Danny Webster
Danny joined the Evangelical Alliance in 2008 and has held a range of roles in the advocacy team. He currently leads the advocacy team's work across the UK including public policy work an engagement with the parliaments and assemblies, and respective governments. Before working for the Evangelical Alliance, Danny, who has degrees in politics and political philosophy, worked in parliament for an MP. Danny is passionate about encouraging Christians to integrate their faith with all areas of their life, especially when it comes to helping them take on leadership outside the church, and helped initiate the Evangelical Alliance's Public Leadership programme. He frequently provides comment on current political issues, both in Evangelical Alliance publications and to the press.
Silence, grief and the everlasting hope
8 April 2020In the UK we are fortunate that, so far, we have been spared the scenes of hospitals overflowing with patients fighting for their lives as seen in Italy, Spain and New York. The talk of parks being dug up as temporary resting places for the deceased the system cannot cope with shocks us into realising that this isn’t a normal illness. It reminds us that being able to walk – socially distanced – in parks is a luxury. Maybe the first phase of this lockdown has been a respite from the hectic…
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Connecting churches with the most vulnerable
2 April 2020These are troubling times: it is a time of shock and it is a time of lament, and we know there are hard days ahead. But it is also a time for us to reach out – however we safely can – to help those in greatest need. The restrictions we are living under does not remove our obligation to care for those around us. The shutdown ordered by the Government means that people should not leave their houses without – in the words of emergency legislation passed before the Houses of Parliament– a…
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Government powers for coronavirus must be proportionate
23 March 2020We at the Evangelical Alliance recognise the incredible times that we are living in and the need for emergency legislation both to equip public services in their response and to keep the population safe. The legislation being considered by Parliament this week is broad in scope and contains provisions which would be unthinkable in normal circumstances. The planned law makes provision for the Government to take action in different areas should the need arise. This is why it is a complex and…
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Heroes and hoarders
19 March 2020The country may not literally be on fire, but it's the imagery of the person running into the flames rather than away from the risk that we are buoyed by, that we admire, that is lauded so strongly on social media and the news. One of the challenges of this specific crisis is how inactive and intangible our help and selflessness must be. We can't lean in, lend a hand and be present in the ways we would normally try to. Distance is a form of kindness and yet feels very unnatural. We have huge…
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Coronavirus: a Christ-centred response
5 March 2020Across the UK 85 cases had been confirmed as of Wednesday, 4 March. This is a relatively small number compared to the 80,000 so far confirmed in China and the further 10,000 in other countries around the world. It will probably never be known how accurate these figures are, with the BBC reporting that infectious disease specialists suspect that as many as two thirds of cases in China have not been detected and recorded. In Italy more than 2,000 people have tested positive, with more than 70…
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New decade, renewed conviction
2 January 2020Radio call ins reflected on all that had happened and all that had changed. You may have seen the clip from Tomorrow’s World in 1989 speculating on what the home of 2020 would be like. Some aspects were remarkably prescient, the suggestion that you would be able to walk into a room and say what music you wanted, and it would play, others less so – the idea that electricity would be in the walls of buildings and sockets would be obsolete doesn’t look like coming to fruition anytime soon.…
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Book review: Reappearing Church
2 January 2020A church leader from Melbourne in Australia, he has wrestled for many years through finding ways for the church to thrive in the post-Christian culture endemic in the places he lives, works and travels. From pioneering formats of church to reach those disillusioned with traditional church to realising the paucity of deconstructing faith with nothing left in its wake, his latest book offers a manifesto for hope and renewal in this cultural moment. Perhaps best known for the podcast This Cultural…
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Labour, Rabbi Mirvis and fearlessly speaking out
28 November 2019For many watching the interview, having heard the critique of anti-Semitism by a wide range of Jewish groups, it might be hard to understand why Mr Corbyn did not apologise. Instead, he insisted on his own virtue in standing against racism and his willingness to talk to Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis to discuss his concerns. Sorry is often a very hard word for politicians to speak. It means admitting fault and accepting the need to change course. It is why the challenge of repentance at the heart of…
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For the politically homeless this election time
22 November 2019This upheavel is both the result of political realignment, but also the fuel for further realignment. This has been witnessed in parliament as MPs have left their parties, often sparked by concerns over leadership or policies on Brexit, and it has been seen in elections as new parties have burst onto the scene. The sight of neither the Conservatives nor Labour coming first or second in the 2019 European Parliament elections was a clear indication of our current political moment. Recent polling…
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Our ever-present hope
1 November 2019In challenging and uncomfortable times, this should bring comfort because we know that God is not fazed by the circumstances we are facing. We can look to history and remember that the church has navigated far more turbulent times in past. We can look to the church across the world which experiences persecution for their faith. In the three years since the vote in June 2016 to leave the European Union, politics has been dominated by attempts to achieve this and efforts to frustrate it.The…
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Faith, hope and love at the coming General Election
30 October 2019For those of you suffering from whiplash regarding all things Brexit and Westminster, here is a brief reminder of how we got here. Following the government’s revised agreement with the EU, Prime Minister Boris Johnson failed to get agreement for his expedited timetable for passage of the bill. This was despite agreement for the bill to receive detailed scrutiny by Parliament. Parliament previously refused to give backing for the Brexit agreement in a meaningful vote, so Johnson was obliged to…
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