to turn back to Christ and his ways.
Instead, Zöe Franklin, a Liberal Democrat MP who voted for both abortion decriminalisation and assisted suicide the previous week, led the gathering in prayers. With no hint of irony, she prayed that those there would “seek to treat all people with the dignity and worth that they have as individuals made in [God’s] image”.
How can a Christian witness in Parliament be taken seriously when the leaders of prayer are self-professed Christians who voted for death the very week before?
And yet there is hope.
A new generation is rising, longing for truth that makes sense of everything. They hunger for justice, for clarity, for Jesus. And they are asking: Why did no one ever tell me this? They are not afraid to call for a Moral Reformation.
They see that protecting life in the womb, honouring God’s design for family, and defending the vulnerable are not fringe concerns, they are at the heart of loving our neighbour and honouring our Creator.
The Church has not failed because Christ has failed; He never will. But we have, at times, lost our prophetic voice. We’ve traded courage for comfort. We’ve chosen acceptance over righteousness. And now, as in the days of Jeremiah, we must recognise that God is calling us not just to worship in the temple, but to weep over the state of our land.
This is a call to awaken, not to despair, but to rise with conviction, repentance, and purpose. Jesus Christ, the Lion and the Lamb, is not a muted saviour. He reigns in righteousness. And He calls us to proclaim His truth without compromise.
To those who caution against being “too political,” we say this: Jesus is Lord of all, including the political. He shapes nations and defines eternity. And His truth must be spoken in every sphere, no matter the cost.
The ground is indeed shaking but King Jesus is our Rock.
Now is the time to lift our heads. Now is the time to open our mouths. Now is the time to be brave.
Church: Awake. Arise. The hour is late. But our God is never late.
Andrea Williams is chief executive of Christian Concern and the Christian Legal Centre.
