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Message from David
Driscoll, Executive Officer
Dear MiLE supporters, There are three things I would like to share with you, 1. Bridgebuilders: Workplace chaplaincy – a history, by Malcolm Torry, is to be published by Canterbury Press in April. It’s a long overdue history of industrial mission / workplace chaplaincy ( - it’s mainly about England, but with the occasional look into Scotland and Wales); and it’s also an evaluation, a look to the future, and a statement that secularization is the major issue facing the churches and that workplace chaplaincy is essential to tackling it. This is an important book and every workplace chaplain, whether full-time, half-time, or part-time, will want a copy of it. There are going to be two launches: one at the Industrial Mission Association conference in Swanwick, and another in London on Monday 26th April at 6 p.m. at Trinity House, 4 Chapel Court, Borough High Street, London SE1. If you would like to attend the London launch then please let Malcolm know on 020 8858 3006 or malcolm@torry.org.uk. The book will normally cost £20, but an agreement between Canterbury Press and the IMA enables us to sell copies for £15. Copies will be on sale at this price at both launches (cash, or cheques payable to the Industrial Mission Association: sorry, no cards). Copies will also be available by post for £15 + £2 p&p (cheques payable to Industrial Mission Association) from the Rev’d Malcolm Torry, 37 Becquerel Court, West Parkside, London SE10 0QQ. 2. Workplace Chaplains Day and Launch of the Faith and Work Report – 19th May: 11am-4pm We decided to link our annual day for workplace chaplains with the launch of our ‘Faith and Work’ research project which has a primary focus on workplace chaplaincy. The research was made possible through a legacy and was commissioned by MiLE to enable us to learn more of about the various groups and organisations in the country who were engaged on issues concerned with faith, work and the economy. A copy of the report is attached but we will happily let you have a bound copy if you could kindly forward your name and the address to me where you would like your copy sent. The day, as usual, will be free and held at Trinity House, 4 Chapel Court, Borough High Street, London SE1; a sandwich lunch is included. However I need to know well in advance whether you’ll be attending. Please send me an e-mail or give me a ring on my direct number (020 7791 9873). 3. The title of the Modern Churchpeople’s Union (MCU) annual conference this year is ‘Shifting Paradigms: Theology & Economics in the 21st Century’ and is being held from 13th – 16th July at High Leigh Conference Centre, Hoddesdon Herts EN11 8SG (www.cct.org.uk). As you can see from the flyer this conference could well be for you! There are still places left and many churches provide funding for ministers to attend through the ‘Continuing Ministerial Education’ grants or their equivalent. I would be enormously grateful if you could advertise this conference through your networks. See flyer here With very best wishes, David Lent 2010Chris Brice has prepared a series of papers for Lent entitled “THE CHURCH’S RIGHT TO INTERFERE IN POLITICS: A summary of William Temple’s trenchant defence of the Church’s Right to Interfere in the Political, Social and Economic Issues of the day”. To read click on these links:
TWO useful Blogs which we recommend The Jellicoe Community has a blog here: http://jellicoecommunity.blogspot.com/ The Greater London Presence and Engagement blog (of particular interest to FiLE) is here:http://londonpen.blogspot.com/ Unemployment The following papers are offered as a contribution to the present economic crisis
Credit Crunch Terry Drummond has produced this paper as Chair of the Social Responsibility and Regeneration Working Group for the Diocese of Southwark in partnership with Mission in London's Economy: Ethics, Economics and Global Justice The archbishop of Canterbury gave this lecture at Cardiff in March 2009 Archbishop speaks out on faith in the workplace Faith cannot be separated from the world of work – and employees should not be expected to give up their religious convictions when they walk into their office, the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu declared this week. His comments, at the launch of the God at Work course at Holy Trinity Church, Brompton, came as a series of high-profile cases continued to keep the religious discrimination debate in the headlines. Dr Sentamu said Christians had the daily challenge of ‘living by a set of values that the world thinks are mad’. He added, ‘there is no more urgent time than now to break down the compartmentalised thinking that separates trust in God from the world of work’. As the number of cases of workplace discrimination on religious grounds increased in the year to April 2008, the Chartered Management Institute urged members to review their existing policies and rules to ensure they do not discriminate against staff holding particular beliefs.
Sources:
Telegraph (15/2, 16/2, 18/2),Times
(19/2) Workshops and Events
For details on CABE events see the Principles website http://www.principlesforbusiness.com/events.phpClimate change newsWe have added a new website in our Links page www.transitionculture.org Weekly Gospel ReflectionsYou will find weekly reflections on the Gospel for each Sunday on our Prayer page. These relate the Gospel reading to the experience of work and the workplace. Take a look here Faiths in London's Economy (FiLE) This is our newest practitioner group, designed to work with other faith communities in order to create coordinated faith-community responses to the issues facing London's economy. If you would like to be part of this group please download this form and return it. This group has a FiLE Page with many useful resources. See FiLE Education, Churches and Economy This practitioner group has a new Education Page with resources for Industry (Rogation) Sunday 27 April, Climate Change and other issues. See Education Word For the WeekQuoted with permission from the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity St Paul: Principle vs. Expediency 'When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was in the wrong.' Gal. 2:11 The story goes that, in his first job, the young Gordon Selfridge answered the phone for his boss. 'Tell him I'm out', said his boss. 'Tell him yourself, sir', Selfridge replied, passing the phone over. When the call was finished, his boss turned in fury to Selfridge, demanding an explanation. 'If I tell a lie for you,' he replied, 'I could just as well tell a lie to you.' He risked – but kept – his job. The rest, as they say, is history, as the London department store that bears his name testifies. The apostle Paul was faced by a similar dilemma. He had worked hard to win Peter's sanction for his ministry. With Barnabas he had established the first church in which Jewish and Gentile believers worshipped together as equals. Peter had endorsed this equality by eating with Gentiles. But then men came, insisting that Gentile converts adopt Jewish customs, and Peter stopped eating with the Gentiles. What a crisis for Paul. Should he retain Peter's favour by following Peter's example? Or should he risk potentially fatal disfavour by standing up for the principle? Being Paul, he took the bull by the horns, opposing Peter openly, thereby most likely rescuing 'the Way' from becoming simply another sect of Judaism. He realised that the principle of justification by faith was at the core of the Gospel. If adherence to the law were to be grafted on to it, salvation would no longer be by grace alone. Many of us are faced in our everyday lives with dilemmas like Paul's – not so strategic, no doubt, but just as critical to maintaining the integrity of Christian witness. Temptations abound, particularly in the workplace. Corporate culture regards 'whistleblowing' as a sin; God regards condoning evil as a sin. Similarly, jumping onto a questionable band-wagon, ingratiating oneself with a corrupt colleague – such actions compromise Christian integrity, and contribute to the contempt that many feel for the church. It is very hard to maintain this integrity. Paul got away with it. So did Gordon Selfridge. We will not always do so. We don't have to be as confrontational as Paul, but have we the courage to be just as steadfast? Helen Parry (LICC) www.licc.org.uk
Discussion Papers presented at a conference held by Mission in London's Economy on 30 May 2007 More documents can be found on the Papers page |
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