Listen to a panel discussion from the Centre for Theology & Public Issues (CTPI) recorded in August, 2013.
The questions discussed
were submitted by prospective members of the audience relating to issues of current concern including:
surveillance
the living wage
the Michael Swann case
regional development
Christchurch’s new cardboard cathedral
affordable housing
the state of political parties
The panel included:
Laura Black – CEO, Methodist Mission
Dr Bryce Edwards – Department of Politics
Greg Fleming – CEO, The Maxim Institute, and
Jolyon White – Social Justice Enabler, Anglican Diocese of Christchurch
Andrew Bradstock, NZCN Unsung Hero Award recipient in the Secularism category for 2013, recently stepped down from his role as Centre Director to return to the United Kingdom and was not present for this discussion.
Glyn Carpenter, NZCN National Director, was in Dunedin for the three days prior to this recording, participating in discussions on similar issues with our secularism panel together with Andrew Bradstock.
Wow, what a statement. I didn’t know what to think when I saw the title of the video clip that one of NZCN’s Secularism discussion panel members circulated, but I’m glad I watched it.
What Role Can Churches Play in Community Renewal?
On 9 August, 2013, The NY Times shared the story of Kip Jacob’s church in Portland, Oregon and the amazing partnership they’ve had with Roosevelt High School. “Help from Evangelicals (Without Evangelizing)“ The Times called it. The initial paragraph reads:
PORTLAND, Ore. — Four summers ago, on her first day as an administrator at Roosevelt High School here, Charlene Williams heard that the Christians were coming. Some members of an evangelical church were supposed to be painting hallways, repairing bleachers, that sort of thing. The prospect of such help, in the fervently liberal and secular microclimate of Portland, did not exactly fill her with joy.
Following is a 6:31 minute sizzle reel of the documentary made about the project.
Qideas.com filmed an interview with Kip Jacobs, pastor at SouthLake Church, about this project. Click here to watch the story of what happens when a mostly white, affluent suburban church shows up at the doorsteps of an urban high school with a desire to work together. Through his experience, Jacob challenges churches to get involved with their neighbourhood schools and invest in their renewal.
After watching these videos, I followed the link on Qideas.org to a follow-up story. In this clip, The presenter interviews two friends, Tom Krattenmaker, who is a regular contributor to USA Today, and Kevin Palau, president of the Luis Palau Association, as they discuss how God is moving in Portland, what dynamics are at play that movements in other cities might resemble and urge us to prepare for future cultural shifts.
Other videos about this particular project in Portland can be found on the BeUndivided YouTube channel. Their website, which is full of resources and ideas, can be accessed here.
What do you think? Is it better than prayer in schools? What can we take from this and apply to our culture, here in Aotearoa?
Please leave your thoughts and comments below and share this link with others. Challenge your Christian friends to think about what role they can take while living in a secular society. We look forward to the discussions!
Blessings,
Gayann
Gayann and her husband, Stephen, have provided web design and email communication support to NZCN since 2006. She has home schooled their two children for the past nine years, but was ‘made redundant’ at the start of 2013. Since then, she has taken a more active role with NZCN.
Last week, we posted an essay by EAUK’s Danny Webster titled One Way Christians Can Respond to Secularism. In his essay, Danny described how the churches of Southampton partnered with local government when the council asked for their help. Fantastic.
One of NZ Christian Network’s objectives is to help NZ Christians understand and respond to secularism. The following article is relevant and hopefully might stimulate some local initiatives.
How UK Christians Can Respond to Secularism?
Instead of separating from our local government, churches in my hometown partnered with it. Danny Webster | 19 August, 2013
It is supposedly the place where King Canute stood and futilely ordered the sea to retreat. It’s certainly the place King Henry V set sail from to reach the Battle of Agincourt. The gate through which the troops marched stands in a forgotten corner of the city. It is the place where the Titanic set sail. On that fateful voyage, 549 people from this city lost their lives.
Illustrious history mixed with patches of ignominy. Sacked by the French in the 14th century, walls restored and strengthened, never again breached. Struck by the plague soon after and again, 300 years later. A city defined by fears of invasion as well as the prospect of prosperity brought through its docks. Its proximity to the sea and other countries both a virtue and a threat.
It’s also where I grew up. Several years ago, the leaders of Southampton, on the south coast of England 70 miles out of London, adopted a vision statement: Southampton would be a city that is “good to grow up in and good to grow old in.” A few years before, Eugene Peterson had used similar language to interpret Zechariah’s ancient words: “Old men and old women will come back to Jerusalem, sit on benches on the streets and spin tales, move around safely with their canes—a good city to grow old in. And boys and girls will fill the public parks, laughing and playing—a good city to grow up in.”
Praying on the City Walls
Around the time the City Council was unintentionally borrowing from the Old Testament, I stood on the city walls. Every other Wednesday night at midnight, a small group of us met here to pray. We looked out over the developments rising from land reclaimed from the sea. We looked down to see revellers staggering from bar to bar, and the homeless man shrunk beneath a park bench. On one occasion, a larger group gathered—too many for our regular perch—so we moved in front of the main city gate. There we knelt. And we prayed. We prayed for our families, for our friends, but most of all, for our city.
