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issue 1-13 | spring 2OO3
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MOVEMENI is the termly ma{azine
the Student Christian Movement,
distributed ftw of char{e to memberc
and dedicated to an open-mindd
expl o rati o n of Ch ri sti a n ity.
Editor: Liam Purcell
e: editor@movement.org.uk
Next copy date: 28 February 20O3
Editorial group: David Anderson, Liam Purcell,
Elinor Mensingh, Marie Pattison, Kate Powell,
Rebecca Hawthorne
SCM staff: Co-ordinator Elinor Mensingh; links
Worker Marie Pattison; Office Administrator
Rebecca Hawthorne
SGM office: University of Birmingham, Weoley
Park Road, Selly Oak, Birmingham B29 6LL
r (o121) 47t2404
f. (OL2L) 414 5619 mark faxes 'FAO SCM'
e: scm@movement.org.uk
Website: www. movement.org. uk
Printed by: Henry Ling Limited, Dorchester
lndividual membership of SCM (includes
Movement) costs f,15 per year (t1O if unwaged).
Subscription lo Movement only costs 97 per year.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in Movement
are those of the particular author and should not
be taken to be the policy ofthe Student Christian
Movement.
tssN o306-980x
Charity number 24La96
o 2003 scM
llevencnt
movement
feature:
introducinE
christianity
movement
reviews
platform David Anderson 3
newsfile 4
on campus 6
campaigns 7
diary 8
a headless chicken? Neil EIIiott 9
worldview: germany Ulrich Falkenha$en 70
disarmin$ actions Helen SteYen 72
celebrity theologian Matt Bullimore 73
small ritual Steve Collins 74
evangelism in a $lobalised world Tim Gorrin$e 75
marketing the gosPel 17
iourneying together John Vincent 79
radical discipleship Liam Purcell 2O
ties and binds Jim Cotter 2I
life in all its fullness? Niall Cooper 22
first among equals Claire Connor 24
if nobody speaks of remarkable things
by lon McGre$or 25
the beginning stages of...
by the PolYPhonic SPree 26
sweet sixteen directed by Ken Loach 27
a telling place by Joy Mead 28
shiP of fools 29
resources round-up 30
serpent 31
Have youl say - join Movement's editorial team
Movemlent is pui tog-etner by an editorial group including the editor, SCM staff, and student
representatives. There is a vacancy at the moment for a student representative on the group.
lf you would like to be involved in deciding the content and themes of Movement, and could
spare one afternoon a term for meetings, e-mail the editor at editor@movement.orA.uk.
Wanted! Articles, teviews, artwork
We want Movement to be as open as possible. All your ideas are welcome. Have you got somethind
to say? An issue you want explored? Ever fancied yourself as a writer?
Send your articles and ideas, or just your details if you'd like to write for us in the future, to the editor
at editor@movement.org.uk. All submissions will be considered by our editorial group.
platform
just war theory
ls the West waging a iust war, or iust a war?
Every time it looks like Western nations
are going to go to war, you get people -
often bishops who should know better -
who tell us that they think it is a just
war. But they don't often seem to say
what they think a just war is, other than
that they personally mean welland think
something must be done. People
arguing agaanst wars don't invoke just
war theory at all. But neither side seems
to understand what the theory is.
Just war theory requires that any proposed
military campaign fulfil seven conditions:
. There must be a just cause.
. The campaign must be declared as a
matter of last resort.
. The campaign must be declared by the
appropriate legal authority.
. The authority must have just intentions.
. The campaign must have a chance of
success.
. The consequences of the campaign must not
be worse than those of not campaigning.
. Only just means must be used in the
campaign.
We've had two debates in the past 2 years
over whether to go to war, first with Afghanistan
and then with lraq. What was worrying about
both debates was that proponents of the just
war seemed to believe that because the
campaign tulfilled the first condition (that there
was a just cause for war) and because they
believed it fulfilled the sixth condition
(something had to be done), it also fulfilled the
other fwe. Meanwhile, some of those opposing
the war seemed to believe that the only way to
deny that the conditions for a just war were
fumlbd was to deny that the attack on the World
Trade Centre was a just cause for any sort of
'action. (Whether it was a just cause for wa$ng
war on the Taliban is another question.)
It seems to me that if anything counts as a
just cause to go to war, then a direct
intentional attack upon innocent civilians is
such a cause. 'lnnocent' here means that the
civilians concerned are not directly engaged in
violent activity. lt does not matter whether or
not they are participating in or maintaining a
system that causes people's deaths: killing
them does not end the exploitation. lt is true
that Western policies towards the rest of the
world could be expected to provoke such an
attack: my GCSE geography textbook
predicted a terrorist attack L2 years ago. But
that is not to say that anybody deserved to die.
However, this still does not mean that the
other six conditions were satisfied. lt is not
clear that all the options for extraditing Bin
Laden were tried before going to war against
Afghanistan. lt is still not clear that the
consequences of the campaign were better
than inaction would have been: although the
Taliban were a fairly unpleasant regime and
Western newspapers were full of pictures of
women taking off their burqas with relief, it
seems that Afghans are still being threatened
by starvation, as well as by unexploded
bombs. lt is not clear that the campaign had
a reasonable chance of success: as I write,
Osama Bin laden is apparently alive and well.
Furthermore, while civilian casualties are
inevitable in any military campaign, the use of
just means requires that one sacrifice military
effectiveness to minimise civilian casualties.
But one cannot assess these claims properly
merely from the incomplete accounts in the
newspapers. The really troubling criterion is
that of just intention.
The requirement that war be waged with a
just intention is not a requirement that the
people going to war should mean well.
Everybody takes themselves to mean well. The
requirement means that those waging the war
should have a definite intention with which
they are going to war, such that once that
intention is realised they stop. lt was never
made clear what the intention in bombing
Afghanistan was. 'Ridding the world of
terrorism' is a definite end, with the problem
that it has no chance of success. 'Dismantling
Al Qaida' is also a definite end, although it's
not clear how far the campaign has achieved
it, given that Al Qaida is supposedly spread
through a large number of countries. As for
bringing Bin laden to justice, the campaign
has failed to do so, and no moves have been
made to establish an international court in
which he could be seen to be tried fairly.
Therc arc limits to just war theory, and with any
approach that applies rules withont refurcnce to
the people who will be directly aftcted by the
decisions made. But at least it is a start.
As I write, internationalweapons inspectors
are operating in lraq. I hope this means that
war will not be declared, unpleasant as
Saddam's regime may be. I
David Anderson
while civilian
casualties are
inevitable
in any military
campaign,
the use of
iust means
requires
that one
sacrifice
military
effectiveness
to minimise
civilian
casualties
rnember ot the rltovemert
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new editor, new features
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This issue is the first produced by our new editor, Liam Purcell. We thank Julian
Lewis, now settling into life as a domestic goddess with his baby Melody Sunshine,
for his hard work as editor last year, and David Anderson for steppin$ nobly into
the breach as interim editor for issue 112.
Liam writes... Hi. Some quick
background: I graduated in
English Language and Literature
from Birmingham UniversitY in
L997, where a Buddhist tutor
introduced me to forensic handwriting analysis, t'ai chi
and, most importantly, publishing. I work in my 'day job'
doing design, production and editing on educational
websites, books and magazines for the publisher Christian
Education. But on Fridays, as my alter-ego Space Monkey
Productions, I do freelance design and editing work for
various small charities and a web design and music
company called Silent Space (www.silence.me.uk, if the
site's up by the time you read this).
And now I edit Movetnent as well. I already know the
magazine, as I've handled the design part of the job
alongside Julian and David for the last four issues. With
Julian's departure, I worked up the courage to take on the
whole job, and I'm enjoying the challenge.
quick guest'ons
What's your favourite Possession?
My PowerBook laptop. I like to pretend I'm not a geek because
Apple computers are for creative people. Honest.
What are you reading at the moment?
Doubts and Loves by Richard Holloway, as part of my crash
course in liberal and radical theolog/ and activism for this job!
What is your favourite film?
Clich6d studenty answer, I'm afraid - Withnail and /. And yes' I
can recite all thqbest lines parrot-fashion.
How do you relax?
I do a bit of t'ai chi and yoga, or offer myself as a practice subject
for my girlfriend, who's training in shiatsu massage. lt's a tough
job but someone's got to do it.
What's your favourite iourneY?
Going away on holiday with a car full of friends, camping
equipment and silly toys. The destination doesn't really matter.
What do you like most about yourself?
I have a calmer and more laid-back approach to life than some
people I've known.
I've already introduced a couple of changes: you'll find a
report on current campaigns that groups can get involved in
on page 7, and a round-up of recently published resources of
interest to SCM members on page 30. These will be regular
features. I want Movement to help SCM's membership around
the country by offering support for their activities and inspiring
them to get involved in bringing about changes in the world'
It needs to be a two-way process - we want your input'
Elsewhere in these pages you'll read about SCM's revamped
website. We're hoping that the site can support the
magazine by offering further resources backing up our
special features, to help you explore the issues further. And
we're planning an online discussion forum, which will offer
themed debates fired off by our features, and the opportunity
for you to respond to articles that excite or annoy you'
and discuss them with other SCM members around the
country. Comment, suggestions, criticisms and (especially)
new writing are, as ever, very welcome. Send all your
outpourings to me at editor@movement.org.uk. I
What do you dislike about yourselfil
I'm an idle slacker (see my answer to the previous question).
What's your favourite word?
It changes every week, usually to one I've invented myself.
Currently 'pendulumularity', which I'm sure should mean
something.
lf you could be someone else, who would it be?
President of the USA. Not that I really want the job or am qualified'
but it would be hard to do wome than the present incumbent.
When did you last cry?
Embanassin$y, while watching The Full Monty. ln my defence, I
was very tired and emotional at the time.
What are you scared of?
George Dubya Bush.
What do you never miss on W?
I like cult Channel 4 comedy like Spaced and Black Books'
Anything with Bill Bailey in it.
What music do you listen to most?
It varies enormously - from the Chemical Brothers and Bentley
Rhythm Ace to Spiritualized, Pulp, lndigo Girls, Tori Amos.
What pet hates do You have?
I'm a cantankerous old sod and witl grumble about anything.
Particularly advertising, the media and world politics'
4 |
movement
I
stop the war
As with mct potests, the number of
demonstratorc on the Stop lhe War
marcfi in September ditrercd wiHly
according to $rfio pu listened to
after the event. Scotland Yard
estimated ftat 4O,O(n peopb had
tumed ouq fut inqereed that figUrc
later to 150,0(n. On Sund4/, fte
Obsenry quoted tthe orgpnisers' at
250,000, while the Independent
quoted presumably different
organlses at 4(D,OOO.
To me, as one of those who gathered
at London's Embankment on 28
September for the march to Hyde Park,
one thing was clear - whatever the
dispute over quantity, the quality of
demonstrators was very diverse.
Protesters came from all across Britain
and included the UK lslamic Mission,
Socialist Workers, CND, the Scottish
Socialist Pafi, Saudi Arabia fuainst
War, lecturers, priests, trade unionists,
students and families with young
children. lt emerged that many people
were marching for the first time - a
powerful indication of the huge guff
between the govemment's support for
US-planned military action against lraq
and the wishes of people in Britain.
The message was clear - that an
attack on Bagfdad is not the way to
deal with Saddam Hussein's refusal to
complywith UN resolutions. The govemment's
dossier of evidence did not show
that the threat from lraq is any greater
now than 3 years ago, and those who
would suffer in the event of a war are
the lraqi people, who have already
suffered enough under sanctions and
dictatorship. There was also consensus
that American interest in lraqi oil
reseryes is not entirely coincidental with
the threat of military action.
At the time of writing, the UN Security
Council has just voted in favour of a
resolution which threatens'serious
consequences' if Saddam Hussein
does not disarm. These consequences
have not been specified, but American
and British leaders have not left much
room for doubt. So as time ticks away
for lraq, we must not let our guard
down. When the extremists push for
war, the moderates must be ready to
shout louder against it. I
f(ate Powell, Movement editorial glroup
NEWS
SGM AGM
On 16 November I was on a train at
stupid a.m. to get to Birmingham for
the AGM. There were those in our
chaplaincy who were convinced I was
mad, but 12 hours later I was equally
convinced they were the mad ones
for missing out!
The day started with a fascinating
address on inter-faith relations by Dr
David Thomas, an Anglican priest who
lectures in Christian-Muslim relations.
The AGM itself opened with reports
from the chair of General Council and
the Co-ordinator on the website, the
staff contracts and handbook, the stall
at Greenbelt, the Trade Justice
movement, and the annual conference.
The accounts were presented, and the
importance of every member taking an
interest in SCM was highlighted. Liam
spoke about Movement, and Silke
Lechner updated us on the world-wide
activities of the World Student Christian
Federation.
