wfn.org | Evangelical Alliance Responds To Millenium Dome Criticism

[George Conklin <gconklin@igc.apc.org>]

For Immediate Release:     1st March 1998

The general director of the Evangelical Alliance, speaking
on BBC Radio Four's Sunday programme this morning, said that
the Christian input into the Millenium celebrations extend
further than the contents of the Millenium Dome, but he
insisted that the emphasis in the Spirit Zone must be
clearly Christian in outlook.

Rev Joel Edwards, a member of the Lambeth Group, said:  "One
has to admit, whether we like it or not, that the Millenium
Dome is largely a secular commercial enterprise backed very
heavily by the government.

"We must not forget that the Millenium Dome, although it
will synthesize much of what is happening around the
millenium, is not the sum total of all that churches and
faith groups will do in response to the Millenium.

"The absence of a cross is not in itself the greatest
concern to those of us around the table at the Lambeth
Group.  We are very clearly concerned that very clear
Christian values become evident as a part of the whole
experience.

"What we have discovered over the last 18 months is a very
cordial but very clear commitment, not for a mushy
indistinct porridge experience of faith, but distinct
expressions of the different groups which are around the
table, all recognising that this is ultimately a Christian
event which needs to be reflected in ways which makes that
very clear."

The Evangelical Alliance is an umbrella body covering over
one million Christians in around 30 denominations.  Last
year it established Anno Domini as a co-ordinating group for
Evangelical Millenium projects.

ENDS

For Further Information, contact Gavin Drake:
mailto:gdrake@eauk.org

Evangelical Alliance UK
Whitefield House,
186 Kennington Park Road,
London, SE11  4BT
0171-207 2100