Five years ago I left Southampton, a place that will in some way always be home. My parents remain; my sister and her family too. My nephew Josiah, born a few weeks ago, entered this world in the same hospital ward I did nearly 30 years ago. It is a city I love, and a city in difficult times. But Southampton is also a city with churches committed to helping it prosper once again.
In 1925, the Methodist Central Hall was built in the center of Southampton. On the scaffolding stretching across the half-finished structure hung a sign calling for workers. But it wasn’t a call for carpenters and masons; it was a call for workers to carry out the work of the church: “Workers wanted with grace, grit, and gumption.” For a food bank, a clothing bank, a poor man’s lawyer, maternity care, Boys’ Brigade, Girls’ Brigade. It is not a new thing for the church to serve the city. It is just something it has on occasion forgot.
If the church really has good news, then it needs to make a difference to those who need it most. And Southampton, like communities across the United Kingdom, is in need. One London Borough produced a graph showing their declining income against the rising cost of adult and child social care. By 2022, they will afford nothing else. That means no libraries, no youth clubs, no pot holes filled, no bins collected. The funding crisis for local government in the UK is very real, urgent, and will get worse before it gets worse
About the time I was praying on the walls of the city, the Council was also reforming the governance of several schools. They invited bids from businesses, universities, and charities to take over running the schools. In a fit of outrageous desire to serve the city, my church, New Community Southampton, threw its hat into the ring. Four schools being merged into two, in two different but similarly deprived parts of the city, contracted out as part of the government’s academies program for 125 years. And they chose us.
It nearly brought the City Council down, I sat above the chamber as it tabled a vote of no confidence in the elected leader, then passed only because of a renegade councillor voting against her party. Billy Kennedy, senior leader of New Community Church, Southampton, signed on the dotted line. By doing so, he took responsibility for the schools for over a century to come. In the years since, the church has built relationships with the local government, and improving exam results have demonstrated credibility. In Southampton, and throughout the UK, local churches are becoming the preferred partners for local government.
Christians Creating Jobs
In the light of the budget cuts faced by the council—£25 million to go this year, and again the next, and the next; 300 jobs going this year alone—the council asked for churches’ help. And that little bit of grammar matters. It was the churches together, not one in competition or isolation from others, from across the city, all committed to seeing Southampton become a place that more reflects the kingdom of God. A place that is good to grow up in, and a place good to grow old in.
Southampton has prospered from its position as a trading port, bringing employment to many. This summer, Ford will close its assembly plant on the edge of the city. In 1910 Ford opened its first UK dealership in the city, with a manufacturing plant following in 1939. For generations the factory has provided work. One employee commented on the closure: “My dad worked here in 1972 for 25 years. I’ve worked here for 25 years. I’m not sure what I’ll do.”
The City Council leader met with the churches who wanted to help address unemployment. They could help with youth unemployment, they were told. They could help with youth clubs, childcare, and the shortfall of families willing to foster and adopt in the city. From across the city, 400 people from churches of every stripe met to hear the challenges and consider what they could do. They prayed and then got practical.
Christian businessmen and women started to ask what they can do to create jobs. There is the scandal of private fostering companies making money out of the lack of families able to provide a home for some of the city’s most vulnerable children. Because the local council cannot find enough families for children in care they pay private companies, at a very inflated rate, to find these places. The city needs 40 more families, and the churches have committed to find them—at last count 39 families from churches in the city have stepped up and applied to become carers. If they make it they’ll save the city £1.2 million by doing away with the need for private foster agencies.
Council budget cuts will mean all the youth workers employed by the city will lose their jobs, and children’s centres are under threat. An audit of churches discovered that between them there were 17 paid youth workers across the city and 37 mother and toddler groups. The church has resources and opportunities to serve both their own members and the communities around them.
Welcomed, Not Excluded
For many years, UK Christians have worried about the tide of secularism. They have worried that their beliefs are being squeezed out of public life. We have also had the call for Christians to run for office, take up positions of influence, and be a bulwark against this tide. And like Canute was mocked for his failure to roll back the waves, they have been judged for not doing enough to protect Christian values. From the sidelines, we have worried that our beliefs are being marginalised.
Southampton is just one example of churches across the UK bucking this trend. Behind the scenes and beyond the glare of newspaper headlines, churches are working for the good of their communities. And when they seek to work with local authorities, they are not turned away because of their beliefs but often welcomed as key partners. When church leaders met with Southampton City Council to discuss the issues facing the city, across the table from them sat the Head of Strategy for children’s services, the Head of Parenting, and the lead councillor, all Christians, along with a couple of others. At the time when the city needs the most help, the church is there to respond. To respond as congregations of believers and respond as individual Christians committed to finding ways to resolve some of the communities’ most intractable problems.
Christians are not excluded, they are welcomed. And when relationships are built, when credibility is established, when fears are dispelled and suspicions counted void, the church is there to serve the people of Southampton. When political tides turn, when programs are cut, when funding dries up, the church is committed to make it a city that is good to grow up in, and good to grow old in.