The elections for this year's GC and
its first meetlng were held, letting us
new members know what we had let
ourselves in for. A bit of a challenge
- let's hope we will rise to it!
The day finished in very sociable
style with cheese and wine. Many
thanks to SCM staff for organising a
great day - interesting, informatlve
and useful, but also great fun! I
Alice Grawford, SGM General Gouncil
the Cospel demands action
'Ghristian Aid?'The question was put to me accusingly, two months into my job as Student
Worker. 'Do you really think you are doing good 'aid' work if you are pushing Ghristianity
at the same time? Why can't you Ghristians just keep it to yourself.)'
I was speaking to
students at a
careers fair in
London, trying to dispel some of the
myths about the work of relief and
development organisations in
general, and Christian Aid in particular.
One look at the 'Christian' in the
title was all this guy needed to start
on a rant about how religion was the
source of all poor people's troubles...
'Actually, I'm not a Christian.'
'Oh,' he said. Funny how that
seems to quieten people.
'We work with people of lots of
different taiths. And we don't "push"
Christianity. lt's an important part of who
we are, and most of us are practicing our
taith through Christian Aid's wort. But
we are here to help end povefi.'
'So if you're not... then how come
you're working for...?'
It's a fair question... but kinda
obvious if you think about it. Loving
your neighbour. Respecting diversity.
Being inclusive. Even striving for
sustainability. These are values which
people here hold as central to
Christianity... and I figure they are
values that most people take to be
universal. Given that, how can
anyone not support Christian Aid?
To me these values, derived from the
gospel, require us to act, to speak out
against the inequality and suffering that
our neighbours experience. To what
extent do you agree? Enough, of
course, and I'm going to try to get you
to look at www.christian-aid.org/
worship and www.christian-aid.orgl
students, to try and encourage you to
act. Not enough? Well, hopefully you'll
give me another chance to explore this
idea (and persuade you!) in the next
issue. I
Patrick Dawes,
Ghristian Aid Student Worker
Look out fot Patilck's rcEulat cotumn,
$artlng In our rext tssue
movementl5
on campus
'{)tl gelrI)pLl.i
news from the universitY world
united and frghtin$
student campai$ners who attended the recent National union
of Students conference, along with others, includin$
supporters of the Gampai$n for Free Education, have come
together in a new student forum with the aim of developing a
broad campai$ning alternative in the student movement.
The Student Campai$n Forum have a website at
www.studentcamoaignforum.org.uk, where they set out their views and
goals. They say:
'We stand for:
. a campaigning, democratic union;
. fi€htin€lracism and fascism;
. solidarity with workers at home and abroad;
. against the privatisation of public services;
Wd@me to he Sar&tl C.mF g, Forun rebsile!
NEw! vistth€ ncw loruhs sedion.
sd6.#rlldEhn'b:orElG
d6lre6rdl)saw:ofttdd
. equality, civil liberties and human rights for all;
We're sorry that the anarchic black and red colour
scheme doesn't corne across on the printed page!
. a clean, safe, sustainable environment.'
They have discussion forums and details of upcoming events on the site. lf you're concerned about proposed
changes in the higher education sector, or just want to get involved in campaigning on other issues, it looks like SCF
could be a good place to start. We'll update you on future developments led by SCF, and other $roups such as People
and Planet, on the new regular Campai$ns page (see page 7). I
Uam Purcell, Movement editor
gfiassoots rcport: univercity of walest banSor
iUnty people came to hear Bishop John Shelby Spong, tot 24 years Bishop of Newark, New Jersey,
nunCn the Anglican Ghaplaincy lectures at the University in Bangor on Monday 7 October.
The God of the Bible is immoral and unbelievable, the brains at the church door?' There are different images in
Bishop said: a God who chooses some but not others, the Bible that we can use to talk of God: wind, love, rock'
who drowns his enemies in the sea, who abuses his son The footprints of God are not beyond the sky but in the
by demanding his sacrifice. This God is not worthy of bias in creation towards life, wholeness and consciousbelief.
A God who is seen as an invader from outside ness. He is beyond all images. We don't have to think of
and an examiner of all we do needs re-conceiving. lf him as a person. lf he is the source of life we need to live
God can interyene to help me why doesn't he interuene fully; if the source of love to love wastefully; if the ground
to help everybody? A God who does not interuene is of all being we need to make him more visible.
immoral. A God who cannot is not God.
!l
We must get out of the stereotypical images of the past
We live the other side of Galileo, Copernicus, Darwin, not because they were wrong then but because they are
Einstein and Freud. Faith always changes its form and irrelevant now. Evil is not a condition into which we fell,
the church needs a wake-up call. Only in 1991 did the but is arrested development. Jesus challenges us to do
Vatican admit Galileo was rignt - almost 400 years too more than look to our own survival, the survival of our
late. We can explain miracles without the supernatural. tribe. He challenges our prejudices that exclude people
lf Jesus,ascended'into heaven we know he would not fromfullcommunitybecauseof their$ender,theircolour'
have gone anywhere but into orbit! There never was a their sexual orientation, and calls us to a new humanity.
perfecl creation. lt is evolving. Jesus does not rescue lhe Chaplaincy lectures have been launched in response to
fallen sinners but empowers a new humanity. 'l don't the events of 11 September 20o1: how can reli$ons and
want to be washed in ine btooO of anybody!' cuftures live peaceably togethef How can they be creative
Many reject the story because they reject the way we and credible in the 21st century? 'h was an excellent
have interpreted it. We need a new Reformation, a new begfnningl, saya the University Chaplain, Revd John Butler' I
Christianity for a new wortd. 'Do we have to park our
6lmovement
Anglican Ghaplaincy to the University of wales'
Bangor - an SGM'affiliated chaplaincy
?
campargns
cetrr)petigrt.J
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faith and social justice cannot be separated
ln this new feature, we'll be reportingl on campaigns being run by SGM and other organisations:
campaigns on issues specifically related to student life, and on broader issues that we think concerned
Christians might feel moved to act on.
M E
tuople&Planet
People and Planet (www.peopleandolanet.org)
is a student organisation
running campaigns on a range of environmental and social
justice issues, often with impressive success. We encourage
you to get involved in their current campaigns:
Stop GATS, defend higher education
P&P is campaigning against the new General Agreement on Trade in
Services. GATS is being negotiated now in the World Trade Organisation,
and aims to open up a whole range of seruices to the WTO's free
trade rules and systems.
lf education is one of the seruices opened up in this way, public
funding for higher education could be made illegal as an 'unfair barrier'
to free trade, 'unprofitable' courses at universities could be shut down,
tuition fees would rise due to the need to compete, and academics
would have to rely on private funding, threatening their independence.
GATS could accelerate and lock in place the already alarming commercialisation
of education, which will be even more catastrophic in Africa
and the developing world than it will in the UK.
What you can do
P&P have prepared a detailed report on the implications, and now
aim to persuade the Higher Education Minister Margaret Hodge to
launch an impact assessment before signing higher education up to
GATS. You can co-operate with a P&P group or work in your own
group on the campaign, which has two stages:
. Get action cards from P&P, and send them to the Minister.
Pressure your Student Union and your lecturers' unions to get
involved too.
. Ask your university's Vice-Chancellor to write to Margaret Hodge.
All Vice-Chancellors have already received a copy of P&P's report
on GATS. P&P suggest you apply pressure to your VC by organising
a petition if necessary. lf that doesn't work, protest! P&P groups
nationwide will be arranging stunts and demonstrations in the runup
to ttge WTO's decision on GATS in March.
Kick the arms dealers off campus!
Many universities invest in arms companies, allow them to recruit at
graduate fairs, and even receive funding from them. ln some cases,
they may be investing in regimes which oppress international students
studying at those very universities. These are your universities, and
your tuition fees they're spending. They can be pressured to adopt
ethical policies in all these areas.
Trade tustice
Movement
SCM is a member of the Trade Justice
Movement, a group of organisations
concerned with the harmful impact of current
international trade rules on the environment,
democracy and the poorest people in the
world. The Trade Justice Movement calls for
fundamental change of the unjust rules and
institutions governing international trade, so
that trade is made to work for all. ln June
2002, the TJM organised the largest ever
mass lobby of Parliament, which was attended
by SCM members.
What can you do?
. Send a greeting to the new directorgeneral
of the World Trade Organisation,
asking him to make it more democratic.
See
www.tradejusticemovement.orE. ul
diary
I
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5{ Fobrury
Sodd Rorpondbf,lly of/ln $c iortPrrollt f*cOftor
Spisska Kapitula, Slovakia
fhird seminar organised by the Gertral European Sub
Region ol the World Student Ghristian Federation. Plans
to establish a lorum for young people lrterested in
ecumenical, economic and Gertral European issues.
lf you would like to represert SGM at this evert, see
rvww. movemert.orq.uUdiarv.
8 Febntary
lnioFfrlli lppm*hc to fHcbn
Ammerdown Gonference and Retreat Gerte
An irter-faith day on the meaning and aims of mygticism,
its retevance to toda/s spiritual needs and tte
techniques and elqeriences of individuals and diflerent
laith groups.
t20 lincludes vegetarian lunch and relrcshmentsl
cr centre@ammetdown.org
21-Zl Fcblllty
S[oft.ild SptrlbellU
SGM's annual conference.
For details, see page 13 or
www. movemert,orq.uUAnnualGonf erenco.
21-2{ Flbrurt
Soilddild(201lil
The gathering ol the SPEAI( Network. A weekend of
ideas, vision, prayer and discussion, tollowed by a day ol
action: creative prayer and meeting illPs and other
decision-makerc.
E O2072494309
ei soeak@soeak.org,uk
r www.soeak.org.uk
rK, pftars for tIre sllmmer y&l
The Lingua Franca project is looking for voluntary teachers, who
are willing to:
. travel to Central or Eastern Europe during the summer;
. teach language tor 2-3 weeks;
. tearn and experience the history, religion and everyday life of
the hosting country.
The essence of Lingua Franca is that teachers, course organisers
and students mutually benefit from the language courses.
Teachers from different countries teach language for students in
Central and Eastern Europe. ln an ecumenical context, all pafticipants
share the histories and habits of their countries. As
'payment" teachers are fully hosted and get a unique insight into
the everyday life and cultural and religious traditions of the
hosting country.
The program was developed to help youth and students from
throughout the region learn with and from each other... break
down culturati tinguistic and historical barriers and help empower
young people to work together.
Experience a different kind of world!
Lingua Franca is a program of the World Student Christian
Federation, one of the otdest ecumenical organisations and one
of the few world-wide working student organisat,ons.
For more information and an application form, please contact:
WSCF Lingua Franca, c/o Evangelikus Egretemi Gyulekezet,
Maglar Tudosok Korutja 3, H-1118 Budapest, Hungary
e: wscf_lf@yahoo.com I Zsuzsa Rihay
LinElua Franca co-ordlnator
1{-16 ttdr
Wdkild TtlkWGclild
A weekend in the Sheffield inner city ashram. El0lore
some new realities; meet local actMsts and disciples; stay
with Ashram House memberc, ilo a toumeywalkabout.
ashram has produced lhe loumeyitrtroductory course to
radical Ghristianitv (see pages 19-201.
t40 lincludes accommodationl
Revd Dr lohn Vincent, Ashram Gommunity Office, 178
Abbeyfield Road, Sheflield 54 7AV
t0114 243 6688
15tfth
Prcar h Torrlr - llnfrfrhd Bntnll for tie girdt Todry
Maria Assumpta cedre, 23 Kensington Square' london W8
Pax Ghristi, the international Gatholic movement lor
peace, hold their fortieth anniversary conference'
t10 waged/tS unwaged
PilOrfttl Stlceplfs,Watfod Wry' llendon, Landon t{W4 4IY
20tl dt
Qdd Dryior tont
Ammerdown Gonference and Retreat Centre
Wth creative elements, sharing with others and time to
'be', find new strendh as lesus did in the desert.
t12 lincludes lunch and refreshmentsl
cg centre@ammerdown.org
7-13 lprll
USGF tttd ttc Ecunolcd llorunent - Dl*ovedlg our
rlotr ud looldlgto tltc ttttutt
fuand, Finland
The European Regional Assembly ol the World Student
Ghristian Federation. See unu&.EgyruIl9lc,l&Eiery
lor further details.
a date with Marie?
I am scribbling this as the 9.30 Virgin
train to Birmingham pulls out of
Edinburgh. I have just spent 3 days in
lovely Scotland meeting SCM groups at
Glasgow and Edinburgh. This is mY
favourite part of my job, not catching
trains in the freezing November fog that
is, but actually meeting SCMers.
