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OIKOCREDIT
Use your savings to alleviate global poverty |
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| Christian Aid Week |
Christian Aid Week runs from 10-16 May 2009 Get your church involved and help change the world
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| Books from the Ekklesia bookshop |
Faith and Politics After Christendom by Jonathan Bartley here
Threatened with Resurrection
by Simon Barrow here
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| Our Partners |
Ekklesia is an independent member of the Root and Branch Network which includes:
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| Take Action |
You can join Ekklesia and take action by asking your MP to sign the following Parliamentary motions:
EDM 1248 on Conflict Prevention
Ekklesia attends the All Party Parliamentary Group on Conflict Issues which is supporting this motion
Ekklesia is a founder member of Accord - mentioned in the motion - which seeks to make faith schools more inclusive
Ekklesia is working with the Still Human Still Here campaign which supports both these motions
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At the heart of all processes of injustice, violence and discrimination lies an inability or unwillingness to see other human beings as fellow-feelers and fellow-sufferers. The Christian message focuses on the way in which unjustly inflicted suffering can be transformed into life-giving hope. Yet the reality of much institutional religious life is not like this.
The gap between values and practice, and how it can be overcome, is seen in all of our offerings for thought, reflection and action this week - catalysed by quotations from Maxwell, Bonhoeffer and the New Testament which inspire us to move in this positive direction.
Our featured articles look at the Anglican Consultative Council meeting in Jamaica, against a backdrop of violence directed at gay people, whose experience calls for a change of heart and mind in the most vivid way. Likewise, the actions of brave Palestinian peacemakers living in occupied territory redraws the interpersonal and political map of conflict in the Land called Holy (but often behaving nothing like it).
Closer to home, Thinking in Action looks at how the values rhetoric of the established Church of England and other faith communities invites self-criticism and change on their own part, not least when it comes to discrimination in publicly-funded schools run by religious organisations.
The nature of the gap and possible bridges between values and practice will also be tackled by Ekklesia co-director Jonathan Bartley in his Hugh Price Memorial Lecture in London on 12 May (see Event).
Underpinning all this is the challenge of rooting social transformation and political action in a different way of behaving towards others - ones that model the kind of society they reach towards. Our research focus is therefore on Walter Wink's theology of non-violence, reframing the biblical injunction to 'turn the other cheek' in a radical and exciting way.
Meanwhile, our book recommendation is a Mennonite-inspired collection of essays on 'Cynicism and Hope: Reclaiming Discipleship in a Post-democratic Society' - that is, a society which says it is of the people, while often actually being 'of' unaccountable corporate power.
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| Ekklesia works on a not-for-profit basis, and deliberately maintains its independence from large institutions and their funding. If you value this bulletin please consider making a donation to keep it going and support Ekklesia's work. You can do it through PayPal here |
| Palestinian Christians refusing the cycle of hate |
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By Emma Halgren
Like many Palestinians living in occupied territory, the Nassars have endured harassment, threats and attacks from nearby settlers. But their response, and that of others, has challenged the cycle of hatred and violence and has opened up new possibilities for building peace and justice together.
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| Will Anglicans learn the lessons of Jamaica? |
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By Savitri Hensman
The Anglican Consultative Council has been meeting in Kingston, Jamaica, writes a Christian commentator and Ekklesia associate. But when will Christians really learn the harsh lessons about how hatred and homophobia, whether 'home' or 'abroad' are inimical to the Gospel?
Read the whole article here |
| Quota |
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Sayings from the week and wisdom from the tradition
"Our culture is ripe for Christians to become servants with no strings attached."
- John Maxwell
"The distinction between life worth living and life not worth living sooner or later destroys life itself."
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble"
- Epistle of James |
| The week that was |
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 Your sixty second roundup
The week began with thousands backing a rally in London and services and events across the country calling for an amnesty for three quarters of a million migrants described as "undocumented" or "illegal" by the British authorities.
The Anglican Consultative Council began meeting in Kingston, Jamaica, just as the Baptist Assembly finished its meeting in Bournemouth, passing amongst other things a resolution condemning the use of 'Mosquito' alarms to deter anti-social behaviour amongst young people.
The board of multinational arms firm BAE Systems struggled to cope with a string of embarrassing questions at their Annual General Meeting in London. Meanwhile in Parliament Labour MP Sally Keeble lead a group of 12 cross-party MPs, backed by Christian groups, seeking to outlaw the activities of 'Vulture Funds'. A bishop, the chair of the Treasury Select Committee and a Government minister also debated the values that underpin the financial sector and the role of the Church in changing it at a meeting in Westminster.
Black church leaders joined protests from civil rights campaigners over the UK government's decision to retain DNA profiles on close to a million innocent people for up to 12 years.
The Housing Minister Minister urged Scottish churches to identify church owned property where affordable housing could be built to help meet chronic shortages.
In the wake of widespread violence against Christians in India's Orissa state, the North American relief, development and peace agency Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) helped to provide training to peacemakers in the region and Churches in Sri Lanka helped desperate families looking for loved ones missing in the civil war that is raging in the country.
