***Open Letter to Stephen Crabb, Work Capability Assessment Project, Housing Book, Peace Chaplaincy, Creative Conversati
***Open Letter to Stephen Crabb, Work Capability Assessment Project, Housing Book, Peace Chaplaincy, Creative Conversations, Fr John Dear Talk, Goodbye Henrietta.***
We’re sorry for the lack of Partners Bulletin over the last two months. We’ve been very busy as you can see below!
Open Letter to Stephen Crabb. Following Iain Duncan Smith’s unexpected resignation, Ekklesia coordinated another successful open letter to Stephen Crabb from Christians asking for a change in direction on welfare. The letter was signed by the Archbishop of Wales, four Bishops, David Lodge, Sir Tom Devine, Frank Cottrell Boyce and many others. It was picked up by the Daily Mirror, The Scottish Herald, The Church Times, The Tablet and other Christian press. We are still chasing Mr Crabb and hope he will respond to our offer of a meeting.
Work Capability Assessment Project.This project, funded by the Passionists Small Grants Fund, is reaching a conclusion. The report will be completed by June and we are hoping to have an event at the House of Commons to reflect on the findings. We are currently in talks with all the major political parties in order to build cross party support for the project.
Housing Book. We were very excited to launch our second book Foxes Have Holes: Christian reflections on Britain’s housing need at Manchester Cathedral on April 14th 2016. Speakers included Bishop David Walker, Andrew Francis, Helen Woolley and Virginia Moffatt. We loved being in Manchester where we received a very warm welcome. (A full report can be found here. The book is a series of essays about housing in the UK, with thoughts about how best to respond to the housing crisis.
We are holding further events in London on 10th May, 7pm, Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church and Oxford on 12th May, 7pm Peace House, 19, Paradise St, Oxford, OX1 1LD All welcome!
If you would like to order the book, you can do so here price £11.99. Meanwhile we have had a great deal of interest in our first book Sexuality Struggle and Saintliness: Same Sex Marriage and the Church by Savitri Hensman which you can purchase here, price £12.99. For both books, E-books can be ordered from the office price £3.99.
Savi is available for talks about her book and the issues it raises. Please contact us at [email protected] if you would be interested in booking her to speak.
Peace Chaplaincy. Thanks to grants from the WF Southall Trust and Edith M Ellis Trust, we have launched research into the idea of developing peace chaplaincies. Symon Hill is undertaking a piece of initial research to discover whether this idea will be welcomed by churches and faith groups and we will be publishing is findings shortly.
Creative Conversations. We have also been commissioned by Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church to develop a range of events bringing people of different faiths for lively and challenging discussions. We are in the process of putting the programme together and will be advertising in the summer.
Blessed are the Peacemakers. On the 31st March we were delighted to co-host this event with the London Catholic Worker and Pax Christi. Fr John Dear is an internationally known voice for peace and nonviolence. A long time activist, popular lecturer, and movement organizer, John is the author of 30 books and hundreds of articles, including “Living Peace,” “Jesus the Rebel,” and “The Nonviolent Life.” He was recently nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Archbishop Desmond Tutu. His talk on the Beatitudes was greatly appreciated by all participants.
Goodbye Henrietta! We are very sad to say that Henrietta also left us on the 31st March as she has decided that she wishes to resume her teaching career. We have really appreciated her quiet, efficient presence which has helped us establish the office at Bloomsbury and ensure things work smoothly. We would like to thank her for her hard work and wish her all the best!
Advertise with us: If you have a book or event to promote, or a job to advertise, why not advertise with us? We are offering reduced rates throughout to partners! Please contact [email protected].
Seeking your views: We are always keen to hear from you about what you value about our work and what we could be doing better. Please your send ideas by email to: [email protected]
Thank you for your continuing interest and support in our work. This means more to us than we can say. Please feel free to come back to us on any of the issues we have raised in this newsletter, or other matters of concern.
Simon Barrow, Jonathan Bartley (co-directors), Virginia Moffatt (chief operating officer).