Theory
The Fragility of Goodness: Brexit Viewed from the North East
Perched on a stool at the end of the bar, just beneath an enormous screen showing Britain's Got Talent for those whose interests quite understandably lay elsewhere, I gave a talk on the way that Catholic social thought provides resources for thinking about the current migrant crisis. It was an evening when I was (unsurprisingly) cheered and heckled in equal measure: political theology as a fittingly extreme sport. At the end of my talk I suggested to the crowd...
Reclaiming the Commons: What it is and Why it’s Important.
An understanding that all of creation is God’s shapes Scripture. There is a deep, fundamental covenant that human beings hold the creation as a gift for all and ensure that every human being is cared for with dignity and honor. This is about the common good. As stated in the Jeremiah passage, it is part of the vocation of God’s people to seek the welfare of the city in which we abide. Connected to this basic framing of Christian vocation is the critical question of how it can be practiced. At one level the challenges confronting Western societies are immense...
Healing Our Common Life and the Role of the Churches
In a hopeful conversation on video Alan and Tim describe their impression of a widespread desire in western culture for a healing of our common life. Our communities are not thriving but there is a generative movement which is quite new. Alan and Tim name two great challenges for this good concern...
The Common Good and Catholic Social Teaching
Anna Rowlands is a political theologian at Durham University and a community organizer with Citizens UK. Anna explains the concept of ‘the common good’ which has its origins in Catholic Social Teaching. She indicates how its principles may help reconcile differing views of the common good. Her example is the current political challenge of mass migration but it is possible to see how these principles could help as we seek to find a 'common good' with our neighbours in our localities.
A conversation with Lord Glasman and some reflections
The opening question posed by Martin revolved around the simple observation that communities, societies and even nations are having difficulty in finding ways to hold the centre ground. There seems to be a fracturing and a dividing of communities, people groups, ethnicities, cultures and identities as fear of the “other” grows. So, in those circumstances how does the centre hold and how do we create ways of living together that speak of creative connections as compared with fearful withdrawal?
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Reflection- video conversation between Martin Robinson and Alan Roxburgh
Core capacities for the minister as missional leader in the formation of a missional congregational culture. Part 2: Capacities and conclusions.
ABSTRACT: This article describes the results of a research project for a PhD at the University of Pretoria, under supervision of Prof Nelus Niemandt. The research was done against the backdrop of huge paradigm shifts within society and missiology and...
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