December 01, 2011 
admin 
Thank you all so much for your prayers for my trip last week to the Value(s) of Europe Conference in Holland. The conference was even more high-brow than I expected. Most attendees had a doctorate and quite a few were professors of Sociology. Nevertheless my paper was generally well received and the criticism was constructive. Most interestingly, immediately after my presentation there was a plenary session where one of the main experts on secularization in Europe was giving his take on the latest data, and he also noted that the trends were not following the pattern he had expected.
Outside of the sessions I had lots of great conversations with conference attendees including a Jewish professor of Sociology from Jerusalem and others from Ireland to Spain, from Denmark to Macedonia. All were intrigued that a Christian missiologist should be making use of the European Values Study and this generated opportunities not only to talk about our research but also to preach the gospel! We now need to do a little more work on the data and think about how we might publish our findings more widely. On the final day of the conference the organizers presented the Atlas of European Values, a glossy book which sets out the principal results in graphs and maps for a popular readership. They also launched a brand new website which gives interactive maps of Europe with all the questions from the survey. It is very well done and is really interesting. Just go here www.atlasofeuropeanvalues.eu
Two weeks ago I was interviewed by Premier Christian Radio and this went out in The Leadership File programme on Sunday 20th November. If we had known about it beforehand we would have encouraged you to listen to it live but you can get the podcast of the interview here http://www.premierradio.org.uk/shows/sunday/theleadershipfile The interview was around our experience of mission in Europe and was also to encourage leaders to come along to the European Consultation at Redcliffe College in the new year.
The house has been full of young people over the last couple of weeks as we have had various parties to celebrate Alex’s 16th and Rosie’s 14th birthdays. They both had a great time and we are thankful to God for their friends and for the confidence they have to stand up for what they believe in. Pray for Gracie over the next few days as she takes part in Sheffield Uni Performing Arts Society’s production of Guys and Dolls…..as Captain Cartwright.
Jim and Christine
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