Standing in the Rain for Jesus (thanks to the Profligate Grace blog)

Reposted from Profilgate Grace.

Christian CND first heard that Holy Trinity Brompton Church was hosting the CEO of Serco at their Leadership Conference via Twitter.  Serco is part of a consortium that manage and run the day to day operations of Britain’s nuclear weapons programme.  It was one of three companies to sign a contract with the UK government to run the nuclear project for 25 years from the year 2000.  That Serco have a huge stake in seeing Trident (the UK’s nuclear weapon’s project) renewed is not in doubt.  At first, Christian CND assumed that Holy Trinity Brompton had not realised that Serco managed the UK’s nuclear weapons.  Many people in the UK would more typically associate Serco with immigration removal centres, prisons and prison transport.  However, we were alarmed to discover that the HTB Leadership Conference website stated ”[Serco] take care of the nuclear arsenal for Britain”.  Upon realising that the church was in full knowledge of this information about Serco, we watched Chris Hyman’s profile video.During the video, Mr Hyman asserted, “ultimately…the most challenging job we have is giving hope to people and to making sure business is done the right way”.  We failed to understand how nuclear weapons “give hope”.  Indeed, Christian CND were pleased to observe that in 2007 the Church of England passed a resolution at General Synod stating “the proposed upgrading of Trident is contrary to the spirit of the United Kingdom’s obligations in international law and the ethical principles underpinning them.”.  As a company, Serco have previously been found to act in ways that might be described as morally dubious.  (Check out Christmas Island detention Centre for some of their more luxurious accommodation.)

On Monday evening, we alerted our friends at Christianity Uncut to Serco’s presence and they noticed that Benjamin Grizzle and Brian Griffiths from Goldman Sachs were also attending. Christianity Uncut members were concerned about the company records of both Serco and Goldman Sachs.  We sent out a few Tweets to the HTB Leadership Conference to ask why they chose the CEO of Serco as representative of a good leader, but did not receive a response on Twitter.  A member of Christianity Uncut called the Press Office on Tuesday, but they had no clear answer.  Monday night and Tuesday were spent working with Christianity Uncut and Christian CND activists across the country to plan an Act of Witness. We prayed, shared news on Facebook, Tweeted, phoned, wrote articles and letters, drew up a press release, blogged and printed leaflets.  We rapidly collected banners, bed sheets, palm crosses, biscuit tins, spray paint and the paraphernalia that crazy Jesus people tend to gather underneath their beds.  Some of us had spent the weekend atClimate camp or Aldermaston Women’s Peace camp and we are all trying to earn a living.  One of us fell asleep in the middle of a Skype call.  We prayed that we wouldn’t miss our trains and that we’d be able to escape our respective workplaces and that the printer wouldn’t break down. God is good.

Fire fighting equipment for Christian leaders

At about 6pm on Tuesday evening, Emma found herself crouched over a biscuit tin in a more prestigious location in Chelsea burning palm crosses outside a multi-million pound house whilst a bemused neighbour looked on from his Porsche.  Siobhán stood on hand to extinguish any resulting fire with a bottle of peach squash.

Emma and Siobhán were joined outside Holy Trinity Brompton by Patricia and Angela.  The four of us spent the evening walking the tightrope of grace between objecting to the uncritical invitation of Serco/Goldman Sachs to a Christian leadership conference and acknowledging our fellowship with our Christian sisters and brothers.  It ranks as one of the most peculiar evenings some of us have ever spent.

We were welcomed by a pleasant smiley church leader, who advised us that we couldn’t put up our banner under the HTB church board because it was private property.  (We had sprayed our banner to read “Would Jesus Lead Serco? Serco = Nuclear weapons,” although the rain and our graphic design skills did not render the banner hugely legible.)  Angela told him  we didn’t all entirely believe in private property, but the smiley church leader said that he did, so we agreed to hold the banner. After that, we were offered the famous HTB hospitality in the form of food. When we observed that we were veggie, he brought us veggie food and water and apples. The first thing that occurred to Angela, on being offered food, was to decline on the basis that we shouldn’t accept food that might have been sacrificed to the idol of neoliberalism.  But we were hungry and it was cold and Christians oughtn’t to turn down the hospitality of others, so we ate well.  Patricia reassured the smiley church leader that we were not condemning any individuals, but hoping that people would ask themselves questions about the role of the companies that the individuals worked for.