So if you are planning your programme
and would like a visit from SCM it would
make my day if you were to get in touch. I
have visited lots of groups and you don't
have to be in a interesting city with lovely
art galleries for me to agree to visit. I can
turn up and chat to a group or bring a
workshop with me. My box of tricks
includes thought-provoking stuff on a wide
range of topics, including social justice,
body image, the environment, images of
Christ, mission, and many more.
Visiting helps me to keep in touch with
you and also to bring you the latest news
in what is going in the national movement.
For more details about my workshops see
www.movement.org.uldworkshoos or ring
OL21- 47t 2404 and chat to me about it.
And read about me in my guest starring
role in 'First among equals' on page 24.
8 | movement
headless chicken?
Where now for the Ghurch of England?
the church
As I write this, the Ghurch of England is
officially headless. Archbishop George
Carey, who has headed the church
through the ordination of women and
the decade of evangelism, retired at the
end of October, and Archbishop Rowan
Williams starts in January. Meanwhile,
the Church of England is wandering
around twitching like the proverbial
headless chicken (Proverbs 26:6).
Reform and the Church Society, along with
Forward in Faith, the right and left wings of
the church, are in a flap about Rowan's views
on homosexuality, among other issues.
lrrespective of his reassurances to them, they
are determined to find a liberal plot and are
in the of excludi themselves from
the church. A split of some sort seems
inevitable, then we can just remove the
entrails and roast the chicken.
I suspect there are two prime causes of the
problem - disappointment and (ssshh - are
the children in bed?) postmodernity. George
Carey was a big disappointment to the
evangelicals in the Church of England. They
hoped that now 'one of them' was in control,
everything would be OK. The NIV would be on
every lectern, the ASB would be binned, and
a revised BCP would bring us back to the
glories of our reformed foundation. But it all
went wrong. The decade of evangelism
promised much and delivered nothing.
Women got ordained (shock horror). Carey
disappeared from our TVs, and the future king
got divorced and wanted to be the Defender
of Faiths. Society kept turning away from the
church.
ln many ways George Carey was the last
modern arChbishop, and in that he 'fails'
because society has become a postmodern
one. The conseruatives in both wings of the
church see a liberal in Williams, maybe
because he is a theologian. They are wrong.
Rowan Williams is the first postmodern
archbishop of the Church of England. He is a
poet (even his name is poetic) and a prophet.
He accepts difference, but stands clearly for
his own deep understanding of faith. I believe
he understands the fundamental change that
has happened to our society. The issues that
the conservatives have are the issues of the
modernist with a postmodernist. (See the
critique of Rowan Williams'theology by Garry
Williams, tutor at Oak Hill College, London, at
www. lati mertrust.or9theology:of . htm.)All th is
makes me sure that Rowan Williams is exactly
the right person to help the Church of England
at this time of change. The next few years will
be very painful in the Church of England. We
will continue to shrink and lose both prestige
and finance. Failure will be an increasing part
of our experience. Major splits will occur. We
will not just feel like headless chickens but
trussed and roasted chickens. But out of the
fire and suffering, we may discover that we
are not a chicken but a phoenix. I
Nell Elliott
society kept
turning
away from
the church
Rowan Williams,
fully kifted out
to lead a beheaded
chicken into the future
. Noil Elllott is AnElllcan
chaplain at the Unlvelalty
of Gentral England
movement | 9
worldview
yv orl -,1 vie yY
reports from other student Christian movements
The German student Ghristian
movement, the ESG, was founded as
the Deutsche christliche Studentenvereinigung
(DCSV) in 1895. The DGSV
became part of the World Student
Christian Federation (WSCF) in the
same year. Since the DGSV oPPosed
the so-called 'force into line' of the
Third Reich, it was prohibited in 1938
by the Nazis. The colle$e groups
sought protection from prosecution
under the cloak of the institutionalised
Protestant churches. During this time,
the name'Evangelische Studentenge'
meinde' (rouglhly translated,
'Protestant Student SocietY')
developed. After the war, the 'Evan$elische
Studentengemeinden' of
individual college groups drew to$ether
as the successor organisation to the
DCSV, under the name 'Evangelische
Studentengemeinde in der Bundesre'
publik Deutschland' (ESG).
The ESG understands itself as a
community of lesus Ghrist and lives out
the liberating message of the Bible
Secrelary
Generrl
Office
Working
G
b*
E*,tr
f
General
Assembly
t
ESG
Council
F
about 150 local SCMs in GermanY
Society
GV
Assembly
ofKED
scholarship
holders
\
I
Student
Other
Regional
Regional
* Assemblies
Assemblies
Until 1967, this ESG existed as one organasation
in the two German states. ln 1967'
the organisational separation of the ESG'
into one organisation in West Germany and
one in East Germany, was decided and
carried out, without giving up the inner unit.
Up to the year 1989, narrow relationships
existed between the two organisations'
which were both members of WSCF. With the
union of the two German states the prerequisite
for a union of the two SCMs was
achieved.
The ESG fights for iustice'
peace and Protection of
Greation. lt works in an
ecumenical context
Shaped through German history, until
1945 the ESG always committed itself in a
politically progressive and critical wdY,
working outside the church. The special
situation in Germany after 1945 caused the
organisation to develop differently in East
and West. While the ESG in West Germany
kept sight of its autonomy outside the
church in the context of the student
movement of 1968, the ESG in the East
looked for critical proximity. However, basic
democratic elements were preserved in both
organisations.
The ESG understands itself as a
community of Jesus Christ and lives out the
liberating message of the Bible' lt fights for
justice, peace and protection of Creation. lt
works in an ecumenical context. lt is open to
everybody but not to everYthing.
Today about 150 groups ('communities')
are members of the ESG. Each group is
autonomous. The ESG is supported by group
members, the EKD (Protestant church of
Germany), and the government. The ESG is a
member of many other NGOs and involved in
a lot of activities, for examPle: >
10 lmovement
worldview
. Campaign for Clean Clothing - fair trade
of textiles and textile production in
accordance with human rights;
. Adivasi-Tee-Projekt - supporting a teafarm
for native lndians;
. CANAAL - Camerun-Namibia-Allemagne-
Project;
. International meetings;
. Ecumenical meetings and seminars;
. Seminars and conventions on different
topics relating to church and society
(violence in the Bible, development
politics, Europe, gender-gay issues, and so
on). I
Ulrich Falkenhagen
Secretary General of the Evangelische
Studentengemelndo in der Bundesrepubllk Deut3chland
{
0
Jr
rto
! 0b wscF !
Europe 04
gt Q'lrl trro'
SCM and the ESG are
both members of
World Student Christian
Federation Europe
The red cockerel
symbol of the ESG
Some different meanings of the red cockerel are
. The cockerel is a biblical animal which reminds Peter in the New
Testament of his betrayal of Jesus. ('Before the cock crows you will
have denied me three times.') Thus the cockerel warns the church
of betrayal, and shows it when it is rejecting Christ by its actions. We
should not talk our way out - neither in small matters ('That's not my
job', 'The responsible authorities should take care of that') nor in big
matters, where fear of people leaving the church often blocks the
solidarity with the poor and oppressed which is demanded by the
gospel. The cockerel should admonish us, but also we - as a critical
parish - need to admonish our church.
. The cockerel is well-known as the weathercock on church
steeples, where it shifts with the wind. Maybe the church 'trims its
sails to the wind'. But with the cockerel it is completely different.
It turns with its head against the wind: it crows always against the
wind! The cockerel should remind us to be suspicious of opinions
we are told to be normal and prevailing. We must clearly fight the
'normal'xenophobia and become active, for example.
. ln the age of Reformation 'the rapacious gang of peasants' (Martin
Luther) placed the red cockerel (fire) on the roofs of the lords they
were oppressed by. Whose side was Jesus on at the time, when
Luther was on the side of the lords? Whose side is he on today in
Latin America, in Africa, Asia, in all the issues of our 'two thirds'
society? ... Whose side are we on?
An open doo(? Migration in a European context
What do you think of when you hear the word migration?
Bnin dnin to the States - Aussie nurses and Indian computer technicians - Vbtnames e boat people - Refugiees
trn,pped in the Channel Tunnel - Voucherc - Asylum Seekers - Fortness Europe - Green Card - lnter-religious dialogue?
llout mary of your fan$y tnentets or tien& are 'lIXPlo Bitbtr' (or Webh, or Eglish, whatever) in ttre bt ttree generatiors?
Did any of your family emigrate abroad? ls Britain 'abroad' for you?
ls'economic' miglration more ot less important than 'political' migration?
Why do so many people want to settle in Britain? Why do people want to leave?
How important is Britain's past as a colonial empire for us today?
Ibputt**tHslteBiE*l ban ishtd,lrecan be tnrecfiocydontr,tipue leth? ()rdoes itglue us morcresporcllt1B
Did you know that in the 193Os Britain made it difficult for German Jews to immigrate?
Do you know how many Brits have grandparents who settled here because of the Second World War?
\r
a
a
3
a
! aca
Action Reconcfratin Sentice
for Feace isthe UKbrancfi da
@rnn l{@ set up b sed(
rcconciliation with ofter
\r
onties afterthe Secod u/ofi
!a lAhr. ln &itain tt€y hehed to
tebuf,d Itlo
Corcnuy Caffedral, fur
n
I
e.amplq and tpir UK otrce b
Contact: Anne Katrin Schef$uch, ARSP, 7 Priory Row, Coventry CV1 sES
t: O2476 222 487 . f: O24766:1 14 48
e: anne_katrin_scheffbuch@compuselve.com
movement | 11
rc$/ rpc to the cathedral.
ARSP annually sends about 150 long-term
volunteers to countries which were affected by
Germany in World War !1. Presently our volunteers work
in Bel$um, Belarus, the Czech Republic, France,
Germany, lsrael, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland,
Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
The volunteers are mostly aged between 19 and 26
and work in a wide variety of organisations, where they
do work such as caring for survivors of the Holocaust
living and working with people with special needs oi
with refugees, community work, Holocaust education.
ln the UK ARSP currently has a group of thirteen
Polish and German volunteers.
A weekend seminar
All these stereotypes, images and questions are important. You have the
chance to think about the truth behind them. lf these questions interest
you, come to the seminar on migration organised by Action Reconciliation
Service for Peace (ARSP). The seminar will take place on 24-27 May next
year, probably in South Wales. As well as British students, the participants
will be young people from Germany and Poland who are currently working
on year-long volunteer projects in the UK. Their work ranges from
mediation programmes in inner city areas or the minimum wage campaign
(see page 221, to running the touring exhibition about Anne Frank that you
might have seen on your campus. Together we can address all aspects of
migration from our different European conteKs - on this island and on the
continent as EU members or candidates.
And even if you can't come to the seminar, all those questions we started
with should be more than enough for you to run a workshop evening in your
SCM group...
=-a
disarming acttons
disarming actions I
helen steven
A challenge too far
we
despenmftefiy
meed fi'trrtrt]F"e
wild folk
with
e hafllemgimg
lifestyles
. This is Helen Steven's last
column, as she is moving
on fYom the Scottish
Centre for Non-Violence to
work with the lona
Gommunity. We thank her
for all hev challenging
witingi in Movenlent, and
wish her every success itr
her new role. FYom next
issue, we will be featudng a
new column on activism'
written by Christian Aid's
Patrick Dawes (s€e page 5).
Sometimes we take the ProPhets for
granted and totally underestimate just
how wild and uncomfortable they really
were - including Jesus of course. John the
Baptist confronted the decadence of
Herod's lifestyle at the cost of his life. Or
take Jeremiah for example. People don't
get shoved into miry pits for being polite
around authority. Nor is one crucified for
being kind to little children and healing
the lame. They were all different to the
point of being not only uncomfortable, but
an actual threat to the established order.
Wherr John the Baptist's disciples came to
ask Jesus whether he was the one John had
foretold, Jesus asked them what they had all
gone out into the desert to see. What were
they expecting? Almost certainly not what
they got. A wild hairy man, living on an
unusual diet, who ranted at them all' telling
tlrem they were a bunch of snakes.
John the Baptist called people to repent. And
he was specific in the actual practical lifestyle
changes that people could make' Repenting
means turning again, giving up the old ways'
being radically different: stop cheating on your
tax returns, stop exploiting the poor, if you have
two shirts, give one away. So where is the difference
from our present day demands to drop the
debt, to scrap the IMF and the World Bank?
Except perhaps that it is not so much a question
of shirts any more - rather houses, cars,
estates, and the GNP of whole countries. A call
to change our destructive ways, such as was
made and ignored at Kyoto. 60,000 people are
flying to the World Summit at Johannesburg' To
wlrat end? How many of these are representa'
tives of vested interests determined to hold
back any change that might save the planet, but
damage their profits? We desperately need
more wild folk with challenging lifestyles.
