***Please note Ekklesia's bulletins will be taking a break from Friday 24th July for the summer. They will resume again on Monday 7th September***
The term "social responsibility" is one that has widespread coinage within the churches. But what does it mean to be responsible within society - namely, within the organised and collective patterns of life that we all (to a greater and lesser extent) create and depend upon.
In Iran right now, people are taking to the streets and organising costly protests against a theocratic order that denies a huge number of Iranians a say in the way their country is run, and what would be regarded as basic rights and freedoms elsewhere. Our research focus this week, in association with the Campaign for Peace and Democracy (CPD) in the US, is on responding to the post-election situation in Iran.
A different kind of responsibility is the one that Christians have towards reconciliation within their own church communities - not least when the arguments among them spill out into wider conflict and acts as a counter-witness to the Christian message of peace and justice.
One of our feature articles, by evangelical Baptist leader David Coffey, addresses this concern head on. The other, by Quaker writer Jill Segger looks at the responsibility we have towards ourselves, others and God to keep our convictions honest in their strengths and weaknesses, doubts and hopes.
The event we are highlighting is the large upcoming assembly of the Conference of European Churches, on the theme 'Called to One Hope in Christ', which has significant implications for working towards the unity of the human family.
Meanwhile, 'thinking in action' looks at the ways civil society groups, including faith groups potentially, are coming together to address the political divisions and inadequacies of the current situation in the UK - arguing instead for Real Change (the name of the new network) and 'open politics'.
Our book recommendation is one of John Howard Yoder's classic texts on the political responsibility of Christian people, premised on the distinction that needs to be drawn between the use of coercion by governing authority to restrain wrong-doing and injustice, and the politics of Jesus rooted in non-violent love.
Both our chosen quotations return to this theme of love as efficacious within corporate as well as personal life as we seek to take responsibility for one another in a divided world. |
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| Faithful bridges to reconciliation |
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By David Coffey
Destructive division and disunity among Christians, not least evangelicals, is not merely a 'church matter', says the head of the Baptist World Alliance. It is a counter-witness which contributes to terrible division and sometimes violence in the world.
Read the whole article here
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| How doubt redeems belief |
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By Jill Segger
To fear one's doubts and to deny them, whatever your belief disposition, is to take away the silence from the music and the space from the sculpture, says Ekklesia's editorial adviser, a practicing Quaker. As with all untruth, denial demeans, diminishes and eventually destroys.
Read the whole article here |
| Quota |
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Sayings from the week and wisdom from the tradition
"An act of love, a voluntary taking on oneself of some of the pain of the world, increases the courage and love and hope of all."
- Dorothy Day
"There is nothing more truly artistic than to love people."
- Vincent van Gogh |
| Research Focus |
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Responding to the situation in Iran
The recent elections in Iran have thrown up a host of vital questions about fraud, human rights, people power, opposition to theocracy, international solidarity, the role of the United States, and more. In this Q and A, reproduced on Ekklesia with the agreement of the US-based Campaign for Peace and Democracy, these questions are explored from the perspective of understanding and responding to the situation in Iran - and in particular support for the large number of Iranians seeking self-determination and justice rather than repression and dictatorship.
Read the full briefing here
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| 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
Jonathan Bartley reviewed
God Is Back by John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge, and Reason, Faith, and Revolution by Terry Eagleton, for last Saturday's Guardian newspaper. He also wrote for the Guardian's Comment Is Free on Tuesday about The Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans, suggesting that Conservative Anglicans' message on gay people is starkly at odds with the progressive evangelical spirit of the past.
Ekklesia works on a not-for-profit basis. Please support Ekklesia's work with the press and other media by donating through PayPal here |
Christian Peacemaker Teams UK seeks people for training and equipping as nonviolence workers in areas of conflict. 1-30 October 2009. Also short-term delegation opportunities. Email Tim Nafziger: timn@cpt.org
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| Event: European Churches Gathering |
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The 13th assembly of the Conference of European Churches - which includes all the major Protestant, Orthodox and Anglican denominations across the continent, and cooperates with the Roman Catholics, is meeting from 15 - 21 July 2009 in Lyon, France. The overall theme is 'Called to One Hope in Christ'. This will encompass input and discussion on reconciliation, peace and justice, the nature of the church and engagement in word and deed with wider society. The Conference website is here: http://assembly.ceceurope.org |
| Thinking in Action |
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| Real Change in the political landscape
Ekklesia is delighted to be part of a new and growing coalition for substantial change to the way politics, political systems, the constitutional framework and practical democracy is done in the UK. Here Simon Barrow explains the momentum behind Real Change: The Open Politics Network ( http://www.realchange.uk.net), and comments on it from a Christian perspective. Read the full article here: http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/9831 |
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Reading Allowed |
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 Discipleship as political responsibility by John Howard Yoder
Ekklesia co-director Simon Barrow writes: "As part of my recent visit to the United States, I took the opportunity to re-read this classic from John Howard Yoder, perhaps the best-known modern Mennonite theologian - whose 'Politics of Jesus' has been an inspiration to us in Ekklesia and to many others.
These two essays, introduced by Stanley Hauerwas, were originally delivered as lectures in German in 1957, but resonate strongly down the years.
Translated into English and pre-refiguring Yoder's work on the Christian responsibility towards the state and his developed peace theology, they set out the New Testament basis for understanding the role of governing authority in restraining evil, and the different but complementary (and, Yoder argues, higher) calling of the church to promote justice based specifically on the love and non-violence testified to by the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. This is a powerful little book, and indicates a clear distinction between Christendom and post-Christendom understandings of the nature and impact of the Christian message."
ISBN: 9780836192551 (Herald Press, 2003), 72pp, �7.25.
For more information and to purchase through Ekklesia, click here | |
