Last Updated: May 2024
Established in 2002, British Church Newspaper (BCN) is a 16-page, fortnightly newspaper that stands foursquare behind all that God says in His holy Word to mankind, the Bible. Our aim is to provide relevant news for Christians in the UK, together with features and devotional articles that will inform, encourage and inspire our readers. We are an ‘aware’ newspaper, that is, we are aware that our very powerful media do not always tell the truth and that they hide many things that should be brought to light. One of the commonest reasons our readers subscribe to us every year is because they tell us that we report “news you don’t find elsewhere”.
What are the aims of BCN?
Our founders wanted a newspaper that stood boldly against the very concerning trends in the Christian Church at that time: compromise, liberalism, political correctness, ecumenism with Roman Catholic churches, acceptance of the theory of evolution, interfaithism, and the growth of ever more extreme charismatic churches.
Our paper is enjoyed by readers who endorse our stand against these trends. We want to bring them news about the church and in the wider world. We wish to uplift our readers' hearts to our Lord Jesus Christ, so we provide solid devotional articles, news of outreach, evangelism, and conversion to Christ, both here and abroad, discussions on doctrine and Christian living, and features on a variety of topics of general interest. We also make sure, for any unsaved readers who come across our paper, that the Gospel is in every issue.
Why, and by whom, was BCN founded?
BCN was founded by a group of Bible Christians who felt that there was no regular newspaper in the UK which stood by the doctrines and principles of holy living that, under God, were recovered for us by the Reformers and Puritans in the sixteenth century. Men like John Wycliffe and William Tyndale brought us the Bible in the English language, and true religion was recovered. Britain was formally declared a Protestant nation in 1688. Around the same time Reformers wrote ‘confessions of faith’, notably the Westminster, Savoy and Baptist Confessions of Faith. We stand by them.
BCN’s founders were:
- Rev Brian Green, Minister of Calvary Free Grace Baptist Church (who passed to glory in 2017)
- Dr Napier Malcolm, BCN’s first editor
- Ian Henderson, Chairman of Christian Watch
- Rev Ian Paisley (who passed to glory in 2014)
- Rev Gordon Ferguson, Minister of South Grove Free Presbyterian Church, and
- Rev Mark Biddle, current Minister of Calvary Free Grace Baptist Church.
Who runs BCN?
BCN is run by a registered company, Timely Publications Ltd. Its current Directors are:
- Rev Stephen Holland, Chairman, a Wickliffe Preacher for the Protestant Truth Society
- Pastor Ian Thompson, Secretary, Pastor of Bootle Protestant Free Church
- Mr Michael Virgo, Treasurer, a Christian from Sheffield who runs the "Truth and Love" blog
- Mr Tony Bennett, Editor.
Tony wrote for BCN for many years before being appointed Editor in March 2022, when Dr Napier Malcolm resigned.
Our Office Manager is Mrs Jackie Edwards.
Tell us about some of your regular contributors
Michael Moore, former Director of Christian Witness to Israel, writes a full page each issue on Israel and the Jewish world
Rev Peter McIntrye, Minister at Clogher Valley Free Presbyterian Church, Northern Ireland, is currently writing a series for BCN on British Christian history, titled ‘The Sword and the Crown’
Peter Murcott, a former Headteacher and now Methodist lay preacher and P.D. Gray, a secondary school Head of English both contribute with devotionals, opinion pieces and book reviews
Dr Alan Clifford, former Minister of Norwich Reformed Church
Recent feature contributors have been Adrian Freer on ‘The practice of Baptism’, Laurence A. Croft on ‘God’s creative genius in the life of the honey bee’, Michael Young (Fuel Technology Engineer) on ‘Going Green is Inviting Economic Ruin’, Eric Browning on ‘Distributing the New Testament in Hebrew’ and Rev Ian McNaughton on ‘Why ‘Conversion Therapy’ is the wrong term to use’.
What can I expect to find in a typical issue?
- Seven pages of topical news, usually including a page of world news and reports of the activities of Christian churches and organisations
- Two pages of feature items
- A lively letters page, often two pages
- Mike Moore’s regular column on Israel
- Up to half a page of N. Ireland news
- A page of book reviews
- An editorial page with ‘Food for Thought’ and ‘In Our Opinion’
- A Scripture devotional/teaching item of at least half a page
- An item on scientific support for a Biblical young universe understanding appears regularly
- We also have a ‘Classified’ page which includes a list of churches with details of their weekly meetings
- We have a FREE listing of forthcoming events on our back page every issue.
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