Jeremiah was an out-and-out traitor to his
people. At a time of national disaster he got up
and told folks that they had it coming to them,
that worse would happen unless they turned to
the paths of righteousness. lma$ne Jeremiah
going public to the media on 12 September and
saying that the chickens were coming home to
roost for the rich countries of the capitalist
world; that this was just the beginning of the
terror they could expect. I suspect it migltt be
classed as un-American activity, insensitive to
the point of brutality, and downright treason.
Our world is being dragged to the brink of one
of the most dangerous times in its history to
serve the interests of corporate America, with
the UK following closely in its wake' What must
it be like for an lraqi citizen to hear daily a
discussion as to whether or not her country is
going to be brought to its knees, bombed to
oblivion? lt has been su€gested that Britain's
Trident nuclear submarines be deployed in the
Gulf, so that should the 'nuclear threshold' be
crossed, it will be Britain that becomes the prime
target and not the US. For many years now US
Strategic Air Command has been talking about
'full-spectrum dominance' of space, so that
targets can be pinpointed anywhere in the world
from space. This programme depends on the
telecommunications base at Fylingdales in
Yorkshire for its effectiveness.
So what are we doing about it? Recently I
heard of a Puerto Rican woman called Alexandrina
who protested at her home in Vieques being
used as a bombing practice range. She was
sentenced to 35 years in prison for anti-
American activities. At the present moment the
nofth coast of Scotland is being used for the
same purpose. So why are we not filling up the
jails? Where is our un-American activity? And let
us not stop at bein$ un-American, it is time we
were seen as being actively opposed to British
government policy. We can start with the letters,
but we cannot let it rest there. We can join the
Pledge to Resistance should war be declared on
lraq. We need to oppose injustice and wrong
until it hurts.
ln previous articles I have referred to Jesus'
direct action in the Temple, overturnin$ the
tables. lt is only in the last week after studying
with a colleague of Walter Wink that I began to
realise the tull extent of the Temple Riot. Firstly
the sheer size of the court of the Gentiles in the
Temple in Jerusalem was about three quarters of
a mile long, by half a mile. lt says that Jesus
stopped anyone from carrying anything across it!
How on earth did he do it? How did anyone
notice a few tables being kicked over in a corner
of such a huge area? How did he make himself
seen and heard? lt must only have been
because many other people joined in and it must
have become a full-scale riot, to the point where
he couldn't be arrested because of the crowd.
However, in spite of their challenging
behaviour, in spite of their uncomfortable words,
people still flocked to see these prophets. They
must have been attractive people, fun to be with'
living the life of God's kingdom to the tull. These
are the kind of people we are called to follow.
'Christians should be without fear, happy, and
always in trouble' (D Steere). I
L2 | rrovenrent
celebrity theologian
I
fr
1*.,p
:iG
.+-,
2a't
-rt
Celebrity
Theologian
lohn Milbank
Who is he, and what does
he do?
The Francis Ball Professor of Philosophical Theology at
the University of Virginia. Previously, he was a Reader in
Philosophical Theology at the University of Cambridge.
What has he written?
He did his doctoral worl< on the ltalian thinl
small ritual
tr
small ritual I
Whose story?
steve collins
Whose story
does the
music in
your church
embody -
your own,
or someone
elsets?
lf someone
elsets,
whose?
. Steve Collins is a wtiter
and web designer in
London, and is involved
in alternative worship
Since recorded music was invented a
century ago, all kinds of music have
become available to all of us. For the
first time in human history, we can
have any music we want, whenever
and wherever we want. We choose
from the $reatest varietY of music
available to any society in history. But
our choices are lar$ely determined by
which story we want to Put ourselves
into. Every genre of music embodies
and evokes its own story of social and
personal identity. ln listenin$ we take
part in those identities, even if only in
imagination. Rejection of music is
often about rejecting the identity it
weaves.
But if music embodies life-story, what
about the music in church? Whose story
does the music in your church embody -
your own, or somepne else's? lf someone
else's, whose? Thinking in terms of lifestory
takes us beyond the usual arguments
over 'good' and 'bad', 'contemporary' and
'traditional', and helps us see why musical
style and change are such fraught issues in
churches. The music we use in church can
be a potent representation of our story to
God. lf the music does not represent us,
belongs to another story, we could be
alienated at the point where we most need
connection.
The story embodied in our chosen music
is often an inner story that circumstances
will not allow to be expressed in any other
way. lf this is so it's all the more important
for us to use that music in our dealings with
God, for honesty and freedom's sake. lf we
can do this, church becomes a space of
liberation, where our hidden selves can be
expressed to God and to one another. We
can recover our sense of who we are, and
find strengfh to resist the pressures to be
otherwise.
But the musical menu available in most
churches is very limited by comparison to
the world outside. The music itself isn't
necessarily bad, but the chances are it's
alien both in style and in the way the music
is used. ln limiting the forms of music that
are permitted, churches limit the life-stories
that are permitted expression. Often it has
been forgotten that every story was
someone's story at some time in history'
and churches lapse into essentialism'
saying this story is the only story for
Christians, and to be a Christian you must
walk in it. ln cultures where there are few
musical stories this may suffice as an
argument, but in our own culture we are
aware of a great many musical stories, and
have already placed ourselves somewhere
among them as a part of our growing up.
Story isn't necessarily about following a
single genre. Mostly we weave several, and
creatively appropriate music from
seemingly different storylines into our own.
Nor is it just about musical style, which is
why Christian substitutes 'in the style of'
don't always work. We expect artists to live
up to the stories embedded in their music -
in short, credibility. lt's been said that the
job of the artist is to go through extreme
states on our behalf, so that we can work
through these things vicariously and
survive. lf so it's no wonder that 'Christian'
exercises in decency and moderation failto
heal us.
ln the light of all this, churches need a
much more complex approach to music
than they have generally demonstrated.
Music in this context is a means of
communication and expression between
ourselves and God. lf the music we use in
church represents us, then communion with
God takes place within our own story. And
since the music of our own story runs
throughout our lives, when we discover how
to make communion with God in it in one
place it can, potentially, be a vehicle for
communion with God anywhere, anytime
else. Church is no longer an event outside
our storyline, but an event within it.
I've discussed the issue of life-story in
terms of music, because music is its most
potent carrier in our society, and we all
understand the dynamic. But it's worth
asking the question of all aspects of
church, the liturgical, the visual, the
theological - whose story is this? lf not
mine, whose? Can I take it for my own' or
would it be a charade? And what would it
look like if re-embodied in my story? I
14 | movement
feature: i ntrod uci ng christian ity
introducin$,
christianity
Our feature this issue explores the various courses currently available which try to
introduce non-Ghristians to the church or to Ghristian belief.
The aim of all these courses is essentially to create new Ghristians - although, as
we'll see, different courses may create different kinds of Ghristian! The idea of
evangelasm, in this form or any other, can be problematic in our multicultural
society. So we start with a piece by theologian Tim Gorringe, exploring the deeper
implications...
evangettbm in
a €Iobattbed world
Can we spread the gospel whilst still respecting difference?
When delegates met in Edinburgh in
1910 for the lnternational Missionary
Conference, they were clear that their
agenda was 'the evangelisation of the
world in this generation'. No qualms for
them: the map was coloured red; the
sun never set over the British empire;
humankind was visibly caught up in the
great leap forwards, and the Christian
gospel had to leaven that. What
followed we all know: two world wars,
the Holocaust, and then the carving up
of the world for the profit of the multinational
corporations. As we approach the
l00th anniversary of that conference,
we are in a different world. ln this brief
article I willjust haghlight two points of
difference. First, though imperialism
remains a fact of life, there is a greater
cultural self-confidence on the part of
all humankind's constituents than there
was at that earlier time. We recognise
this in speaking of 'multiculturalism',
the demand that difference be
respected, and the insistence that
there is no Archimedean point from
which all standpoints can be assessed.
Does this mean, then, that evangelism
is just Western arrogance? The question
is serious, and posed to Christians by
many critics.
A sensitive response to this question has
been developed by the Jesuit Michael Barnes.
The heart of his proposal is to understand God
as involved in the experience of otherness.
We are all familiar from Matthew 25 with the
idea that we encounter God in our neighbour.
ln Barnes'terms, God is'the primary Other'. lf
that is the case, then openness to God means
openness to others, and this is at the root of
any Christian theolo$/. The aim of encounter
cannot be conquest or conversion. lt is simply
genuine meeting, the situation in which I
genuinely hear what the other has to say. This
is always fraught with difficulty, and never
perfectly realised. ln every kind of meeting we
always find ourselves in a 'broken middle', a
relationship which is always under negotiation.
Thinking of relationship like this, argues
Barnes, allows us to imagine a situation
where we can be passive in the face of the
other without being crushed by them. He
suggests that this is what we find in the
famous 'Christ hymn' of Philippians 2 which
speaks of Christ 'taking the form of a slave',
but accomplishing redemption precisely by
doing so. Christian theolory is rooted in the
story of the God who is Emmanuel, the Word
spoken in the 'broken middle' of the world,
who still goes on speaking through the spirit
which leads the disciples into all the truth.
What they share is what God can do in and
through human weakness. This is one form of
Christian mission in a multicultural world.
What about the situation of the imperialism of
the multinational corporation, backed up by the
might of US firepower? How does that affect our
concept of evangelism? Another Jesuit, Aloysius
Pieris ftom Sri Lanka, argues that evangelism )
Tim Gorringe
openness to God means
openness to others,
and this is at the root
of any Ghristian theology
movementl15
feature: introduci ng christianity
means quite centrally addressing a society in
the thrall of materialism, of Mammon. ln Jesus'
he argues, the irreconcilable antinomy between
God and Mammon and the irrevocable covenant
between God and the poor are made flesh. True
evangelism is to live this out in fellowship with
the authentic spirituality and liberative
dimensions of other reli$ons. Note, evangelism
does not mean in the first instance displacing
True evangelism is to live in fellowship
with the authentic spirituality and
liberative dimensions of other religions
. Tim GorrinEle has wotked
in parishos' taught
theology in south lndia'
worked a3 a college
chaplain ln Oxfold' and
lectuled at St Andrewg
and Exeter, where he is
now St Luke's Plofeseor
of Thoological Studies. He
was chaptain to SCM ln
the 1970s.
other reli$ons. On the contrary, Pieris argues
that each of the great reli$ons has its own
version of the Sermon on the Mount, the Truth
that sets us free from being tied to things that
cannot $ve us freedom. The Asian churches (but
why just the Asian churches?) have to experience
solidarity with non-Christians by witnessing
to the spirituality common to all reli$ons (by
practising the Beatitudes); and reveal their
Christian uniqueness in proclaimingJesus as the
new covenant by joinin$ the poor against
Mammon's principalities and powers that create
poverty and oppression. ln a $obalised world, I
would argue, that is as true in London,
Birmingham or Glasgow as in Colombo'
The attempt to serve Mammon, whether or
not in the name of God, is the decisive marker
of what is not of God's Spirit. Whatever frees
us from Mammon is of the Spirit. We experience
solidarity with such anti-Mammon forces
and we proclaim Jesus as the new covenant in
solidarity with the Poor.
lf this is a true account of evangelism it
follows that mission campai$ns which rely on
huSe quantities of money, or on the strength
of imperial orders, are confiadictions in
terms. What it actually means to make
disciples of nations is to baptise them into a
spirituality of nonacquisitiveness and
nonaccumulativeness which guarantees a
healthy, ecologically balanced sharing of our
resources. The cross is not, as it is for much
Protestant preaching, 'the price for sinners
paid' but the price fixed by the rich who refuse
to be evangelised by the poor. 'lf one day we
truly take up this cross as a body and go
underground and pay that price for the sake
of our intimidated masses, that day the world
will see the miracle it is yearning to see' a
church which has been evangelised by the
poor, and therefore, a church that has
become Good News to the poor, as Jesus
was'. As each religion discovers that in the
other which liberates from acquisitiveness it
discovers and renames itself precisely in and
through encounter.
Pieris warns that the liberating spirituality of
the religions is gradually being extinguished
by the wave of capitalistic techniculture that
has begun to shake the relisious foundation
of all cultures. 'The market economy (which
thrives on the quest for profit) and
consumerism (which plays to our accumulative
instinct) have enthroned Mammon where,
once, the human Person and the human
community as well as the earth on which we
live, were the sole beneficiary'. This is, I
believe, the key perspective in any contemporary
theoloSl of evangelism. Gospel is good
news, and this has to be addressed to the
situation of the day, in our case one where
the possibility of the continuance of life as we
know it is threatened by the rapacity of
present economic practices, as '2,000
concerned scientists' warned in 1996.
Reviewing my ATheologr of the Built Environ'
rnent, which examines these claims, John
Macquarrie dismissed it as the work of 'an old
fashioned Christian Socialist'. The question
we are left with, though, is what the gospel
can be today, other than a warning and a call
to repentance in the name of the God of life?