After the food, the evening went in a strange direction. We were told innumerable times that we’d find our objections to nuclear weapons answered if we undertook the Alpha course. Several people walked up to our banner and said “he probably would” (Jesus, lead SERCO, that is). Many people expressed a greater concern about our getting wet than appeared to want to engage to talk about the acceptability of managing a nuclear weapons factory or being a CEO of a company that speculates on food prices. We sang a lot of songs. We handed leaflets to the conference goers and told them we loved Jesus, just like they did.  Several people asked who/what SERCO is. Some people avoided us and walked around the other side of the footpath.  We refrained from singing “Would you walk by on the other side?”.

Many people stopped and wanted to chat. The response was certainly an improvement on the interaction at peace camps in which people usually shout “Get a f*****g job” from noon to night. We saw a lot of exceedingly expensive cars drive in and out of the car park. Siobhán told a man that we weren’t protesting, but disagreeing with the presence of certain leaders at the conference. The man said “enjoy your protest”!  We sang “She’s got the whole world in Her hands”. We didn’t do any lamenting because our conversations were going quite well and Patricia wondered whether people might be confused by us wearing ash (people from HTB appeared quite easily confused).  Some people assumed that we might be objecting to the nearby rack of Boris bikes which happen, entirely coincidentally, to be another service run by Serco.  We tried to alleviate people’s confusion.  We told people that the speaker from the day before was the CEO of Serco.  People still looked confused.

Quite early on, a man invited us to join in their worship inside the church.  It was tempting.  We wondered whether they’d let us pray intercessory prayers that went something like “Lord, we thank you for all of these people at the conference. We pray that the CEOs from Serco and Goldman Sachs might repent…”.  We decided it wasn’t such a good idea.  At one point, a homeless man showed up and proceeded to tell everyone that nuclear weapons didn’t exist, but that we were likely to receive a nuclear attack from North Korea.  A man from the conference tried to give Angela a Union Jack umbrella and said that it was good that we all lived in a democracy and could express our different views.

Some more people asked what Serco is. Siobhán had a good conversation with a woman who wanted to know more.  They exchanged email addresses. We sang “She’s got the whole world in Her hands”.  A man told us that it was good that the west had obtained nuclear weapons before the Nazis had developed them. A different man emerged to say that he used to be in the US Navy and that a case could be made for nuclear weapons. He added that he he would support working towards a world in which nobody had any. Angela said we could agree with him on that. A woman told Siobhán and Emma that until today, she’d had a problem with Catholics, but today she had heard a Catholic speak and now didn’t have a problem with them any more.   Another woman thought that everything at the conference was just so fantastic, and said she wasn’t worried about the presence of the companies we were worried about.

At a later point, Emma was mansplained by a male conference attendee who had worked in the sugar industry.  He implied that Nicky Gumbel would support nuclear weapons because he came from a Jewish background.  Angela noted at some point that any use of nuclear weapons in the Middle East would not benefit any of the rest of the Middle East on account of the devastating catastrophic humanitarian consequences in such a small region that would result from their use. The same man proceeded for most of the conversation to say “now listen to me”, and “you be quiet”, all the while pointing and being rather loud when it turned out that we didn’t understand the intricacies of commodities’ investment. The same man tried to tell us that nuclear weapons had prevented wars.  After we observed that wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the Falklands had all still taken place, he observed that these were just “skirmishes”.  We sang “Make me a channel of your peace”.  A van drove through a puddle near to where we were standing and soaked those of us who hadn’t already stepped in it.

Siobhán was informed by another man from the venue that if nuclear weapons didn’t exist he wouldn’t invent them, but did support them all the while they existed. Emma spoke to a man who was very interested in our presence, but then we learned that he was a student from the nearby Imperial University and utterly unconnected with the conference.  Angela spoke to a man who was entirely unsympathetic with everything that HTB stood for and who advised us that he would read our leaflet with enthusiasm.  Angela chased a man up the path towards the church, offering him a leaflet.  He asked how we knew he was from the church, and Angela said “you look young, white, male and kind of trendy”. He (perhaps unsurprisingly!) still refused a leaflet. A man told some of us that he thought it made a difference that the CEOs of the companies we were protesting were Christian because they could run the companies ethically. Angela asked whether it was possible to run a concentration camp ethically, which was perhaps a bit overdramatic, but it served to get the point across. We had a fairly long chat with a man from the Brompton Oratory who was generally sympathetic to our point of view.

