Bradford SoulSpace

Matthew 25 v 14-30 ‘The rich get richer…’

chris — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 15:22:43 +0000

Matthew 25 through the eyes of the poor

Church was a real eye opener yesterday. I retold the story of the talents from the perspective of the man who buried his gold talent. I challenged conservative and liberal understandings of the story in Matthew 25 verse 14, by pointing out that God is not a cold hearted absentee landlord. Jesus certainly wouldn’t have supported usury, or trade that would have made the rich richer and the poor poorer.

The hero of the story, when read from the perspective of the poor - is the slave who refuses to take part in the system. It was hard for some in the congregation - but for others, eyes were opened. I cannot of course be sure that I have the interpretation right - but it is great to see 30 odd young people really wrestling with scripture, and considering radical readings perhaps truer to the original meanings. Here is the story I told:

My name is Jeremiah, and I am terrified. I am about to lose my job, my status – everything. I don’t know how I am going to tell my family and my two small children. But I have my principles and my faith, and I must stick to them.

My boss is a hard man. He owns lots of property south of Tyre – but he does not stay here often – he prefers to live the high life in Rome, partying and sucking up to those who gave him the land in the first place.

Before he left the last time, he gave me and two of his other slaves a task. He wanted us to make even more money for him, his greed is insatiable. He gave his favourite Herod five gold Talents. He went and bought corn fields from the poor farmers in the region. When he had virtually all of the market, he forced the price of bread up and made a killing. Rufus used his two gold bars to by up property on the coast, then began to charge extortionate rents – he soon made two more gold talents worth. This world seems so wrong; those with more seem to get richer, while the poor suffer, what little they have is taken away by the rich with taxes and debt.

I felt uncomfortable with all this – so I buried the damn talent of Gold in the ground. My wife pleaded with me to put it in the bank so it would at least gain interest for my master, but I told her – usury is a sin for us Jews. Moses set up these laws to protect us from money making banks and I will not go against my faith.

But now I hear that my master returns, and he will want a reckoning. This is a man who takes what is not his, who reaps what he has not sown. He kills his enemies. But even though I am afraid of him – my faith is strong. I will stand up to him, whatever the cost.

Below is a well thought out sermon on the subject by JustSpace friend, Simon Barrow from Ekklesia:

By Simon Barrow

17 Nov 2008

Readings: Matthew 25. 14-30; 1 Thessalonians 5. 1-11; Zephaniah 1.7, 12-18.

To be Christians is to rediscover ourselves, our priorities, our thoughts, our actions, our neighbours, the world and God – and to do so through the company of Jesus. When we come to worship and pray, we use words, songs, stories, images and rituals to discern how and where God is with us, in Christ. But unless we are simply addressing ourselves or projecting our wishes onto the divine, we will also recognise that there are ways in which God is not with us. We will need to open ourselves to questioning, scrutiny, correction, painful refining and radical reorientation by a love whose capacity goes far beyond what we can achieve, personally and publicly, through our own efforts.

In this way, we find ourselves being “open to judgement”. In both the Jewish and Christian Scriptures, divine judgement is the flip side of divine promise. To be renewed and reconstituted in the image of God is to undergo, says the Epistle to the Hebrews, a ‘shaking process’ (12. 27-28). Only that which echoes the new life God is bringing about can survive. Everything that destroys life will itself face destruction.

Even in these redemptive terms, being called to account by God’s purposive love is no cosy, easy-going affair. It can be tough and terrifying. It is also liable to the most appalling misappropriation by those who arrogate to themselves the position of being final arbiters of right and wrong, life and death. You only have to peer into history to see that: whether it is the example of religious persecution throughout the ages, an all-encompassing anti-religious tyranny like Stalin’s, or more modern examples we could attempt to name and discuss.

In our present age, though frivolous judgementalism is everywhere (have a look at the Sunday tabloids!), many people are very nervous about “passing judgement” in a more substantial sense, and not without reason. “Judge not, that you be not judged”, says Jesus (Matthew 7.1). God alone, being perfectly good, is able to judge. But that truth is only any use if there are communities willing to be open to God’s judgement, recognising it to be about liberating (though painful) change, not overbearing vindictiveness.