Evangelism in our context is, as it was for the
prophets, a sombre business, and it is
certainly not primarily about getting more
bums on pews. lt is, as it has always been, a
callto repentance, but not one which is made
in competition with other religions. On the
contrary, its primary concern is obedience to
the God of life, and engagement with all that
makes for death. I
Tim Gorrin$e
see also,,,
M Barnes, Theolo$y and the Dialo$ue of
Retigions, Cambrid$e: Cambrid$e
University Press, 2002
Pieris, Fire and Water, Maryknoll: Orbis'
1996
'Evangelism is a call to repentanGe, hut not one
which is made in competition with other religions'
16 lmovement
{
feature: introducing christianity
marketin$the Sospel
For years, the Alpha course has been used by many churches and groups as a way of
introducing'unchurched' people to Ghristianity. But dissatisfaction with the Alpha
approach has led to the development of several alternative courses. We compare and
contrast the different courses, and look at people's experiences of Alpha...
Alpha
Did you know?
Accordingj to Stephen
Hunt's book Anyone
tor Alpha?, only
3-4% of participants
in Alpha courses
become Christians
at the end.
Most 'introductory'
courses are actually
attended mainly by
existing churchgoers.
Developed at Holy Trinity Brompton over the last 20 years and now headed by Revd Nicky
Gumbel, Alpha is the longest-established and best-known of the introductory courses. The
organisers say that thousands of courses are now running in many countries. They also say
that it's used in secular locations - prisons, businesses and schools. Alpha bills itself as a
fifteen-session practical introduction to the Christian faith, aimed especially at people who
don't go to church. At Holy Trinity, Alpha courses are held throughout the year and have
hundreds of people attending each week. The syllabus for the course is contained in a book
called Questions of Life. Some courses are held during the day, but most are evening events,
with a light meal followed by a talk. Then participants break into pre-arranged groups of
around a dozen people (in which they remain for the entire course) to discuss the talk. A
team of around three or four 'leaders' or 'helpers' from the host church is attached to each
group. There is also a weekend away focusing on the subject of the Holy Spirit.
The problem for many people is that Alpha introduces participants to a very particular kind
of Christianity. The emphasis is very much on the evangelical, charismatic side of Christian
faith, and on participants 'accepting the Lord Jesus into their heafts' (or words to that effect).
Whilst a dissatisfaction with this approach
has led to the creation of at least one of the
alternative courses now available, it hasn't
stopped people adapting Alpha lo work with
a much more open view of faith. We asked
some SCM members and groups to reflect
on their experiences of Alpha, and you can
see what they thought below.
tii"Jrot
""\^Icomers' . -,..^ment with Atohl
Y: "
il*";,,' y:::l":t Hi!I"*l: i::r:'ffSi,i#Fl
,'
*tr'5fiff{*g*$$g-ffi
postglraduate
student
everyone l".u]ll;,., armosphere.
a warm and trtetrur] uu"--'
,ames,
Gontact
Alpha lnternational, Holy Trinity Brompton,
Brompton Road, London SW7 1rA
:
t; 020 7581 8255
f: O2O 7584 8536
e.' info@alphacourse.org
w: www.alphacourse.org
:,t^:o to hetp read an Atpha cot,,,
;ffi#;lXts:,i"ul #"l:::e
when
aso'
unr€, I was ii:- "t
;t';",,#3rs
tendency to rorll? ilfi ;r"J" at the
;lll',rxn:rxiH;jfi"lf:#
19." : rn e probtJri",-"j' ]rjls .!n at it e n co urquesttons
,^, .il is that it "n."],
;;ffi;#'.;1"T^,"_,f ;;;il;;:'ifr";l
iiii:,:,?#'ix. e*f:["i:;ffi ? fi :l:l
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_13:u^y,tn
"il;;r:"', l]lh..,'ourdn't go
ffi**;*li',ffi
Symon, individual SGM rnember
movement | 17
feature: introduci ng christianity
i;ip,;1*ildt:',i{1:{'$ii"$"ritth"ffi
:ilt'H:"Tir#i^x::'"iy#l"lTiffi '
ft 'i:{,riilffi ffi r*:iliL.ik:iFHl:;'diiffi
ff*'ffi ffiEi#itr'H*#ff fi $g#gw
The Holy Spirit weekend supplied a goo(
:lrtr**l+****{tfft#fi*fff*ffi
[tili*'i''ffi ,l:*i+$[ifr i:'l*i*q-qri[*'Tiffi
the kingdom grow
Emmaus: The Way of Faith, launched in 1996 is
an introductory course developed principally
tllllAul within and for the Church of En$and. The
organisers describe it as an enabling resource,
aiming to be flexible and suitable for a range of
r |r ilAus tmditions and using effective educational and
evangelistic methods. They say their theological
view of Christian faith and mission is 'otthodox"
A range of Emmaus books is available from Church House
Publishing, the
Church of England's
publishing company.
Over 50,000 books
have been sold.
Contact
Sheridan James, Emmaus Co-ordinator
e o20 7a98 t524
e; sheridan james@c-of-e.org.uk
w; www.natsoc.ord.ulr/emmaus
Alpha, Emmaus and now Journey are the
best-known introductory courses, backed
up by publications and support networks,
but there are other courses, including
many smaller ones developed at a local
level. Some you may come into contact
with include:
. Essence - just published, again bY
evangelicals within the Church of England,
this is apparently aimed specifically at
people interested in New Age or more
general spirituality. lt claims to offer a
'contemporary meditative journey'.
. Credo - a course written by Lindsay
Owen, Bishop of Horsham in Sussex,
aiming 'to bring people to faith in the
Lord'.
. A Rou9h Guide to Christianity - a local
course in Holloway run bY Dave
Tomlinson. A more open approach, he
says it's suited for 'Alpha dropouts'.
JOtrK N€Y
EaPloulrutt
Jilo
hapluniP
ffi
JOHN VINCENT
rest of this feature
focuses on Joumey, with an overuiew of the
course on page 19 and an interview with its
creator on page 20.
Journey: fuetorations into Discipleship is a new course taking a
rather different approach from that of Npha or Emmaus. The
emphasis is on questioning and exploration, and on a practical form
of Christianity taking its form firstly in social and communal action
rather than specific belief. lt's being developed and run by the
Ashram Community, an experimental Christian community in
Sheffield which has a history of working together with SCM groups.
Joumey promises to offer an honest and fresh way of introducing
people to Christianity in a multicultural society, and of helping people
to think critically
about faith. The
Contact
Ashram Community, 178 Abbeyfield Road,
Sheffield 54 7AY
t: OL784 456 474
e:@or
linda@petermarshall.cix.co.uk
God Made
Simple
,sa
resource
#-." from SCM
which
gives a lively and
accessible synopsis
of many common
questions about God
and theologiical
responses to them -
an excellent resource
for new Christians.
See page 3O for
details of how to
order publications
from SCM.
18 | movement
feature: i ntroduci ng ch ristian ity
1
journeyins
af
toSether
lohn Vincent is responsible for the radical introductory course lourney: Explorations into
Discipleship. This article is based on a talk he gave at the Greenbelt festival in 2002.
Why'Journey'?
I got groups of people all round the country to
meet with me and prepare sections of this
introductory course to radical Christianity. We
thought of the word 'Journey' fairly early on,
and said, 'Let's talk first about people's own
personal journey. Let's assume that faith
takes place in a person's life, and isn't just
related to specific "religious" actions.'
Secondly we tried to look at the journey of
Jesus and see how far it provides an example
of what makes sense of existence for people
today. lf only we could describe the life of
Jesus Christ in such a way that people say,
Yeah, that's something worth following', then
we might have a new version of Christianity
that was based not upon arguing about
people's beliefs, but upon people setting their
own life journey and commitment to God within
the compass of the obediences that they feel
called to in a contemporary violent world.
Thirdly we said, 'This group of people who
get together, hopefully in each other's homes
without benefit of clerg/, needs to take a
journey.' This is not a course where some
clever (or unclever) person delivers lectures,
and everybody asks questions about the
wisdom (or ignorance) that has been
revealed. This is a course where the leaders
are fellow pilgrims. They don't have all the
answers, but they are committed to Jesus
and to discipleship.
We encourage groups to find places where
Christian stuff is going on, and visit them. lt
could be the local charismatic church where
they've got a house group, a group of radical
Ghristians running a coffee bar, a group of
people related to Greenbelt or a local lona
Community group. And within this journey that
the group makes together, we sugg;est that
the fiesorrrces
Jou&Ngy
6
I
ltu
fr&d'A+
m
they go on retreat with a religious community,
and that they spend a weekend in an inner city
Christian community, which confronts you with
visible discipleship to Jesus Christ.
The nature of Christian discipleship
ln the gospel of Mark - the guide behind a lot
of the teachingin Journey - discipleship does
not begin in your head or your heart, it begins
with your feet. The first word in discipleship in
Mark is, 'Follow me'. And the people called
knew pretty much nothing about the caller.
The second thing in Mark is your stomach -
you have meals together. The third thing is
your hands -
you engage in mission. Jesus
sends his disciples out on a mission to teach,
preach and heal, and cast out demons, when
what little they know about him is completely
wrong. And yet he keeps involving them in his
own mission, which I find rather merciful and
useful, as my practice should always be
ahead of my understanding. lf my
understanding had to come before my
practice, I would never have been where I
was as a disciple, and never have made the
discoveries that I've made through my life.
So, begin with your feet, move to your
stomach, move to your hands, and then
perhaps to your heart. Only in chapter 8 of
Mark are the disciples asked, 'Who do you
say I am?', and their answers happen to be
wrong. lt makes absolutely no difference to
Jesus - he couldn't care less whether you call
him Messiah or Son of Man or Saviour or Lord
or anything else. What really matters is what
you do with your guts and your hands and
your feet, and your commitment as a person
in the modern world. I
John Vincent
faith takes
place in a
personts
life, and
isn't iust
related to
specific
'religious'
actions
. John Vlncent lB a former
Prosldent of the
Mothodlst Church,
Dhoctor of the Urban
Communlty In Sheffleld.
The book Journey: Explorations rn Discipleshlp is arranged as a workbook, with twelve stages, each
accompanied by a visual symbol which becomes part of the Joumey programme. lt can be used
alongside a Journey Diary, so that through the twelve stages of the journey, participants have a
workbook that they can do their own journey search in. lt's not prescriptive but it's encouraging. Most
of the questions that we ask are practical ones, like 'Where are we going?', 'Why Jesus?' - what to go
for in life, who to be with, how to act, how to prophesy, how to find appropriate communities, and so
on. They're about the journey a person takes on when they become a disciple of Jesus Christ.
There is also a Group Leader's Guide. The first page which tells you how to be a leader is very helpful,
because it tells you that you're no good and that you'll do better by allowing the leadership to become,
as soon as possible, a corporate activity of people who together will find out the way you should go.
lourney t6 O Diary tJ2 O Guide E! O Postage fI O trom Ashram Press (address on page 18)
movementl19
feature: introduci ng christianity
radical dtbcipleshiP
ln this interview, lohn Vincent, the creator ol lourney, talks about its usefulness for
students, and lays down a challenge for SCM members!
There needs
tobea
recognition
of the widest
possible
number
of options
available to
people. We
have nothing to
fear from this
lnspired by John
Vincent's ideas of
community
discipleship?
Then contact the
Ashram CommuniV
(see page 78).
And see Common
People, an SCM
resource about
rnodels of Christian
community, available
for the special Price
of f,2.5O (including
postage) until April
2O03. See page 30
for details of how to
order SCM resources.
Movement
20 lmovement
Does .lourney address the interrelationships
between Christianity and other faiths?
We have a section which just asks, 'What was
Jesus' attitude to other faiths?' He didn't
obserue some of his own faith's rituals, he
challenged the Old Testament interpretation of
the law, he challenged the Jews' monopoly on
God and called religious leaders hypocrites. He
went beyond basic moral requirements in his
attitude to the Samaritan woman and in the
parable - talking about 'The Good Samaritan'
then was like talking about 'The Good Muslim'
now. And the Samaritan leper who comes back
and says thank you. And the Gentile centurion
who calls him son of God' These are all people
who are raised up by Jesus. And the parable
says that entrance to the kingdom doesn't
depend on saying, 'Lord'to Jesus. Those things
are very important. We're in a postmodern time
and there needs to be a recognition of the
widest possible number of options available to
people. We have nothing to fear from this. The
sooner we get out of a Christendom situation'
in which people are under oppression by any
denomination or religion, the better. ln that
sense, I think people who live in inner cities are
very privileged, because they can see and
welcome the pluralistic situation that in the
end is going to come to all of us.
lourney is intended to be used by small
groups outside church institutions, and you
talk a lot about the future of Christianity
lying in 'para-communities' outside the
traditional church. How do you think that
would affect campai$ning organisations'
such as Jubilee 2000? Willwe lose some of
the ability to co-operate on a national level?
