Poverty of Ambition? Churches and a Politics of Hope

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The following is a text from a press release issued yesterday:

Journalist and commentator Will Hutton will be addressing a free conference hosted by the Methodist Church, United Reformed Church and Baptist Union of Great Britain on the 22nd of January 2011 in Birmingham.

Mr. Hutton will be joined by a range of contributors including Andrew Stunell MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, who will speak and answer questions on ‘The Big Society’. Revd Kirsty Thorpe, Co-Moderator of the United Reformed Church, will also reflect on what it means for Churches to be committed to a politics of hope

The conference - entitled Poverty of Ambition? Churches and a Politics of Hope - will look at how churches can engage with contemporary political issues. A particular focus will be how churches can respond to the cuts announced in the Comprehensive Spending Review and how this relates to the coalition’s concept of Big Society.

There will be a range of workshops aimed at experienced policy professionals, enthusiasts and people who simply want to know more. Workshop topics will include:

• What do our churches and politicians believe about poverty?
• Acting on debt - practical suggestions for churches
• Climate change - international agreement or technological change?
• Peacemaking - nationally, locally, internationally
• Big society - opportunity or threat?
• Practical hints for lobbying your MP
• How do I get my church interested in public issues?

The Conference will take place from 10.30am to 4pm on 22 January 2011 at Carr's Lane Church Centre, Birmingham.

Journalists wishing to attend should contact Anna Drew, Lead Media Officer on the Connexional Team.

Related articles

• Poverty of Ambition? Churches and a Politics of Hope (ecumenicalissues.blogspot.com)
• Churches Tell World Leaders to Create Low Carbon Economies (ecumenicalissues.blogspot.com)

Churches Tell World Leaders to Create Low Carbon Economies

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The Joint Public Issues Team released the following on 26 November 2010:

Cancun Conference – 29 November to 10 December

Churches are urging political leaders to lay out plans for low carbon economies at the Cancun follow-up to the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference.

The Methodist Church, The United Reformed Church and The Baptist Union of Great Britain have stressed the importance of new sources of finance in closing the global climate investment gap. They have called on the Cancun Conference in Mexico to support duties on aviation and shipping and to allocate revenue from carbon allowance auctions to an international climate finance depository. An international bank levy is also among the measures recommended to raise the $100 billion a year needed to tackle climate change.

Steve Hucklesby, Policy Adviser for the Methodist Church, said: “The Copenhagen Conference established that developing countries will need $100 billion dollars each year to help develop low carbon economies. This is a huge challenge but it is achievable. We need sources of grant finance which are predictable and sustainable. We can’t rely on loans when so many countries are already struggling with debt. At Cancun we must start to lay down the financial architecture to support that goal.”

Climate finance will also help countries adapt to the impact of climate change. Cyclone shelters, rising tube wells, floating gardens, raising and strengthening homes are among the climate adaptation measures being used in Bangladesh to cope with rising sea levels, melting Himalayan glaciers and increasingly powerful cyclones.

Commenting on the failure of the Copenhagen Climate Summit to agree globally binding emission targets, Frank Kantor, Secretary for Church and Society of the United Reformed Church, said: “Europe has a chance to rebuild trust with poorer countries at Cancun but this will require EU countries to deliver on their three year pledge of €7.2 billion fast-start finance to help developing countries cut emissions and adapt to climate change between 2010 and 2012.

“The EU has a unique opportunity to gain significant investment in renewable energy technologies by upping its carbon reduction target from 20 to 30 per cent by 2020. According to a new study compiled by think-tank e3g, a fall in carbon prices would reduce investment incentive in renewable energy projects. As Churches we urge EU leaders present at Cancun to increase the EU carbon reduction targets, and thereby send out a clear message to other developed countries that raising carbon reduction targets to more realistic levels will contain the rise on global temperatures to less than two degrees.”

Revd Graham Sparkes, Head of Faith and Unity at the Baptist Union of Great Britain, said: “Developed countries have to recognise their role as historical polluters. They have to bear the burden and cost of building a clean-energy future.”

Related articles

• Poverty of Ambition? Churches and a Politics of Hope (ecumenicalissues.blogspot.com)

Poverty of Ambition? Churches and a Politics of Hope

I haven't said very much about the Joint Public Issues Team (JPIT).  It is an example of ecumenical collaboration, where the Methodist Church, United Reformed Church (URC) and Baptist Union of Great Britain (BUGB) work together (and often with wider groups of churches) to live out the gospel of Christ in Church and Society.  One reason I have given them minimal; coverage is they have their own blog, Praxis, which you can follow in the sidebar of this blog under 'Related Blogs'.

There are a couple of articles in Methodist E-news this month, which I reproduce here.  This will give you some idea of the work of JPIT.  The first is an overview of one area of work:

Over the last month the Methodist Church has reacted publicly to a number of Government proposals.

In collaboration with other denominations and agencies, it has accused the government of failing to take account of the reality of poverty. Although they welcome plans for a simplified benefits system, they raise concerns that the proposed reforms are based on inaccurate assumptions about the poor. To read more click here.

Also on the eve of the comprehensive government spending review the president of Conference, the Revd Alison Tomlin addressed a rally organised by the Trades Union Congress. In her speech she raised concerns that spending cuts will hit the poor hardest.

The Methodist Church, the Baptist Union of Great Britain and the United Reformed Church have voiced concern over Chancellor George Osborne’s inaccurate use of welfare fraud statistics in his spending review speech. He claimed that welfare fraud is responsible for cheating tax payers out of £5 billion a year. But Church leaders said that this exaggerated figure depicts the poorest and most vulnerable in society as thieves. Discover more by clicking here.

This work will be further developed at a conference 'Poverty of Ambition? Churches and a Politics of Hope' on Saturday 22 January 2011.

The Baptist Union of Great Britain, The Methodist Church and the United Reformed Church are hosting an exciting free one-day conference on how our churches can engage with contemporary political issues. This will take place from 10.30am to 4.00pm at Carrs Lane Church Centre in Birmingham.

Will Hutton - author and journalist - will be giving the keynote address. The rest of the day will feature workshops on key policy issues for churches, such as poverty, debt, climate change, peace-making and the Big Society - as well as the opportunity to network over refreshments.

The day will appeal to anyone with a passion for social justice and wanting to help our churches to engage with government and the world around us. You are particularly encouraged to attend if you have a formal circuit or district role looking at church and society issues, if you are an enthusiast or campaigner, or if you just want to know more.

Attendance is free, including lunch, but advance registration is vital.  For more information and to register, click here.