Danny Webster works for the UK Evangelical Alliance on political issues and helping Christians engage in public life. He tweets @danny_webster and writes on an eclectic range of issues, from relationships and church culture to politics and theology, on his blog, Broken Cameras & Gustav Klimt.
Danny’s essay won the This is our City essay contest run by Christianity Today
In yesterday’s sudden eruption of violence scores of churches, Christian-owned businesses and homes came under attack in Egypt.
The violence was a reaction to the government’s crackdown on 2 camps in Cairo, established to call for the reinstatement of President Mohamed Morsi.
Media reports state that 27 church buildings and at least 30 Christian-owned homes were attacked in the violence unleashed by pro-Morsi supporters. The government, however, reported attacks on only 7 churches.
According to the Egyptian Health Ministry, 235 people were killed and more than 1000 injured in the clashes. However, estimates of the casualties vary widely with some reports even stating that the death toll could be around 1000.
Since President Morsi was ousted, extreme Islamists have targeted the country’s Christians, stating that they hold them partly responsible.
Only last week, a 10-year-old Christian girl was shot dead on the way home from her Bible class.
Prayer points:
Pray that there would be no more outbreaks of violence;
Pray for God’s protection over all Christians in Egypt;
Pray for God’s healing mercy upon all those injured in the attacks;
Pray that the LORD would comfort families mourning the loss of loved ones.
We Can Defend Our Liberties John Stonestreet, August 2, 2013
Karl Marx said that history repeats itself, first as tragedy, then as farce. And for once, I agree with him.
After World War II, our nation found itself in a dangerous Cold War with the Soviets. But while America eventually prevailed, not everything done in the name of freedom was kosher.
For a time, Senator Joseph McCarthy and the House Un-American Activities Committee wreaked havoc on free speech and destroyed a lot of reputations—remember the Hollywood Ten?
Modern liberals have made freedom of speech a cornerstone of their movement, and rightly so, ever since.
Tragically, the old impulse to control what people believe and say—or crush them politically—is still alive and well. But farcically, it is those who say they value tolerance over everything who are doing a lot of the persecuting.
Orson Scott Card, an award-winning writer of fantasy and science fiction, is their latest target. Card, a Mormon, has publicly stated that society should oppose gay marriage and even homosexual conduct—a pretty mainstream position just a few years ago.
Well, earlier this year, when he was selected to write for a new Superman comic series, homosexual activists tried to blacklist him—on National Public Radio, no less! Now Card’s science-fiction book, “Ender’s Game,” is being released as a major film this fall, and the thought police are at it again.
A gay activist group organized a boycott of “Ender’s Game,” even though all sides agree the movie has nothing to do with any social issue. The goal of these neo-McCarthy-ites is to punish Card, plain and simple, to make him unemployable, and to hurt any company that transgresses their definition of political correctness.
Surprisingly enough, The New York Times is calling them on it. The Times says that the boycott is really “closer to blacklisting,” adding, “This isn’t about stopping the dissemination of antigay sentiments; it’s about isolating Mr. Card and shaming his business partners, thus cutting into their profits. If Mr. Card belongs in quarantine, who’s next?”
Good question, New York Times.
Well, who’s next was my friend and Summit Ministries colleague, Mike Adams. A popular professor at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, Mike writes extensively and powerfully about speech codes on college campuses. Mike has more than 5,000 Facebook friends. Facebook ought to be sending him flowers and a card every week, because followings like his keep their social media platform in business.
But recently, Mike offered an argument against same-sex “marriage.” It was not angry or sarcastic, but some folks complained. So Mike was informed by Facebook that his account had been suspended for twelve hours for “violating community standards.”
Well shockingly, there are a few Facebook pages still live and active entitled “Kill George Zimmerman.” These are some community standards!
And earlier this month, Facebook blocked fans of Christian actor Kirk Cameron from posting comments about his upcoming movie, “Unstoppable.” Incredibly, Facebook deemed the content of the website “abusive and unsafe.”
Cameron didn’t take this lying down—and neither should we. The actor informed more than half a million of his Facebook fans and received more than 24,000 “likes” and 5,000 comments in about an hour. Facebook rescinded the ban, and eventually stated that they had made a technical mistake. Well, take that for what you will, but at the very least, the flood of comments no doubt helped them discover the “mistake.” “This is a real victory,”
Cameron said. “If we work together, we do have a voice.”
Friends, as you can see, the pressure on free speech is building. But as you can also see, if we stand up for our rights, we can preserve them. However, the old maxim, “use it or lose it,” applies. Let’s stand for our right to free speech and freedom of religion and do so calmly, winsomely, persistently, and—when appropriate—humorously. After all, attacks on free speech are no laughing matter, but they can certainly seem rather farcical!
Next Steps
As John has pointed out, each and every one of us must do our part to keep free speech free. First, stay vigilant. If you become aware of someone being blacklisted or harassed because their view is politically incorrect, speak out using your social networks.
Second, share this commentary on Facebook or Twitter with others. It will take considerable effort from everyone to halt today’s attack on free speech; and it can be done.
Gather more information on Daily BreakPoint by visiting www.breakpoint.org