No, I don't think so at all. I think that you would
have to say, instead of 'Christian Churches
Together in Britain and lreland', 'Christian
Communities Together in Britain and lreland'.
And you've got to find out what the alternative
Christian communities are in your area. There
are already many Christian churches - black
churches, community churches, charismatic
churches, house churches, and so on - that
don't belong to the so-called Churches Together.
So this is all going to happen in the next 10 or
2O years. What is important is that there should
be radical Christian communities alongside the
much more conservative ones that invariably are
the ori$n of the house church movements.
Given the pluralism and multiculturalism of
our society, why should 'outsiders' want to
explore and $et involved in Christianitf
I think that Christianity is a viable way of
confronting the contemporary world with a
radical challenge to alternative living. And I
don't see that radical challenge coming from
any other source. There is great interest in
other faiths, in New Age, in all kinds of spirituality.
What I'm interested in is getting a
hearing for radical Christianity as a challenge
to the normal waY of living life.
Do you have anY comments on using
lourney in a universitY setting?
It has been used in a number of university
contexts. I expect it should work there pretty
well, because university students would
respond to the practical approach: going round
visiting places, being exposed to different
Christian communities and philosophies'
meeting Christian disciples, with the intention
of forming some kind of alternative group to
discover what the discipleship and vocational
implications are for Christians. I think that this
element has been missing from the Student
Christian Movement, actually. There was a time
in the sixties and seventies when SCM was very
closely allied to experimental Christian
communities in inner city areas. The Ashram
Community in the seventies used to work very
closely with the university chaplaincies in
encouraging people to consider a year or
longer of experiential and vocational
'testing', if you like, in inner city communities.
This all bears out what l've said about the
importance of location, and of experimental
living with one's life: firstly as a way of discovering
what wisdom is, what reality's about, but
secondly as a way of exposinS oneself to
influences outside of the university academic
world - which would determine the way that
people get called into doing significant things'
I can remember times when I would be
visiting half a dozen SCM Eroups every year'
talking about vocation, talking about the
Urban Theologl Unit's study year, talking
about the possibilities of people taking a year
out to do inner city experience. I think that is
a vital element, and I would hope that we
could see a return to that kind of interest from
SCM groups, in practical pieces of community
disciPleshiP. I
Lian Purcell
ties and binds
I
ties and binds I jim cotter
innocence and experience
Crocodile Dundee was an 'innocent
abroad'. What we mean by the word
'innocent' in that sentence is that he
was inexperienced in city life, that he
wasn't streetwise enough for Los
Angeles. ln a subsequent film he was,
what shall we say, 'bushwise' in the
Australian outback, leading a bunch of
city roglues a merry dance - merry,
that is, for Grocodile Dundee.
(Whoops, I hope I haven't given the
Republican Party in America a new
adjective for their President...)
Back to the word 'innocence'. A baby, an
infant who is not yet conscious of the
motives and consequences of human
behaviour, is innocent in two senses:
without much experience and without $uilt,
not yet mature enough to be held to
account for his or her actions. Of course in
a court of law we seek to establish
innocence or guilt in very particular circumstances,
those of a crime which the
accused may or may not have committed.
When both those meanings of innocence'
are combined in the person of the very
young, we can see why we are horrified
when a baby is tossed on the bayonet of an
enemy soldier. So it is that nearly every
report of an atrocity, say a bomb which kills
a dozen people or more in a bus or cafe,
contains a phrase like, 'innocent people
were killed'. I know what the reporters
mean but I am uneasy. They were
bystanders perhaps, but'innocents'? I can't
help thinking that there is a subtle implication
that it might have been all right to blow
them up if they hadn't been innocent:
summary execution of those thought to be
guilty, but without the due processes of law.
The trouble is that we are so used to think
only of tlie innocence or guilt of individuats
in relation to specific acts. We rarely reflect
that there is no adult who has no share in
adding to the gonewrongness of things,
either by actions that harm or by colluding,
even by silence, with injustices and crimes.
I can hope that I shall not be caught up in a
terrorist attack, random in its selection of
those who are killed, but if I am I wonder in
what sense I could call myself innocent', a
reasonably comfortable and well-fed
westerner who could have done more and
could still do more to help eradicate the
causes of such attacks. I am convinced, by
reference to any mature system of law, that
those who perpetrate such terrible acts are
indeed guilty, but so are those retaliators
who, on the basis of secret information and
suspicion, can fire a weapon from a 'drone'
more than 20,000 feet above the ground
onto a jeep whose number plate has been
identified from a powerful camera. And if
such a weapon goes astray and kills a
farmer and his family, I want to cry out with
those reporters, 'But they are innocent of
great offence'. ln the Middle Ages soldiers
returning from the wars had to confess to a
priest if they had killed anyone, and the
more they had killed they greater their
penance. Even if the conflict had been a
'just' one, they were still guilty because
they had killed fellow human beings. How
much more so if you can kill at such a
distance by computers and buttons!
I offer these reflections without any
solutions, but I do think it important that we
are as precise as we can be when we
handle such an ambiguous word as
'innocence'. And there is one further
thought. I wonder if the word can apply to
the attitudes and actions of a few rare
people, usually elderly, experienced (not
innocent in that context), those who have
seen it all, know what is in the human heart
- including their own - and have become so
forgiving that it would be impossible for
them, even for a moment, to contemplate
harming others ever again. Come to think of
it, a bit like Jesus of Nazareth, and maybe
the God he embodied... I
there is no
adult who has
no share in
adding to the
gonewrongness
of things, either
by actions
that harm
or by colluding,
even by silence,
with injustices
and crimes
. Jim Cotter runs Cairns
Publishing, an
independent Christian
imprini
movement |
21
poverly
Iife in aII its fullness?
Gan you help challenge debt on your own doorstep?
CHURCH ACTION
ON POVERTY
Church Actlon on Poveltt/t
vlalt ld4&gbglgts
I9tgtE4It&I|&r wrlte to
Church Actlon on Povertyt
Gentral Bulldlngs, Oldham
Strc€t, Mancheeter M1 lJT,
or call 0161 236 9321.
Throughout the Bible we read how God
and his prophets railed agaanst
injustices, inequitable treatment of the
poor, the vulnerable and the most
marginalised in society. Jesus called
the poor 'blessed' while he talked of
sending the rich away empty. Through
Jubilee 2OOO, the churches were
immensely successful in highlighting
the modern day scandal of international
debt. But have we Elot what it takes to
tackle poverty and debt on our own
doorstep?
How we fail the poor
Whilst it's true that the government has made
a commitment to 'ending child poverty within
a generation', the reality is so far falling way
short of the rhetoric. For all the government's
best intentions, poverty, debt and low wages
continue to blight the lives of millions of
people in this country.
We had a month of living on f,25 per week
(Child Benefitl because we didn't get paid
until the end of the month and it took 2
weeks for the Working Families Tax Gredit
to be sorted out. By the time things were
sorted out we already owed money.t
Penny, mother of two, from the
In the work that Church Action on Poverty
has done with people in poverty over recent
years, one theme which consistently crops up
is the way in which poor peoPle feel
'invisible'. People's own direct experiences of
poverty, and their own attitudes and ideas
about what can be done to tackle it, are held
to be of no value whatsoever.
Debt on our doorstep: time to act
Mary, a lone mother living on a council estate
in south London, struggled to make ends
meet. Her weekly income from child benefit
and income support was barely enough to
keep a roof over her family's head. So when
a neighbour proposed a f-2OO loan to help her
pay off some bills, and buy a pair of new
shoes for her child, she jumped at the offer.
With no job and no bank account, she was in
no position to apply for a loan from a
mainstream lender.
However, Mary ran into difficulties with the
repayments. The neighbour reassured her by
offering her another loan of f,,500 to cover the
outstanding balance. Again, Mary strug$led to
keep up regular payments. This time she was
offered a f,,1,000 loan to help 'settle' the
debt. By last month, what began as a 92OO
loan to pay for bare essentials had turned
into a f.1,,L7O debt she had no means of
paying.
Mary was charged a rate of interest that
anyone familiar with the world of credit cards,
personal loans and overdrafts would consider
extortionate. The loans she took out were
charged at between LTOo/o and 330% APR.
But Mary was not the victim of an illegal loan
shark. Her neighbour was an agent for
Provident Financial, a completely legal
company which, since Victorian times, has
specialised in offering home credit to people
living in communities bypassed by the banks.
Provident Financial is just one of a growing
number of companies reaping huge returns
from the financially excluded.
This is why GAP set up the Debt on our
Doorstep Network - a coalition of over 150
organisations committed to campaigning for a
fair deal for people currently being exploited by
extortionate lending. Compared to many other
EU member states, where caps on interest
rates and tough licensing laws keep check on
lenders targeting the poor, the UK industry has
been left to run a devastating course. lt is an
issue the government is doing little about. >
poverty
Four ways to make a differcnce
) Make a difference with your MONEY:
Join a credit union
Credit unions are mutually co-operative
enterprises, through which people can
save and bonow money at very low rates
of interest. lt is you saving together with
your friends, and provides saving and loan
facilities convenient to you or your
workplace. Your savings could help to
provide loans for those who need them at
a realistic and affordable interest rate.
To find your nearest credit union,
contact the Assocration of British Credit
Unions on O767 832 3694 or visit
www.abcul.or4.
t Make ytxrr nxrney WORK FOR fiE POOR
How much do you $ve to charities that
make a difference? Forget fluffy
animals, your money can work for
change, help tackle social injustice and
give a chance to people who otherwise
wouldn't get one. Give by direct debit or
standing order - it's much more efficient
than one-off donations.
+ Help tackle DEBT ON OUR DOORSTEP
Debt on our Doorstep is a coalition of
over 150 organisations including CAP,
Oxfam, Child Poverly Action Group and
New Economics Foundation, committed
to campaigning for a fair deal for people
currently being exploited by extortionate
lending. Support the campaign to put
an end to e)dortionate lending!
Find out more at
www. debt- o n - o u r- doorste p. co m.
t Sagn the LIVING WAGE pledge
Many of us are members of churches or
have connections with organisations
(including most universities and
colleges) where cleaners or caretakers
are low-paid. Try and get them to sign
CAP's Living Wage Pledge - a public
commitment to pay a 'Living Wage' of at
least f,5.80 an hour.
Find out more at
www. ch u rch - povefty.or g. u k.
'llUhat is
poYerty?
Poverty is a
battle of
invisibility,
a lack of
resources,
exclusion,
powerlessness
... being
blamed for
society's
problems.t
A Living Wage church?
While company directors compete to award
themselves the big$est pay rise, the poor
struggle to scrape together enough to
maintain a decent standard of living. With a
refreshing frankness, the new chairman of
the Low Pay Commission, Adair Turner - a
former director-general of the CBI - has
admitted that he 'couldn't possibly envisage'
surviving on National Minimum Wage of
t4.LO an hour.
The churches themselves have much room
for improvement. Research carried out for
Church Action on Poverty in Greater
Manchester has found that nearly two in
three people employed by churches are paid
less than a Living Wage of 95.80 an hour.
You too can make a difference
What Bono has said of Third World debt could
equally apply to poverty close to home:
'What's on trial here is Christianity itself.
You cannot walk away from this and call
yourself a Christian and sit in power.
Distance does not decide who is your
brother and who is not. The church is
going to have to become the conscience
of the free market ... and stop being its
apologist.'
And according to Jim Wallis, activist preacher
and long time anti-povefi campaigner in the
States: 'Our vocation is not only to pull people
out ofthe river, but to go upstream to find out
what or who is pushing them in.'
So how can we start to go upstream? What
practically can we do to enable others to live
life in all its fullness? Partly this is about being
attentive to real needs and where people are,
but it also involves creative thinking and a real
commitment to sharing. See the box above for
four ways you can make a difference.
lf our society, economy and politicians
continue to fail the poor, we as Christians still
have the power to make a difference. Let it not
be said that we have been found wanting. I
Niall Gooper
D
F,cft)
[orvty
. l{iall Cooper Is Natlonal
Co.ordinator of Church
Actlon on Poverty
first among equals
first among equals I claire connor
Lucy Symons' second term as co'ordinator of an SGM
group begins with a tale of mice and iazzmen'..
There's
an alarming
amount of
sherry, not to
mention the
green ginger
wine, but it'll
make a change
from Bacardi
Breezers
Claire Connor is Catholic
Lay Chaplain at GKT
medical schools, King's
ColleEle London
January 9th
3.00pm Happy New Year! 9 days into 2003
already, and term's about to begin. lt's a bit of a
hassle coming back early and the committee
meeting's not until Friday, but as a sign of my new
economy drive (see new year's resolutions) I
decided to get the cheaper train ticket and travel
today. Mum sent me off loaded down with all the
leftover Christmas cake (why does she do this?)
but a/so the leftover drinks from the festive
season, 'in case you have a little party'. There's an
alarming amount of sherry, not to mention the
green ginger wine, but it'll make a change from
Bacardi Breezers. Think Dad must have stolen
back the whisky when he put my bags in the taxi.
