| Dear Supporters, Wishing you joy and peace this Christmas and a happy and blessed New Year! Thank you so much for all of your support, without which we would not be able to fulfil our calling.
We thank God for the honour of serving Him in 2010 and as Christmas approaches we thought it fitting to reflect back on some of the things that, with your help, have been achieved this year. We cannot list everything but please see below for a selection of our 2010 highlights. 2010 12 January: Fought for favourable planning permissions for churches We supported the collection of 15,000 signatures delivered to the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, asking him to help churches gain appropriate planning permissions. We campaigned on this issue throughout the year and look forward, in hope, to more favourable planning guidelines being produced next year. 13 January: Obtained victory for London church in noise battle We helped the 600 member ‘All Nations Centre’ in Kennington win its legal battle against Lambeth Borough Council after the church was served with a noise abatement notice preventing the Church from amplifying their music or sermons to the congregation on threat of prosecution. 19 January: Fought for vital amendments which were included in Equality Act We released a video encouraging Christians to stand up against parts of the Act that would make the law more restrictive for Christian organisations. Supporters were encouraged to sign a petition and ask Peers to support amendments to the Bill. The amendments passed, and vital church freedoms were protected.  1 February: Obtained victory for supply teacher sacked for offering prayer We represented Olive Jones, a Christian teacher from Weston-super-Mare, who had been dismissed for sharing her faith with a pupil. With our help she was offered reinstatement but had already taken another job. 3 February: Successful campaign to prevent state intrusion over sex and home education We launched a campaign to amend the Government’s Children, Schools and Families Bill which was due to make sex and relationships education compulsory for children in England and Wales. It would have also introduced affirmative teaching on civil partnerships and new licensing systems for parents who home school their children. The Bill was dropped prior to the General Election in May.  5 February: Campaigned against BBC bias on assisted suicide
We campaigned against bias in the BBC coverage of assisted suicide issues in the run up to the publication of the Director of Public Prosecution’s guidelines on assisted suicide. We encouraged our supporters to complain to the BBC, write to the Director of Public Prosecutions and ask their MP to sign an Early Day Motion condemning the BBC’s bias. 8 February: Obtained victory for Immanuel International Christian Ministries We fought a noise abatement notice that had been served against Immanuel International Christian Ministries by Waltham Forest Borough Council, which ordered them to worship ‘more quietly’ or be prosecuted. On appeal the Church was successful in amending the notice.  11 March: Launched the successful ‘Christians and Candidates’ campaign In association with Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali, we launched a series of hustings events running up to the General Election to help Christians engage in the political process. Events were subsequently held across the nation, along with regular emails, videos and an online database to help Christians use their vote effectively. There was a big media response to this campaign.  Supported the Westminster Declaration
We supported the Westminster Declaration initiative, which amassed 67,000 signatories. The declaration called on UK leaders to pledge to respect, uphold and protect the right of Christians to hold their beliefs and to act according to Christian conscience. This was an effective campaign used to understand where prospective parliamentary candidates stood on critical issues affecting Christian Truth and freedoms. 20 March: Held the first ‘Awake, Arise O Church!’ conference – More to come in 2011 We organised a conference for Church leaders, and members, encouraging them to speak up for Jesus in their communities. Speakers included Baroness Cox, Paul Diamond and Andrea Williams.  21-26 March: Launched the Wilberforce Academy – Another to be held in 2011 In association with the Alliance Defense Fund, we held the inaugural Wilberforce Academy, a residential week long course in Oxford for young professionals and students, teaching them how to effectively engage in the public sphere for Christ. 70 delegates attended the week which featured high quality lectures, sung worship, devotions and more. April: Fought for Gary McFarlane. Lord Carey intervened We represented Gary McFarlane, a marriage counsellor who was sacked for refusing to give sex therapy to homosexuals. The Court did not uphold the appeal against his sacking but Lord Carey held the judiciary to account, questioning their understanding of Christian belief and practice. The case is headed for Europe.  6 April: Fought for a Christian nurse prevented from wearing her cross We represented Nurse Chaplin, who was told to remove the Cross around her neck, (which she had worn every day during her nursing career without incident), for ‘health and safety’ reasons. She vowed to “fight on” after an Employment Tribunal found against her claim for discrimination on the grounds of her religion. We are taking her case to Europe. 14 May: Involved in thwarting an attempt to legalise assisted suicide in Scotland We submitted written evidence to the Scottish Parliament’s Committee on the End of Life Assistance (Scotland) Bill 2010. The Bill was rejected in December.  24 May: Campaigned against abortion television adverts
We campaigned against the first ever TV advertisement for abortion in the UK, by Marie Stopes, a leading abortion provider, which misled the public as to the nature of their services. We will continue to resist the promotion of abortion. 9 June: Engaged with the Coalition’s ‘Programme for Government’ We encouraged supporters to comment on the Coalition’s Programme for Government, providing an extensive guide on how to respond.  21 October: Re-branded and launched a new website
We rebranded the organisation from ‘Christian Concern for our Nation’ to ‘Christian Concern’, with a new logo and an updated, newly designed website and e-mail service designed to showcase our news stories, resources and cutting edge campaigns.  27 October: Launched the ‘Choose Life’ campaign
On the 43rd anniversary of the passing of the Abortion Act we launched the Choose Life campaign, with a vigil outside Parliament and a series of events designed to mark the occasion and highlight the ongoing scale and consequence of abortion. The campaign helped lead to a constructive adjournment debate in Parliament on ‘Informed Consent’. A life was saved when a pregnant woman at one of our talks told us that she had decided not to abort her baby following the presentation.  1 December: Launched the ‘Not Ashamed’ campaign
We launched ‘Not Ashamed’, a major new campaign to encourage Christians across the UK to take a public stand for Jesus. Christians across the country wore the Not Ashamed logo as a sign that they were not ashamed to say that Jesus Christ is good news for society. Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, backed the campaign, producing a short leaflet designed to be given to as many people as possible at Christmas proclaiming the Godd News of Christ Jesus. Widespread print, radio and TV coverage resulted, along with many opportunities for Christians to share the good news of Jesus Christ. The Sun featured a double page evangelistic article by Lord Carey! This is just a small sample of some of the things that, together with your support, we achieved last year. For all of this work we give thanks to the Lord. We also thank all of our supporters for your prayer and encouragement and giving. We are looking forward to everything that God has for us in 2011 and we hope to win many victories to help turn the tide in our nation. Please continue to stand with us as we proclaim Jesus as the hope not just for individuals, but for communities and for our beloved nation. Have a very Happy Christmas. Yours, 
Andrea Minichiello Williams CEO Christian Concern Christian Legal Centre | 
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