For more on all these and other stories our News Briefing (http://ekklesia.co.uk/content/news/news.shtml) contains the full archive of daily UK and international news, including all those above, plus features and columns. The page also tells you how you can get Ekklesia's running news on your web site in seconds. You can also follow Ekklesia's news on Twitter (www.twiitter.com/ekklesia_co_uk) .
If you value this service please support Ekklesia's news production through PayPal here |
| The week ahead |
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| Next week's agenda
Europe Day
World Fair Trade Day
Anglican Consultative Council continues to meet until 13th
Sunday
Mission Sunday
Pope celebrates Mass at the Amman International Stadium
Christian Aid Week Begins
Monday
Archbishop of Canterbury gives presidential address to Anglican Consultative Council
Pope meets Israeli President Shimon Peres
House of Commons: Equality Bill Second Reading
House of Lords: Human trafficking (Lord Sheikh)
Closing event of Anglican Consultative Council
House of Commons: Questions on International Development
Thursday
Israel National Day
House of Lords: UN convention on the rights of disabled people (Lord Morris of Manchester)
Friday
International Conscientious Objectors Day Pope returns from visit to Israel, Palestinian territories Want a more detailed news agenda for the next six weeks? You can get one here
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| Research Focus |
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From violence to transformation
The term 'turning the other cheek' is still routinely misused as a cipher for passivity and letting those who use violence and injustice off the hook. But as biblical theologian and non-violence advocate Walter Wink has pointed out, it is properly read as subversive practice that challenges domination.
In ' How turning the other cheek defies oppression', Wink both re-examines the textual and theological issues, and draws up a manifesto of resistance building on the words of Jesus and the ideas of Saul Alinsky, the community activist who has influenced Barack Obama among others.
To view or buy books from Walter Wink through Ekklesia, click here.
Wink is Professor Emeritus of Biblical Interpretation at Auburn Theological Seminary in New York City, USA, and his own website is: http://www.walterwink.com |
| Ekklesia has launched a new subscription service giving a detailed, inside track on the news agenda for the coming 6 weeks. Suitable for church leaders, campaign groups, local government and anyone working in or with the media, it is already taken by the Times newspaper, Reuters and the BBC. Find out more here |
| Media and web debate |
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 Ekklesia in the news this week
Ekklesia co-director Jonathan Bartley also appeared on BBC Radio 2's Jeremy Vine show on Wednesday to make the point that children are not a legitimate target for military marketing. He has written an article for the Guardian's Comment is Free about Church Schools that will appear in the next few days.
Keep up-to-date with Ekklesia's Comments on Twitter
Ekklesia works on a not-for-profit basis. Please support Ekklesia's work with the press and other media by donating through PayPal here |
 Sign up to Amnesty International's Stop Torture campaign here |
| Event: Sedition, Subversion and Anarchy - Hugh Price Memorial Lecture |
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7.30pm Tuesday 12th May, West London Mission
19 Thayer Street, London W1U 2QJ
Ekklesia co-director Jonathan Bartley will be delivering one in the eleventh series of Hugh Price lectures next week. The lecture series title is 'Refreshing Church.' The Revd Hugh Price Hughes founded the West London Mission in 1887. He was one of the most forward-looking thinkers of the day. The annual lectures are intended to make a significant contribution towards exploring faith in the 21st century. Jonathan's lecture entitled: "Sedition, subversion and anarchy: the church's emerging political mission" will build on the work in two of his books: "The Subversive Manifesto" (BRF, 2005) and "Faith and Politics After Christendom" (Paternoster, 2006). Find out more here |
| Thinking in Action |
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Putting our faith in children
The Church of England has launched a new website (www.christianvalues4schools.co.uk) proclaiming the value and values of its schools. The principles and the biblical and theological ideas underpinning them are very good, but the issue is whether they will lead to any genuine change in the discriminatory practices enshrined in current arrangements for faith schools.
This is the challenge Ekklesia has put back to the church, together with an invitation to talk to aggrieved parents - rather than to dismiss all calls for change and reform as coming from antagonists.
Material on transforming the faith schools debate will soon be appearing on a complementary website, http://www.christianvaluesfourschools.co.uk.
Ekklesia is a co-founder of the Accord coalition (http://www.accordcoalition.org.uk ) of religious and non-religious persons and organisations who want to see genuine fairness in publicly-funded schooling. |
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Reading Allowed |
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 Cynicism and Hope: Reclaiming Discipleship in a Post-democratic Society By Meg E Cox (editor)
This thoughtful and inspiring volume is a collection of the major addresses from a conference at Reba Place Church, USA, in 2007. The contributors suggest a new way to live in the tension between the hope that things will improve or change and cynicism about whether transformation is really possible. While creating space for lament, they point toward a radical Christian faithfulness in neighbourhoods and congregations that can be both hopeful and profoundly political.
ISBN: 9781606082140 (Stock & Wipf, 2009), 136pp, £18.50.
For more information, and to buy this book through Ekklesia, click here | |
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