Faith in the Public Space and the role of the Church

Making sense of the census was a useful workshop organised by the Greater London Presence and Engagement Network (PEN) on the new Census data and how it can help churches respond to their local context. We heard about the parish statistics that the Research & Statistics Department at Church House will be publishing based on Census 2011 and used a draft resource for stimulating discussion in parishes about the local implications arising from this data.

Following on from this workshop, The Very Revd Dr David Ison, Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral, gave this year’s PEN lecture Guardian or Gatekeeper? Faith in the Public Space and the role of the Church at St George the Martyr Parish Church, SE1. In this lecture, David reflected on his recent sabbatical research on Christian-Muslim relations together with his experiences as Dean of Bradford. 

His thinking essentially mirrored that expressed by the Queen in her address to faith leaders at Lambeth Palace in 2012 where she suggested that the Church of England, while providing an identity and spiritual dimension for its own many adherents, also "has a duty to protect the free practice of all faiths in this country" and "has created an environment for other faith communities and indeed people of no faith to live freely." An example of this in practice is the Common Good Network funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation within their Bradford programme. 

For more on David Ison's lecture, click here.

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The Staple Singers - If You're Ready (Come Go With Me).

Faith in the Public Space

In December 2012 the Office for National Statistics released data for religious populations from the 2011 Census. These statistics will be adjusted for parish boundaries over the next two months but you will be able to gain a basic impression of your local area from the numbers for your local authority - more stats details.

The Director of the Contextual Theology Centre posted a comment and Andy Mathews, an intern at St Peter's Bethnal Green, offered an example of how this information can be put to good Presence and Engagement use. All of which points towards a seminar afternoon, Making Sense of the Census, which the Greater London Presence & Engagement Network is arranging for Monday February 18th, 1.30 for 2pm - 4.30pm, at Trinity House, Chapel Court, Borough High Street, SE1 1HW.

Later that same day, The Very Revd Dr David Ison, Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral, will give this year’s PEN lecture Guardian or Gatekeeper? Faith in the Public Space and the role of the Church. He will be reflecting on his recent sabbatical research on Christian-Muslim relations. The lecture will be at 6.30 for 7pm on Monday, 18th February at St George the Martyr, Borough High Street, SE1 1JA.

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The Innocence Mission - Brotherhood Of Man.

Census figures: Pluralism is here to stay

Yesterday the Office for National Statistics released data for religious populations from the 2011 Census. Angus Ritchie, the Director of the Contextual Theology Centre has posted a very helpful comment on these statistics. 

In his response Angus suggests that:

"In the midst of the debate which these figures will provoke, it is worth getting some perspective. The majority of English and Welsh people identify themselves as Christian, at a time when wider social pressures give less and less encouragement to such identification. There is no room for complacency – and no point in denying that this number has declined substantially in the last decade. But these figures tell of a striking persistence of religious belief and practice. The public square continues to be a place where people of faith and people of no faith coexist in large numbers – with people of faith forming the substantial majority ...

Whatever else we make of the Census figures, this much is clear: pluralism is here to stay, with a growing array of religious and secular worldviews commanding significant allegiance. Whatever challenges this presents to the churches, it is hardly the world the ‘New Atheists’ have been campaigning for. The task for us all is to negotiate and build a truly common life – bearing witness with confidence and generosity to that which we believe most deeply."

The Contextual Theology Centre’s Presence and Engagement Network (PEN) is holding an event in Southwark on Making Sense of the Census on the afternoon of Monday 18th February – before the PEN 2013 Lecture, to be given by the Dean of St Paul’s, the Very Revd David Ison.
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Bruce Springsteen - Land Of Hope And Dreams.