Which is where today’s lectionary readings come in. They are very far from easy. Indeed, understood superficially, they could easily be grist to the mill of those who see the Bible as a “book of horrors” (Barbara Smoker) rather than a book of life. William Blake’s witty aphorism in The Everlasting Gospel, “Both read the Bible day and night / But thou readst black where I read white”, is a vital warning to us as we embark on any discussion of ‘what the Bible says’ about a given subject – not least judgement. Blake believed passionately that the heart of Christianity lay in forgiveness of sins and a firm repudiation of what he termed “religion hid in war”. For that reason he recognised how easily those with a different agenda could manipulate the biblical text and how important it is to thwart them.

Take Jesus’ so-called “parable of the talents” (Matthew 25. 14-30). According to some interpreters, its message is obvious. God rewards the smart and diligent and punishes the feckless and hopeless. By implication, say “prosperity gospellers” in the USA, Africa and nearer to home, if you are successful it is because God has blessed you, and if you are not it is because you are faithless. What could be simpler… and more wrong? Here is a human standard of judgment assuming and usurping the divine.

The assumption we make is that the master in the parable is God, who wants people to go out and double their money. But as biblical scholar Walter Wink suggests, this goes against the social conventions of the time, against the prohibition on usury, against the narrative drift of Matthew chapter 25, and against the clear message of the gospels concerning the kind of merciful God who is disclosed in and by Jesus. Like the famous story of the wily steward, who cheats an unjust economic system in order to save the skins of his servants and earn their loyalty in tough times (Luke 16. 1-9), the parable of the talents is actually subversive of our conventional assumptions about how right and good asserts itself in a wicked world.

Wink points out that in first century Jewish culture, headlong individual pursuit of riches – especially at the expense of other members of the community – was looked on as a breach of communal and religious loyalty. Families fell into debt and poverty because of the usurious interest rates charged by the wealthy. Jesus’ listeners, who would have suffered such indignities, would have known all too well that the only way for the characters in the story to build their asset base that quickly would be through fraud, money-lending at exorbitant rates, or sidebar expropriation through tax collecting (skimming off an additional levy). For the villain to represent God wouldn’t have made any sense to them at all.

In the story the first two servants do as they are told, but the third is effectively a conscientious objector. By refusing to participate in the ripping-off of his fellow servants, he indicts an unjust economic order that causes poverty and misery. But when you stand up in this way, the parable says, you often end up as an outcast, while people willing to cheat the vulnerable get all the rewards. There is an inbuilt asymmetry to the way the money system works when Mammon, who is the real master in this parable, rules.

In order to make the point unavoidable, Matthew introduces this grim story with another one, where a bunch of foolish wedding guests miss the bridegroom because they are out in the marketplace trading for lamp oil (having assumed they could cadge the precious commodity off other guests with few equally resources). But the clincher is the parable of the last judgement, which follows the story of the greedy dealer – as it might better be known – and effects a terrifying reversal. It is the poor, who have few resources but understand human solidarity, who know Christ and his companionship. Those who care nothing for the needy, religious and successful though they may have been, find themselves without fellowship and without light in the Feast of the Kingdom, which of course is an echo back to that wedding reception. The selfishly self-sufficient have created hell and they now have to live in what they have created, and what they have therefore been abandoned to.

The dynamic of this message continues into Matthew chapter 26, where Jesus gives eternal recognition to a marginal woman who anoints him with oil she cannot really afford, while Judas goes on to betray him for some silver (the ultimate short-selling). In the meantime, Jesus reminds his followers of a famous Hebrew Scripture that says the poor will remain persistently with you – but which goes on to say, as his hearers would have known (but which we often don’t notice), that this will only be the case so long as the time of Sabbath restoration and economic redistribution, does not occur. If and when it does, all will be able to join the Feast (Deuteronomy 15).

This then, is the message and invitation of the kingdom of God. It is a divine promise of gift and abundance in an economy of grace, not one of selfish interest. But it demands that we let go of greed and self-advancement in order to share a gift which is for all, not just for a few who think they are chosen because they hold the purse strings or the keys to the Temple. My guess is that if, like me, you learned these parables as a child in Sunday School, this wasn’t quite what you were taught from them. I was taught to use my pocket money wisely and give to those in need, but only if they showed they were really ‘deserving’ – according to people like me. Our tendency is to read into the text that which affirms us and our social assumptions, and equally to read out of it that which puts us on the right side of judgement.

