Last month, CTC organised a major conference on “Global Migration and the Building of a Common Life.”
Centre Director Angus Ritchie blogs on the two-day event, and on the resources which are coming out for local congregations and for academics.
Our conference on “The New Cosmopolitanism: Global migration and the building of a common life” is the culmination of two years of work for the University of Notre Dame’s Contending Modernities (CM) research project.
The Cantignorus Chorus – part of our Centre’s SingSpire programme – has been covered on this blog a number of times. Now it has also made it to the pulpit of St Paul’s, as the Revd Canon Dilly Baker (Rector of St Mary’s Stoke Newington) preached about the Chorus in her All Saints’ Sermon at the Cathedral.
Here it is…
“In his holy flirtation with the world, God sometimes drops a handkerchief. Those handkerchiefs are called saints.” What a lovely way to describe a saint – a description offered to us by Frederick Beuckner, an American theologian. A bit quaint perhaps – after all we’ve ditched handkerchiefs and flirting in favour of Kleenex tissues and speed dating. But I like it. I for one prefer to think of God less as a speed dater and more as a flirt. In his love affair with humanity God offers us hints of his presence along the way – the casually dropped handkerchief, impregnated with the scent of the divine. The Saint is the one who keeps alive for us, the whiff of God.
On 12th November, we are launching a new report – Taking Back the Streets: Citizens’ responses to the 2011 riots. It will be the first report in our exciting new series on ‘Research for the Local Church’.
Here, Centre Director Angus Ritchie blogs about the significance of the report.
In the summer of 2011, London experienced riots which were quite unprecedented in their scale. What was new in 2011 was that the police seemed unable to keep order in a significant number of neighbourhoods. Never before had so many Londoners had direct experience of civil disorder; of streets that no longer felt secure.
Policing a population is only ever possible by consent: with the active participation of the community. The riots highlighted both the fragility of civil society and its vital role in keeping our streets safe. They led many Londoners to a renewed effort to reclaim their streets as places of safety and community.
Every year, Magdalen College, Oxford hosts a Jellicoe Sermon, in honour of Fr Basil Jellicoe. Fr Basil studied at the College, and went on transform the rat-infested slums of London’s Somers Town as part of the Magdalen College Mission.
The sermon is given by someone connected with CTC and our Jellicoe Community. This year’s sermon was delivered by our Director, Canon Dr Angus Ritchie. The Gospel reading was Luke 18.9-14.
+ In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Most people remember Rosa Parks for a single, iconic act in the summer of 1955. On her bus home from work, she sat down as usual in the area reserved for black people. As the front (which was reserved for whites) filled up, the bus driver moved the “colored” sign behind Parks, and told her to move to the back to accommodate the extra white passengers.
The Centre’s Community Music co-ordinator Tom Daggett wrote last week about the programme he’s developing, SingSpire.
This week saw the first rehearsal of one of the programme’s first projects – the ‘Cantignorus Chorus’.
In this blog he tells us more…
This week, I had the honour of directing the most exciting choir I’ve ever worked with. On Wednesday evening, St. Paul’s West Hackney was host to the first rehearsal of the ‘Cantignorus Chorus’ – a choir formed from the charities which use the church hall throughout the week. These groups work with some of the country’s most marginalised people.
An astonishing 55 people showed up for the first rehearsal The were clients and staff from North London Action for the Homeless, Narcotics Anonymous, Open Doors charity for vulnerable women, 4Sight lunch club for local West Indians with mental health issues, an over-50s dance group, Family Mosaic Housing Association, Growing Communities grassroots gardening project – not to mention members of the church congregation and the wider local community.
The Centre’s Community Music Co-ordinator Tom Daggett is aiming to engage diverse groups of people in deprived areas in singing and music making.
Here, Tom brings us up to date with some exciting developments…
It is often said that there are two things which bring people together better than anything else – food and music! Music can inspire us. It can be a catalyst for change in our lives. It can be a powerful way of bringing people together. The Centre has developed an innovative music programme, ‘SingSpire’, which will help churches to bring people together, through song. Our programme has recently received financial support from the Bishop of London’s Mission Fund, and widespread support from within church music and community music circles.
Beth Green has just finished a month of community organising in Walthamstow, as one of our Jellicoe interns.
Here she blogs about her experiences…
Having spent much of my life moving country every two to three years, the sense of belonging and home that I found was always very transient. Any notion of community perhaps only became apparent to me when I came to faith in my second year of University, and quickly found home at church. I was interested to see what community organising looked like in a faith context, and I hungered to see how the Church could be at the centre of societal transformation and community building. I’m excited that I have come away from this month having a much clearer idea of what this looks like!
Our Communications Officer Andy Walton blogs on the Children’s Society’s annual lecture which was delivered by our Director as part of our ongoing partnership…
CTC Director Canon Dr Angus Ritchie gave this year’s annual Edward Rudolf Lecture for the Children’s Society. One of the key questions he asked the audience to consider was: “how did we make theology so boring?”
Near Neighbours Co-ordinator Revd Tim Clapton blogs about a group of HIV positive African men who’ve benefited from a grant and the support offered by the programme…
‘Near Neighbours’ is a Government funded initiative being delivered through the Church Urban Fund. Our aim is simple – to resource groups of local people to enable them to develop relationships between people of different faiths and ethnicities. We hope these relationships will develop into some kind of local social action or civic engagement. As the Co-ordinator of Near Neighbours in Eastern London I have met some amazing people and visited some fantastic projects. There are many I could choose to share here, but I will focus on Boniface and his gardening project.
Centre Director Angus Ritchie blogs about an exciting upcoming publication which will be published by CTC in association with Church Urban Fund…
For those who plan early, it’s worth knowing that a new resource is being prepared for Lent 2014. Along with Paul Hackwood (Chair of the Church Urban Fund) I’m currently writing a book. Just Love: Personal and Social Transformation in Christ will use the Gospel readings for each Sunday Lent to explore how Jesus loved, and why this love led him to the cross
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