Movement_158_Digital

movement
THE MAGAZINE FOR CHRISTIAN STUDENTS
ISSUE 158 AUTUMN 2018
INTERVIEW:
JONATHAN BARTLEY
On living out faith
through politics
PAGE 12
ASK THE MOVEMENT:
What creative things do
you do to deepen your
faith?
PAGE 25
WHAT CAN ACTIVISTS
LEARN FROM JESUS?
Revd Dan Woodhouse
reflects
PAGE 27
AN INTRODUCTION TO
INTERSECTIONALITY
How can we be truly
inclusive in our activism?
PAGE 30

CONTENTS
EDITORIAL 4
COMING UP 5
NEWS 6-8
GROUP NEWS 9-11
REVIEWS 40-42
130 CHALLENGE 43
INTERVIEW:
JONATHAN
BARTLEY
The co-Leader of the Green Party
shares his thoughts on living out
faith through politics.
JESUS THE
PROVOCATIVE
TEACHER 17-18
A re-reading of the Parable of the
Workers in the Vineyard.
CRAFTIVISM
How can gentle and beautiful
activism create a more gentle and
beautiful world?
12-16
19-20
CAMPAIGNS:
FAITH IN
ACTION
Find out what the new campaigns
focus will be for the coming year.
GUEST FEATURE:
GREENBELT
FESTIVAL
Paul Northup explores Greenbelt’s
long history of activism.
21-22
23-24
ASK THE MOVEMENT:
WHAT CREATIVE
THINGS DO
YOU DO TO
DEEPEN YOUR
FAITH? 25-26
WHAT CAN
ACTIVISTS
LEARN FROM
JESUS? 27-28
Revd Dan Woodhouse reflects.
LONG READ:
AN INTRODUCTION
TO INTERSECTION-
ALITY 30-33
Dr Kat Gupta on how we can make
our activism truly inclusive.
TOP TIPS FOR
34-36
FRESHERS
Advice on building friendships
and maintaining relationships at
university.
FAITH IN ACTION:
CHANGING
THE WORLD
We asked students to share their
experience of activism.
37-39
2 MOVEMENT Issue 158 MOVEMENT Issue 158
3

Welcome to Issue 158 of
Movement magazine! In this
issue we’re taking a look at the
ways that we put our faith into
action to challenge injustice
and enact change. When we
hear the word ‘activism’ most of us will think of protest
marches and placards, but in reality activism is much
more than that.
On page 19 we take a look at the gentle, beautiful activism
which is craftivism, and on page 37 three students share their
experience of putting their faith into action through different
methods of activism. Inside you’ll also find details of our newest
campaign around Student Mental Health, as well as a guest
feature from Greenbelt.
Jonathan Bartley, co-leader of The Green Party, reflects on how
his faith informs his politics in our interview on page 12, and
Revd Dan Woodhouse explores what activists can learn from
Jesus on page 27.
Finally, this is my last issue of Movement as Editor, where has
the time gone? It seems hardly any time at all since I took on
this role two years ago. On a more personal note, I wish to
thank the editorial team for bearing with me while I learnt the
ropes of editing Movement. And thank you for reading!
GEMMA KING
WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE INVOLVED IN
PRODUCING MOVEMENT MAGAZINE?
SCM is looking for volunteers to form an editorial group to oversee
the publication of future issues. Do you have ideas for potential
features, or want to hone your skills as an interviewer? Visit the
website to find out more – www.movement.org.uk/volunteering
If you find it hard to read the printed version
of Movement, we can send it to you in digital
form. Contact editor@movement.org.uk.
Student Christian Movement
Grays Court, 3 Nursery Road, Edgbaston,
Birmingham, B15 3JX
t: 0121 426 4918
e: scm@movement.org.uk
w: www.movement.org.uk
Advertising
e: scm@movement.org.uk
t: 0121 426 4918
Movement is published by the Student Christian
Movement (SCM) and is distributed to all
members, supporters, SCM communities, Link
Churches and Link Chaplaincies.
SCM is a movement of students, past and
present, responding to the call of Jesus to
follow him and show the love of God on
campus, in our communities, and in the world.
We come together as an ecumenical and
inclusive community, fostering unity in diversity
and exploring faith through worship, discussion
and intentional action.
SCM staff: National Coordinator: Hilary Topp,
Operations Manager: Lisa Murphy, Finance and
Communications Officer: Ruth Harvey,
Regional Development Worker (North West):
Rach Collins, SCM Connect Project Worker:
Rob Chivers, Regional Development Worker
(North East): Emma Temple, Administration
Assistant: Callum Fisher.
Editorial Team: Gemma King, Robin Hanford,
Ruth Harvey and Lisa Murphy.
The views expressed in Movement magazine are
those of the particular authors and should not be
taken to be the policy of the Student Christian
Movement. Acceptance of advertisements does
not constitute an endorsement by the Student
Christian Movement.
ISSN 0306-980X
SCM is a registered charity in England and
Wales, number 1125640, and in Scotland,
number SC048506
© 2018 Student Christian Movement
Design:
morsebrowndesign.co.uk & penguinboy.net
COMING UP
EFFECTIVE
STUDENT WORK
TRAINING
BIRMINGHAM,
22-23 OCTOBER 2018
SCM’s annual training course for
all those working with students,
including church leaders, chaplains,
student workers and volunteers.
Learn new skills, share ideas and
be equipped to start or maintain a
student ministry in your church or
chaplaincy.
SCM GATHERING:
INTERRUPTED
BY GOD
LEEDS
26-28 OCTOBER 2018
Join with students from around
the North East and Yorkshire for a
weekend in Leeds, exploring how
faith should and does impact our
lives. On the Saturday we will join
with Project Bonheoffer for their
‘Faith in Political Action Today’
conference, with guest speaker Dr
Jennifer McBride, President of the
International Bonhoeffer Society.
Also featuring food from the Real
Junk Food Project Cafe, worship,
workshops and time to get to know
other students.
STUDENT
SUNDAY
17 FEBRUARY 2019
SCM invites you all to join us in
celebrating the 2019 Universal Day
of Prayer for Students. You can
download a pack of resources from
the SCM website at www.movement.
org.uk/studentsunday. The resource
pack includes reflections, all age
worship ideas and intercessions that
can be used with your group or in
your church service.
If your church or group is planning
a service or activity to mark the day
please let us know via our social
media channels using the hashtag
#studentsunday
FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO BOOK YOUR PLACE,
GO TO WWW.MOVEMENT.ORG.UK/EVENTS
SAVE THE DATE! SCM NATIONAL GATHERING: WONDERING
AND WANDERING • CARDIFF • 8-10 MARCH 2019
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NEWS
GIFTS OF GRACE
Students from across the country
gathered in Glasgow over the
weekend of 9th – 11th March to
explore themes of forgiveness,
peace and reconciliation. Twentyfive
students made the journey
to Glasgow, including hardcore
students from SCM Southampton
who travelled overnight to take
part in the weekend, which was
organised and hosted by SCM
Glasgow.
On Saturday morning we began
with a talk from David Kenvyn, who
was heavily involved in the antiapartheid
movement. It was a funny
and sometimes moving account of
years of committed activism, and
many participants had questions for
David during the coffee break.
After lunch SCM Glasgow led
a bible study called ‘First Be
Reconciled’ looking at Matthew
5:21-26, which led to interesting
discussions regarding how we
deal with righteous anger and
how to have healthy conflict.
Later that afternoon Jo Russell,
a psychotherapist specialising
in gender, sexual and relational
diversity, led a workshop on
forgiveness.
The final session of the day was
a look at the role of forgiveness
in Judaism, led by Rabbi Kate
Briggs, a Reform Rabbi and NHS
chaplain. At the end of a very full
day, Lancaster SCM led a compline
service before students retired
to their sleeping bags. The next
morning students joined Wellington
Church for their morning service
before making the journey home.
Thanks go to Wellington Church
and members of SCM Glasgow for
hosting the event!
A STUDENT LED
MOVEMENT
At the end of July, many of the
current members of SCM’s General
Council (GC) came to the end
of their term of office. We said
goodbye to Caitlin Wakefield,
Freddie Alexander, Gemma King,
Ross Jesmont, Sarah Derbyshire
and Simone Ramacci, all of whom
had served as members of GC for
two years.
Since being elected two years ago
they have guided the movement
forward, instigating projects
such as SCM Connect, reviewing
the strategy and vision for the
movement and having often
difficult conversations about SCM’s
finances.
Stepping into the gap we have a
new board of trustees who took
up office on the 1st August. Alex
Akhurst, Emilia de Luca, Feylyn
Lewis, Helena Ripley and Tristan
Marris join GC along with Robin
Hanford who starts the second year
of his term.
Feylyn Lewis, taking up the Black
and Minority Ethnic Students’ Rep
portfolio, said, “I want to cultivate
a deepened spirit of inclusiveness
in SCM, and that work must truly
begin within the leadership of SCM.
Furthermore, it’s important to me
to see SCM thrive as a sustainable
organisation for many years to
come.”
SCM’S
VOLUNTEERS
SHINE AT BIG
CHURCH DAY OUT
SCM attended both of the Big
Church Day Out weekends this year
to spread the word about SCM and
reach out to young people heading
to university this September. Rob,
the SCM Connect Project Worker,
along with volunteers Josh and
Curtis from Newman Christian
Union, travelled the country loaded
with goody bags full of useful
resources to give away.
Over both weekends, Rob, Josh
and Curtis had many conversations
with young people preparing for
university as well as churches,
and parents, looking for ways to
support students as they make the
transition to university.
Reflecting on the events, Rob
said, “We had many conversations
with people who felt like there
was much more to discover about
their faith. They were looking for
a place where they felt able to
explore some of these questions
more deeply or put their faith in to
action in some way. I felt a longing
from people I spoke to for more
than a society to attach their name
to; they wanted to be a part of
something that they would grow
and flourish in.”
