How do we lead our churches through a time of uncertainty? What do votes for abortion and assisted suicide tell us about society? How can festivals remind us of the glorious normal?

In this episode of In:Dependence, Phil Topham (FIEC Executive Director), Adrian Reynolds (FIEC Associate National Director), and John Stevens (FIEC National Director), discuss stories from the news over the past weeks and what we can learn from them about church leadership.

You can get the show notes and more resources for church leaders on the FIEC website: https://fiec.org.uk/resources/rumours-of-war-abortion-assisted-suicide-festival-season.

Show notes

• FIEC Leaders' Conference 2025 (fiec.org.uk)
• Trump takes huge gamble putting US at heart of Iran-Israel conflict (bbc.co.uk)
• MPs vote to decriminalise abortion for women in England and Wales (bbc.co.uk)
• MPs back assisted dying bill in historic Commons vote (bbc.co.uk)
• I Prayed and Nothing Changed, Ste Casey
• Organisations to help think through responses:
• Starmer climbs down on disability benefits cuts after rebellion by Labour MPs (bbc.co.uk)

About In:Dependence: In:Dependence is FIEC’s official podcast, where you’ll hear conversations on topics for church leaders.

About FIEC: We are ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠a fellowship of Independent churches⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ with members of the family across England, Scotland and Wales. Our mission is to see those Independent churches working together with a big vision: to reach Britain for Christ.

00:00 - Evangelical Ministry Assembly (EMA) review

04:33 - Leading through war and rumours of war

11:33 - Abortion and assisted suicide votes

14:46 - Unanswered prayer

18:31 - Keir Starmer's u-turn and church u-turns

27:00 - Festival season and the glorious normal