Soon after, we spoke to a young Orthodox Bulgarian priest (attending the conference) and he wanted to know if the Anglicans amongst us were liberal or conservative Anglicans. Angela said that we didn’t believe in that spectrum and asked, whether, if we believed in theosis rather than penal substitutionary atonement that made us liberal or conservative. He decided conservative, but was very friendly. He eventually concluded, “it is often said… apart from the weather, food and accommodation, Britain is perfect!”   A woman told us she had tripped over the pavement because we were standing nearby with our banner.  Siobhán was nice to her.  We met another man from the conference who wasn’t impressed by either the Serco CEO or the fact that Tony Blair had been present last year. Somebody walked up to the banner and said “probably not” (hurray!!!).  Emma spoke to a man from the homeless outreach at Holy Trinity Brompton, who scrunched up our leaflet and gave the impression that it was more important that homeless people receive knowledge of Jesus than food.  We privately observed afterwards that these two actions ought not to be separated in such a dualistic manner, but he’d gone.  We sang “Shine Jesus Shine”.

Various people commented that we were very committed (we were dripping wet by then) but weren’t that interested in talking to us. As people started to leave in large numbers, plenty of people asked for our leaflet, but by the end, we were basically handing them squelchy pulp. People started to be very nice to us and looked at us in the way one might look at a puppy that has got a cold.  Without any more leaflets to hand out, we wished all of those leaving a good evening and said that we hoped they’d enjoyed the conference.  At the end of the night, we delivered some bottles of leftover water to the 24 hour prayer room (“errr, hi, we’re the people who’ve been objecting outside your church all night”) and then we went and found some very large chocolate waffles.

Christianity Uncut received a response the day after the Act of Witness from Holy Trinity Brompton and were advised “Nicky Gumbel is aware that there are some conference speakers whose position and views may not be to everyone’s liking.  However, Nicky feels there is much to be gained from interaction, discussion and involvement with a variety of leaders in politics, business, culture and the church.”  We will continue to seek clarification about the actions (rather than the views) of the “leaders” in Jesus’ church.  We will keep praying the prayer (given to us by other radical Christians) “Lord, grant us courage to stand firm by the tenets of your kingdom - ​to seek peace and pursue it, to hunger and thirst for righteousness, to uphold the cause of the voiceless, to worship no other God before you. Amen.”

Follow Christianity Uncut and Christian CND on Twitter.

‘Jesus didn’t lead like this’: Act of witness at Holy Trinity Brompton

Join Christianity Uncuters this afternoon – Tuesday 14th May – in an act of witness at Holy Trinity, Brompton.

More info here https://www.facebook.com/events/193868040761889/?notif_t=plan_user_invited

Info from facebook event:

‘Holy Trinity Brompton have their “Leadership Conference” this week. They’ve got an impressive range of guests…but some less impressive.

Directors from Serco and Goldman Sachs, companies with horrendous human rights track records – think nuclear weapons, healthcare and food speculation to name but a few. We’re appalled that a church is giving a platform to these people and worse still, marketing them as great leaders and role models. Jesus didn’t lead like this. It doesn’t matter how good you are at communicating – it’s the message that counts.

In light of this, some of us are going to show our displeasure in the form of flyering and conversation. We found out about this today so we’ve had to move fast, but they’re going to print tomorrow and we’ll also have a banner. We’ll chat to punters on their way into the speaker session in the evening.

The main event takes places at the Royal Albert Hall but, due to how many exits there are, we’re going to to go the overflow venue, St Paul’s, their church in Brompton Road.

PLEASE JOIN US

Whether you can be there in person to talk to people and hand out flyers or not, please tweet with us to #LC13

This is what it’s about: http://leadershipconference.htb.org.uk/‘

 

Coverage of our event on Ekklesia here.

The Philpotts, ‘lifestyle choices’ and the government’s welfare agenda

A reflection written by a member of Christianity Uncut who wishes to remain anonymous. It does not necessarily represent the views of all members of Christianity Uncut.

The Philpott case has dominated the news over the last week, with George Osborne and then David Cameron muddying the waters between political discourse and the horrific story of a violent man and his partners.

That such senior government figures have used the story to bolster their own welfare cuts agenda is shameless and despicable. Owen Jones has countered the ministers’ suggestions by making some excellent and very valid points. However these have unfortunately but unsurprisingly received far less attention than those of George Osborne and David Cameron.

