This page is essentially a record of discussions with people
involved in the Forum for Change 'Politics and Social Action' sphere.
The main focus of this page is the 'Politics' aspect of 'Politics
and Social Action' because most of the social action part is being
addressed in the BCAN discussion.
However, the way in which Politics and Social Action link with
each other is one of the vital details we need to work out.
'Politics' is the word we use for the process of making things
happen. We can't avoid it: as soon as you have more than one person
involved in making something happen, there you have politics in
some form.
We are looking for people who are interested in reforming or
transforming society – people who want to make a difference.
Join
Join the email list and we will send you details of the meetings
and activities. The messages will be infrequent, and you can
unsubscribe at any time.
We need to produce a list of the people who are identified in
public as Christians with an interest in politics.
The current list:
Andy Street: Chair of the 5K Partnership and involved
with various social enterprises.
Eddy Knasel: a Trustee of Bristol Quakers.
Eric Aidoo: Churches Together in Greater Bristol and
Pastor of City Road Baptist Church.
Jenny Foster: Bristol Fairtrade Network.
Katie Brooker: student of Gender and International
Relations.
Marvin Rees: stood as the Labour candidate for Bristol
Mayor; is intending to stand again in 2016 if he gets the Labour
nomination.
Paul Hazelden: the Forum for Change 'Politics and
Social Action' convenor.
Philip Nott: Chair of Bristol Evangelical Alliance and
Minister at Easton Christian Family Centre.
Philip Watkins: Pastor of Ivy Church.
Rob Morgan: Pastor of Edge Church.
Rob Scott-Cook: Senior Pastor of the Woodlands group of
churches
Roger Allen: Churches Together in Greater Bristol and
Forum for Change facilitator.
If you would like to be added to this list, please complete the
'Planning' form, or fill in the
shorter contact form.
There also needs to be a private list for people who are
interested in this subject, but who do not wish to be identified in
public in this way.
Activities
We need to produce a list of the projects and activities which
are political in nature and identified in some way as being
Christian, or of particular interest to Christians in Bristol.
The current list:
Election
Website: produced by CTBI ('Churches Together in Britain
and Ireland').
Pray: and encourage others
to pray about the forthcoming election.
Sam Sharpe
Project: a Baptist Union of Great
Britain (Faith and Society) initiative. It includes yearly
lectures on social justice and related issues. The third lecture
was held in Bristol in 2014.
Where do I Start? Some more resources from
'Christians in Politics' that will help you start thinking about
politics, the role of Christians in it and how you can be involved.
Resources
Similarly, we need a list of relevant resources.
Show
Up: this campaign by 'Christians in Politics' aims to
encourage positive Christian engagement in the run up to, and
beyond, the 2015 General Election.
Who is my
Neighbour?: a letter from the House of Bishops to the
'People and Parishes' of the Church of England for the General
Election 2015 (56 pages, 1.1Mb)
Actions
Paul: pull out my paper on the voluntary sector and statutory
servcies.
Eric: book Marvin for the first meeting, confirm place and
time.
Strands
Work on 'Values' next time?
Micah 6:8
Parable of the talents – issues of empowerment and
fulfilling your purpose
"When I was hungry"
Chaplaincy services
Encourage prayer for a level playing field in the political
field – Christians should not be discriminated against.
Advocacy, act as a voice for the voiceless
Highlight political and social issues (how?)
Social Justice issues
In Bristol, we are quite good at doing the practical community
work, but we also need to look at the deeper, underlying issues
What are the issues which are not being addressed?
Economic and political empowerment.
Make a case to seek funding.
Pick up on anything we can learn from ISR.
"A riot is the voice of the unheard." Who is unheard in our
community, and what can we do about it?
Politics is not just for middle-class, middle-aged, educated
white men: what do we need to do in order to be truly inclusive?
As John Stott said: we should not ask, “What is wrong
with the world?” for that diagnosis has already been given;
rather we should ask, “What has happened to the salt and
light?”