The fiery 7th Century BCE Hebrew prophet Zephaniah, for one, would have none of this. He lambasted the violent and unjust reign of Mannesah and his royal kingdom (1.7, 12-18), and along with Jeremiah predicted doom if there was not radical reform. If the book that bears his name was finalised at a much later date, as seems possible, then its main theme is that the captivity of Judah in Babylon was the outcome of the failure of a holy nation to live according to its calling.

For the author of the first epistle to the Thessalonians (5. 1-11), it is the Christian community that is the ‘holy nation’, and its duty is to behave in accordance with the kingdom of God rather than the kingdoms of this world. This is especially so at a time when global turmoil is shaking the foundations around it, and when ‘the end of the age’ was expected, as for the writer of Matthew’s Gospel quite possibly. In a time of urgency and expectation, being clear about who we are, whose we are and how we are called to act are especially vivid questions. One does not need to indulge in apocalyptic speculation, which has been the undoing of many of our forbears, in order to get this point. The armour we need, says the Epistle, is not of the military kind. It is of the spiritual type that flows from acting justly, and from recognising that vindication (the outcome of judgement) is, to adapt the words of Zechariah 4.16, something established by divine gentleness not earthy power.

Meanwhile, turning back to those talents, we might conclude by asking, in the current economic climate, what the “trustworthy” servant might be doing if he was around today? Brokering sub-prime mortgages at obscene rates of interest and assuring borrowers that they will be able to refinance or sell in a year or two, perhaps? Pushing credit card offers to people who have just emerged from bankruptcy? Figuring out how to lay off loyal company veterans before they qualify for their pensions? All of this is “business as usual”, and it has got us into a fine mess.

On the other hand, like the Church Commissioners, maybe that clever bonded servant would have invested in minerals without asking too much questions about ethics, short-sold his own currency to guard against rises in other ones, tried to profit from stock lending and traded in debts? After all, he has a tough master. But it isn’t the one Jesus calls ‘Abba’, and it isn’t the one who calls us to make important decisions about our assets, our buildings and our future as Christian communities that seek to live hopefully under God’s judgement in the heart of the modern city.

———-

This is a sermon given on Sunday 16 November 2008 at St Stephen’s Church in the Central Parish of Exeter - http://www.stephenproject.org.uk/

See also Walter Wink’s trilogy on ‘the Powers’, Werner Hertzog’s book Parables as subversive speech, and Sallie TeSelle McFague’s classic Speaking in parables. On Babylon, the British Museum has a superb exhibition exploring what we know and what we impute to the ancient city. It runs through to March 2009.

———-

(c) Simon Barrow is co-director of Ekklesia. He blogs at http://faithinsociety.blogspot.com and his website is at http://www.simonbarrow.net. The latest book he has edited, Fear or Freedom? Why a warring church must change is published by Shoving Leopard. His forthcoming book, Threatened With Resurrection: The difficult peace of Christ, will be published in December 2008. A day seminar on its themes will be held on 26 November 2008 at the London Mennonite Centre.

Upcoming:

chris — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 15:06:49 +0000

Don’t miss any of our key events this coming month:

Rufus May, subject of the Channel 4 documentary ‘The Doctor Who Hears voices’ speaks at Just Church 8pm 25th November

29th Nov; 5pm Carol Service in the German Church

3rd Dec Street Angels Anniversary at Chino-Thai, 7.30pm

Fri 5th Dec - Cuba/Venezuela solidarity Party, Treehouse Cafe 8pm

Sat 6th Dec - Enneagram Course 12 noon - 4pm, Desmond Tutu House

Tues 9th Dec - Carols and Cider 8pm New Beehive Pub

Friday 12 Dec - 7pm Richard Corbett MEP on Development, Poverty and Debt C7 Richmond building, Bradford Uni

Aldermaston Action

chris — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 13:51:26 +0000

Love and respect to all who went down to Aldermaston for the 50th Anniversary of the 1st blockade against the Nuclear weapons Base. The day was very eventful and inspiring, with moving services for peace throughout the day. Several members of SoulSpace were arrested whilst successfully trying to disrupt the workings of the base. if you are interested in further such actions, please contact Chris Howson or the CND office located at Desmond Tutu House, 2 Ashgrove.

Key events Sept - Dec

chris — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 11:04:59 +0000

Just to make your life easier - here are the main events over the next few months, book em into the old diary now so you don’t miss out:

Key Events at

Desmond Tutu House

September to December 2008

September:

Fri. 19^th – 4pm, Tea Time for Christian Aid: come for a cuppa!