If you would like to find out more
about the SCM Connect project,
you can get in touch with Rob by
emailing rob@movement.org.uk
ENDINGS AND
BEGINNINGS
In February we were sad to say
goodbye to Lizzie Gawen, SCM’s
Groups Worker, after six years with
the movement, and in April we
said farewell to Simon Densham
who had joined the team as
maternity cover for SCM’s National
Coordinator. Jen Nicholas, our
Fundraising and Communications
Officer also left for pastures new
in August. We wish Lizzie, Simon
and Jen all the best in their new
ventures and thank them for their
contribution to SCM.
In May we welcomed two new
staff to the team as part of our
Regionalisation Project. Emma
Temple took up the post of
Regional Development Worker, and
Callum Fisher joined the team as
Administration Assistant. Working
alongside Rach Collins who is
based in the North West, Emma
will be supporting SCM’s members,
communities, Link Churches and
Link Chaplaincies in the North East
and Yorkshire, and will also be the
lead project worker for the Faith in
Action project.
Both appointments were made
possible thanks to generous
support from Project Bonhoeffer.
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MOVEMENT Issue 158 MOVEMENT Issue 158
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NEWS
GROUP NEWS
John-Sargeant / Greenbelt
LANCASTER SCM
YORK CHRISTIAN FOCUS
SCM AT
GREENBELT
Another dry-ish and wonderful
August bank holiday weekend at
Greenbelt festival is over, with
staff and volunteers braving the
unpredictable weather to tell festival
goers all about SCM.
At the SCM stall there were
numerous conversations with new
students who each received a goody
bag with the second edition of
SCM’s Going to Uni guide. We also
caught up with former SCM trustees
and Friends who shared their stories
of their time with the movement.
Along with our friends at Winchester
University we ran a ‘Going to
Uni’ panel discussion for young
people on Saturday evening, with
questions from participants covering
everything from how to make
friends to navigating student culture.
We also held a ‘Student Meet Up’
in the Jesus Arms each evening,
and all thoroughly enjoyed Beer and
Hymns on the Monday afternoon!
It was a pleasure to exhibit at
Greenbelt and meet and resource
so many others who are just
as passionate about justice,
community, inclusion and faith.
Thanks to the Greenbelt organisers
for a brilliant festival, to the eight
SCM students who volunteered with
us and to every one of you that
came to say hello!
During 2018 Lancaster SCM has been meeting regularly
on a twice monthly basis to share in fellowship and lots of
tea. We’ve run Bible Studies and had workshops from our
Regional Worker Rach, and we also attended a talk by Terry
Eagleton.
We’ve also been getting involved in the national movement
and attended the Gifts of Grace gathering and SCM AGM
in Glasgow - all of our regular attendees made it which we
were very proud of! We have also been exploring links with
other groups on campus through our existing contacts,
such as Green Lancaster (associated with the Students
Union), the Quakers and Liminal, an LGBTQIA+ faith group
that meets in the Chaplaincy.
The new academic year holds lots of potential for Lancaster
SCM and we are looking forward to getting stuck into some
campaigning work. A campaign focusing on recycling on
campus has been motivating us during the summer term,
and we hope to properly launch this in the new academic
year.
HELENA RIPLEY
This past academic year has been the first that York Christian
Focus has been in full operation! Rest assured, we’ve been
up to lots since we last appeared in this magazine. Some
highlights include a workshop on Bible stories and the
impacts of healing, a pilgrimage to Selby Abbey, a talk from
the Dean of York (who is now Bishop of Bristol!) and mindful
colouring film nights!
One of the important aspects of what we do is to encourage
open discussion that allows people to explore questions
related to faith. We’ve run a student-led discussion with the
topics being picked at random out of a (metaphorical) hat,
covering a range of topics from the theology of superheroes
to whether Jesus is truly without sin. It was so successful we
have another one planned for the upcoming term.
Over the next year Christian Focus has lots of plans to
help show the diversity of our different faiths, including an
‘Ask a Priest’ event where we intend to get ministers from
different churches to answer questions. We are hoping
this will highlight the diversity of Christian traditions whilst
also showing that we are all united through a set of core
beliefs. Of course, alongside all this we will be continuing the
Christian Focus tradition of drinking lots of squash and eating
far too much cake!
JACK WOODRUFF AND SAM DALY
PREVIOUS AND CURRENT PRESIDENTS
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ROYAL VETERINARY
COLLEGE CHAPLAINCY
SCM’s model of engagement with the Christian faith led us to
sign up as a Link Chaplaincy as it allows students to engage
with difference while at university, celebrate with those who
identify differently and respond with a measured, positive
expression of their faith that builds them up for living in a
diverse world. All of these things are important to me and are
things that I try to do in my chaplaincy work and life.
Over the past year we’ve been doing lots of activities with
the wider college community. For example, we have taken
staff and students to a community Iftar to break the fast with
a local group of Muslims during Ramadan, and we also raised
the rainbow flag on campus during LGBT History Month. I
joined staff and students at the flagpole and offered short
prayers and a blessing.
I have also joined with colleagues in the university to reach
out to students during January, and we attempted to replace
‘Blue Monday’ with ‘Brew Monday’, an opportunity to get out
of lecture rooms, meet others over a hot brew and discuss
mental health.
REVD ANDY MARSHALL, CHAPLAIN
NEWMAN
CHRISTIAN UNION
Last academic year we had a twofold aim: to build a positive
relationship with the Islamic Society on campus and to raise
money for a good cause. We realised that there was a view
that Christians and Muslims cannot work together for good,
and we set out to challenge this stereotype to run a joint
fundraiser for Macmillan Cancer Support.
We planned and delivered a jampacked week of fundraising
events, including bake sales, raffles and even face painting! On
the final day we had a closing ceremony with entertainment,
including speakers, musicians and magicians. When we as a
group reflected on the event we noticed how much good a
group of individuals can do when we focus on what brings us
together and not what sets us apart.
This reminds me of the commandments Jesus gives us, with
the greatest being to ‘Love the Lord your God with all your
heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ And the
second to ‘Love your Neighbour as yourself.’ (Matthew 22:
37-39). With these in mind I’ve realised that if we truly love
God we should love others and work with them to do God’s
amazing works.
CURTIS ROBERTS, OUTGOING PRESIDENT
SCM WINCHESTER
SCM Winchester is a new group who meet in the chapel at
the centre of Winchester University’s main campus. We are
still a small group (and a small University) but growing and
very enthusiastic!
In March we ran an Open Mic night with SCM Southampton
to raise money for MIND. It was great fun to see some
new faces and everyone got into the spirit of supporting
the charity, raising £32.38. We had a great range of songs
- everything from Snow Patrol to Elton John and Sara
Bareilles played on the gorgeous chapel piano, some classic
Dylan and even some Russian folk songs, followed by a
good singalong to Amazing Grace.
We’ve also held a discussion with a Pagan Chaplain, a talk
from a Catholic Pilgrim about his experience of the Camino
de Santiago, a relaxing art session and talk about spirituality
and self-expression, and even an evening service of relaxing
Taizé chants and prayers, which helped us to become
centred on God during the final two weeks of term!
This term we’re planning to visit Southampton to get
involved in some of the amazing events they’re putting on
to encourage students there. We’re really excited to keep
deepening faith, seeking justice, celebrating diversity and
pursuing Christian Unity on campus and to see what next
term will bring!
KATHERINE ASHFORD
DURHAM JOINT ANGLICAN
AND METHODIST SOCIETY
Last term was an eventful one for Durham JAM. We began
the term with a joint meeting with Durham Quaker Society
where we discussed current affairs and what social action
projects our members could do together. We continued this
discussion across the term through our weekly bible studies
on the theme of ‘Justice and Righteousness’, using SCM’s
bible study resources, which have helped us to discern two
campaign focuses for the coming year.
Several of us have joined the intercessions team at one of
our Link Churches, where we also helped run this years’
Christian Aid ‘Big Brekkie’, and we also lead worship termly
in our Methodist Link Church. Our Anglican rep, Maya, and
our Secretary, Tristan, led the bible reflections which is no
small feat on Trinity Sunday! The service also happened to
be on the day of Durham Pride, so there was no absence of
colour in the worship team!
Finally, we ended the term with a reunion event kindly
hosted by St Chad’s College Chaplaincy. We were very
excited to hear about the Guatemalan children’s charity
project being supported by the local Methodist circuit, and
also to welcome SCM’s new Regional Development Worker,
Emma Temple, who we introduced to our members, alumni
and chaplains.
ALEX AKHURST
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11

INTERVIEW
JONATHAN BARTLEY
Green Party
Jonathan Bartley studied at the London School of Economics and has been involved in campaigning and
politics since his student days. Founder of the Christian think-tank Ekklesia and drummer in the blues-rock
group The Mustangs, Johnathan is the current co-chair of the Green Party alongside Siân Berry.
Firstly, can you tell us a little about yourself? How
would you describe your faith journey?
I grew up in quite an evangelical, charismatic Christian
family, but, like a lot of people I think, I questioned the
faith that I grew up with a lot. Things like Greenbelt were
very important to me, and I used to go quite a lot when I
was younger. I’m descended from Elizabeth Fry who was
a Quaker and Prison Reformer, so that strand comes down
through the family too.
While I was studying at the London School of Economics I
found something called Workshop, an Anabaptist course run
by Noel Moules. For anyone not familiar with Anabaptism,
it’s very committed to equality and social justice, and has
a similar background tradition to Quakerism. Workshop
opened up a whole new world to me in terms of faith. The
things that I wanted to believe made sense, and it gave me
a rationale to believe them. For example, I’m passionately
a proponent of non-violence and Workshop enabled me to
see that within my faith which was amazing.
For me, joining the Green Party is very much an outworking
of my faith. Of course, you don’t have to be Christian to
be in the Green Party, and there are Christians in other
parties too. I’ve realised that there are many different
types of Christianity, and there are different value sets
that people hold as Christians. It’s astonishing that you
can find Christians on both sides of some debates and I
find that really strange, because when I look at Christianity
it’s as much about how you live, in fact more about how
you live, than the doctrines that we hold dear. When we
look at the early church and early Christians, and the
Epistle to Diognetus in the second century, when they are
asked ‘What is a Christian?’, they don’t respond with a
set of beliefs and doctrines, they respond with a set of
behaviours and describe themselves as following ‘the
way’. In the Acts of the Apostles, after the spontaneous
outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the response is
one of collectivising, pooling all they have and giving it to
the poor. And so that is the faith tradition that I find myself
in and following really.
