On 17th November 1957, Martin Luther King preached a sermon at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. An audio extract has been preserved. Listen to how MLK links the Cross to love for enemies and hence to transformation in the world.
Category Archives: Social Justice
Credit Unions
It’s hard not to be aware of the great damage caused in our western societies by debt. Our economies thrive or fail based on how much people buy non-essential goods. Consumerism is the great idol.
Meanwhile, more and more people slide into debt. It becomes unmanageable, and predators swim around them, smelling blood. Archbishop Justin Welby has recognised this grave social evil, and declared war on the loan sharks. Here is a video filmed by the religious journalist Ruth Gledhill, showing churches in deprived east London districts setting up credit unions to benefit the community.
Is this something your church might do, either on its own, or in partnership with others?
More on the story here.
End Hunger Fast
Hungry Bowl with Rice for Hunger by epSos de on Flickr. Some rights reserved.
Are you involved in the rise of food banks? But are you also concerned about the reasons for food poverty, and for efforts to address those concerns?
If so, the forthcoming End Hunger Fast campaign may be for you.
Poverty, Wealth And Mission
Challenging interview with Shane Claiborne:
Fifty Ways To Close The Food Bank
From Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, where a food bank has been running since 1990:
(Via Freedom 90. Hopefully Paul Simon doesn’t object.)
Social Justice At The Movies
Social Justice by Elle Ko on Flickr. Some rights reserved.
Relevant Magazine recommends five films with social justice themes.
If you have a Netflix subscription, you can watch them on that service.
Have you seen any of this? Will you? Are they capable of changing your mind and your actions?
Serving Vulnerable Teenagers
Stop Gang Violence by Aston Reynolds on Flickr. Some rights reserved.
Here is the heartening and brave story of an inner city London church that has provided a refuge for teenagers at risk of gang violence.
They are hoping to convert their crypt into a ‘community enterprise centre’, complete with recording studio.
(Via The Church Mouse.)
Dethroning A Cultural Idol
Slum Abercrombie by Karl Hans on Flickr. Some rights reserved.
Several years ago, we were on holiday at a farm where another couple wore the most achingly hip clothes, even when knee deep in mud and other farm-related substances. We nicknamed them Mr Abercrombie and Mrs Fitch, after the clothing brand that thinks it is only for cool, attractive people. (Indeed, note the company’s refusal to cater for overweight women.) The Christian surely reads of this practice and concludes that idolatry is at work: idolatry of body image (which has terrifying consequences for many), and idolatry of consumerism, amongst others.
So how intriguing was it to read of the #FitchTheHomeless campaign. One man who was so incensed by the company policy has gone to charity shops, bought up any stock of A & F clothing he can find, and donated it to the homeless. After all, A & F themselves apparently refuse to donate clothing to those in need, say, when there is a natural disaster. As one former manager put it,
Abercrombie and Fitch doesn’t want to create the image that just anybody, poor people, can wear their clothing. Only people of a certain stature are able to purchase and wear the company name.
Whether the campaign will have unintended consequences, such as people assuming that homeless people are not truly poor, remains to be seen. I also have no idea whether the person in question, a writer named Greg Karber, is a man of faith, but it does raise the question of whether Christians could or should be involved in prophetic acts against the idols of our society. The wider world has given us Adbusters: what can the church contribute?
A Prayer Of Dedication For Missional Disciples
Prayer Chapel by Randy OHC on Flickr. Some rights reserved.
Today in many Methodist churches is Covenant Sunday, when we annually renew our commitment to Jesus Christ. Garth Hewitt’s prayer for the new year on his spirituality page might well serve as an act of dedication for us as we recommit ourselves to the mission of God.
Why not comment below if you prayed this prayer as an act of dedication today?
Future Trends
What will the world we are heading into be like? Here are some ideas. In fact, some of them are already present. Will they affect how we proclaim the Gospel in word and deed, as we consider how people will perceive what it means to be human, as we see world hunger increase, and so on?
Thinking About Mission 