Owen Jones’ central point is ‘that the Philpotts say nothing about anyone, except for themselves, just as the serial murderer GP Harold Shipman said nothing about middle-class professionals’. Perhaps still more analogously he went on to observe that the case of Stephen Seddon, found guilty of murdering his parents to gain his inheritance the previous week, did not cause politicians to question our system of inheritance or inheritance tax.

It’s hardly surprising that the Conservatives, whose policy shortly before the last general election was to increase the threshold at which inheritance tax was paid to £1m, would not suggest that lowering the level and percentage of inheritance tax might help prevent such murders in future. Not that I’m suggesting such a discussion should be had over the Seddon case: I merely seek to further illustrate that these men with immense power are abusing their positions by opening up or continuing a political debate over an individual, tragic case. Six children have died – using their deaths as an opportunity for furthering political ends is deeply disturbing.

From what I’ve read of the Philpott case it seems just as likely that Mick Philpott sought to father so many children as a means of control over the women he abused, as that his prolific brood was down to a greed for benefit money. His intimate relationships seem to have been characteristically abusive on many levels, which supports this suggestion. After all, he also seems to have had control over all of the money his partners earned too – benefits were not the Philpotts’ only source of income, whatever some media outlets might like us to think. Suggesting that Philpott was motivated by benefits money detracts attention from the horrendous abuse he put several women through: if anything, this case could have been far better used as an attempt to highlight the possible nature of domestic  abuse and raise awareness of some of its signs.

Instead Osborne and Cameron have vilified a whole section of our society and seemingly implied that many benefits claimants could be serial killers in the making. Therefore, the rhetoric goes, we need to ‘ask questions’ about ‘welfare’, those it is given to, and their ‘lifestyle choices’. I’m deeply concerned that these politicians have implied that mere ‘lifestyle choices’ can directly lead to someone becoming a killer.

The reality is of course that very few benefit claimants are able to make any kind of lifestyle choice: the vast, vast majority need the financial support they receive, and few have any choice about how to spend their money. Claimants’ needs dictate that they prioritise essentials like food and heating, and there is little room left for choice. This was already the case before some of the ‘reforms’ this government has brought in, but it will be the case to an even greater extent now that the ‘welfare changes’ are coming in to effect.

A glance at the rising cost of food and fuel is all that is needed to demonstrate that the cut made by limiting the rise in benefit payments to lower than inflation (1 per cent) will make life incredibly hard for hundreds of thousands of people.

Even if more benefit claimants could afford to make lifestyle choices, I firmly believe in the freedom of each person to determine their own financial priorities, within reason. Christ frees us and values each of us equally, and yet this government seeks to deny many the freedom to choose their own priorities that financial wealth brings to others because it deems them to be less worthy on some level.  Following Christ’s example we should love all people equally, and not seek to distinguish between those who are ‘worthy’ and those who are not, as this government’s rhetoric encourages us to. Personally, I do not watch television and save money in that way, but I prioritise healthy and therefore often more costly food and I believe that everyone should be fully entitled to make such choices.

Birmingham City Council recently announced that it would be giving out Asda vouchers as emergency welfare payments. Restricting people’s spending to goods from one supplier is bad enough, but what’s more, the vouchers could not be used for certain items, including phone-related expenditure. This is absolutely shocking: many isolated people, particularly disabled people, depend on their phones for support that sustains their mental health, or for liaising with key support workers in their life. The impact that this scheme could have on someone might be devastating or even fatal.

All benefits claimants are worthy of our love, just as all wealthy people are. Let’s not be fooled by Osborne and Cameron’s scapegoating of the Philpott case into thinking that there are many benefits claimants making such ‘lifestyle choices’, or that is our place to judge the priorities of those claimants who are able to choose between things like television, healthy food, a mobile phone top up, or an occasional beer.

Christian charities face Christian protests over use of workfare labour

Christian organisations including the Salvation Army and the YMCA are participating in “workfare” schemes, using workers who must work without pay or face losing their benefits. Christianity Uncut is writing to the charities to urge them to withdraw from the schemes as a public witness against forced labour.

The call comes at the start of a week of action against workfare. The action has been called by the group Boycott Workfare for the week of 18-24 March. During the week, Christianity Uncut is planning to write to all Christian organisations using workfare labour.