You’ve said before that your faith informs your
politics. Do you think that there is an overlap between
the message of Jesus and the aims of progressive
politics?
Yes I think there is. Ghandi, and I’m paraphrasing him
terribly here, said that Christians would be great if they just
followed what Jesus said. Martin Luther King was someone
who did that in his nonviolent direct action. There is a very
strong strand of nonviolent direct action in my faith that I
feel a great affinity with.
In 2003 I wrote a book called The Subversive Manifesto:
Lifting the Lid on God’s Political Agenda, which looked at
the way Jesus took part in nonviolent direct action. Look at
his interplay at the Synagogue at Capernaum where he has
that interaction with a demon - Ched Myers is very good
on this, and he points out that Jesus is calling into question
the authority of the religious and political leaders of the
day, and the Gospel writers notice that he had an authority
that the scribes didn’t have, so this demon manifests and
belittles Jesus and tries to reclaim the authority by saying
‘I know who you are Jesus of Nazareth’. And we know that
it is an attempt to undermine Jesus, but Jesus regains the
authority. And again when he looks closely at both sides of
the coin and answers the question about taxation. There’s
this very strong political strand that runs right the way
though the Gospels, and you can only understand Jesus
as a political figure. When he’s tempted in the desert there
are three temptations to take power, and to bring about a
top-down revolution, and Jesus rejects all three of them.
I wrote another book, Faith and Politics After Christendom:
the Church as a Movement for Anarchy, which traces the
idea of Christians being passionate about social justice
and living ‘the way’ being annexed by political power
by Constantine in the 4th Century. The cross, which
was a symbol of torture and oppression, became under
Constantine a symbol of conquest and righteousness.
And now 1700 years later Christianity takes its place as
an oppressive force within western Europe, and actually
persecutes Christians who don’t see things in the same
way as the church.
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I think we need to recover that political edge to Christianity,
not in a top-down way but in a bottom-up way, not in an
oppressing way but in a liberating way, and that’s the
overlap that I see between Christianity and progressive
politics. I’ve seen some wonderful things happening over
the last 20 to 30 years, like the Jubilee Debt Campaign in
the late nineties to cancel debt in the developing world, and
with the Jubilee 2000 coalition when I was working in the
House of Commons then. I saw it having a huge impact on
changing the agenda around how we deal with debt. And
it’s been great to see some very strong Christian voices
around climate change. It’s come up through aid agencies
like Christian Aid very strongly, and they’ve dragged the
churches into the forum as well which is good, getting
churches to think about divesting from fossil fuels.
SCM’s Faith in Action project aims to get students
to think about how they live out their faith, and also
explores Bonhoeffer’s approach to theology. He
famously wrote about the ‘Cost of Discipleship’ saying
that following Jesus requires a huge commitment on
our part. Do you have any words of encouragement for
students?
That’s a challenging question and quite a wide-ranging
question, and I want to be very careful about how I answer
it. I think it is very easy to beat yourself up all the time, and
to aspire to high standards and high ideals.
Underlying ‘the way’ is this gift of grace that for me, and
I speak personally here and people are free to disagree
with me, is that walking the way is an invitation, and it’s
an exciting invitation. And it’s not something that’s saying,
‘you must do this, or you must do that’, but it’s an invitation
that’s saying ‘how far will you go? How much would you
like to do this? Let’s share this exciting journey together.’
And it’s not something we should be beating ourselves up
over when we fail, or if we don’t reach these wonderful
ideals. For Jesus the journey ended in crucifixion, but
Jesus was crucified so that we don’t have to be. And so
he’s saying, ‘come along with me on this journey, let’s
be in this together, let’s be radical and lets be bold and
lets encourage one another to be better and be stronger
and be bolder and more courageous.’. It’s a journey that’s
absolutely surrounded by grace, and when we fall, and we
don’t meet those ideals, when we mess up, which we will,
it’s OK. So that would be my message, see it as something
exciting and something liberating, but let’s not judge each
other when we fail and when we don’t make those ideals
because none of us are going to make them.
Some would be surprised to hear that you once
volunteered with John Major’s leadership campaign in
1995 given that you are now the co-leader of the Green
Party. What attracted you to the Green Party? Where
do you see the Green Party’s place in the current
British political scene?
That thing about Major has been very overegged! I worked
on a cross party basis at the time and someone asked me if I
wanted to get a bit of experience on John Major’s campaign
team, so I did. It was really great experience for six weeks,
and I made the tea. I’ve never been tribal about my politics,
I’ve always thought it is better to work together where we
have a common cause. And I am so far from the Tory party
now!
I found that whole period in the House of Commons very
very dark and very oppressive actually. I quit Westminster
politics and did other things for a while like the think tank
Ekklesia, because I wanted to be campaigning but not in that
Westminster village. And then I had that confrontation with
David Cameron in 2010, by chance. Immediately after that I
took a long hard look at the party manifestos, and I thought
‘I’m going to have to walk the talk, and I’m going to have to
re-engage’. And the Green Party was the obvious place for
me to go, it was the obvious outworking of my values.
In the current political scene, right now, a vote for the Green
Party is the most powerful vote that you can cast, and
the boldest vote that you can make. We have Green Party
councillors on every council, and just having one or two
greens at the table, in the council chamber, in the room,
makes a colossal difference. Green changes everything.
There is a lot that we share with the Labour Party and with
Jeremy Corbyn, but fundamentally, we have a different outlook
on the world, and on the kind of response that we need to the
social crisis, the environmental crisis and the economic crisis.
No one else is really advocating the kind of change we need to
our economy and our society except the Green Party. I’m very
proud of what we do and what we’re standing for.
One of my great sadnesses is to see Labour being willing
sacrifice freedom of movement, and not standing up
against Brexit. We will stand up for a people’s vote on the
final deal because democracy is not a one-off thing, winner
takes all. It’s an ongoing process of engagement. The whole
population is split at the moment, and there needs to be
healing across the country. And that healing is only going
to come with proper engagement, and not with one side
winning and one side losing, and one side imposing their
will on the others. This has got to be an ongoing process
where everyone can be heard, and we’ve got to listen to the
people who voted leave too.
What would you say has been Ekklesia’s greatest
achievement since you helped to found it?
I haven’t been involved for a few years now, since
becoming a Green Party leader, but the biggest substantial
achievement of Ekklesia was helping to shift the narrative
within institutional religion in the right direction, and giving
a voice and a platform to the dissenting voices. There were
groups like the Courage Trust who were an evangelical
LGBTQIA+ affirming group, and when they got kicked out of
the Evangelical Alliance we were able to give them a home
and a voice and draw attention to what was going on. And
at the same time, when those who were involved in peace
churches who were arrested for nonviolent direct action
- groups like the Campaign Against the Arms Trade - we
were able to take these stories and highlight them to the
churches and show them that it was Christians doing this
stuff, and it wasn’t being covered and people didn’t know
about it.
It was about filling a space that no one else was, and saying
that as Christians we can advocate for divestment, for
restorative justice, we can be more radical in our economic
thinking, and that Christians do care about these things.
And it also challenged some very hard-line religious voices
who were doing a lot of damage at the time and had quite
a dark agenda. Providing a counterweight to these voices
was really important.
We’ve noticed that you’ve been tweeting about
veganism recently. Do you think there’s a Christian
case to be made for veganism/vegetarianism?
Yes, unequivocally. There is a very strong Christian case, and
it’s not to stand in judgement or to beat people up about not
Green Party
14
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eing vegan. Noel Moules who ran Workshop had a great
phrase, he talked about a commitment to live gently, and I
think it’s a lovely phrase.
done about ten albums of original music and we also got to
number two on the Amazon Blues Chart with a single we
did not so long ago.
I think there is a Christian case on several levels, most
particularly regarding animal welfare. You know, stewardship
is such an abused phrase, that phrase of dominion in
Genesis has been so misused historically by the churches
to impose domination, which is wrong. It’s about service,
cultivation and stewardship, and about animal welfare and
about everything flourishing. And there is the imperative
around climate change too. We know what a massive toll
meat eating and the meat industry, and farming practises
in the dairy industry, have on the environment and C02
emissions. There is a strong argument that the biggest
thing that anyone could do if they had to do one thing in
their lives to change their environmental impact and their
carbon footprint, it wouldn’t be to do more recycling but
would be to give up meat and go vegan. We need to take
that seriously.
It’s taken me a long time to get there though! My idea
of a balanced meal was a burger in each hand, I was a
real carnivore! I’m excited about it and encourage others
to go vegan too, but won’t stand in judgement of others.
I’m passionate about it and I’m loving cooking, and really
suddenly I’ve got a new interest in cooking and using spices
and things.
Do you have a signature dish?
Nothing posh, three bean chili. I’ve been experimenting
with the spices and doing something different each time.
In the Green Party we’ve been organising these refugee
dinners in local communities, where people can come and
hear the stories of refugees. I hosted one and made my
best chili yet, and I’m still trying to recreate it!
You somehow manage to find the time to be the
drummer in a blues-rock group, The Mustangs. Are
you and the band working on anything new musically
at the moment?
Yes, we might even be playing at the Green Party
conference in October. We’re doing a lot of festivals, and
we did Glastonbury last year which was great fun. We’ve
We’re constantly writing and, in the summers, doing
festivals. Much less than we used to though, we used to do
about 50 a year but now it’s more like ten!
Do you have a favourite piece of scripture or book of
the Bible?
I think probably Mark’s Gospel is my favourite book. I love
Ched Myers’ commentary on Mark, Binding the Strong
Man, and really recommend it. It’s very radical and brings
the political dimension out so well, and it made me see
Mark in a whole new way.
What was your university experience like? What advice
would you give to today’s students?
