Affinity describes itself as "a growing network of many hundreds of Bible-centred churches and Christian agencies throughout Britain and Ireland". It was founded in 1953 as the British Evangelical Council and in 1981 numbered over 2,000 churches. The organization stagnated in the 1980s following the death of Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Martyn Lloyd-Jones

David Martyn Lloyd-Jones was a Welsh Protestant minister, preacher and medical doctor who was influential in the Reformed wing of the British evangelical movement in the 20th century. For almost 30 years, he was the minister of Westminster Chapel in London...

. The rebranding

Rebranding

Rebranding is the creation of a new name, term, symbol, design, or a combination of them for an established brand with the intention of developing a differentiated position in the mind of stakeholders and competitors....

 and relaunch happened in 2004. Affinity provides networking and support to conservative evangelical

Evangelicalism

Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...

 churches in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 and Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

. There are currently about 1300 church congregations linked to Affinity. The organisation's subtitle is "Church-centred Partnership for Bible-centred Christianity".

The British Evangelical Council emerged, in reaction to the 1967 Keele University

Keele University

Keele University is a campus university near Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, England. Founded in 1949 as an experimental college dedicated to a broad curriculum and interdisciplinary study, Keele is most notable for pioneering the dual honours degree in Britain...

 conference, "to draw in churches predicted on Scriptural ecumenicity." It was opposed to the World Council of Churches

World Council of Churches

The World Council of Churches is a worldwide fellowship of 349 global, regional and sub-regional, national and local churches seeking unity, a common witness and Christian service. It is a Christian ecumenical organization that is based in the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland...

.

Many churches linked with Affinity would consider "Bible-centred Christianity" to be reformed, Calvinist, and non-charismatic, although some in the affiliation would disagree. Thus, many member churches are defined by a rigorous theology, adopting a separatist outlook. They regard churches with differing viewpoints as being in error and refuse to associate with them. For this reason they rarely join the Evangelical Alliance

Evangelical Alliance

The Evangelical Alliance is a London-based charitable organization founded in 1846. It has a claimed representation of over 1,000,000 evangelical Christians in the United Kingdom and is the oldest alliance of evangelical Christians in the world....

, a similar but larger organisation with a broader membership.

Groups of churches linked to Affinity include the Apostolic Church, the Association of Grace Baptist Churches

Association of Grace Baptist Churches

The Association of Grace Baptist Churches is any one of three regional church associations in England in cooperation with one another and with the Grace Baptist Assembly.*Association of Grace Baptist Churches - founded 1969...

, the Evangelical Movement of Wales

Evangelical Movement of Wales

The Evangelical Movement of Wales was born in the 1940s, it came to light as a counter move by reformed Christians to the liberal theology which was gaining influence in to the Protestant denominations of Wales during the 20th century....

, the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches

Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches

The Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches is a network of over 500 independent, evangelical churches mainly in the United Kingdom that preach an evangelical faith...

, the Free Church of Scotland

Free Church of Scotland (post 1900)

Free Church of Scotland is that part of the original Free Church of Scotland that remained outside of the union with the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland in 1900...

, the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing)

Free Church of Scotland (Continuing)

The Free Church of Scotland is a Scottish Presbyterian denomination which was formed in January 2000...

, the Evangelical Fellowship of Congregational Churches

Evangelical Fellowship of Congregational Churches

The Evangelical Fellowship of Congregational Churches is an association of around 125 independent local churches in the UK, each practising congregationalist church governance...

, the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in England and Wales

Evangelical Presbyterian Church in England and Wales

The Evangelical Presbyterian Church in England and Wales is a reformed and conservative evangelical denomination in England and Wales....

 and Ireland and the Evangelical Connexion of the Free Church of England

Evangelical Connexion of the Free Church of England

The Evangelical Connexion of the Free Church of England came into being in 2003. Its first bishops — Bishops Barry Shucksmith and Arthur Bentley-Taylor— had been outspoken in their criticisms of the direction that the FCE was taking regarding ecumenism in particular, and were removed from the body...

.

As of 2008, the director of Affinity was Jonathan Stephen.