Both the world and the world Christian movement stands "at a crossroads" on issues of global change, says the World Council of Churches' moderator at the WCC's central committee.

A British missionary couple sentenced to one year's hard labour for writing emails which were interpreted as criticising the Gambian government are hoping for a pardon after a public apology.

Some sections of the Anglican Communion are convinced that only their narrow vision of what is permissible in faithfulness to the Christian message is adequate, says Simon Barrow. But they are confounded by the biblical texts they claim loyalty to.

Britain's Methodists, who have suffered a decline in membership in recent years, along with other historic UK Christian denominations, will invest more in pioneer congregations under the 'Fresh Expressions' programme, the October Methodist council agreed.

Contrary to the popular media image, many evangelicals are not anti-gay, says a UK campaigning network which draws hundreds of evangelical Christians and their friends together. This week they are backing the launch of a church education initiative on Jesus and prejudice.

In a move which could signal a longer-term shift in its ministry, the role of deacons as missionaries to their local communities should be taken more seriously, argues a report from the Church of England’s Faith and Order Advisory Group published last week.

An leading Indian church worker, who recently returned from a visit to Afghanistan, says that the expatriate Christian community there need to present a "more inclusive Jesus" in the war-ravaged nation.

The National Council of Churches in Korea has said that all "missionary activity in Afghanistan, where abductions and dangers to life continue, must be stopped," says the Japanese online edition of JoongAng Daily.

The general secretary of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches has renewed calls for greater efforts at achieving equality and justice in global Christian mission relations, continuing a long-standing debate.

The official ecumenical body Action of Churches Together in Scotland is holding a national service this weekend at the David Livingstone Centre in Blantyre, to commemorate the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act 1807.