A real agency of transformation

The role of the church as an agent of public welfare or a custodian of charitable projects is much in the news at the moment. In this article, adapted from a recent address, I return to the foundational calling of the church as an agent of a much larger hope –...

Going leadership barmy

Is it me, or has everyone gone ‘leadership potty’ lately? When David Cameron was elected Tory leader he smelled of roses. Then he was dubbed a lightweight with no principles. Now, he is a winner again, riding high in the polls and triumphing in by-elections by...

A wonky church and welfare debate

If there’s going to be disagreement, it’s good to figure out where, why and how it arises. But when it comes to religion and public life, there is more frequently unhelpful confusion. Here is Francis Davis, one of the authors of the new church, government...

Moving religion from harm to healing

This article further develops some themes hinted at in Hearing hope through the babble. ‘Who sinned, this man or his father, that he has this sickness?’ The religious argument prompted by this misplaced question to Jesus at the beginning of St John chapter nine [1],...

Hearing hope through the babble

With all its many complexities, the question at the heart of globalization remains alarmingly simple. Not ‘shall we have it or not?’ – there is now no serious choice about that. But what kind of globalization, determined by whom, and to what ends? Will it continue to...