Sat. 20^th – Stop the War demo in Manchester: buy tickets from CND office (£10/5 Students) 10.45am coach from Bradford College

Sun. 21^st – International Day of Peace. SoulSpace service (12 noon) followed by picnic in the Peace Garden. Film: ‘Shooting Dogs’ at 7pm

Tue. 23^rd – JustSpace welcome evening at 8pm

Sat. 27^th – Tour of Bradford, meet here at 2pm (finish at 4pm)

Sun. 28^th – SoulSpace at 12 noon. Taizé worship at the German Church at 7pm

Tue. 30^th – JustSpace, 8pm: focus on Amnesty letter-writing at 8pm

October:

Wed. 1^st – Launch of Bradford ‘City of Sanctuary’, 6pm at St Mary’s church, Little Germany

Fri. 3^rd – SoulJam Welcome Party! At Treehouse at 8:30pm

Sat. 4^th– CAFOD Climate Change event: 11am-4pm at St Joseph’s College, Manningham

Sun. 5^th – SoulSpace 12 noon. 1pm soup and organising meeting. 7pm Film: ‘Machuca’

Tue. 7^th – JustSpace, 8pm: focus on Christian Aid

Fri. 10^th – Church Social, 9pm in the Melting Pot (under the Catholic Chaplaincy)

Sat. 11^th – Christian Aid ‘Transformation’ event in York. Interfaith Prayers for Peace at the Khidmat Centre at 7:30pm. Meet here at 7pm if you don’t know the way.

Sun. 12^th – SoulSpace 12 noon, meet the Bishop. Taizé worship at the Cathedral, 6:30pm

Tue. 14^th – JustSpace, 8pm: Beer and Hymns at the New Beehive Pub

Sat. 18^th – Friends of the Earth fundraising Table-top sale, 12-3pm

Sun. 19^th – SoulSpace 12 noon. 7pm Film: ‘The Crimes of Padre Amaro’

Mon. 20^th – Visit to award-winning mosque. Meet here at 2pm

Tue. 21^st – JustSpace at 8pm

Sat. 25^th – SoulCircle: Bible study on the book of Matthew, 4-6pm

Sun. 26^th– SoulSpace 12 noon. Taizé worship at the German Church at 7pm

Mon.27^th – Big Blockade of Aldermaston (contact CND office)

Tue. 28^th – JustSpace at 8pm

Fri. 31^st – All Hallows Eve graveyard walk. Meet here at 6pm

November:

Sun. 2^nd – All Saints Day. SoulSpace 12 noon. 1pm soup and organising meeting. 7pm Film: ‘The Iman and the Pastor’

Tue. 4^th – JustSpace at 8pm

Fri. 7^th – Student Action for Refugees (STAR) party. At Treehouse at 8:30pm

Sat. 8^th – SoulCircle: what is Liberation Theology? 4-6pm

Sun. 9^th– SoulSpace 12 noon. Silent Meditation at 7pm

Tue. 11^th – Interfaith Prayers for Peace at the Khidmat Centre at 7:30pm. Meet here at 7pm if you don’t know the way.

Sat. 15^th – Saltaire Peace and Crafts day. Meet here at 11am if you don’t know the way.

Sun. 16^th – SoulSpace 12 noon. 7pm Film: ‘Priest’

Fri. 21^st- Sat. 22^nd – Christian Anarchist Conference in Sheffield

Sun. 23^rd – SoulSpace 12 noon. Taizé worship at the German Church at 7pm

Tue. 25^th – JustSpace at 8pm

Sat. 29^th – SoulCircle: Church and Sexuality, 4-6pm

Sun. 30^th – Advent. SoulSpace 12 noon. 7pm Film: ‘Innocent Voices’

December:

Tue. 2^nd – JustSpace at 8pm

Fri. 5^th – Cuba and Venezuela party at Treehouse, 8:30pm

Sat. 6^th – Enneagram Training Day 12-4pm

Sun. 7^th – SoulSpace 12 noon. 1pm soup and organising meeting.

Tue. 9^th – JustSpace, 8pm: Carols and Cider at the New Beehive Pub

Fri. 12^th – Make Poverty History Public Meeting, 7pm at the University. Church Social, 9pm in the Melting Pot (under the Catholic Chaplaincy)

Sun. 14^th – Chris’s Birthday service followed by party!

