LO, I STAND AT THE DOOR - BUT DON'T KNOCK

Well, happy birthday Gordon Brown. One year in Downing Street, but not very much to celebrate at the moment, it seems. I admit that I had greater hopes for the new PM after the stains of the Blair years. The hammering he is getting at the moment seems excessive, and though I'm not keen on the political project to which he is conjoined, he is a decent man. But I suspect Jonathan Freedland is right. A number of us mistook his tactical acumen for strategic capability. Now, I suggested recently, his challenge is to find ways of moving towards the confidence building 'yes' that Prime Ministers' need to generate (otherwise known as political purpose and energy), in the same way that he was successful by dint of his capacity to say 'no' as Chancellor. Meanwhile, the poll shocks continue.

So who will be next through the door at No 10? Neither of the dodgy characters in this photo, for sure. The one on the right looks especially suspect. The one on the left is my good friend Andrew Bradstock, of CSM. As a likely parliamentary candidate, he stands more chance than me, of course. He's even generously willing to consort with me despite the fact that I left CSM twenty years ago when it affiliated to the Labour Party. The occasion of this particular photo op was a recent reception for faith groups. But since I was Andrew's best man a few years back, we regard it as a happy 'reunion' snap.

One of the questions people asked me (and each other) during the course of the reception was "have you been to 10 Downing Street before?" The answer for me is yes, on two occasions. Though not quite as some might have anticipated. The first was when I joined an anti-nuclear weapons sit-down with a wonderful group of nuns, organised by a former Christian CND coordinator, the equally wonderful Barbara Eggleston. A rather officious police officer marched up and demanded, "who's in charge around here?" Without missing a beat, Barbara looked up and replied sweetly, "The Holy Spirit", dumbfounding him completely! Goodness, I miss her. The second occasion was when I was arrested during another sit down (no 'standing on ceremony' for me), following the bombing of Libya in 1986.

So this, as far as I can recall, is the first time I have actually been to the PM's residence on what might be called diplomatic duty.

DRAWING A CLEAR LINE

Mark Russell, who heads up a prominent evangelical Anglican mission agency, is to be thoroughly commended for his forthright condemnation of violence against gay people, and his willingness to take a stand on the recent goings on at the GAFCON conference.

ANGLICAN ANGLES AND ARCHES

Lately, I've spent a fair bit of time talking to journalists, including one from the international edition of Newsweek yesterday, about the latest fissures in Anglicanism and the GAFCON conference. Even though I'm a member of the Church of England (St Stephen's in Exeter is a very special place), once worked as an education/training adviser for a major diocese, and have just edited a book on 'Anglican wars' and beyond, I do find all this stuff, like Jane Stranz, a little tedious -- and, as Steve Fouche says, painful. The "will they, won't they split" stuff has been around for ages. The capacity of Anglicanism to produce formulae to keep people who don't talk or share communion arguing about each others' status is very deep indeed. What it all amounts to, one seriously wonders.

The really fascinating question is why a relatively small religious group, in global terms, can get everybody (well, a lot of people who should know better) so worked up, and what that truly signifies. The end of a certain kind of era, I think. About which, more in a while. Suffice it to say, though, that while Fear or Freedom? is aimed partly at the Lambeth Conference and what's going on within the Anglican world, it has a much broader and longer concern with Christianity and its provenance in a changing international order. For those who do want to follow what's happening on Planet Anglicana, however, I thoroughly recommend Thinking Anglicans (they do as it says on the can) and Episcopal Cafe (who curate a range of resources of really worthwhile scope and depth). Now, I'm off for a refreshing cuppa. It's far too early for a gin. [Image (c) R. Wilson and courtesy Episcopal cafe]

DEFINING DIFFERENTLY

"Rats and roaches live by competition under the laws of supply and demand; it is the privilege of human beings to live under the laws of justice and mercy." - Wendell Berry

"He drew a circle that shut me out
Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout
But love and I had the wit to win;
We drew a circle that took him in." - Edwin Markham

WHERE THE PM WANTS TO FIND FAITH

Gordon Brown’s search for purpose Ekklesia | Column | 24.06.08 |

Gordon Brown's recent poll humiliations have left him seeking to rebuild support, says Simon Barrow. The 'faith constituency' is one that he has a particular interest in. And though not unproblematic, it won't go away - no matter how much the liberal sceptics sneer.

