12 Rules for Christian Activists

Ellen Louden

Description

In 12 Rules for Christian Activists, Ellen Louden and a host of contributors present 12 accessible and practical principles to encourage a new generation to create a movement for positive social change.

Sujets

• Religion
• Christianisme
• Christian Living
• Social Issues
• Philosophie et théologie

Informations

• Publié par: Hymns Ancient & Modern
• Date de parution: 30 avril 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781786222466
• Langue: English

Extrait

12 Rules for Christian Activists
A Toolkit for Massive Change
Ellen Loudon





© Ellen Loudon 2020
Published in 2020 by Canterbury Press
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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, Canterbury Press.
The Author has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the Author of this Work
British Library Cataloguing in Publication data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
978-1-78622-244-2
Typeset by Regent Typesetting
Printed and bound by
CPI Group (UK) Ltd



Contents
Acknowledgements
Foreword by Bishop Paul Bayes
The 12 Rules
Introduction: Being a Christian Activist

1. People Before Programmes
2. Be Useful
3. Collaborate
4. Think BIG – Start Small
5. Find Your Level
6. Identify the Good Things and Give the Good Things Away
7. Diversify
8. Make it Count
9. Remember Where You Came From
10. Take Risks
11. Travel Light
12. Tell Stories

Conclusion: Taking Part in Massive Change
Bibliography
Biographies
Acknowledgement of sources



Acknowledgements
I am very grateful to everyone who has collaborated on this book and the generosity with which they have shared their practice and thinking. You are all remarkable Christian activists who are participating in massive change.
As well as those who have written contributions, there are many others who have spent time with me drinking tea, bouncing ideas about and offering encouragement. I am particularly grateful to Mark Loudon and Miranda Threlfall-Holmes, who have had my back and kept the pressure on. Also, thank you to members of the Tsedaqah community who have inspired and helped me – particularly Sam Rigby and Jen Williams for their research skills.
Thanks to David Shervington at Canterbury Press, who has kept the project on track, and Miranda Lever for her clarity and editing skills.
Finding time to write in the middle of the excitement of a full-time role in the Diocese and Cathedral of Liverpool has been a challenge only made possible because of the excellent colleagues with whom I share my working life. Together in the Diocese of Liverpool we are asking God for a ‘bigger church to make a bigger difference, so that we see more people knowing Jesus and more justice in the world’. This book is a small contribution to this vision.



Foreword
It’s a pleasure to work alongside Ellen Loudon in Liverpool and to learn from her about Jesus and justice. Now you too can share this pleasure by reading and absorbing her ideas, and those of her outstanding team of collaborators, in this book. You’ll read stories of planning, diversity, courage, focus, prayer, passion, holiness, grace, sheer hard work – because all these and more add up to the life of a Christian activist.
Here in Liverpool Diocese we aim to be a community of people committed to Jesus and justice. We sense God’s calling and sending in a twofold journey – the inner calling to pray, read and learn, and the outer sending to tell, serve and give. In these chapters, Ellen and her friends articulate in a whole range of different ways what all this might mean for those who are led to change the world by the grace and power of God.
But here at the beginning of the journey, let me warn you. If you decide to read further, look out! You will read about the need for massive change, and you will be asked to commit to massive change yourself. This is a book full of solidarity, lightness and joy – but it is very well aware of the strength needed to struggle for justice and humanity in the face of so much inequality, prejudice and hate. It will invite you, in the words of the American Jesuit and peace protestor Daniel Berrigan, to ‘know where you stand – AND STAND THERE’. And it will provide you with human, relational, spiritual and political resources as you follow that invitation and take that stand.
The times are urgent, as they have always been. People need God, and as they become dignified and beautiful children of God, people need help. The call of Jesus Christ remains compelling and radical. Ellen and her friends have responded to that call and they’re asking the rest of us to do so too. I’m humbled and privileged to be able to work with most of the people who write here, and to follow them on the road of Christian activism.
In short, this is a book for people who want to be resourced as they make a massive difference. I hope you want that too. And trust me – if you read and apply the teaching in this book, your life will become even more interesting. Indeed, you may even get into hot water – but as Ellen would probably say, ‘Hey! Come on in! Hot water’s fine!’
Paul Bayes
Anglican Bishop of Liverpool



The 12 Rules People before programmes Be useful Collaborate Think BIG – start small Find your level Identify the good things and give the good things away Diversify Make it count Remember where you came from Take risks Travel light Tell stories



Introduction: Being a Christian Activist
… what is good;
and what does the L ord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?
(Micah 6.8)
12 Rules for Christian Activists is an introduction to a way of ordering an active Christian life that makes positive change possible in a world that desperately needs difference-makers.
I have called it a Toolkit for Massive Change 1 because it is my contention that our small, deliberate, purposeful acts of social justice, done in the name of Jesus, will transform God’s world. My hope is that having read the stories of everyday Christian activism you will feel equipped to make a difference in your community, and along the way you will: pick up tips about how to deepen your social engagement; be inspired to be more purposeful and strategic about the work you are doing; feel connected to other difference-making Christians; be encouraged to tell your story and enable the stories of those around you to be told.
The inspiration for this book, and the work that emerges from it, came from my thinking and my practice. I am a social activist, and my motivation for this comes from my Christian faith.
The Office for Civil Society defines social action as follows:
Social action is about people coming together to help improve their lives and solve the problems that are important in their communities. It can broadly be defined as practical action in the service of others, which is (i) carried out by individuals or groups of people working together, (ii) not mandated and not for profit, (iii) done for the good of others – individuals, communities and/or society, and (iv) bringing about social change and or value. 2
Not all social activists are Christians but I think all Christians should be activists. It is on this basis that I wanted to write these Rules.
The Rules are not new, they have been assembled from various places: the grounding of the Old Testament, the life of Jesus and his teachings, the inspiration of the early Church. In addition the rules are influenced by Paulo Freire, 3 Liberation Theology 4 (particularly the writing of Gustavo Gutiérrez), 5 Catholic Social Teaching, 6 the writing of St Ignatius 7 and Julian of Norwich, 8 social and community organizing 9 and Asset Based Community Development. 10 You will have your own influences and you will be inspired by writers, activists, politicians and historical figures. But the focus of this book will be the everyday activists who are putting theory into action.
The Rules have also emerged from my practice: as well as being Canon Chancellor at Liverpool Cathedral, I am Director for Social Justice in the Diocese of Liverpool and I have the privilege of hearing and sharing in the social action of many people and communities in the diocese. I am independent chair of the VS6, 11 which is able to represent the Voluntary, Community, Faith and Social Economy (VCFSE) in the Liverpool City Region; I am an advisor for the VCFSE to the Metro Mayor of the Combined Authority of the Liverpool City Region; and a trustee of Micah Liverpool, 12 Together Liverpool 13 and The Liverpool Diocesan Council for Social Aid, which is responsible for running Adelaide House, 14 one of just two independent female-approved premises in England.
What is a Christian activist?
Christian activists are as diverse as the actions we take. Some of us boldly take direct action; some prefer to act gently with a silent strength. We are people from many nations, of different classes, genders and sexuality. Some of us are physically active, others are not. We are extroverts and introverts – all wanting to see social change happen. Some of us get paid to be activists and many of us just want to share our free time. Christian activists are children, young people and old people, some with degrees and others with extraordinary life experience. There are some who feel they are on top of the world and others of us w