Christianity Uncut welcome the fact that most churches and Christian organisations are not participating in workfare. We encourage them to sign the pledge promising that they will not do so in future.

Chris Wood, a spokesperson for Christianity Uncut, said:

“Workfare workers are not volunteers – their work is not voluntary but obligatory, and they should be paid a living wage. Instead they are being threatened with losing the benefits on which they live if they refuse to take part in this forced labour scheme.

“We are deeply saddened that charities such as the Salvation Army and YMCA are undermining the good work they do, and their witness to Christ, by participating in workfare schemes. Throughout the economy, workfare is increasing poverty and unemployment by reducing the jobs available for paid staff. Christians need to make a public witness against workfare and proclaim Jesus’ teaching that ‘The worker is worthy of his pay’ (Luke 10,7).”

There are numerous workfare schemes currently in operation. Each requires claimants to work without pay or face possible destitution through sanctions (benefit stoppages), which can last for up to three years. A list of schemes currently in operation can be found at http://www.boycottworkfare.org/?page_id=663.

Protests, creative actions and online pickets against workfare will take place on 18-24 March across the UK in a week of action called by the Boycott Workfare network to escalate the campaign against forced unpaid work. More information and a list of actions can be found at http://www.boycottworkfare.org/?p=1996.

 

Christians call for repentance from Starbuck’s on Ash Wednesday

Following the Ash Wednesday service at Sunderland Minster, Rev Chris Howson led tax kustice campaigners to Starbuck’s coffee shop in The Bridges.

During the period of Lent, Chris, an Anglican chaplain at Sunderland University has called for people to “give up” their visits to companies that avoid paying tax. His call is supported by Christianity Uncut.

Ash has long been used by the church as a symbol of repentance. Chris prayed in the street he daubed a temporary symbol of the cross, in ash, on the window of Starbuck’s and called upon them to change their ways.

Christians urged to fast from tax-dodging companies during Lent

Christianity Uncut have today issued the following news release:

Christians urged to fast from tax-dodging companies during Lent

Christians are being encouraged to do no business with tax-dodging corporations such as Amazon and Starbuck’s for the duration of Lent as a public witness against the sins of corporate tax avoidance.

As Lent begins today, Ash Wednesday (13 February), the Rev Chris Howson, a Church of England priest in Sunderland, will anoint his local branch of Starbuck’s with ashes, traditionally used as a call to repentance.

Christianity Uncut, a network of anti-capitalist Christians, suggest that a crackdown on tax avoidance is a better way of reducing the national deficit than cutting public services and the welfare state.

They recognise that individual Christians will reach different conclusions about which companies to target and whether to continue with the boycott beyond Lent. But they suggested that lots of Christians working acting on the issue in their personal spending could be both an important witness and a form of economic pressure.

Rev Chris Howson, a Church of England priest in Sunderland, said:

“Tax justice is a pressing issue. Amazon, with its aggressive tax avoidance policy, can easily out-compete British-based high street firms. For lent, there will be no more cheap books for me from this tax dodger! As for Starbuck’s, not only has it evaded millions of pounds of corporation tax over the last few years, it has tried to publicly bribe the government, instead of simply paying its tax!”

Other ideas for the ‘tax justice fast’ include moving money from banks that have avoided tax, such as Barclay’s, and committing to shopping locally.

Rev Chris Howson added:

“Join me, and let’s support those who pay their taxes so that our kids get a decent education, bins are collected, and people can be looked after by the NHS. Make up your own version of the Tax Justice Fast for Lent!”

A year of resistance

As we near the end of the year, we want to say a big thank you to everyone who’s been involved in Christianity Uncut over the last twelve months.

In 2012, we:

• Showed solidarity with the Occupy movement, particularly by praying at the eviction of Occupy London Stock Exchange. At least five members of Christianity Uncut were dragged from the steps of the cathedral by police as they knelt in prayer.

• Called for a real jubilee of economic justice – rather than a celebration of human monarchy – in June. This made more people aware that “jubilee” in the original, biblical sense is about the cancellation of debts, freeing of slave and redistribution of land.

• Backed UK Uncut actions against government cuts and corporate tax avoidance.

• Joined Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) and UK Uncut in protesting outside the offices of Atos, the company that has thrown thousands of disabled people off benefits through biased assessments. We pointed out that Atos “bring bad news to the poor”, whereas Jesus’ Gospel is about “good news to the poor”. 