I was involved in the Christian Union and had all sorts of run
ins with UCCF. I introduced a rotating chair, so three of us
did it in one year, which was too progressive I think! I don’t
think I lived my student days to the fullest and embraced
them. You don’t miss them until they are gone, and they
just fly by. So, my advice would be to enjoy them, and live
your student days to the full.
If there was a book or a film about your life, what
would it be called?
I Could Have Done That Better. I’m quite a perfectionist,
and I’m always looking back and thinking, ‘that’s what I
should have done.’. I think the reason I’m telling people not
to beat themselves up about things is that I do it to myself
quite a lot!
JESUS THE
PROVOCATIVE
TEACHER
David McLoughlin, a founder member of the Movement of Christian
Workers, reflects on Jesus as a provocative teacher, re-reading Jesus’
teaching in the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard (Mt 20:1-16) in
it’s original context.
In this parable we have different groups of
workers vying with each other for limited work.
There are day-labourers, some of whom would
have been smallholders trying to supplement
their subsistence living, some landless and
destitute, no longer with the support of extended
family or local community, and some who would
be wandering, strangers to the locals. Any sense
of solidarity and common identity has long gone.
Normally a steward would hire the workers,
as the land-owners tended to live in the new
cities and had little to do with the day to day
running of the estates. But Jesus deliberately
includes the landowner here to make the link
between those at the top of society and those
at the base. The normally invisible elite are here
made present and, as such, accountable. Jesus
heightens the conflict.
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The workers are harvesting grapes, and the harvest is
a bumper one. The owner must harvest at the optimum
moment for the fruit and so he goes back again and again
to the marketplace until he has enough labour to bring in
the harvest. The owner offers the first group a denarius - a
reasonable amount for a day’s work, but not generous. It
was enough to keep a small family fed and housed for a
day. When he comes back, he just tells the next group to
go to work and he’ll give them what is right. There is no
negotiation. The next are told to go without any reference to
pay; similarly the last lot for an hour. Throughout the story
the landowner has total control.
The landowner tells his steward to pay the workers in reverse,
but orders him to give them all a denarius rather than a
proportion of the daily wage equivalent to their hours. The
owner is playing with them, it is a gesture of contempt, an
insult implying that those who have worked all day are no
more valuable than those who have worked for an hour. So
shaming is the insult that the workers protest. If they don’t,
then the value of their work in the marketplace is undermined
and they are implicitly accepting his right to pay less the next
time, with disastrous consequences in that economic climate.
Note the owner does not address the group. He makes an
example of one labourer, ‘My friend, I do you no wrong, did
you not agree with me for a denarius?’ This falsely implies a
mutually agreed contract. Then he expels the labourer; ‘Take
what is yours and go’. He is sacked, he will not be hired again.
The seemingly generous boss is revealed as something quite
different: wilful, and manipulative.
He turns to the group and gives his justification, ‘I choose to
give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you’. The
money is now his gift, no longer a wage earned. He says their
complaint is evil in response to his goodness (literally ‘is your
eye evil because I am good?’). He speaks as though the land
is his and he controls its fruit and profit, but the Hebrew Torah
teaches the land is God’s and God alone distributes it to the
people of the land. The Torah demands re-distribution in times
of need and condemns hoarding for profit. Even the denarius
he so generously gives is a subsistence wage.
Read in this way, Jesus’ story takes his listeners into the heart
of the Covenant and its liberating effect. It heightens the
perversion of the covenant by the powerful rich, but it also
shows up the lack of solidarity among the workers themselves
– the rich man can isolate one worker and silence the group’s
initial protest. The debate after Jesus first told this parable in
one of the Galilean villages must have gone on a long time!
Above all, the parables are texts to provoke collective
reflection, renewed imagination, discussion and debate,
starting from the conflicted reality we find ourselves in. Jesus’
life did not offer an alternative based on abstract ethical
demands. It is not a worked out system. But it does provide
some basic principles for an alternative critical practice: the
practice of the reign of Abba, based on a common life of
mutual compassion, forgiveness and engagement. His life
inspired his disciples to prolong the logic of his practice in
the new historical situations they would have to face. The
main reason for the Church to exist is to bear witness to the
possibility of that reconciling practice of Jesus continuing in
the world.
Note again what Jesus is doing in the parable. He is drawing
on the experience of the people, provoking them to see their
world clearly but from a renewed perspective, ‘the kingdom
of God’, and inviting them to become subjects of their own
history. He empowers the exploited and oppressed to reclaim
their history, to see it anew, and to participate in creating it.
There is a danger when we read these texts in Church that we
spiritualise them and tend to take away a personal message,
asking ‘what do they mean for me?’. We miss their essential
provocative nature and their call to renew our collective
vision of a creation under God where all are of equal worth,
and where the distribution of the goods of the earth and the
sharing of them, and solidarity in service, are at the centre
of our collective concern, rather than accumulation for profit
and personal security. Above all, these are texts to provoke
collective reflection, renewed imagination, discussion and
debate, starting from the conflicted reality we find ourselves
in.
David McLoughlin is a Lecturer in Theology and a theological
advisor to CAFOD. He has over 30 years of experience in
training Christian activists.
Craftivism
“If we want our world to be a more beautiful, kind and fair place,
then shouldn’t our activism be more beautiful, kind and fair?”
Sarah Corbett, How to be a Craftivist
Craftivism has gained momentum in recent years
as an alternative form of activism. The term was
first coined by Betsy Greer (craftivism.com) and
has inspired many to take up craftivism in their
campaigning activities.
The main idea behind the movement, as Sarah Corbett
describes in her book How to be a Craftivist, is to
build a form of activism which is slow, intentional,
and nurturing. Corbett was a typical burned-out
activist in desperate need of a new approach when
she discovered craft after buying a cross-stitch kit to
keep her occupied on a train journey. She found that
the slow, methodical stitching and delicate materials
were soothing to her anxious mind, and she wanted
to channel those things into her desire to make the
world a better place.
Craftivism is about aiming to make the changes
we wish to see in the world through gentle nudges
rather than aggressive shoves. It’s about celebrating
the slow, organic nature of creative solutions, and
subverting our society’s obsession with instant,
reactionary change. This is a more gentle, beautiful
activism, which can be used in the journey towards a
more gentle, beautiful world.
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Does it work?
That would depend on what you mean by ‘work’. There
are obviously some situations where big, bold, loud
messages and actions are needed. Craftivism is not
a replacement for traditional activism, and the aim,
rather than to make all our campaigning gentle and
creative, is to open up paths into the activist world
to people who don’t feel called or able to partake in
traditional forms of protest.
That being said, there are situations and campaigns for
which craftivism works well. The small, slow actions
attract many who wouldn’t otherwise be interested in
activism, and beautiful, intriguing creations catch the
attention of people who usually block out the noise of
protests. In that way, it can be much more effective
than traditional forms of campaigning.
Is it for me?
In short – yes! Craftivism is for everyone. Whether
you’re a regular stitcher or wouldn’t know which way
up to hold a knitting needle, craftivism isn’t aimed at
perfection, and I would recommend everyone to give
it a go. In fact, for people who have never been very
creative or crafty, it can be even more powerful as a
tool for reflection, due to the need to really slow down
and concentrate on the activity. It can be frustrating to
start with, but once you get into it, it is really rewarding.
Equally, if you wouldn’t necessarily see yourself as an
activist, remember that the term can be much broader
than most people realise. Whether you’re making craft
projects to sell for charity, designing something to
inspire people reflect on an issue, or just using craft as
a way of subverting and escaping the hectic nature of
the world around us, craftivism takes many forms and
can be as simple or as involved as you want it to be.
How do I get started?
You’ve decided craftivism is brilliant and you want to
try it out – great! We’ve found a project idea to get you
started, or you could come up with some of your own.
The Craftivist Collective, started by Sarah Corbett, has
loads of good resources online, and you can purchase
ethically produced kits you can craft yourself – there’s
no excuse not to join in the craftivist movement!
Why not try using their suggested footprint craft
project to reflect on SCM’s ‘Loving the Earth’ campaign?
All you need is some fabric cut out into a footprint
shape, a pencil, and a needle and thread – these are
available as a craft kit from www.craftivist-collective.
com, along with detailed instructions if you’re an
absolute beginner (and it includes a free gift!).
Here’s what to do:
1. Write on the footprint any quote that inspires you
to do your bit in taking care of our planet
2. Stitch over the words to create a beautiful,
embroidered reminder to take care of the
environment every day
3. Use the time you spend stitching to reflect on
why you want to be more mindful of your effect
on the environment, and what practical steps you
could take as a result
Once you’ve created your footprint, hang it somewhere
you will see it regularly as a reminder to yourself of
your responsibility to our planet, and of the reflections
you had while you were stitching. And there you go –
welcome to craftivism!
EMMA TEMPLE
Photos on previous page by Amandine Cornillon (wall painting) and
Emma-Louise Comerford (wool) on Unsplash
CAMPAIGN NEWS
FAITH IN ACTION
Encouraging students to put faith into action through campaigning and social justice
work is a big part of SCM’s vision. We believe faith and justice are inseparable, and
that includes justice for the Earth too! For the past year, SCM’s campaign focus Loving
the Earth has been inspiring members to take action on all things green, and next year
we will be focusing on mental wellbeing too.
LOVING THE EARTH
Caring for the beautiful creation we’ve been trusted with is so important, now more than ever. As Christians we are called to
speak out to save our God-given home from the irresponsible ways we’ve been abusing the planet. SCM member and former
trustee Caitlin Wakefield wrote a beautiful piece on this in the last issue of Movement – go and check it out!
Here is what’s coming up and what you can do to get involved:
Look out for more green challenge actions coming up from SCM on social media
and in our e-newsletter, In the Loop
Check out the Climate Coalition – SCM is a member of the
coalition and supports the fantastic work they do. Look out for their
#SpeakUp campaign resources on speaking to your MP
about climate change by following them
on twitter @TheCCoalition
Think about reducing your meat
and/or dairy consumption. You can
get inspired and find
out more about how
this helps at www.
meatfreemondays.com
Find out about divesting
your church from fossil
fuels with Operation
Noah’s ‘Bright Now’
campaign. Visit
www.brightnow.org.uk
20 MOVEMENT Issue 158 21

MENTAL WELLBEING
Over the years SCM has campaigned on all sorts of topics
such as Tax Justice, Equal Access to university for Asylum
Seekers and Refugees, and hunger in the UK.