Tue. 16^th – JustSpace, 8pm: Christmas Bible Study

Sun. 21^st – Carol Service SoulSpace, 12 noon

Morning Prayers at 9am Tuesday-Friday (Wednesday: silent prayers)

SoulSpace every Sunday at noon

JustSpace every Tuesday at 8pm

Monday Friendship Evening from 6:30pm to 7:30pm in the Treehouse (English conversation for Asylum Seekers, Refugees, Migrant Workers or Overseas Students)

Contact Rev. Chris Howson on 01274 727034 or chrishowson@yahoo.com or check www.bradfordsoulspace.org

James Dey to play SoulJam!

chris — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 11:01:49 +0000

Great news for James Dey fans! After his year in Africa - he is back with new songs, and ready to perform them at the first SoulJam of term, Friday 3rd Oct 2008. Don’t miss out!

Tea Time for Christian Aid

chris — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 10:57:39 +0000

Please come along on Friday to Desmond Tutu House 4-6pm - we’ll be having an open day - the CND office will be swinging, the liberation Theology Library will be open, and you can have a cup of tea while raising money for Christian Aid! Bring your friends

Soulspace begins again on August 31st

chris — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 13:26:36 +0000

Soulspace begins again on Sunday 31st August when the gospel reading will be Mt.16:21-27

Baptism Classes

chris — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 20:38:09 +0000

Baptism classes will be starting next week, in preparation for baptism on the 14th Sept. Do contact Chris if you would like to join the classes.

Greenbelt

chris — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 20:34:00 +0000

I hope you are all as excited about Greenbelt as I am. We just have to hope for good weather! The aim is to camp in a group like last year - ring Nina, who is arriving first, to find out where. For those not going, we will by cds of the best talks to distribute.

A recent report on ‘3 years of JustChurch’

chris — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 13:40:39 +0000

JustChurch – A Gospel of Action

Introduction

JustChurch is a very simple collaboration between a number of ideas and movements that are current in mainstream ecclesiology. The first is a collision between the ‘Fresh Expressions’ movement and the ‘Social Justice’ movement.

The Fresh Expressions movement has been especially active among Anglican and Methodist communities over the last 3 to 5 years, attempting to find new outlets for the expression of spirituality and church, particularly amongst the 18 to 40 age group. Methodist Circuits and Anglican Dioceses have been experimentally appointing Fresh Expression Ministers and Mission Pioneers into a variety of geographical and social settings. The ‘Social Justice’ movement is a direct descendant of the liberation theological movements of the 70s and 80s (as well as more reformist groups) and has also been experimenting on how to influence the mainstream life of churches.

JustChurch began as collaboration between the Fresh Expressions minister appointed to the city centre of Bradford (Rev. Chris Howson) and the regional youth worker at the Christian Aid Leeds office (Alex Jones). It has been running for nearly three years and meets weekly on Tuesday evenings at Desmond Tutu House, former chaplaincy building to the University of Bradford.

Origins of JustChurch

The Base. During my training at Theological College (Cranmer Hall, Durham) I had become quite frustrated at the lack of teaching on current social problems, and the lack of theological material from Latin America, Africa and Asia. I began a collection of liberation theological texts, which soon became the ‘Victor Jara Liberation Theology Library’. More importantly than the books, a weekly group emerged, called ‘The Base’. Which encouraged a regular cycle of ‘action/reflection’ on the issues of the day, and allowed a liberation approach to the interpretation of scripture. This weekly group was immensely inspiring, and laid the foundations for ‘JustChurch’.

White Band Day. The ‘Make Poverty History’ campaign had been going on nationally, and a local expression in Bradford City Centre was the formation of a giant white band in Centenary Square. Over coffee afterwards, The Christian Aid organiser (Alex Jones) and I were thrilled at the number of young people the event had attracted, but were lamenting that so few of them had come from any faith based groups. We began discussions over what a group would look like that encouraged and developed the campaigning skills and enthusiasm of those who were committed to social justice, and how this might embrace a spiritual element.

Biblical Basis. From the Old Testament, the verse from Micah 6 became a very important bedrock for what we are attempting:

‘You have been told what is good and what God requires of you: to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.’

This line continues to challenge us in our fellowship and activities. The beatitudes and the Jesus manifesto of Luke 4 v 18-19 have also been enormously influential. Once a year we have a series of Bible studies, allowing members to express parts of the bible that inspire and uphold them on their journey.

