The GRA:CE Project: Growth, Relationship and Action in the Church of England

The GRA:CE Project: Growth, Relationship and Action in the Church of England was launched at Lambeth Palace this week. The Archbishop of Canterbury commented that we cannot divide social action, discipleship and the call to bring people to faith in Jesus Christ – they're all part of the Christian journey.

Theos and the Church Urban Fund are conducting a three–year research project seeking to understand the relationship between church growth, social action and discipleship within the Church of England.

“’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’” (Matthew 22.37–39)

Christians are called to love God and to love neighbour – and that is precisely what churches across the country seek to do, week in week out through:

• serving the needs of their local communities, through projects such as foodbanks, parent–toddler groups and night shelters;
• encouraging people on a journey of faith and deepening people’s relationships with God;
• and helping them learn to support others in their faith.

These three elements – in modern parlance: social action, discipleship and church growth – are all key to the English church in 2018.

What is the relationship between the three, however? And what would happen to church growth if we were better able to join the dots between social action and discipleship?

Their research, which includes St Martin-in-the-Fields as one of the churches being studied, involves substantial primary qualitative research, gathering interviewees, observations and case studies from a diverse range of churches in terms of geography, churchmanship and demographics. This will be followed by a quantitative study drawing on analysis of the qualitative work, aiming to measure the extent of the relationship between social action and church growth. A series of ‘roadshows’ will be held across the country to meet people, hear stories and showcase the research. The project will also develop a set of responses and ‘how to’ documents for church leaders based on the research findings. Throughout the project, there will be regular blog posts to communicate the ongoing thinking and findings of the research.

Some of the questions the research will address are:

• What are churches currently doing in terms of social action and discipleship?
• Is social action a means by which people become part of the church?
• What does this mean for church growth?
• How does discipleship fit into strategies for church growth and social action?
• How can we build on this to encourage churches in the future?

Keep up to date with progress on the GRA:CE project through their blogs here.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Delirious? - Love Will Find A Way.

After the Fire

The fire at Grenfell Tower on 14 June 2017 shocked the nation. A personal tragedy that claimed over 70 lives and affected many more, it exposed inequalities and tensions but also a strong sense of community and resilience and, in particular, a wide range of faith groups that are embedded in the community, and that responded practically, pastorally and professionally in a time of serious need and confusion.

In advance of the one year anniversary of the fire, the parish of St Clement and St James and the religion and society think tank, Theos, will host an evening to reflect on the faith groups’ response.

The evening marks the launch of two publications: After the Fire by Alan Everett, Vicar of St Clement and St James, and After Grenfell: the Faith Groups’ Response by Amy Plender, from Theos. After the Fire is a moving and penetrating account of Alan’s experience at the heart of the mass disaster, while After Grenfell draws on over 30 interviews with faith groups across the community to understand how they were able to respond in the way they did.

In the immediate aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire, the local parish church became a focal point of the relief effort, and a gathering place for a traumatised community. In the months that followed, it worked closely with other community and faith groups to provide a compassionate network of support.

In this bold and prophetic challenge, Alan Everett shows that the church's response was possible only because it had opened its doors long ago, building relationships with the most marginalised in the community. Its effectiveness was born out of a patient, faithful, unheroic ministry that is all too easily underestimated.

Through gripping reportage and searching theological reflection, After the Fire demonstrates how parish ministry can be a living symbol of God's love, and a vital sign of hope.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Petris Vasks - Lord Open Our Eyes.

Freedom of expression and freedom of religion

The Theos Annual Lecture 2015 was given tonight by Baroness O’Neill of Bengarve at The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple.

Entitled freedom of expression and freedom of religion, Baroness O'Neill explored the reasons we can give for taking our rights to rights to freedom of expression and to freedom of religion and belief seriously, for interpreting them in specific ways but not in other ways; for institutionalising them in some ways but not in other ways.

Along the way, she noted evidence that they are not respected as being 'all too plain in the persistence of intolerance and intimidation, of outright censorship and religious persecution of those of other faiths, and in the criminalisation of apostasy in some states.'

The lecture can be read by clicking here.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wham - Freedom.

The New Atheism

The New Atheism: Where has it come from and where is it going?
Date: Monday 16 June 2008 Time: 18:45 - 21:00

The God Delusion… God is Not Great… Against all Gods… The End of Faith… Breaking the Spell… Atheism is suddenly fashionable, with new anti-God polemics flying off the shelves. But is there anything new about them? What are the origins of this sudden explosion of atheistic fury and does it have any staying power?

In an evening hosted by Theos, the public theology thinktank, and LICC, John Gray, Professor of European Thought at the London School of Economics and author of Black Mass: Apocalyptic Religion and the Death of Utopia, will be exploring current anti-theistic sentiments.

Drawing on historical examples, Professor Gray will argue that there is little that is genuinely new in contemporary atheist thinking, which continues to take many of its concepts and categories from theism while denying its debts to Judaism and Christianity. Given its dogmatic character, he argues, contemporary atheism is likely to continue to function as a sect in the broader tradition of western monotheism.

With opportunity for Q&A after the talk, this evening promises to be both an interesting and enlightening exploration of one of the most important trends of recent years.

Please book in advance as entry can’t be guaranteed on the evening. To book a place call LICC on 020 7399 9555 or email mail@licc.org.uk.

Cost: £7, concessions: £5 (for bookings of 5 people or more). Light refreshments provided.Venue: LICC, Central London, St Peter’s Church, Vere Street, W1G 0DQ.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

The Smiths - The Boy With The Thorn In His Side.