For the coming year we’re turning our attention towards
an issue which affects a huge proportion of the student
population, and introducing Mental Wellbeing as our new
campaign focus. According to Student Minds:
“Approximately 29% of students experience clinical levels
of psychological distress, associated with increased risk
of anxiety, depression, substance use and personality
disorders. Universities have, over the past five years,
experienced significant increases in demand for counselling
and disability services.”
It is estimated that 1 in 4 people will experience a mental
health condition at some point in their life, and The Guardian
reported in 2017 that 60% of students say that stress
makes it difficult for them to cope at uni. On top of this, the
Mental Health Foundation reports that mental health issues
disproportionally affect women, disabled people, people of
colour, and the LGBTQIA+ community.
We want to empower students to take action to improve
the mental health provision at their universities, and to get
involved with initiatives to support each other in coping
with mental health at uni. We’ll be supporting Student
I’m
not
fine
Minds’ ‘University Mental Health Day’ in 2019, and we’ll be
continuing to share our health and wellbeing tips with the
hashtag #WorryFreeWednesday. We’ll also be encouraging
members to look at what our faith says about mental health
and looking after our own and each other’s wellbeing
through theological reflection and workshops, so keep your
eyes peeled for those.
Most importantly of all, we’ll be supporting you to run the
campaigns and projects you want to initiate in your SCM
communities, and to get involved locally with projects you
care about around mental wellbeing. If you know of any
groups doing great work around mental health provision, go
along to their events as a group and let them know you
support them. If you see great resources around mental
health campaigning, share them with us on social media.
We’d love to hear from YOU about what you’d like us to
cover with this campaign. SCM is a student-led organisation,
and in order for that to continue to be the case we need you
to take a lead on everything we do. So, if you have any ideas
or suggestions, share them with us through social media,
or get in touch by emailing campaigns@movement.org.uk.
it’s
okay
not
to be
okay
rob zs / Shutterstock.com
GUEST FEATURE
GREENBELT FESTIVAL
SCM has had a presence at Greenbelt Festival for a number of years, and more recently
as an Associate of the festival. We asked Paul Northup, Creative Director, to share
Greenbelt’s journey from a Christian music festival to an event that nurtures activism
and seeks justice.
After its birth in 1974 as a Christian Arts Festival
predominantly featuring Christian music, Greenbelt soon
grew to encompass global justice concerns. Faith, arts and
justice soon became its three-stranded DNA. It was clear
that the festival wasn’t just going to be about creativity
and escape; but that those impulses to imagine and create
different worlds were going to connect resolutely with
empathy and the desire to see a better world for everyone.
This liberation theological view meant that by the time the
1980s arrived, the festival was already deeply connected
with the struggles for human rights in apartheid South
Africa, the Palestinian story and people, and the internal civil
struggles in Nicaragua – to name but three interests. And,
as a result of these connections and concerns, Palestinian
Melkite Priest Elias Chacour from the Galilee, the young
black community leader Caesar Molebatsi from Soweto
in South Africa, and Gustavo Parajon, a Baptist Minister
and civil rights leader from Nicaragua all featured on the
Greenbelt programme. Greenbelt discovered its rootedness
in an interconnected world where God’s people were
struggling for justice. The festival became a platform for
the voiceless, the overlooked; a window into the world for
all those attending.
Jonathon-Watkins / Greenbelt
These concerns for justice and activism grew, and in the
mid-1990s the festival staged a special day event focussed
on the rights of refugees and migrants, Overground, inviting
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ig-named artists such as Lamb, Three Colours Red and
Goldie to perform on the bill to raise awareness. Also in the
1990s, Midnight Oil performed, their lead singer Pete Garrett
being one of the very early voices to raise awareness around
the impact of climate change. “How can we dance / When
our earth is turning / How do we sleep / While our beds
are burning?” Pete would later become a prominent Green
politician in Australia.
It was around this time that Greenbelt also formed a new
partnership with Christian Aid, a partnership that has
endured to this day. Through this relationship the festival
and festivalgoers have learned about the interplay between
campaigning, advocacy and aid, and so developed a mature
understanding of the way in which modern-day aid and
development works. These days, Greenbelt campaigns
jointly with Christian Aid each year on a particular justice
concern in the run-up to, at, and after the festival. At one
stage even the Department for International Development
partnered with the festival, recognising in the Greenbelt
constituency a group of engaged and activist people
committed to making a difference.
In the year 2000, Greenbelt joined forces with Christian Aid
and other agencies to host a special ‘Drop the Debt’ day to
mark and focus on the Jubilee 2000 campaign designed to
write off the debts of the developing world and give those
countries a fresh start. In 2005, the festival had a special
focus on the ‘Make Poverty History’ campaign – including
building a giant yellow-brick road onsite!
Other agencies besides Christian Aid – both domestic and
global – have partnered with the festival along the way,
deepening and broadening its sense of justice, advocacy,
activism and campaigning. From working with the Children’s
Society to campaign for the reintroduction of free school
dinners to collaborating with the Flesh and Blood campaign
to record the world record amount of organ and blood donor
pledges at a festival, Greenbelt has sought to embed itself
with a wide range of justice activism.
Today, the festival is committed to dialling up its activist
edge still further – and is consciously focussed on climate
change, UK poverty, migration and Israel-Palestine.
Having mainstreamed its commitments to the human rights
of Palestinians and Israelis through a special three-year
‘It’s Not Just’ campaign and its inclusion and celebration
of LGBTQIA+ contributors and festivalgoers, Greenbelt is
always looking to break new ground as it seeks to follow
after a God whose heart is for justice and the flourishing
of all. Most recently this has led the festival to develop
conscious attention on issues of racial inclusion and justice,
intersectional concerns, and gender justice.
As a creative space, Greenbelt is always restless, never
content to rest on its laurels. It is a festival always seeking to
keep up with the work of God’s Spirit in the world; to seek
the Spirit’s presence out and then to join in. Its commitment
to creativity and the imagination mean that it is not only an
arts festival – celebrating human creativity in all its forms –
but also a justice festival – imagining what it’s like to be in
someone else’s shoes and working to create a better world
for everyone. And in all this, the festival is informed by the
life, teaching and example of Jesus Christ of Nazareth who
came that all might have life in all its fullness.
To find out more about Greenbelt and to book tickets for the
2019 festival ‘Wit and Wisdom’, visit www.greenbelt.org.uk
Greenbelt
ASK THE MOVEMENT
As part of a blog series on Discipleship, we asked the movement....
WHAT CREATIVE
THINGS DO YOU DO TO
DEEPEN YOUR FAITH?
USING THE
INTERNET
“I follow Michael Hardin’s live video
teaching on Facebook and read
Anabaptist theology online, mostly
Ted Grimsrud.”
Social media isn’t necessarily evil, it’s just a tool. We
can use it wisely (or not so wisely!) to help us further our
understanding of God and deepen our relationship with
God (or to waste hours mindlessly scrolling...). Following
theologians, reverends, priests, the Pope(!), authors,
speakers or other Christian friends on Facebook, Twitter
and Instagram can be a great way of interspersing our feed
with bits of nourishment throughout the day, especially
if we’re being mindful of what we’re looking at and even
seeking it out for specific purposes.
We find these people on Twitter in particular really
challenge and deepen our own faiths and remind us that
though the world may be burning, there is still some good
out there: Dr Rachel Mann (@RevRachelMann), Rachel Held
Evans (@rachelheldevans), Jason Chesnut (@CrazyPastor),
Broderick Greer (@BroderickGreer) The Pope (@pontifex),
Father James Martin (@jamesmartinsj), Nadia Bolz-Weber
(@sarcasticluther), Revd Rob Lee (@roblee4), Bernice King
(@berniceking), Congressman John Lewis (@repjohnlewis),
Revd Sally Hitchiner (@SallyHitchiner).
CONTEMPLATION
AND REFLECTION
“I lead intercessions at church
sometimes, and I’ve found that just
sitting with the readings and hymns
for the week and physically writing
out the intercessions by hand is a good
contemplative practice for me.”
“Contemplative prayer”
Leading other people in worship means putting in the prep
time ourselves! If you struggle to make the time to read the
Bible or pray and you want to give more of your time to it,
this might be a good option for you. Why not volunteer to
lead a study at your small group?
Contemplation and meditating on the scriptures is a great
way to deepen faith, as it gives you a focus and a longer
period of time in which to really chew the words over and
let them resonate with you deeply. Contemplative prayer is
a great practice that can help focus our mind and connect
with God in a really deep way.
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READING AND
BEING CREATIVE
“I read books about Celtic spirituality and
mysticism, outside if possible but then I
often get distracted by ducks or trees.”
“When I’m well enough, I read writings
by Roman Catholic female mystics, e.g.
Teresa of Avila. When I’m less well, I
have a “faith journal” with Bible and
saints quotes that I copy out in Disney
font and doodle around/colour in.”
“…making art and playing instruments/
singing.”
Reading the writings of Christians from a specific time or
tradition, such as the mystics, can be a really helpful way
to get a new and different perspective, or sometimes to put
into words what we think or feel about things that we didn’t
quite have the vocabulary to express previously. If you find
writings that particularly resonate, inspire or challenge you,
lean into them!
Journalling and being creative are excellent ways of
deepening faith. Journalling can help you process your
thoughts and feelings about a situation or a part of the
Bible and also lets you look back over time and see what
you’ve learned or how God has been faithful. Being creative
lets us express a God-given part of ourselves in a way that
brings God glory and is also just enjoyable! It can help us
connect with God in a really unique way.
PODCASTS
“I do love a good podcast (Greg Boyd
is my dude).”
“Podcasts!!! I’ve collated a list that
are SCM-values friendly and love
exploring these.”
