Following on from her very popular Lentern reflection, our Chaplain, Sr Josephine Canny OA, brings us a short reflection for the start of Advent…
If ever the liturgy invited us to live counter-culturally, it must surely be during the season of Advent. In an age of speed-reading, texting and immediate response, we are encouraged to re-read Scripture texts reminding us of our ancestors in the faith who really knew how to wait in hope.
Selina Stone is a Church-based Community Organiser at CTC. Earlier this month, she was part of the team teaching community organising to final-year ordinands at St Mellitus College…
CTC and Citizens UK were delighted to be invited to deliver six teaching sessions at St Mellitus College on the theology and practice of churches’ engagement in community organising.
For many students, community organising was a brand new concept. Stefan Baskerville, lead organiser for West London used the first session to teach the students the some of the fundamental principles and practices of Citizens UK. The students wrestled with the idea of ‘power’ as something to be welcomed (when it is ‘power with’ and not ‘power over’ others).
Our Near Neighbours Co-ordinator, Revd Tim Clapton blogs about why Inter Faith week makes a difference…
A couple of weeks ago I found myself wandering around Burgess Park in Southwark in cold and damp weather trying to find a bunch of kids and their parents. These were youngsters from St Peter’s church, Liverpool Grove and similar children from the Old Kent Road Mosque who have been meeting each other for play, crafts and storytelling. The church and mosque had utilised a Near Neighbours grant to help establish and co-ordinate this work.
I found the group near the new lake where they had set out a banner proclaiming they were Christian and Muslim children working for peace. The kids themselves were making colourful badges which read ‘Salam – Peace’ and eating biscuits at the same time. The priests and Imams were chatting and laughing over to one side, while the adults, mainly women, talked about what their children will and will not eat and the worries they have for their children in a sad world. It was difficult to know which were the Muslim women and which were the Christians. Just as the cold was beginning to bite we held the banner high and made a pledge to nurture peace and wellbeing between Christians and Muslims which then qualified us to wear the badges.
David Barclay, our Faith in Public Life Officer, blogs on another great week for our Just Money campaign…
The last month or so has been quite a time for CTC’s work on money – with action, success and new initiatives coming thick and fast!
Firstly, the Financial Conduct Authority announced the level of the cap on the cost of credit which will come into place from January. This will limit the amount that payday lenders can charge, and make sure that nobody will ever have to pay back more than double what they initially borrowed. This is a huge step forward in the fight against exploitative lending, and one that CTC has been calling for as part of Citizens UK since right back in 2009! On the Today Programme that day the Bishop of Stepney explained that those in the Church should celebrate this win without thinking that it will by itself solve the problems of debt and financial insecurity in our communities. He referenced CTC’s Church Credit Champions Network (of which he is the Chair of the Steering Group) as an example of how the Church is not just fighting against bad practice in the financial sector but also promoting more ethical alternatives like credit unions.
Selina Stone, of our researchers, blogs about our exciting new research into community organising in the Pentecostal Church…
Black Pentecostal churches are growing in both social and political significance in the UK. We are pleased to be conducting research into the civic involvement of Black Pentecostal churches through community organising. I’m writing this report alongside Bishop Moses Owusu-Sekyere of the Apostolic Pastoral Congress and CTC’s Director, Canon Dr Angus Ritche.We’re keen to report our findings but also encourage greater participation in community organising as a way of both developing congregations and transforming local communities.
Across the UK, churches are engaging with community organising and as a result, are being equipped to effectively bring about change in their local communities. Whether campaigning for the Living Wage, tackling payday lenders or targeting injustices in the immigration system, churches are making their political voices heard. For some denominations this comes as second nature, from strong theological and doctrinal foundations. However, for other more recent church groups such as Pentecostals, practical ministry can sometimes overtake theological statements.
Our good friend Bishop Moses Owusu-Sekyere of the Apostolic Pastoral Congress preached at our 10th anniversary celebration last week (28th Oct). He was joined by the Bishop of Stepney and our chaplain Sr Josephine Canny as ecumenical representatives in a packed out church.
We hosted the event at St George-in-the-East – where our new offices were based. Along with some great stories of our work over the last decade, we celebrated the new offices and our change of name.
Following on from the reading Matthew 13, Bishop Moses gave a short reflection, as follows…
Each year, one of CTC’s staff or partner church leaders preaches the Jellicoe Sermon at Magdalen College, Oxford – a chance to engage a new generation of students in inner-city ministry. This year’s sermon was given by Bishop Moses Owusu-Sekyere, who is also preaching at the CTC Celebration on 28 October!
“We come here today to honour the legacy of Father Basil Jellicoe, Magdalen’s Missioner to Somers Town in the 1920s. Born privileged, on 5th February 1899, Fr Basil studied at Magdalen College, Oxford, before training for the priesthood at St Stephen’s House. Jellicoe regarded the state of his parishioners’ housing as disgraceful and employed his sermons to address this. He is said to have described the slums as ‘an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual disgrace.’
What did he do about it?
He toured the country in his small car fundraising and selling loan stock to fund more befitting housing projects. He gained the support of the Prince of Wales, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Housing Minister in the St Pancras House Improvement Society. In this venture and became the founder of the St Pancras Housing Association and several other housing associations in London, Sussex and Cornwall.
Our Faith in Public Life Officer, David Barclay, blogs about our expanding and exciting work with Credit Unions. Today (16th October) is International Credit Union Day…
After a high-profile launch in May, CTC has been getting on with the vital task of building a network of churches engaging on issues of money, credit and debt in their community and working with local community finance providers like credit unions.
The project, called the Church Credit Champions Network, is part of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s initiative on responsible credit and saving, started after his high-profile comments on Wonga and other payday lenders.
CTC’s Development Director Tim Thorlby blogs on the celebration for our first London Missional Housing Bond, and the launch of the second…
Earlier this week we were delighted to welcome the Bishop of London to Bethnal Green to celebrate the London Missional Housing Bond.
What began as an idea a couple of years ago came to fruition as the Bishop visited the property – which we hope will be the first of many.
We raised nearly £400,000 from individuals, churches and purchased the house in Bethnal Green, which is now home to two missional workers. Now, the second Bond is seeking £2m in crowdfunded social investment for the provision of affordable rented housing for key church missional workers.
Our Director, Canon Dr Angus Ritchie, blogs about a new season at CTC…
As the summer finally begins to turn to autumn, it’s definitely a time of transition for us – with a new name and a new location. Behind these are some deeper changes, as we focus more intently on a few core areas of work.
The name: CTC now stands for the “Centre for Theology and Community” (rather than the “Contextual Theology Centre”). This is a small shift, but emphasises that our focus is not primarily academic, nor are we a “think tank.” We grow out of the life and mission of inner city churches, and our aim is to equip them to transform their communities.
The location: We are very grateful to the Royal Foundation of St Katharine for a decade of hospitality – and their generous financial support for our Congregational Development work in the year ahead. But we are keen to move to a location more obviously rooted in the neighbourhood – and to free up space at St Katharine’s for their growing retreat ministry.
