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Thinking For a Change

The weekly ezine from Ekklesia
exploring belief, politics and culture
 
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In This Edition
How equality can help reshape society by Jill Segger
Setting all God's people free by Savitri Hensman
Quota: Proverbs and Alan Wilson
Research Focus: Reimagining Remembrance
Media and web debate
Event: How does the Gospel question our policies?
Thinking in Action: Exposing the BNP
Reading allowed: Worship and Mission After Christendom
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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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Issue: # 58 2 November 2009
This week Ekklesia publishes its new, in-depth look at how we recall war, 'Re-imagining Remembrance'. Since the 'wars to end all wars' fought in the first half of the twentieth century there have been over 300 conflagrations across the globe, costing millions of lives. Yet the way we remember, and the tendency to focus on military rather than peacebuilding ways of addressing conflict, has remained unchanged.
 
The focus of the new report is upon difficult truth telling as the foundation of how we remember, and how we challenge 'the myth of redemptive violence', as theologian Walter Wink puts it. For many, asking questions and posing alternatives in this area is extremely sensitive, or even too much to bear. Reflection and argument often gives way to abuse. We hope that those who disagree with what we are saying will take the trouble to read and evaluate it.
 
'Re-imagining Remembrance' is not about sound bites and headlines. It's a plea to go deeper and to acknowledge the horror that our continuing reliance upon violence is wreaking in the world, almost a century after our forbears pledged to end war as an instrument of policy.
 
Elsewhere in this bulletin, there are thought-provoking quotations about how the language of advocacy and faith operates, 'thinking in action' around the BNP and Christianity in Britain (with powerful contributions from Vaughan Jones and others), an invitation to a public lecture on how the Christian message relates to public policy formation, and a profile of a new book on Christian practice (specifically worship and mission) after Christendom - that is, after the culture in which 'the church of power' reigned. Instead, Alan and Eleanor Kreider invite us towards a vision of transforming practice based on vulnerability and truth-telling.
 
Last but not least, our feature articles examine the Quaker virtue of equality, and the message it carries for both religion and society, and the nature of the church as a people's assembly - something that can easily be lost in the midst of ecclesiastical squabbling.

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How equality can help reshape society
By Jill Segger

To follow in the way of Jesus should make rank and status irrelevant, says Ekklesia's associate editor, in the second of a series of articles on Quaker values in practice. She shows how a sense of our equal value and dignity before God can re-shape our relationships with each other as human beings.
 
Read the full article here
Setting all God's people free
By Savitri Hensman
 
The whole people of God, including the clergy, are part of a living church present in communities throughout the world. But the centrality of an empowered laity to a liberating faith can often be lost amidst debilitating church squabbles about sexuality, structure and authority. All strands of Christian tradition are threatened by clericalism. 
 
Read the full article here
Quota
Sayings from the week and wisdom from the tradition
  
"Death and life are in the power of the tongue."
- Proverbs
 
"The Christian message consists of the publication of a hidden mystery."
- Alan Wilson
Research Focus
Reimagining Remembrance 
 
What is the difference between remembering well and remembering badly when it comes to war? How can we disentangle remembrance from the glorification of war and put the common search for peace and justice at the heart of the way we honour those who have died as a result of war?  How does Christian memory change the meaning of the language of 'sacrifice'?
 
Ekklesia's new report takes an in-depth look at these and other issues. It proposes a change in language, attitude and perception around our annual remembrance ceremonies - not least in the light of the recent Iraq and Afghanistan wars - and proposes that Armistice Day, when we recall the ending of war, should be a public holiday. Those who wish to reject unjust war, those who refuse violence, and all who seek non-violent ways of addressing conflict will all find food for thought here.
 
Read the full report here

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
Ekklesia in the news this week  
 
Ekklesia has been in both the broadcast and print media a fair amount over the past week, in connection with the new Remembrance report, Christians and the BNP, and the reform of faith schools. Symon Hill has been on Premier Radio and also Press TV. Jonathan Bartley was on the BBC Radio 4 'Sunday' programme on 1 November. The Discovery Institute in the US was not pleased about our critique of creationism in the classroom, but the Workplace Law Network noted approvingly our reporting on sexuality and equalities. Meanwhile Politics.co.uk was among those picking up on the opinion survey we released with the Network of Christian Peace Organisations on changing Christian attitudes to war and violence.  

Keep up-to-date with Ekklesia's Comments on Twitter here: http://www.twitter.com/ekklesiaComment

 
Ekklesia works on a not-for-profit basis. Please support Ekklesia's work with the press and other media by donating through PayPal here
Event: How does the Gospel question our policies?
 
As part of Sarum College's theological studies public lecture series, Ekklesia co-director Simon Barrow will address a critical question for churches and policy makers alike. In the Christendom era, churches have sought to resolve the obvious tension between political practice in a violent, corruptible world and the core Gospel message of peaceable and compassionate persuasion by developing a variety of 'interim ethics'. In this lecture a radically different vision is offered, based on the vocation of the church to witness to a different set of loyalties, practices and aspirations to those that constitute 'the powers that be'.
 
The lecture will take place on Saturday 14 November at 4 pm followed by a 5pm break and a 5.30pm debate. More information and booking here: http://www.sarum.ac.uk/313.htm
Thinking in Action
Exposing the BNP
 
Ekklesia has been closely involved in the debate over the British National Party and how to respond to them. Jonathan Bartley's column 'Why the churches should listen to what Nick Griffin said on Question Time' (http://ekklesia.co.uk/node/10439 ) has engendered quite a response. Vaughan Jones of Praxis has also written a powerful piece entitled 'The BNP, migration and the misuse of Christianity' (http://ekklesia.co.uk/node/10485). The entanglement of religion and racist nationalism is something Ekklesia has been following for some time, and it is something we intend to follow up with more reflection and a report. Meanwhile, for many years the magazine Searchlight has been tracking the BNP and other far-right and neo-fascist groups. It is always well worth a read. The popular campaign springing from the same stable is Hope Not Hate.   
Reading Allowed
Worship and Mission After Christendom by Alan and Eleanor Kreider 
 
Worship is about resistance and change rooted in God, the source of all life and possibility. But under Christendom its true character, and that of mission as a liberating message and activity, has often been lost or obscured. An exposition of St Paul's ideas about both in 1 Corinthians 11 - 14 provides a warp on which the authors build a weft of conviction that worshipping the God who invites us into a process of change transforms the worshippers, the church, and the world. Here is a vision for Christians today, rooted both in ancient tradition and present-day experience, and offering realistic ideas and encouraging examples. Alan and Eleanor Kreider are Mennonite Christians in the Anabaptist tradition who have lived on both sides of the Atlantic, studied the worship and witness of the Christians of the early centuries, and sought through their work to offer a constructive critique of 'the church of power', holding up instead a church of Christlike hope and peace as the alternative. A sample chapter can be found at http://www.anabaptistnetwork.com/node/523 .
 
ISBN: 9781842276815 (Paternoster, November 2009), 300pp, �12.99
 
To find out more or order a copy of this title through Ekklesia, click here

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