• Held an act of witness outside the official church service of the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham, encouraging worshippers to follow Jesus’ example of siding with the poor and to reject the Tories’ cuts agenda.

• Joined with Occupy London Stock Exchange in an action at St Paul’s Cathedral, calling on the cathedral authorities to take an active stand against the cuts. This has led to a meeting with cathedral authorities at which we discussed how we can work with the cathedral to challenge economic injustice. More details will be available soon.

• Joined with thousands of people of many religions and none in marching for “A Future That Works” and alternatives to government cuts.

• Called on Church House, the administrative headquarters of the Church of England, not to host a gathering of arms dealers in November. Along with members of the Campaign Against Arms Trade, Christian CND and Pax Christi, we held a peaceful prayer vigil outside the event.

• Christianity Uncut has appeared on the BBC World Service, BBC News website and in publciations including the Guardian, Independent, Daily Telegraph, Church Times, Ekklesia, The Friend, Reform and Third Way.

Much of this action has been carried out in solidarity with people of many religions and none who are resisting economic injustice with active nonviolence. UK Uncut, Occupy and DPAC, along with several faith-based groups and many others, have spoken out and campaigned against the government’s policy of punishing the poor for the sins of the rich.

The impact of austerity is clear. Housing Justice, an ecumenical Christian charity, estimate that rough sleeping in London has increased by a staggering 40% in a year. Food banks have now appeared in many British cities. DPAC report that every week, 73 people die shortly after being thrown off benefits. Many are suicides. 

At the same time, the richest people have had their taxes cut. Corporations avoid tax while ministers offer only lukewarm criticisms and no action. The arms trade continues to be subsidised and plans for the renewal of the Trident nuclear weapons system are going ahead. The government recently spent £1.2bn on a submarine.

In this situation, a number of church leaders have rightly spoken out. Many other Christians have taken a stand and become involved in campaigning. Some denominations have made statements and commitments on particular issues. This is great. But if we are to follow Jesus’ example of siding with the poor, we need to go a lot further. We need to let the government know that British Christians are part of a mass movement resisting austerity.

Recently, Starbucks agreed to pay slightly more tax after mass protests. It is nowhere near enough. We need to keep protesting against Starbucks. But the very fact that they felt the need to do this shows that groups such as UK Uncut have made an impact on the terms of political debate. Tax dodging has become a major political issue. Activism can make a difference. But we have so much further to go.

If you would like to join in Christianity Uncut actions, or help out with publicity and administration, we would love to hear from you. You can email us at christiansagainstcuts@gmail.com. May God help us to do so much more together than we can manage alone.

Email the Archbishop about arms dealers’ conference at Church House

Plans for a conference of arms dealers at Church House have provoked shock, sadness and anger in recent days. There will be an act of prayer and witness outside the conference tomorrow (Thursday) morning, from 7.45am, as the arms dealers are entering.

Church House is the administrative headquarters of the Church of England. The Church House conference centre is owned by the Church House Corporation, the president of which is the Archbishop of Canterbury. Rowan Williams has often expressed his opposition to the arms trade in the past, and we are encouraging concerned people of all religions and none to email him about the conference.

You can send a quick email via this link on the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) website.

The act of witness and email to Rowan Williams are backed by CAAT, Christianity Uncut, Pax Christi, Christian CND, the Speak Network and other concerned Christians.

 

Arms dealers to meet at Church House

On Thursday morning (1st November), Christians around the world will celebrate All Saints’ Day. Meanwhile, Church House – the administrative headquarters of the Church of England – will host a conference for arms dealers. They will discuss “future air power”, which is likely to involve a focus on remote-controlled drones.

The news has shocked, saddened and angered many Christians, both within the Church of England and beyond. The issue has been covered by the Independent, Church Times and Premier Christian Radio.

Act of witness

A group of Christians will gather outside Church House (in Westminster, London) from 7.45am. They will begin an act of prayer and witness at around 8.00am. It will last about half an hour, and take place while many of the arms dealers and other participants are entering the building. There are more details on Facebook.

The act of witness is backed by Christianity Uncut, Pax Christi, the Christian Network of the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) and Christian CND. It is open to all. The prayer will take an Anglican form, but Christians from other traditions, as well as non-Christians, are equally welcome.

Feeble excuses

There have been a number of inaccurate claims about the conference.