A CONNECTED AWAKENING

"It is useless to dream of reforming the socioeconomic structure...as long as there is not a correspondingly deep change in our inner selves." - Dom Helder Camara

The late Archbishop of Recife in Brazil also famously said: "When I feed the poor, they call me a saint. Why I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist" - and he pointed out that personal piety without social change is equally useless.

Holding these two insights together seems to me very important. When I started to engage in politics as a Christian in the UK in the late 1970s, it was hard to persuade some (especially in the evangelical sector) to get out of the pew and into society at large, or to recognise that reforming individuals could still leave the wider social structure damagingly unaltered. These days, such Christians can often be seen zealously trying to change the social order while themselves behaving in the same old power-grabbing way that characterises "the political game" as a whole.

Likewise, in the '70s and beyond, there were some "social justice Christians" who eventually found themselves spiritually dried-out: partly because they implicitly kept hoping that altered structures would make people behave differently without the need to change hearts and minds. What we have come to discover, I think, is that the process of transformation is always about connecting the structural and the interpersonal, the spiritual and the political, the macro and the micro, in positive, life generating ways. This is the connectivity that "church" ought to be about.

[Picture: the cover of Camara's marvellous book, The Conversions of a Bishop, which documented his own transformation by those he sought to work with.]

MISSING THE GLOBAL POINT

Ekklesia Press Release, 23.06.08: Anglican wrangling about sexuality and authority in the church is missing the big picture about how the relationship between religion and society is changing, says a new book from the think tank Ekklesia to be published next week.

Christians need to be beacons of hope, not signs of decay, it argues, suggesting that the 'conservative versus liberal' stereotype disguises a deeper tension between establishment religion and the Christian message of radical transformation.

With a preface by Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, who declares, "in God's family, there are no outsiders, no enemies", Fear or Freedom? Why a warring church must change, is edited by Ekklesia co- director Simon Barrow.

The book contains essays by clergy, a peace activist, an equalities adviser and two New Testament professors. It is aimed at substantially challenging the argument that will take place at the Lambeth Conference of Anglican bishops in July. Continued here.

NEXT YEAR IN JERUSALEM?

As a group of leading Anglicans gather in Jerusalem to debate their quarrels with another leading Anglicans, the world looks on with a combination of mild amazement and disinterest, one imagines. The whole thing is deeply bizarre, unless you inhabit a particular strange corner of the universe. Anyway, Anthony Barnett kindly prompted me about this earlier today on behalf of openDemocracy's 'Our Kingdom' project, and the result is When Jerusalem turns to Little England, bringing William Blake into the picture. It will be the first of a number of pieces connected with the new book I've edited, Fear or Freedom? Just to warn you! [Picture (c) the Blake archive]

VOICES FROM THE MARGINS

Among the major aims of Refugee Week (16-23 June 2008) in the UK is to give a human face to the often misinformed and tendentious public debate about asylum and refugees, to counter propaganda put out by the British tabloids and their allies, to hear voices from the margins, to reframe our policy thinking, and to highlight the superb work done by a number of voluntary agencies in assisting people whose often desperate plight does not stop where borders begin. Incidentally, I see that a new sanctuary blog has been created in the US. Last year, CTBI, the ecumenical body, drew up a set of important principles and guidelines for churches working with migrants. There's also a powerful piece by Mark Haddon on The hell of being an asylum seeker.