We’re big fans of podcasts at SCM; not only are there
loads of excellent ones out there, they’re great for people
who don’t have a lot of time to sit and read (or don’t have
the inclination to) as they can be listened to on the go or
whilst doing other things. You can find a list of suggested
podcasts on the SCM blog.
A GOOD DMC!
“Asking questions and discussing
ethical issues with friends.”
“…for me there isn’t much that beats
a deep and meaningful chat with a
friend about life and God and just being
excited about it together usually over a
drink or with food, which I think is very
biblical.”
This links back to SCM’s aim of Creating Community, a
key element of deepening faith. We need other people
to bounce ideas off of, discuss the tricky bits of life and
faith and get excited about God with. Why not try to get
involved with your local SCM community at uni for a place
that is inclusive and a safe place to explore faith? You can
find them on SCM Connect – www.movement.org.uk/
scmconnect
WHAT CAN
ACTIVISTS
LEARN FROM
JESUS?
SCM believes that faith and justice are
inseparable, so how can we follow Jesus’ lead to
change the world? Revd Dan Woodhouse reflects.
THANKS TO SHANIKA RANASINGHE, HELENA RIPLEY, SIMONE RAMACCI, ALICE BATES AND
TAYLOR DRIGGERS FOR THEIR RESPONSES.
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Students take to the streets to
protest against Italian austerity,
Milan, October 2013.
At the heart of my
activism is my faith
as a Christian, the
example of Christ,
and the Prophets
who walked the earth
before Him. Scripture
teaches us to peacefully
resist evil, to speak
truth to power; always
looking to, and usually
on behalf of, those who
have no voice.
My activism is much like an iceberg. Ninety
percent of what I do is unseen, and the
10%, such as breaking into a BAE Systems
airbase during an attempt to disarm Saudi
planes used for war crimes in Yemen, is
seen and sometimes sensationalised. The
90% is sitting in meetings, talking to MPs,
going on protests, writing letters, talking
to and, most importantly, listening to
people. The 10% is risky and usually the
last resort. Both, however, are subversive
and a danger to those who hold power
and use it unjustly.
At the heart of my activism is my faith as
a Christian, the example of Christ, and the
Prophets who walked the earth before
Him. Scripture teaches us to peacefully
resist evil, to speak truth to power; always
looking to, and usually on behalf of, those
who have no voice.
Going back to the image of the iceberg, I
wonder if the life of Jesus was likely split in
a similar way, with 10% drawing attention
to him but the rest happening in the every
day. The sensational stuff is there, such as
illegally blessing the woman who suffered
from haemorrhaging after she touched
his cloak in the hope of being healed. It
was against religious law, which for Jesus
was the law, for her to be in contact with
others whilst suffering from a bleeding
condition (Matt 9.18-26). Jesus illegally
healed on the sabbath (Mark 3.1-6), and
his disciples illegally picked food to eat
on the sabbath (Mark 2.23-28). This led
to Jesus reminding us that “the Sabbath
is made for humans not humans for the
sabbath.” (Mark 2:27). We might say
‘laws are made for humans not humans
for laws’. So, if a law prevents justice then
it’s just to ignore that law, remembering
that we are justified by God’s law of
peace, love and justice; regardless of any
legal findings of guilty or not guilty.
Then there are the less sensational
things which didn’t find a place in the
scriptures. The simple conversations
with ordinary people which you just know
is what Jesus spent most of his time
doing. We get a sense of this even if it’s
mostly not written. At the end of Matthew
chapter 21, Jesus was not arrested due
to the religious leaders being “afraid of
Eugenio Marongiu / Shutterstock.com
the crowd” (v46). Jesus’ ministry had
attracted a following, and a crowd of
questioning, unnamed, unremembered,
non-sensationalised, mostly law-abiding
people are a dangerous thing indeed.
This threat is realised in Matthew 16.18
where it is written: “The gates of Hades
will not prevail against the church”,
suggesting that when Christianity moves
proactively against evil, like a battering
ram against a door, it will not stand
against its strength.
Jesus was a threat to the powers of
the world, and those powers set out to
destroy him. People don’t get arrested,
tortured and crucified for just saying
a few nice things. As it was then for
Jesus, so it is now for those who speak
out against injustice. The life and efforts
of an activist have been ridiculed, and
have become easier to dismiss. It might
be that we are perceived as crazy
hippies; idealists who don’t understand
how the world really works. That we are
anarchists, in the derogatory sense of
the word, who would plunge the world
into chaos. Perhaps we are terrorists, or
at least terrorist sympathisers. Enemies
of the state even, as the chair of BAE
Systems once referred to my Quaker
friend Sam and I as. Most commonly of
all, activists don’t change anything, we
waste our time and should ‘get a job’ to
quote many a protest passer-by.
However, I’m encouraged that we are so
despised and slandered. If we were simply
ignored then it would mean we were not
having any effect. The fact is that we are,
we will and we have done. Just think of
the anti-slave trade movement, apartheid
in South Africa, the civil rights movement,
Gandhi, suffrage, or even simple things
like gaining an extra bin so recyclables
would no longer go to landfill. All of these
things came about because of activists.
The great news is that we can all
be activists, though sometimes the
strangest things might put us off. The
problem with only seeing the 10%,
whether that is Jesus’ badass moves
or an activist’s news-worthy actions,
is that it makes activism seem a little
unattainable. Really, activism is about the
thousands of uncredited people who are
willing to do the smallest of things, and to
keep doing them. Movements are made
by the 99%, not the remembered 1%.
Inspiring figures are important but who
did the most to change the U.S. - Martin
Luther King Jr. or the countless masses
who campaigned for change?
So good news and bad news for activists.
The bad news is that the powers of
this world seek to silence activists and
have done a great job of silencing the
church. The good news is that if we all
became an activist, a word that should
be synonymous with Christian, then the
gates of Hades will not overcome.
So I encourage you to join or start a crowd
with a desire to bring about change. For
when we act together for change, the
smallest of moves are a terrifying threat
to the powers of this world.
Revd Dan Woodhouse is a Methodist
Minster, campaigner and antiarms
activist. Follow him on Twitter
@revdanwoodhouse
Really, activism is
about the thousands of
uncredited people who
are willing to do the
smallest of things, and
to keep doing them.
Movements are made
by the 99%, not the
remembered 1%.
So I encourage you to
join or start a crowd
with a desire to bring
about change. For
when we act together
for change, the
smallest of moves are a
terrifying threat to the
powers of this world.
28 MOVEMENT Issue 158 MOVEMENT Issue 158
29

THE LONG READ
AN INTRODUCTION TO
INTERSECTIONALITY
When we see a situation of injustice and take
action to change it, we can often overlook the
other factors that can lead to the oppression
of some groups in our society. We need to be
intersectional in our approach to truly make a
difference. But what does that mean?
Intersectionality means acknowledging our various experiences,
often in terms of privilege, and how these affect each other. It takes
as a starting point the fact that we have different experiences, and
that these experiences influence and intersect with each other. If
we have a particular experience – for example, being white – we
experience the world as a white person. This risks blinding us to the
experiences and issues faced by people who are not white.
Think of it as being dealt a hand of cards. You have cards for race,
the sex you were assigned at birth, sexuality, trans-cis identity, (dis)
ability, class, education, immigrant status and so on. A few people
get absolutely rubbish hands and a few people have absolutely
amazing hands. Most of us are in the middle – we have a good card
or two and a rubbish card or two, and some others in the middle.
For example, someone might have cards for ‘white’, ‘cis’,
‘male’ and ‘heterosexual’ but a rubbish card for ‘wealth’. What
intersectionality means is that this hypothetical man experiences
his whiteness, cis-ness, masculinity and heterosexuality differently
than someone who has those cards but has a good card for wealth
– his lack of wealth affects these things in different ways. However,
he also has a different experience from someone who has the
same rubbish wealth card but who also has a ‘woman’, ‘queer’,
‘non-white’ and ‘disabled’ card. Intersectionality can account for
complex situations, like poor white men and rich Black women, and
helps us understand that privilege doesn’t occur along simple axes.
It can also help identify areas where people experience multiple
oppressions and how these oppressions interact in complicated,
sometimes unpredictable ways.
30 MOVEMENT Issue 158 MOVEMENT Issue 158
31

A fairly common
experience for
intersectional feminists
is to encounter white, cis,
middle-class, able-bodied
feminists that are telling
them that they should be
focusing on their particular
interpretation of feminism
and leaving race, class,
disability, trans experiences
etc out of it.
The term ‘intersectionality’ was coined by activist and critical race theorist
Kimberlé Crenshaw to better analyse these overlapping, interacting systems
of oppression.
Here’s an example based on Crenshaw’s analyses of the interaction of race
and gender. Let’s say a company decides to sack all its non-white women
workers. Technically, they aren’t being racist – after all, they’re still employing
non-white men. And technically they aren’t being sexist – after all, they’re still
employing white women. However, people who exist in the middle of those
intersections are being discriminated against.
A fairly common experience for intersectional feminists is to encounter white,
cis, middle-class, able-bodied feminists that are telling them that they should
be focusing on their particular interpretation of feminism and leaving race,
class, disability, trans experiences etc out of it. To draw a parallel, it’s a bit
like being told by lefties that “you can have feminism after the revolution”, or
“how dare you accuse us of sexism, it distracts from class war.”.
WHY INTERSECTIONALITY MATTERS
I am someone who lives in the intersections. In some ways I am enormously
privileged. I am highly educated; when I was growing up my parents could
afford books and they encouraged and valued my education. In other ways, I
am far less so: I am queer, transgender, non-white, born of immigrant parents.
Intersectionality is the only framework I’ve found that can make sense of
these experiences.
Living in such intersections means you can have no heroes. People who are
good on trans issues can disappoint you when it comes to race; people good
on race issues can disappoint you when it comes to sexuality; people good on
LGBTQIA issues can disappoint you when it comes to disability issues.
As a child, I never saw people in the news or on TV or in books who were
like me. As an activist, there are groups that I won’t go near because of their
racism, sexism, homophobia and transphobia. As a student, I was never taught
by someone with a non-European, non-white background – and when I teach,
I am incredibly aware that this may have been the case for my students. I am
constantly aware of being the only minority in some way in almost any group
I’m in. I am constantly aware that no space is completely safe for me. For me,
intersectionality is a real, visceral thing.