How ‘JustChurch’ is organised

Paulo Freire and Ernesto Cardenal have deeply influenced the style and shape of our work. Our first principle is to employ a dialogical approach in each aspect of our programme. At the start of each meeting all those present are encouraged to share some news, whether campaign news or of a more personal nature. This encourages ‘every voice to be heard’ from the beginning, and shapes the next prayer/meditation stage. After the shared time (normally 20-30 mins) we have 2 minutes silence, to be used to pray, remember and meditate in what ever tradition people are comfortable with. This crucially allows space for Atheists and agnostics to feel at ease with the spiritual practices of the group. An Amnesty International candle is lit for these two minutes.

The rest of our time is taken up directly participating in a campaigning activity (banner making, organising activities, letter writing) or educating ourselves about a particular issue. We invite, at least once a month, a speaker who is directly involved in a campaign, and encourage them to end with an action that we can all participate in. Once every 8 weeks we always have a letter writing session for Amnesty International, Once every 8 weeks we will always have a social event, and 3 times a year we plan as a group what activities and speakers we would like to have. There is always room to respond to immediate campaigns that arise.

After the activity or discussion, there is always fair-trade tea/coffee and goodies, a vital part of every community.

Direct Action for peace

A big part of our community life together has been to campaign on issues of peace. We are a fresh expression that has been born in a time of endless war, therefore it is not surprising that our expression reflects the age. We have always provided training in the art of Non Violent Direct Action, and this we have put into action regarding three vital areas. Firstly the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Secondly, the replacement of this country’s nuclear weapons capacity. Thirdly occasional activities based on Human Rights or environment protection.

Anti-war activities. The first priority was to give a home to the Stop the War Coalition, which now meet monthly prior to JustChurch meetings. Giving groups like these free meeting spaces is a very simple act of solidarity that most churches can offer. JustChurch also provided a core group of people to make anti-war vigils/petitionings to actually work in the centre of the city. During the hostage taking of the CPT team in Iraq, we held a weekly vigil outside the town hall. (It was a very special day when Norman Kember came to talk to us in the room where we had made so many placards and banners for his release)

Crucially, we have taken part in a number of protests and direct action at Menwith Hill, the U.S. Spy base near Harrogate.

Faslane 365. The decision to vote for a replacement of the Trident nuclear submarine system before the end of Blair’s regime (The Blair Legacy) meant that anti nuclear protesters looked at new ways of exerting pressure on the Faslane Nuclear Base where the Trident submarines are based. Faslane 365 was the effort to ‘block the base’ over a year, encouraging groups from around the country to self organise their own mini direct actions. As a church we became convince to have a major part in this campaign, and helped organise on of the biggest blockades of the Base. 18 people connected with our church were arrested at the gates of Faslane, 10 of those caused the longest successful block of the base by being the first people to superglue themselves together. The sense of community and solidarity it takes to undertake such activities has become the glue which has kept the group so strong.

Human rights. When the scenes of Monks in Burma standing up against increases in fuel prices were replaced inevitably with scenes of beatings and a vast government clampdown on protest, JustChurch responded immediately. Over Facebook, we called for a protest outside the local Total petrol station the day after the images came out on the news. The free Burma campaign had asked people to target Total, the largest investor in the Burmese government. We closed it down for an hour, made front page in the local media, and national Christian media coverage.

Our hope is to act in solidarity with oppressed groups and work with those who are trying to change to way the world deals with poverty. Two of our most enjoyable Tuesday nights were in the company of visiting speakers from Cuba and Venezuela

Bradford Street Angels. Non Violent Direct Action can take many forms, and one of the simplest forms is on your doorstep. Our Church initiated the Bradford Street Angels Scheme, which provides a Christian presence on the streets of Bradford on a Friday and Saturday night. This project has seen a reduction in drink related violence of 22%.

Asylum Seekers and Refugees

When we asked our members what would be the first thing that they would like to tackle as a group, the answer immediately came back: supporting local Asylum Seekers. It is with these people that the problems of global capitalism and conflict are most apparent. People from Iraq, Zimbabwe, Sudan, Philippines make clear the issues of the world in a very concrete way. We have expressed our support for these people in a number of ways:

Friendship Evenings. We gave over our café space over to Asylum Seekers on Monday evenings. These were a chance for people to make friends with people already living in Bradford, and to improve their language skills. It is a space to share their worries and concerns, and for us to provide any support that we can.

