There’s more than three months to go until the Greenbelt Festival gets underway, but a pre-Greenbelt event will take place this Sunday in London. I’m really pleased to be one of ten speakers who will talk for 8-10 minutes each on an aspect of the theme of Greenbelt 2012, ?Paradise: Lost & Found.
There’s more than three months to go until the Greenbelt Festival gets underway, but a pre-Greenbelt event will take place this Sunday in London. I’m really pleased to be one of ten speakers who will talk for 8-10 minutes each on an aspect of the theme of Greenbelt 2012, ?Paradise: Lost & Found.
My topic will be The Occupy movement – a signpost to paradise? I’m also looking forward to hearing the other speakers, who include Tamsin Omond, Lucy Winkett, Paul Vallely and Ann Pettifor.
I was one of several Christians to be dragged by police from the steps of St Paul’s Cathedral as I knelt in prayer during the eviction of Occupy London Stock Exchange. My emotions took some time to settle, and the controversy over the cathedral’s complicity in the eviction is still unravelling.
This experience will be my starting point, as I look at what the incident says about the future of Christianity in Britain. I’ll consider the Occupy movement’s challenge for Christianity and whether it can tell us anything about the kingdom of God. A lot to cover in 10 minutes!
Tickets are still available and can be bought online. If you can’t make it, I understand that videos of all ten short talks will be posted on the Greenbelt website.
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(c) Symon Hill is associate director of Ekklesia. To book tickets for the event, please see http://www.greenbelt.org.uk/about/events/paradise-lost-found/.