FREEDOM, PEACE AND MORE

A bit of a book update... the orders are already coming in for the new book I've edited, Fear or Freedom? Why a warring church must change. The publication date for that is 30 June. So if you have put in an order you can expect delivery then or shortly after. Given Ekklesia's new publishing arrangement with Shoving Leopard in Edinburgh, my other book, Threatened with Resurrection: The difficult peace of Christ (pictured - now due 31 October 2008) is being switched to this imprint from Darton, Longman & Todd and has a new ISBN. There are also other publishing projects in the offing, including one on church and welfare. Looks exciting.

WHAT IS THE CHURCH FOR?

As many of the inherited institutions of Christianity struggle or crumble, the temptation to take on a new role as a kind of ancillary social service agency to society at large is huge. I wouldn't wish to condemn the pastoral activities such agency might involve -- far from it. But if a social concordat between church and government starts to reinvent the old, tame 'civic religion' in a different guise, then the church's "social curia" (as Ken Leech once described its army of advisers and practitioners) is in danger of becoming less and less about deep personal and corporate transformation, and ever more in danger of losing sight of the core message of the Gospel. Some of the church's most politically engaged thinkers, including Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Simone Weil, have been among those to realise this acutely, not least in moments of crisis when something more substantial than "caring" or a social compact is needed: resistance, in fact. These are some of the concerns which, combined with the lectionary readings for the Fifth Sunday after Pentecost, produced my reflections on A real agent of transformation (Ekklesia, 20.06.08).

ROAD TO DAMASCUS

One would expect the courageous and inquisitive decision of experienced Christian journalist Huw Spanner (pictured) to go to the Middle East to interview a senior Hamas figure, not something that happens every day (to put it mildly), to elicit real interest -- beyond the "don't talk to terrorists" brigade, that is. People who have genuine enough concerns but not, I judge, hope and history on their side. However, Huw tells me that since he has returned he is "shocked" at the general apathy towards the obvious questions about what Damascus, Syria, Hamas and Khalid Mish'al, widely regarded as the most senior figure in the movement, are all like. Americans are often accused of parochialism when it comes to assigning global understanding on their list of priorities, but it is a problem that reaches deep into Europe, too. We assume more than we learn. The longer-length interview (with the aforementioned Third Way) is here. Huw asks some penetrating questions and cannot be accused of giving his interlocutor an easy time. The main purpose of the 'high profile' interview slot, by the way, is to probe behind the influences and background of its subject, rather than to "do a Paxman". This one provides some fascinating material as well as some possible skirting round the edges.

NOT JUST MONKEYING AROUND

Long-time friend of the London Mennonite Centre Dave Nussbaum (I'm on the LMC Council) has been moving up in the NGO world for some time. Finance director of Oxfam for a number of years, he moved on to head up Transparency International and is now director of the World Wildlife Fund UK. Environmental concern has put a new twist on animal welfare, pushing it into the species protection arena. You can even adopt a monkey now: Less than 63,000 orangutans are estimated to survive in the wild today. Orangutans are now found only on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. Habitat destruction and fragmentation - caused by commercial logging and clearance for oil palm plantations and agriculture - are by far the greatest threats that these creatures face.

WESTMINSTER WATCH

.... is the name of the column I've been doing for the monthly Third Way magazine ("Christian comment on culture') for a little over a year now. I've tended to amplify these, often incorporating some element of theological reflection, for Ekklesia -- as part of my regular op ed pieces there. But now, I'm pleased to say, the revamped and upgraded Third Way, published since 1977 and inspired by a quotation from cultural critic and theologian Os Guinness (rather than any affiliation with the Blairite term coined by Anthony Giddens and others associate with the London School of Economics) has a new website. My July 2008 column, Is it me, or has everyone gone ‘leadership potty’ lately? is now online. The Ekklesia version (pretty much unchanged in this particular instance) is here. This issue of TW will also be going out free to all Church Times subscribers next weekend, I gather. Should get it some attention.