DOING INTERSECTIONALITY
The issue for me is not about putting aside differences, but about how to
react when faced with them – and especially how to react when you’re part
of the system that unthinkingly perpetuates such hierarchies.
For example, I don’t identify as disabled. I am unaware of what it’s like to
navigate society as a disabled person, and if I’m not careful I can unintentionally
hurt people. What I do try to do is be aware of access issues, never speak
on behalf of people with disabilities if someone who actually experiences
such issues is willing to speak, amplify their voices (this can be through
promoting their writing, events or activism, or literally handing someone the
microphone), listen and learn, and learn the etiquette. If I can help without
talking over someone or denying them their voice I will do so. For example, in
tutor training sessions I’ve pointed out access issues because no one else did.
But basically, I take my lead from them.
Whether or not I am a disability ally is not my decision to make – I don’t get
to decide whether I am or not. Instead I try to behave in a way that supports
that group of people without Making It All About Me.
I don’t get this right all the time. I make mistakes and I am called on them.
When this happens, I apologise. I try to always take the criticism on board
and change my behaviour in light of it. When I am criticised it’s often not
particularly personal; it’s because I’ve blundered into something or screwed
up, and so embodied something that hurts people with disabilities. There’s
a balance between being systematically unaware of issues because you
don’t experience them, and using that as an excuse to not learn and educate
yourself.
Dr Kat Gupta is a lecturer at the University of Roehampton. Their research
interests include corpus linguistics, critical discourse analysis, digital
humanities, gender, queer theory, language and ideology and language and
politics. They blog at mixosaurus.co.uk.
I am constantly aware of
being the only minority
in some way in almost
any group I’m in. I am
constantly aware that
no space is completely
safe for me. For me,
intersectionality is a real,
visceral thing.
There’s a balance between
being systematically
unaware of issues because
you don’t experience them,
and using that as an
excuse to not learn and
educate yourself.
32
MOVEMENT Issue 158
MOVEMENT Issue 158
33

TOP TIPS
FOR FRESHERS
Advice on building friendships and maintaining
relationships at university.
As you get settled into life at uni, you
might notice that your relationships
with those around you begin to change.
There is a chance that your friends from
school drift from your inner circle to
becoming more like acquaintances, and
that your family dynamic shifts slightly
now that you are more independent.
This is all perfectly normal, and our
relationships with those around us are
bound to change as we go through life.
One of the key aspects of any successful
relationship – with family, friends or a
romantic partner - is communication.
Frustrated with family checking in all the
time to make sure you’re eating well? Talk
to them. Feeling left out of a friendship
group because you can’t always meet
up? Talk to them. Wondering where your
relationship with your significant other is
going next? Talk to them!
Building Friendships
Before heading to university, you might
have made a devout promise to keep
in touch with every single one of your
friends; committing to speaking to them
every day, updating them on everything
uni life throws at you, and visiting them
at least once a week. By the time the
end of the first semester rolls around
you might realise that none of this
actually happened. So, what’s the deal
with keeping up friendships from before
uni - is it an impossible task or do we
just need to manage our expectations?
them and having unique life experiences
together. You will also be changing and
growing yourself and you may come to
realise that you have outgrown some of
the friendships you used to have.
But what about the friendships you really
value and want to continue building?
How do you continue to build them?
Firstly, realise that it will require effort. To
keep up good friendships you must really
invest in them. You are going to be very
busy, so keeping in contact with friends
who are equally busy will be tricky.
Making opportunities to spend quality
time with friends will help. Having a set
time which you both try and protect and
prioritise as much as possible is a great
start - this might be a weekly skype call,
or WhatsApp-ing each other during your
favourite TV show. It is also a good idea
to plan in time where you can visit each
other, to meet each other’s new friends
and check out their new city.
As much fun as it will be to stay
connected with old friends, balance this
with realistic expectations. Investing in
maintaining pre-uni friendships does not
mean that you cannot make new friends
too. Join some societies or sports teams
to meet people with similar interests,
and say yes to invites to coffee from
course mates. You might find that you
have more in common with the person
you thought you were least likely to, so
be open to connecting with others.
But what about the
friendships you really
value and want to
continue building?
How do you continue
to build them?
Firstly, realise that it
will require effort.
Let’s start with this; there is no doubt
that the friends we make at school or
college can be friends for life. But at
uni you are almost definitely going to
form some awesome new friendships
too, because you will be spending so
much time with these people, living with
The main reason it is important to be
investing in friendships is simple; it’s
always good to have someone to lean
on, someone to talk to, someone who
knows you deeply and will help you
grow. These friends can be the most
important people in your life. Building
34 MOVEMENT Issue 158 MOVEMENT Issue 158
35
Simon Maage on Unsplash

Sexuality is more
than the act of having
sex with someone.
It’s about who you
are, and who you’re
attracted to and want
to have a relationship
with. Sometimes
these things can be
difficult to figure out,
and it’s OK to have
questions!
this kind of friendship is something that
Jesus modelled with his disciples. He
spent time with them, they knew each
other almost as well as family and they
were very committed to each other
(possibly with one exception…). But
these relationships didn’t just happen
- they were built and chiselled and
grown over years and through shared
experience.
Sex and Relationships
Everyone will have different experiences
and views about sex, and there are no
prerequisites for sexual relationships.
You may want to wait until you’re
married or in a civil partnership to have
sex, or to have sex with a partner before
making that commitment. You might not
even want to have sex at all, and that’s
fine too!
For Christians, faith is an important
aspect of a person’s identity. This
faith is lived out in our relationships
with others, and we try to honour one
another because we are all part of God’s
creation. What role does your faith play
in your decision making? Considering
entering a sexual relationship with
someone is a big decision, so take time
to think things through.
It’s okay to have whatever type of
sexual relationship you choose, so long
as everybody involved is happy, healthy,
consenting and comfortable with the
arrangements you make. Remember,
nobody has the right to ask you to do
something you do not feel comfortable
doing and you should never feel
pressured into doing something which
you do not want to do.
Sexuality
Sexuality is more than the act of having
sex with someone. It’s about who
you are, and who you’re attracted to
and want to have a relationship with.
Sometimes these things can be difficult
to figure out, and it’s OK to have
questions!
As it’s such an important part of your
life, it’s a good idea to be familiar and
comfortable with your sexuality. Some
people find it easy to identify their
sexuality and feel comfortable with it,
but that’s not the case for everyone. If
you’re uncertain or unhappy about your
sexuality, it’s important to remember
that you’re not alone.
If you can’t talk to your family or friends
about your sexuality, your GP, university
or Students’ Union should be able to
put you in touch with a counsellor. You
can also find lots of support online, for
example www.inclusive-church.org and
www.onebodyonefaith.org.uk.
The NHS Live Well website has lots
of useful information about sex and
relationships – www.nhs.uk/live-well
You can find more advice for Freshers’ on the SCM blog at www.movement.org.uk/
blog and also on the Christian Student Guide site – www.thechristianstudentguide.
com. Freshers can also request a Freshers’ Pack full of useful resources like our Going to
Uni guide by visiting www.movement.org.uk/freshers
CHANGING THE WORLD...
We asked three SCM members to share their experience
of putting their faith into action through activism.
...through taking direct action
My German hometown was, for a long time, the
site of a large annual Neo-Nazi march, and I was
compelled to join peaceful sit-down blockades to
prevent it from taking place. I joined with thousands
of people that stood in the streets and squares to
directly prevent the march from taking place, even
though this action put us in breach of the law and
at odds with the police. But nevertheless, for a few
years, each February thousands of people decided
to take direct action to stop Neo-Nazis. We all
knowingly risked charges for breaking the laws on
public assembly. In the end, the blockades were
successful. This particular Neo-Nazi march is now
history after it had been happening every year for
over a decade.
The keys to this success were preparation,
community and solidarity. Direct action is hard and
risky. Convincing a large number of people to take
direct action is even harder. Many organisations had
to put their differences aside to organise together
which was important as they provided tools for the
participants to be as prepared as possible. They
encouraged us to form small affinity groups which
would stick together during the blockades. We met
beforehand to talk about our expectations, possible
tricky situations and our personal boundaries. A
member of my affinity group shared that she is
extremely scared of dogs, so we agreed to move
away if there were any police dogs. We also
prepared snacks, songs and activities to keep us
warm and cheerful during the blockade. By sticking
together and respecting each other’s boundaries,
we pulled off a large day long blockade in a wet
winter, managed unpleasant interactions with the
police and later even dealt with charges that were
brought (and then dropped) against some of us.
Direct action makes for spectacular photos and
often makes the news, and therefore it is sometimes
seen as a particularly valuable or heroic form of
activism. But it should not be glorified or elevated
over other forms of activism. Not everybody can,
wants to or should take part in direct action.
There are many different forms of activism which
can go hand in hand and complement each other.
The blockades would not have worked without
the people who wrote press releases, designed
posters, collected signatures, donated to the legal
defence fund, made tea and prayed at vigils in local
churches. The blockades would have been pointless
without the continuous activism that equips youth
workers, schools and sports clubs to work against
the spread of Neo-Nazi ideology, or the researchers
and journalists that help illuminate the networks that
connect right-wing parties and violent Neo-Nazis.
There is a form of activism suitable for everybody.
All are valuable and can work together towards a
common goal.
JULIANE BORCHERT
36 MOVEMENT Issue 158 MOVEMENT Issue 158
37

...as a girlguiding advocate
Since 2016 I have been a member of
Girlguiding’s youth panel, Advocate. We’re a
group of 18 young Girlguiding members from
all over the UK, and we lead the charity’s
campaigns and research. I applied to be an
Advocate because I felt young people weren’t
being listened to, particularly in politics,
and I wanted to do something to change it.
I couldn’t, however, have anticipated what
an incredible platform it would be and the
amazing opportunities it would give me.