It has been claimed that the Church House Conference Centre is independent of Church House, and thus of the Church of England. We have investigated this and it is clear that it is a legal technicality. The conference centre is a wholly owned subsidiary company of Church House Corporation, whose president is the Archbishop of Canterbury. The Church of England’s spokesperson has now largely given up on this line of argument.

It has also been claimed that this is not really an arms dealers’ conference, as it has been booked by the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) rather than by an arms company. However, RUSI is a very right-wing thinktank that lobbies in favour of the arms trade and high military spending.

The conference webpage lists several multinational arms companies as sponsors, many of which arm oppressive regimes that have turned weapons on their own people. They are all involved in the manufacture of drones.

Church House is relying on a distinction between a conference booked by an arms company and a conference of arms dealers booked by a pro-arms lobby group. This distinction is at best naive and at worst misleading.

Prayer and resistance

If you can’t join us on Thursday morning, please pray about the issues wherever you are. You can also phone or email the Church House Conference Centre and email the Archbishop of Canterbury as president of Church House Corporation. We encourage everyone to communicate nonviolently in a spirit of peaceful persuasion rather than personal abuse.

We applaud the Church of England for rejecting most investments in arms companies. Now they need to live up to the same values in the use of their buildings.

Another way

Chris Howson, a Church of England priest from Sunderland and member of Christianity Uncut, is among those to have criticised the conference. He says:

“The Church of England should endeavour to make a stand against all forms of warfare, especially those that dish out death and destruction from thousands of miles away. It should instead seek to offer nonviolent, faithful responses to global issues based of Christian teaching. When Jesus asked us to ‘love our enemies’ we can assume that he did not mean ‘drop bombs on gatherings of people that might contain some enemies’.

“If we as a church expect credibility and respect, then we must not associate ourselves with, or profit from, agents of death and destruction.”

Al Barrett, a Church of England priest in Birmingham, is another to have expressed his shock. He said:

“I find it utterly staggering and shameful that my denominational headquarters should be providing space to an event, sponsored by weapons manufacturers, promoting armed conflict. The fact that this is being done as a commercial relationship makes it no less offensive. If the Church has learnt anything from the past few years, it should surely be that Jesus is calling us to take sides, in our words, in our actions, in our business dealings: with the poor, with the peace-makers, with those who hunger and thirst for justice, and emphatically not with the rich, the powerful, and those who create and deploy weapons of mass destruction.

“If the Church wants to model the hospitality of Jesus, it should invite the conference delegates in, without accepting any payment, to sit and eat with those people of the poorest countries of our world who have been maimed, widowed and orphaned by the weapons these delegates have manufactured, traded and deployed.”

Christians join marches for alternatives to government cuts

The following news release was issued today (21.10.12):

Christians join marches for alternatives to government cuts

Christianity Uncut have urged ministers not to “punish the poor for the sins of the rich”. They joined with thousands of people of many religions and none to march in London, Belfast and Glasgow yesterday (20 October) for “A Future That Works”.

Supporters of Christianity Uncut were present at all three marches. The group received messages from many Christians who were unable to join the marches in person but offered their support and prayers.

Christianity Uncut said that many churches are witnessing the effects of growing poverty, unemployment and homelessness in their own communities. They urged Christians to be at the forefront of campaigns for alternatives, such as a crackdown on corporate tax dodging, the cancellation of the Trident nuclear weapons system and a cap on private sector rents.

Sally Rush, who travelled from Milton Keynes to join the march in London, said:

“As a Christian, as well as part of wider society, I believe I have a responsibility to campaign against the causes of poverty as well as working to minimise the effects. For me regularly praying “your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven” means I have to actively engage in seeking that kingdom. That’s why I’m marching.”

ENDS

 

Notes to editors

1. Christianity Uncut is an informal network of Christians campaigning against the UK government’s cuts agenda and the injustices of capitalism. We are inspired by the example of Jesus, who took nonviolent direct action in the Jerusalem Temple, in solidarity with people who are poor, exploited and marginalised. 
2. Christianity Uncut is committed to active nonviolence in all its work, rejecting both violence and passivity. Christianity Uncut is committed to campaigning alongside people of other religions and of none and to love and respect for its opponents. Christianity Uncut rejects verbal abuse and personal hatred.
3. The marches for “A Future That Works” were organised by the Trades Union Congress with the support of a range of trades unions and civil society organisations.
4. Photographs of Christianity Uncut supporters marching yesterday are available on request.