SEEKING A BETTER WAY

The new book I have edited and contributed a number of chapters to, Fear or freedom? Why a warring church must change, will be published later next week and is available for order from our Metanoia/Ekklesia online bookshop now. In due course it will be available via Amazon world-wide, but only in a limited number of bookstores.

"With a short preface from Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, Fear or Freedom? takes a constructively critical look at the significance of ‘Anglican wars’ over sexuality, scripture and authority in the run up to (and well beyond) the much publicised 2008 Lambeth Conference, signalling some important fault lines in post-Christendom life and faith.

"Drawing on material from the religion and society think-tank Ekklesia, the book asks why many historic churches are in a mess and how they can change. Its message is positive. The churches can - and must - abandon their obsession with top-down control, and rediscover the Gospel as a subversive source of hope in society at large.

Contributors: Simon Barrow and Jonathan Bartley (Co-directors of Ekklesia), Glynn Cardy (St Matthew’s-in-the-City, Auckland, New Zealand), Deirdre Good (Professor of New Testament, The General Theological Seminary, New York), Savitri Hensman (Equalities adviser and writer, UK and Sri Lanka), Tim Nafziger (Christian Peacemaker Teams, USA), Chris Rowland (Dean Ireland Professor of the Exegesis of Holy Scripture, University of Oxford) and David Wood (Parish priest and university chaplain, Western Australia).

LABOUR'S LOVES LOST OR FOUND?

Last week I attended the reception for around 120 people at Number 10 Downing Street at which Prime Minister Gordon Brown launched a new Labour consultation and dialogue with faith communities, which raises many interesting questions about religion and public policy. There was also a celebration of some award-winning Faithworks projects. My own press comment on behalf of Ekklesia is summarised here.

WHO CARES, THEN?

Here's my latest piece about the Von Hugel Institute report on church, government and social welfare. Penned for OpenDemocracy's 'Our Kingdom' conversation, to which I'm an occasional contributor, it is entitled Whose welfare, what provision? and begins to probe into some of the underlying public policy issues. Essentially, though, it's a short review of Moral, But No Compass. Also available via the UK Politics aggregator.

LOVE THAT DOES JUSTICE

A good reflection from Keith Walton (who attends my parish in Exeter) on Common sense, mercy and sacrifice.

PEACE, BUT NO QUIET

I spoke at this year's annual council of the Fellowship of Reconciliation back in April, and an abbreviated version of that talk, 'Peacemaking After Christendom', appears in the June-September 2008 FoR England newsletter Peacelinks. A version will go up on Ekklesia in due course. It looks at the way in which the changing place of institutional religion in society, principally the loosening of its past cultural privilege, is opening up new, creative possibilities for Christians who see justice and peace as central fruits of the Gospel, both within the church and in its engagement and encounter with wider society.

Back in January '08 I also spoke to the Oxford Secular Society, based at the University, on the theme of 'Does religion have to be the enemy?' (to which the answer is 'no'). They are a very open and engaging bunch, by no means exclusively non-religious, and Peter Hughes has done an interview with me for their publication, too.

One of the questions was about what the hot church-state issue might be in the coming years. I responded: "The really big issues are going to be over faith-based organisations involved with publicly funded services... If churches are going to be involved in service delivery (and this is a ‘functionalist’ approach to social engagement which I am sceptical of on other grounds), then it needs to be on the basis of a comprehensive equalities agenda, not on ‘cherry picking’ who they will assist. [This is a case to be made through] Christian arguments, not just secular ones." At that stage, I didn't imagine the Von Hugel research would create such big waves.

HEART OF THE MATTER

"Passion and prejudice govern the world, only under the name of reason. It is our part, by religion and reason joined, to counteract them all we can."

"An ounce of love is worth a pound of knowledge." - remarks published in The Letters of John Wesley (1915) edited by George Eayrs.

"Think not the bigotry of another is any excuse for your own."