Humph. Right, not much food in, so off to have a
bit of cereal and then do some shopping'
3.75pm Odd. Cereal is almost completely gone'
I'm sure I left a full box of strawberry crunch...
8.OOpm Sitting in ftont of the telly with a $ass of
sherry, watching Corrie. (Slightly worried I may be
tuming into my nan, actually.) Pretty much ready for
the meeting tomonow, hoping Jeremy will have
taken fufther steps on the road back to normality
over Christmas. We managed to persuade him only
to do the unbuttoned-shirt-gold-medallions look on
special occasions, but he still calls me'doll'and has
taken up the trumpet. lt's a bit ... off-putting. I
pointedly gave him M&S vouchers for Christmas.
Anyway, new year's resolutlbns:
1 I will not shout at Jeremy when he calls me
'doll' and does the cool-swagger walk.
2 I will be economical with mY cash.
3 I will not forbid Kevin from organising SCM
socials (despite the fireworks pady debacle,
during which he set fire to most of the rare
plants in the vicarage garden and created a
towering inferno instead of a bonfire. Not to
mention a certain someone who put their foot
through the greenhouse while trying to swagger.
Guess who had to explain to the fire brigade
and replace the plants for Tom's wife...)
4 I will not get into rows with housemates over
sharing food or cleaning rota (although I do
hoover, whatever Jenny says, and I couldn't
care less about her wretched courgette bake
that Saturday night).
Think that's all. Oh, and obviouslY:
5 Will lose half a stone, get up before 8.O0am
and go to lectures looking effortlessly stylish
and not like I've just got out of bed.
January 10th
77.30am Am going crazy. More of my cereal is
gone and I bought a new packet yesterday!
Cannot be Jenny or Dom as they're not back.
What is going on? No time to investigate'
everyone due round in half an hour.
3.O0pm Planning meeting went brilliantly. Am
confident that Jeremy is regaining his former self -
he even ofiered to pick up Marie, the SCM links
wod
eviews: books
revleyvs
J
cinema... books.,. television... art... music...
speakinS in remarkable prose
An impressive first novel, longlisted for the Booker Prize in 2002...
I began to read if nobody
speaks of remarkable
thrnds because I had been
told by people whose opinions I
trust that it was a good book.
However, after reading the first
few pages, I felt that I was being
made to work quite hard to find
the plot amongst the artfully
arranged words. The whole book
is written in prose in a style that
is somewhere between Jeanette
Winterson'sWriften on the Body
and Simon Armitage's poem
'About His Person'. Both the
prose and the characters'
different perspectives of
overlapping periods of time
present difficulties for those
who like to scan-read books in a
matter of hours, and also those
who like to dip into a book at
irregular intervals over an
extended period of time. Trying
to read this book too quickly led
me to feel frustrated at the lack
of instant gratification
regarding the plot - the story
comes together slowly as you
put toglether the emotions and
perspectives of the personalities
whose lives it describes.
I deliberated for quite some time
before writing this review about
whether or not I should try to give an
outline of the plot at all, and came to
the conclusion that it would spoil the
experience for other people, and that
I would probably be doing the author
a disservice by trying to simplifl it in
any way. Once I stopped trying to
if nobody speaks of remarkable things
Jon McGregor I Bloomsbury I 913.95
rush through the book to see what all
the fuss was about, I began to really
enjoy it. Jon McGregor makes the
ordinary seem beautiful, and is
startlingly perceptive. Having felt
that this book might be primarily of
interest to slightly pretentious arts
students, I was surprised to find that
parts of the book made me cry,
whilst others made me want to read
it to friends to see if they felt the
same about it, or to ask them if they
thought a character reminded them
of people we knew.
The whole book shows a series of
moments, some happy, some not, but
so acutely observed that they are
emotionally engaging, and I found
myself wanting to know what would
happen to the characters with whom I
could empathise. Reading about the
private emotions of the characters
feels a little voyeuristic at times, but
the book has been written wellenougfi
for it to be superior, deeper and
perhaps darker than the surface
'reality' presented by reality television
or fl y-on-the-wall documentaries.
if nobody speaks of remarkable
thrngs made me think. lt made me
wonder how much I see of what is
going on around me, how well I really
know the people I'm surrounded by,
and whether they know and
understand me as well as I think I
know them. 2 weeks later, I'm still
thinking. The only part of the book
that really disappointed me was the
ending, because although the main
story was concluded in the logical
place, I was left wondering how
I
of
remarkable
things
things turned out for many of the
characters.
if nobody speaks of remarkable
thrhgs is worth buying in hardback,
taking the time to read thoroughly,
and I'd recommend it to anyone who
likes their recreational reading to be
inspiring, and to provoke thought
about the way they interact with
those around them. I
if
nobody
speaks
.l')ll lt)( j.(
-! -!r)t
""" *XrttT.1,T
Jon McGregor will be writing on
'the importance of story in a
soundbite culture' in issue 114
of Movement this April.
The theme of issue 114 will be
'Story and Spirituality', following
on from SCM's annual conference
in February. Not booked
your place yet? See page 13.
movementl25
eviews: music
happy-clappy hippr-es
Do you ever wish you'd been
around in the 1960s hippie era,
or do you dream about being
transported back to it? Listening
to the Polyphonic Spree's new
album will take you there, with
its mellow, Beatles-like psychedelic
sound. However, be
warned! Although individual
tracks may be uplifting, listening
to the whole may make you
stressed or ratty! Hopefully this
wasn't the desired effect!
For those ofyou who haven't heard
of the 2lz-yeaFold Polyphonic Spree
(PS), the group was 'discovered'when
they played at David Bowie's
Meltdown Festival, and their spectacular
live performances have resulted
in an overnight success! lt would be
difficutt not to make an impact with a
group of twenty-five (yes, twenty-five
no less) Texans dressed in white
robes singing and making music on
stage. Why the white robes, you ask?
Tim Delaughter, the lead singer and
co-ordinator of PS, explains in an
interview on the Student Direct
website that the robes express a
sense of unity. They could have gone
for uniformity in less attentiongrabbing
outfits, but the robes have
provoked some interesting discussion
The Be$innin$ Stagfes
of the Polyphonic Spree
The Polyphonic Spree
about whether they are making a
religious statement or not. Some
references to PS describe them as a
group of happy-clappy Christians,
while interviews with Delaughter
suggest that he sees the music and
the experience of performing live in
PS as spiritual in a broader sense.
Delaughter apparently chose the
name 'Polyphonic Spree' because it
summed up the diverse sounds he
wanted to bring together in the
music. They have certainly achieved
this, with instruments ranging from
harp and tablas to synthesiser and
French horn.
The lyrics are
full of optimism
(cynics would say nailetyl
Their album The BeSinnhg Stages
of... came out in October 2002 and it
will be interesting to see if it is as
popular as the live show. A CD
consisting of ten sections (songs to
the rest of us), Beginning Stages
contains a good mix of tracks -
except for the last one, 'A Long Day',
which consists of a 35 minute long(!)
/lilYffrli'ifl' fi,'$,\tr$\\'' l\
irritating droning
noise that makes you get up and
check that your CD player isn't bust
or that you're not being pursued by a
swarm of wasps!
The repetition of simple lyrics by a
multitude of voices (in the style of a
divine mantra) and the intriguing
mixture of instruments give the
album a soothing and hypnotic feel.
The lyrics are full of optimism (cynics
would say naiVety). Lyrics like 'Hey,
it's the sun and it makes me want to
shine... makes me smile' or 'Take
some time, get away, suicide is a
shame, soon you'll find your own way,
hope has come, you are safe' in 'lt's
the sun', sung by fifteen vocalists
and accompanied by spontaneous
celebratory-sounding percussion,
can't help but make you feel inspired
and at one with nature! Catchy tunes
like 'Soldier Girl' imprint themselves
on your brain and leave you humming
them for days.
I thoroughly recommend buying this
CD if you like to try experimental
music that's a bit different! Alternatively,
you could borrow it from a
friend and copy the tracks you like so
that you don't have to pay for the 35
minute long weird track - not that I
would dream of encouraging students
to make illegal copies of CDs! I
Ellie MensinSh
SCM Co-ordlnatol
ls it a choit2 ls it some Mormons?
No, it's the Polyphontc Spree
in their enormous entireV.
Not a bunch of religious weirdos,
apparently.
26 |
movement
eviews: film
srryeet sixteen?
Ken Loach's latest gritty offering requires a strong stomach - but it's wotth the effort.
Sr'xteen
by Ken Loach
Ken loach's latest film is not
for the faint-hearted. The story of
lS-year-old Liam preparing
against all the odds for the
release of his ex-heroin addict
mum Jean from prison does not
pull any punches. Sometimes
quite literally. Liam's mum's
boyfriend Stan and his grandfather
try to get him to smuggle
drugs into the prison for Jean to
sell, and when he refuses, they
beat him up. Liam wants to help
his mum get clean and away from
Stan, and sets his sights on
buying a caravan for them both to
live in. But to get it in time for
Jean's release, he needs to make
money fast. With his mate
Pinball, he muscles in on Stan's
business and starts dealing
drugs, only to find himself up
against the local baron. Liam
starts working for him and at first
it seems the new life he so
desperately wants is within easy
reach, until it becomes clear he
is being drawn ever deeper into a
vicious crime world and increasingly
out of his depth.
The film is set in Greenock, near
Glasgow in the shadow of the closeddown
shipyards, where lives are stifled
by unemployment, crime, family
breakdown and lack of opportunity.
There's an inevitability about Liam's
decision to Sell drugs - Loach and his
screenwriter Paul lavefi met many
kids like him when researching the
film. The director says:
'lt's a door into another kind of
lifestyle ... if you're living in a
place like that, you don't have a
snowball's chance in hell of
affording that lifestyle unless you
get involved in dealing. For a 16-
year-old with nothing, it is quite
attractive.'
There is an irony in the initial
success of Liam's drugs
business. His scheme to get
locaf pizza delivery boys to
double up as heroin couriers is
comically enterprising and a
pointed inversion of the
Thatcherite, capitalist forces
that have crushed his
community. He is a
businessman, determined to
exploit local demand for a
product, albeit an illegal one, to make
money. But he is also just a boy -
when he steals Stan's drugs stash, he
also pinches his grandfather's false
teeth in mischievous revenge. This
prank and others provide welcome
comic relief from the overall
downbeat mood of the film, but also
draw attention to his youth and the
fact that the responsibility he bears
for his family is too great for his age.
Liam is played by Martin Compston,
a t7-year-old professional footballer in
the Scottish League who has never
been in a film before. This is typical of
Loach and it pays off- Compston plays
the part with an immediacy and verve
which makes us care deeply about
what happens to him even as we are
shocked in the latter part of the film by
the choices he makes. This is also
because they do not always seem like
conscious choices - Liam is blinkered,
determined to get what he wants at any
cost and blind to the effect he is having
on others. Unable or unwilling to see
beyond his own situation, he propels
himself on a collision course with
disaster. Even so, the end does seem
rather melodramatic and sentimental,
thougfr not enough to detract fiom the
overall impact of the story.
The sense of progression is very
strong - perhaps because each scene
of the film was shot in order.
Compston comments:
'We shot it in sequence and it was
just a great way of working. I've
just done a W thing and they shot
the ending first and it just took
the fun out of it.'
Loach says he uses simple filming
techniques deliberately and enjoys
paring down to the essence of the
story and the characters: 'The simpler
you are, the more powerful you are.'
Take for example the simple juxtaposition
of two shots - one of the
smashed-up contents of Liam's
bedroom strewn across the front lawn
of his house by Stan and his grandfather,
followed by a cutaway shot of
the mountains around Greenock, the
lake and a rainbow over the town's
rooftops. The location is centralto the
film and both the director and screenwriter
profess great affection for
Glasgow. Loach says:
'lt's such a good place to work.
Everything that's happening in
Britain, you can see in one form
or another. The people have spent
generations struggling and that
has developed a very tough, funny
and sharp culture.'
He makes a feature of the local
dialect from the outset by putting a
written statement on screen to say
that the dialogue will be subtitled for
the first 15 minutes of the film but
that after that 'you and Liam are on
your own'. This is effective on two
levels. Subtitles help a non-Glaswegian
audience get accustomed to the
characters' accent but they also
highlight the fact that for many
viewers, Liam's world is foreign
territory. His story is a real-life story
of real-life alienation and hopelessness
and it takes a gritty, political
director like Loach to tell it. Go and
be told, but take a strong stomach
Kate Powell
with you. I
Movement odltodal Elroup
movementl2T
eviews: books
wild Soose chase?
