Reflecting together, 21 May: inhabiting the public realm in the midst of lockdown
A report from our 21 May online discussions on what it means to be church on the margins during the pandemic.
Opening reflection by Anna Rowlands
What are we learning about what it means to be human (in all of its complexity)?
- Coronavirus brought back commonality? How we experience the situation is different, but we have a shared public life again.
- We already have being human in common, but we put other things in its place, e.g. TV, sport, etc.
- We’re also learning what we don’t have in common, the level of privilege we bring into this situation.
- How could the church misbehave well in public? To protest against unjust structures.
- How could church identify with those who have be made to feel lesser, not enough?
- The lockdown situation has intensified emotions (up and down).
- Missing human contact, being able to give someone a hug.
- We take our freedom for granted. People in prisons are locked down permanently.
- Some people feel cared for now (previously they felt forgotten). Some people are worried about being forgotten again once lockdown ends.
How do we create a genuinely shared world? (What is the Christian contribution to this?)
- We will have to live in both spheres (in person and online).
- Ideals and aspirations for going forward at the beginning of lockdown are already being lost.
- We need to stay open to a multiplicity of voices within the church.
- We must open our ears and hearts.
- Church often acts like it has all the answers, we should humble ourselves.
- We need to be alongside others beyond the walls of church. We can learn a lot from others / people on the margins.
- We still need to help people to shield, people are already forgetting this as things begin to open up.
- The origins of the word idiot – someone who thought they could survive on their own.
- Churches asking ‘how do we survive this?’ – the wrong question to be asking.
- The Church has to go public – faith in public life.
- The model of church needs to change from having a ‘gatekeeper’ to ‘priesthood for all’.
- Share our work and our journeys with each other, especially people doing the same work in different parts of the country.
- Smaller churches have seemed better connected and equipped for true engagement and connection.
Research and Information Officer
Halifax voices: on housing, hope and scandalous costs
This Neighbourhood Voices story comes from West Yorkshire We’re in Halifax. Queen’s Road to be precise – in a former betting shop that is now …
The UK doesn’t want demonising rhetoric – it wants to end poverty
There have been some political statements that have demonised and divided people in the past week. It’s absolutely not what the UK public needs or …
Sheffield Civic Breakfast: leaders told about mounting pressures of poverty
Sheffield Church Action on Poverty’s first Civic Breakfast since Covid has heard that around 120,000 people in Sheffield are living in poverty, homelessness is the …
Artists perform for change in Manchester
The inaugural event in our Artists for Change programme took place in Manchester on 28 April 2024.
Church Action on Poverty in Sheffield: annual report 2023-24
God never intended for one group of people to live in superfluous inordinate wealth, while others live in abject deadening poverty. ———— Revd Dr Martin Luther King ———— …
SPARK newsletter summer 2024
Read or download the summer 2024 issue of our newsletter for supporters
Halifax voices: on housing, hope and scandalous costs
This Neighbourhood Voices story comes from West Yorkshire We’re in Halifax. Queen’s Road to be precise – in a former …
The UK doesn’t want demonising rhetoric – it wants to end poverty
There have been some political statements that have demonised and divided people in the past week. It’s absolutely not what …
Sheffield Civic Breakfast: leaders told about mounting pressures of poverty
Sheffield Church Action on Poverty’s first Civic Breakfast since Covid has heard that around 120,000 people in Sheffield are living …