Anti-deportation campaigns. Our biggest role has been to campaign and support several families who have been at risk of deportation. We have visited MPs, threatened civil disobedience, and pushed for proper legal support for those who had been let down by the system. This has been the most rewarding, but most exhausting aspect of our work.

Care and Advocacy. We have supported local Christians building mechanisms to help asylum seekers, whether at the local Asylum Tribunal courts, or supporting the ‘City of Sanctuary’ campaign.

Local Campaigning

There are many occasions when people will approach our church to help with a local campaign, recognising that we have the skills to help organise and run such campaigns. Here are two examples:

Support for the local market. When Morrisons Supermarket announced they were leaving their city centre site, the fate of the adjoining market looked very uncertain. Alongside the local community radio station, JustChurch launched a broadside against Morrisons, quickly gathering 6000 names on a petition and gaining widespread publicity along the way. It made Morrisons withdrawal extremely difficult in its home city. 2 years later, they are still open.

Anti-regeneration! JustChurch was approached by a local campaign group to help with its activities in trying to save a local landmark from property development. We helped organise the 1000 people strong ‘hugging the Odeon’ event, with effective TV media coverage. It is unlikely that we will win the battle, but we have put a big dent in the plans to ‘yuppiefy’ Bradford City Centre.

Environmental Justice

A first step for us was to run a bike repair service from our garage for the first year at Desmond Tutu House. The scheme has gone on to a better location, but it marked our commitment to green living. JustChurch pioneered two well promoted schemes in our area:

E-Fasting. A simple event over Lent, where members lived at least one day a week without electricity. All appliances that could be turned off (not fridges) were off limits for 24 hours at a time. Time in local countryside, using public transport to get there, was a wonderful Church activity.

Street Recycling. At various points in the year, we provide a weekly garden clean up scheme, helping neighbourly interaction, and encouraging recycling.

Anti-poverty campaigning.

We have hosted and participated in two major events to look at the causes of poverty in Bradford. Firstly the ‘In Debt In Bradford’ conference, done in conjunction with the local university, which looked at the paralysing consequences of indebtedness in the area. We held it during the Provident’s AGM week (their national offices are based in Bradford.)

We also helped organise the Poverty Hearings at the beginning of 2008 alongside many other groups who campaign for social justice in the Bradford area. Our Samba band also has organised protests outside the Provident’s H.Q. and outside Debt based furniture and electrical outlets.

Interfaith Activity.

We have endlessly tried to support the very limited Interfaith activity in the area. We especially support the only Interfaith prayer activity, which takes place on the 11^th of every month, and have established good links with the local Mosque.

Faith and Spirituality

Throughout all this hectic activity, we constantly interject it with pauses for prayer, meditation and reflection. We have invited Christian, Buddhist and Muslim speakers to try to underpin our campaigning work with a long term spiritual base, recognising the strong multicultural nature of our particular area. 3 times a year, we also run an Enneagram course, which tries to help people understand the reasons for why they behave as they do. The Enneagram courses are very popular and often alert people for the first time to their spiritual needs.

What is so encouraging, is watching so many young people, initially hostile to the Church, moving from social activism to an engagement with their own faith journey. Perhaps as many a 50% of those who attend our regular Christian Sunday Service (called SoulSpace) have emerged through contact with JustChurch.

Conclusions

This type of ministry is prophetic, inspiring, difficult and exhausting. It is trying to shape a new way of being Church which listens to young people, and explores the needs of the local community in conjunction with the realities of the globalised world.

It is an experiment that has sometimes shone brightly, and has sometimes fallen flat on its face. JustChurch stands for space within our denominations for protest and resistance to all that oppresses and destroys life. We demand a space for a Christ who seeks to liberate.

We attempt to be open and inclusive, remembering that it is not just what we do in the name of Jesus and our faith, but how we do it.

We have been threatened by the B.N.P, we have been locked up, we have been beaten by the police, we have been under intense security surveillance (the M.O.D. officer at Menwith Hill freely admits to reading our emails.) We have been temporarily ‘silenced’ by the Diocese, we have had complaints from fellow clergy, we have cried together when friends have been led away to Yarlswood Detention Centre.

In all this, the spirit of hope and light and love has remained strong and persistent. Remarkable and resilient faith has been stirred in the hundreds of young people who have been through the doors of Desmond Tutu house over the last three years. JustChurch is now set for a new period in its life, a fresh name – JustSpace, and a whole new set of activists. May God continue to bless its life and community.