A self-confessed liturgy anorak is sorely disappointed..'
ATellin{, Place
Joy Mead I Wild Goose Publications
When A Telling Place arrived in
the office for review, I leaped on
it with eaEler anticipation. But
now, as I sit down to write this
review, I'm struglglling to explain
why I don't like it.
The book is a collection of meditations
which centre on the women in
the biblical narratives. The author
attempts to draw on the experience
of the biblical women who are on the
margins of history and telltheir story,
which has long been ignored. She
says that the book is 'not a book of
certainties and answers but of
explorations and of questions', which
is the sort of thing we like to hear at
scM.
They were women
who must have
loved, raged, lusted,
laughed and relaxed,
feeling and thinking
much as I have done,
but the book did
not help me
to relate to them
One of the stories which inspired the
author is the story of Jesus and the
Samaritan woman at the well, which
has long been one of my favourites.
The front cover shows a picture of
some women at a well which, when
added to the lovely calligraphic titles
and illustrations, makes the book very
visually pleasing. lndeed, there are
many reasons why I thought I would
like the book:
. I'm a self-confessed liturgl anorak
and have quite a collection of
litur$/ books.
. I'm inclined to judge a book by its
cover and this one looks so lovely.
. l'm a bit of a fan of literature which
sees biblical stories from the point
of view of the women in them.
. I love the stuff Wild Goose publish.
So I'm left to ask myself why it is,
when it seems that the book is just
my kind of thing, that I can't like it. I
wondered whether it was because I'd
read too much similar stuff and it was
like the time of year when you never
want to see another mince pie as
you've sickened yourself on them
over Christmas.
I looked at the meditations again
and I realised why it was I didn't like
them. None of the women felt real to
me. The author says 'we see how
emblematic the stories of these bible
women are - how intimately our own'.
lronically, that is exactly what I felt
was missing from the book: a sense
of identification with the biblical
women. They were women who must
have loved, raged, lusted, laughed
and relaxed, feeling and thinking
much as I have done, but the book
did not help me to relate to them.
The women in the book do things
which have been stereotyped as
womanly. They weep for generations
yet unborn, they await their own
flowering, they outburst the frames
described to hold them, they offer
the sweet womanliness of their free
flowing hair, and they have lifeblood
flowing from them. The author likes
to draw on images of bodiliness and
blood a little too much for my liking.
It all feels too much like bad liturgical
dance.
The author likes to
draw on images of
bodiliness and blood a
little too much for my
liking. lt all feels too
much like bad
liturgical dance
I read it aloud to my friend in the
hope a fresh viewpoint might help
with the review. We put our finger on
a problem: who will use this book? I
couldn't read it aloud with a straight
face, so that rules it out for corporate
worship. 'And if you used it for private
prayer you'd feel like a freak', she
commented.
So l'm afraid l'll have to say that if
you are after some reflections which
are rooted in reality and still have a
beautifully poetic quality to them, try
anything else Wild Goose have
published, but don't try this. I
Marie Pattison
28lmovement
overview: web
touched by the hand of Ned
A vidual but vibrant community.
Ship of Fools
www.shiooffools.com
Shrp of Fools: Ned Flanders. He's
what it's all about. Ned is our
icon. Ned is our leader, Ned is The
Man. Ned is also Homer's Godbothering
nextdoor neiglhbour off
Ihe Sllmpsons, and according to a
survey in 2001, the public figure
most associated with Ghristianity
on American college campuses.
Which inspired the editors of Ship
of Fools (wvuw.shiooffools.com) to
arrange a very special ni$ht at
Greenbelt 2OOt, replete with Ned
lookalikes, sanctified songs, and
fashion from the House of
Flanders. lt was so successful
that they did it again the following
year. Twice. What kind of
Ghristian outfit is it that can get
away with orElanising an event
celebrating a quite frankly lame
(and, indeed, yellow) cartoon
character and get it into the
national press?
Shrp of Fools has made a sometimes
tongue-in-cheek, sometimes passionate
examination of Christianity its stock-intrade.
Ori$nally a paper magazine run by
Simon Jenkins and Steve Goddard
between L977 and 1983, for the last 4v,
years Shlp of Fools has had a presence
on the net.
The whole ethos of Shrp of Fools is
tied up in its subtitle, 'The Magazine
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of Christian Unrest'. The Ship, as it's
affectionately known by its devotees,
exists to help people make sense of
the Christian faith - to look at
Christianity critically and honestly -
to celebrate the good but to attack
false religion wherever it's found. I
think it succeeds in this admirably.
But then, I'm a contributor to the
Ship, and I'm biased.
We have our very own Soul-Saving
Supersonic Spiritual Celebrity in the
shape of the Revd Gerald Ambulance,
and he, with an army of columnists,
some humorous, some serious, but
all with offbeat perspectives,
challenges the preconceptions and
absurdities of the Christian World.
ln the Fruitcake Zone you can find
dozens of links to some of the
strangest, weirdest, and scariest
Christian websites out there. And I do
mean 'out there' - from the Christian
Naturists' Association through to the
Christian Guide to Small Arms, and
the perennial favourite, Rapture
Ready, where a guy called Todd works
out the percentage chance of the
Rapture happening in any given week,
with an index based on a peculiarly
right-wing view of world events.
Gadgets For God shows you exactly
where you can buy those essential
WWJD? underpants (with the false fly,
of course). Urban Myths explodes
those fictional e-mail forwards we all
get, while Si$ns and Blunders keeps
a record of strange Christian notices,
bumper stickers and typos.
taa, r.,s
d kttn*r(d
at.@2aal1.i3t
r'de{rdryd
esources
resources round-up
Some other publications you may find useful...
t
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tuG'
lrr.nirr( r jtlr ()rrr t l.rrrrlr
ir;;l!
rF I
lr,.
FAITH
WORRS
Jth( wALtts
e
t )
rt
I J t
1
Faith Without Hostagies
By Haniet Hanis, SPTCK
A fresh look at Bible passages relevant to
Lent and Easter, encouraging thought
and reflection to link them to the world
today. lncludes questions for personal
reflection or group discussion. 87.99
t; 0845 762 6747
e: mailorder@sock.org.uk
Faith Works
ByJim Wallis, SFCK
A powerful call by a leading US activist for
Christians to put their faith into action
and address issues of poverty and
injustice. lnspiring stuff. tL2.99
t: O845 762 6747
e,' mailorder@sock.orE.uk
Piltrim Prayer
Compiled by Jim Cotter, Cairns Publications
A new collection of prayers by Movement
columnist Jim Cotter (see page 2L). A
companion for pilgrimage, with an order
of prayer for each day of the week.
Bilingual, in Welsh and English. Hardback
912; paperback 98
t: 01766 761 368
e.' office@cottercairns.co.uk
Praying with Our Hands
By Jon M Sweeney, Wild Goose Publications
A book of reflections with photographs,
showing how our bodies can give
meaning to prayer. Covers spiritual
practices from a broad range of reli$ious
traditions. A beautiful book for private
prayer or group worship. t10.99
t: OL41 3326292 . f: OL4L 332 1090
w'' wu4&iol!ab99!9,.o0!n
Who rs My Nei(hbour?
Churches Together in Britain and lreland
A report from a delegation to the Middle
East. Challenges churches to build
solidarity with Christians in the region,
and to endorse churches in the Middle
East's call for lsrael to end the occupation
of the Palestinian Territories. s5.95
t;020 7898 1300 ' f;020 7898 1305
w' www,chbookshoo.co.uk
have you seen SGM's books?
I
si?nificnnt
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A range of publications is available ftom
SCM, examining Christianity and society
ftom a radical an$e. lnclusive, aware
and challen$ng - invaluable resources
for study, reflection and action, suitable
for indMduals or groups.
Titles currently available include:
Common People - Christian ideas of
community - currently on special
offer, f,2.50 including postage!
God Made Simple - a lively synopsis of
the questions about God which have
occupied philosophers and theologians
Significant Others - a fresh look at
relationships
Raging in the Streets - activism and
ministry in the twenty-first century
The Dying Game - attitudes to life,
death and mortality
The F-word - exploring fundamentalism
Fleshing out Faith - looking at the
relationship between Christianity and
our bodies
No More Mr Nice Guy - theological,
personal and political pieces in search
of a Jesus that bites
Find out more
or order books now!
Ring Ot21, 47t 2404
or e- mail scm@movement.org. uk
or write to:
Student Christian Movement
University of Birmingham
Weoley Park Road
Selly Oak
Birmingham
B29 6LL
or visit www. movement.org. uk/
oublications
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the serpent
TOO BUSY TO PRAY?
Then get some earnest
Christians to do it for you. A
postcard landed on the
doormat of my serpently den
recently, promising that
Christians from local
churches would be
pleased to pray for
anything I'm concerned
about if I would just
return the form to a
local Prayer Point.
But do they
discriminate? Will
they pray for
anything? Would
they put in a word
for a lowly serpent
like me? What if the
fanatic on my street
sends in a deluge of
cards praying for a
plague of
South
American tree frogs?
How irresponsible.
And does it wort like Nectar
points? Can I build up
credit and ask for a
really big pmyer at
Christmas?
I think it's a
great idea
that could be
extended to other
areas of church activity. You
could have a Worship Point
where you hand in cards
asking someone to speak in
tongues, or a Prophecy Point
where you ask someone else
to do all that troublesome
frothing at the mouth. You
could even get fire and
brimstone called down on
Methodist Central Hall by
proxy.
Everything
must Eo
I was
delithted
to see that
all my
labours
have paid
off. Get in
quick and
you could
get some
perfection
at rockbottom
prices.
I
t! .[|,,[
THE GREAT DEBATE
Of course, I diligently read all
the church papers, and it
seems that everyone wants
the good Rt
J
Revd
Dr
Williams
to endorse
whatever
theY
I
are
selling
these
days. I'm half
expecting him to
turn up on posters
at the local Tesco's
advertising cat food.
But not Remington or Gillette,
although I imagine he needs
something to keep that fine
prophetic facial fungus in
check.
ln the run-up to Christmas
we will, no doubt, be
hearing the future
Archbishop's opinion on
Brussels sprouts. And
evangelical groups will protest
at the revelation that he has
previously commended the
i
lr
ET
eating of sprouts, which are
of course an abomination in
the eyes of the Lord. Then
there'll have to be a forum on
vegetation in the church, with
yet more 'integrities' and
special bishops catering for
the break-away broccoli
brigade.
HOW WOULD JESUS HANG?
I was horrified beyond words
to discover that young
evangelicals can now
get some assistance
with mortifying their
flesh, in the form of
'What Would Jesus
Do?' boxer shorts.
What's a serpent to
do? Now young
nubile types are
protected from temptation
by their very undenruear.
You can picture the
scene. The young
Christian couple slips
from the straight and
narrow, straying from
the righteous path of
keeping one foot on
the floor and
touching
nothing
above the
knees or
below
the
neck. Just
as they slip
into
clutches
my
and
^-.
prepare to make the
beast with two backs, they
look down and see those
words emblazoned in holy
letters across their
waistband, and see the error
of their ways.
It's not right. And moreover, I
have it on good authority that
Our Lord favoured a more
loincloth-based garment in
the undenvear department.
EMERGENCY SERVICES
The firefighters dispute may
have ended by the time you
read this, but you'll soon
see that it's all part of a
great plot, to which I myself
am a party, and Andy
Gilchrist's promise to bring
down New Labour is but the
tip of the iceberg. We've
already forced the government
to use Green
Goddesses - sounds pretty
pagan to me. And of
course, Hell doesn't have
too much call for fire
protection, so we're sitting
pretty. Fear a Satanic plot?
Dial 666.
A more responsible citizen
than myself might also point
out that their behaviour is
somewhat thoughtless.
Fancy lighting whacking
great braziers all around the
country during a firefighters'
strike!
STOP THE STATISTICS
The Stop the War coalition is
planning another mass
protest in February about
Dubya's antics. ln keeping
with statistics for previous
such events, the organisers
have confidently predicted
that, oh, zillions of protesters
will turn up, while the police
expect two men and a very
small poodle.
AND FINALLY...
You couldn't make it up.
The Vatican believes that
the Russian Orthodox
Church is running a
'despicable operation' to
ruin its reputation,
o
by accusing
Franciscan monks
of setting up a
brothel in
Moscow.
A Russian
newspaper
featured
photos of a
nun in a habit
o 31i,",'n'?jil
oo
li::*iffi:. ,o
exptatn now you
could see the
undies beneath the habit),
and claimed that a
monastery turned out to be
a 'bordello'.
I
\
ff
Name:
Cbri$'nn
tr Please send me further information about joining the Student
Ghristian Movement, and tell me where my local group is.
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Address:
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