I’ve learnt so much: we’ve had workshops on
inclusion and accessibility in campaigning,
digital skills and media training to name
a few. It’s also given me some incredible
opportunities. I’ve rallied for support of our
campaign to end sexual harassment in schools
at the Women’s Equality Party conference, I’ve
spoken on national radio about media sexism,
and I’ve been interviewed on TV about women
in politics. Advocate has also introduced me to
some of the most badass women I could ever
hope to meet and given me a group of truly
great friends.
In October 2017, one of the other Advocates
shared an article to our WhatsApp group
about a British family facing extreme poverty.
We were all furious - the teenage daughter
couldn’t afford menstrual products – so
we called on Girlguiding to take action on
period poverty. Fast forward six months and
Girlguiding is running a national campaign to
end period poverty led by us, the Advocates.
We are calling for the Government to allocate
funding for educational establishments to
provide menstrual products for students
who need them, and we’re encouraging our
young members and our volunteers to talk
openly about periods, to try to end the stigma
surrounding menstruation. As part of the
campaign, we’ve got an ‘end period poverty’
badge, which Girlguiding members can buy
and wear with pride. Plus, there are activities
that Girlguiding groups can do to learn more
about periods, and we’re asking groups to
take action and donate menstrual products
to their local foodbanks. There aren’t many
organisations that would let young people lay
the foundations for national campaigns, and I
feel so proud to be part of one.
For me, activism is a natural part of my faith.
I believe that, as Christians, we are called to
make the world a better and fairer place. I
know what a privilege it is to have a platform
like Advocate, and I find it ridiculously difficult
to express how grateful I am. My two-year
term as an Advocate comes to an end this
autumn, but I feel called and empowered to
continue campaigning after I finish.
LIDDY BUSWELL
...BY WORKING FOR JUSTICE
War Resisters’ International (WRI) is a global
network of grassroots, antimilitarist and pacifist
organisations, and I work on the Nonviolence
Programme, developing resources, books,
websites, and training. From my first encounter
with WRI, the organisation’s broad, radical
understanding of nonviolence has nourished my
own determination to take action to resist war and
create a more just, more peaceful world.
WRI is committed to using nonviolence to
challenge and resist war and it’s causes, which
means we combine active resistance (such as
direct action or civil disobedience) with dialogue,
non-cooperation (by withdrawing our support
from systems of oppression) and engaging in
constructive work to build alternatives that are
equitable, sustainable, and just.
Nonviolence is a tool that can help us to understand
the root causes of violence and oppression. We
recognise that wars don’t happen in a vacuum and
they are not inevitable, but that complex social,
economic and political systems make war more
likely. Peace researchers have described these
‘invisible’ forms of violence as ‘structural’ and
‘cultural’ violence, that make ‘direct’ violence –
from the home to the battlefield – more likely.
When our economic, social, and political
structures are heavily bent towards supporting
our government’s ability to fight wars, we
describe these structures as ‘militarised’. This is
why WRI describe ourselves as an ‘antimilitarist’
organisation, and why we say we resist war and
it’s causes. For example, members of the WRI
network are often taking action against the arms
trade, a form of economic, or structural, violence
that precipitates war.
In turn, this means that what we mean by
‘nonviolence’ goes far beyond just our physical
actions when we attend a protest or take part in
nonviolent direct action – it means we must do
what we can to avoid mimicking the structural
and cultural violence of a militarised society. This
has profound implications for how we organise
ourselves, our understanding of gender roles
and patriarchy, our movement’s decision-making
structures, and many other elements. What do we
need do to demilitarise our lives, our communities,
and our world?
You can find a whole host of stories,
strategies, and tools for exploring nonviolence
on our website Empowering Nonviolence:
www.nonviolence.wri-irg.org
ANDREW METHEVEN
38 MOVEMENT Issue 158 MOVEMENT Issue 158
39

REVIEWS
THINGS A BRIGHT
GIRL CAN DO
THE BIBLE AND
DISABILITY: A
COMMENTARY
This commentary is undoubtedly a very
prescient endeavour. Along with the rest
of the world, the church is grappling
with how to be not only more accessible,
but also more radically inclusive for
people with disabilities.
This collection presents a variety
of positive and exciting theologies
of disability without shying away
from difficult Scriptures and the
inevitable complexity of the topic.
It doesn’t whitewash and makes
ample reference to less than flattering
interpretations of the Bible in order
to present a comprehensive picture.
It is not light reading, the tone, as
expected, is academic and technical and
presupposes a robust knowledge of the
Bible.
My impression is that not only is
the scholarship thorough, but the
methodology is solid to match. They
have looked for scholars who straddle
both disability studies and theology and
the result is equally useful to students
of either discipline. There are a variety
of almost universally progressive
approaches in the essays and each has a
slightly different thematic focus.
The commentary covers the whole of
the Western Canon; a huge amount
to digest and to dip into depending
on personal interest. This kind of
rigorous interrogation of Scripture
enables the development of a positive,
radically inclusive and hospitable
theology of disability that challenges
the preconceptions of, and is resilient to
the attacks of, those who seek division
and exclusivity. As such, and with the
proviso that the text is challenging in
its complexity, I’d recommend it to all
those with an interest in a Christian
response to disability.
JESSICA DALTON
I read Things a Bright Girl Can Do by
Sally Nicholls on the train home from my
final SCM General Council Meeting. I
felt that it was a particularly appropriate
book to review for an issue of Movement
where the theme is activism.
It is a Young Adult novel which tells the
story of three young women from different
backgrounds who were involved in the
women’s suffrage campaigns in 1914,
and traces their lives throughout the first
World War in a kind of ‘coming of age’
story. In the novel Nicholls explores the
tensions between militarism and pacifism
both within the suffrage movement and
during wartime.
Overall a great read, I would give it a ten
out of ten.
GEMMA KING
THE SHAKEN
PATH
I am very much not a Pagan. Whenever I
attend Pagan rituals with my girlfriend (who
self-defines as a witch) I am struck by their
beauty and by how difficult I find it to suspend
my rational scepticism. As such there are some
areas of my partner’s faith that I find completely
bizzare and that, as it comes so naturally to her,
she struggles to explain to me. It is very difficult
to translate Pagan faith and ritual for someone
who operates in Christian theological language,
especially for a Christian who operates in the
tradition of Free Christian rational dissent.
Despite the difficulty of this task, I am left in no
doubt that Revd Cudby has done a sterling job
with this book, making every effort not to fall in
to the trap of adopting a comparative approach.
Readers hoping to find simple statements such as
“all Pagans believe…” will be sorely disappointed.
This is a good thing. The book covers what are
widely seen as the most common Neo-Pagan
traditions including Wicca, Druidry, Animism,
Shamanism, and Heathenism. It also finds
the space to address the diversity within these
traditions rather well.
That said this is not a dry academic tome
but rather a book that is engaging as it is
informative. Yes, he makes good use of previous
literature from both Pagan and Christian
sources but this is interspersed with accounts of
his own personal spirituality, and those of people
and Pagan ceremonies that he has encountered.
The author does not shy away from being
honest about his own personal experiences, his
theological positions, and his strongly Church
of England context. This can, at times, lead to a
failure to acknowledge the diversity of theological
positions present in the Christian tradition.
That said, as this is a book about Paganism for
Christians and not Christianity for Pagans.
The Shaken Path: A
Priest’s Exploration of
Modern Pagan Belief and
Practice
Revd Paul Cudby
Paperback
ISBN: 1785355201
ROBIN HANFORD
The Bible and Disability: A Commentary
Things a Bright Girl Can Do
Sarah J. Melcher (editor)
Sally Nicholls
Hardback
ISBN: 148130853X (?????)
Paperback
ISBN: 1783446730
40 MOVEMENT Issue 158
MOVEMENT Issue 158
41

REVIEWS
Undivided: Coming Out,
Becoming Whole, and
Living Free from Shame
Vicky Beeching
Hardback
ISBN: 0008182140
UNDIVIDED
I’ve been a fan of Vicky Beeching for a long time, since
she was known for being a musician more so than her
media work. I was at Greenbelt just weeks after she
came out as a lesbian, where she received a standing
ovation before she even said anything. I was therefore
excited to read her book, Undivided, and it did not
disappoint.
Undivided is the powerful, real and sometimes raw
account of Beeching having to hide her identity
growing up, and how this experience, and the church,
has damaged her both physically and mentally. It also
explores the Biblical understandings that underpin
how she has come to accept how her identity and her
faith can coexist. She tells of the trials of singleness,
about the times she led worship after someone had
preached hate about who she is, and how things have
changed now. It’s heart breaking to read, but important
to see another’s story and learn from it to see what
change still needs to happen.
Beeching is sticking with the church; her worship
habits have changed but she misses the Pentecostal
worship styles she grew up with and is committed to the
Anglican Church, hoping, praying and campaigning
for a more inclusive future. Interestingly Beeching uses
male pronouns for God in the book - she decided to pick
her battles and hopes that evangelicals may pick up the
book and see, as she has, that the Bible might not be
against same sex relationships like it is often assumed.
It’s not an easy read, but it’s an important one.
RACH COLLINS
130
CHALLENGE
2019 marks the 130th anniversary of SCM, and we’re asking our
members and supporters to celebrate with us by taking part in
the 130 Challenge!
We’re looking for 130 people to raise £130 over the course of 2019, raising an
additional £17,000 for our work with students. That would most certainly be a
happy birthday to us!
Will you take part?
We are asking people to sign up and take on a challenge of their choice to raise
£130 for SCM’s work, helping us to create inclusive communities for students across
Britain.
You could try a sponsored event, such as running a mile a day for 130 days, walking
130,000 steps in 10 days or playing 130 songs on a musical instrument.
Or, you could organise a quiz night or a picnic, donating the proceeds to our cause.
You could even give something up for SCM and donate the money you save - one
less takeaway coffee a week for a year will easily save you £130.
To sign up for the challenge visit www.movement.org.uk/birthday
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MOVEMENT Issue 158
MOVEMENT Issue 158
43

scm_britain
student christian movement
Grays Court, 3 Nursery Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 3JX
t: 0121 426 4918 e: scm@movement.org.uk w: www.movement.org.uk