This is just the editorial from the T4CG Newsletter, Summer 2024. To view full version click here
Grace and Truth
Dear Friends
Welcome to the Summer edition of the T4CG Newsletter, especially to our new subscribers.
Before the UK’s General Election it was clear that a new government could not resolve all the problems the nation faces. That remains true. At such a time as this, responsibility must be taken at all levels: at the top, but also at regional, local, neighbourhood, family, and at the personal level. The Catholic Social Teaching principle of Subsidiarity guides us to distribute power: its purpose is to uphold human integrity. Everyone has a contribution to make.
The Church is duty bound to speak truth to power, to demand the reform of structures of sin that undermine human dignity. But it is vital to be anchored in the Christian tradition of relational justice. Utilitarian, welfarist solutions may appear to be efficient, but being non relational, they incentivise dependency and mask prophetic justice. Walking in solidarity with communities trapped in poverty, the Church is called to work for structures of grace. This involves building a politics of the common good, the cornerstone of which must be the dignity of decent, meaningful work so that people can gain some self respect.
Our credibility as Christians to engage in our nation’s political life is often seen in terms of our grassroots engagement. The flourishing of families and communities is our business. Between us, across our traditions, we run schools, health and social care, we work in prisons, hospices, hospitals, we help families, the disabled, refugees, the homeless, the elderly, the addicted and the vulnerable. We volunteer, befriend, listen, accompany; we invest, we create, we employ, we lead, we govern, we participate, we pray with, we suffer with. We meet people at every stage of life. And if we are doing it right, not as service providers but through relationships of love, friendship and reciprocity, then we see in each person the face of Christ. We are there not only to give, but to receive. We are there for mutual transformation, neither as handmaids of the state, nor as cheerleaders for political ideologies, but as a distinctively Christian, relational people.
The challenge before us is monumental, and not isolated to the UK: the globalisation misadventure led to civic degradation and the breakdown of trust. It amounted to a politics of abandonment and an assault on relationship. To rebuild our societies and to restore faith in democracy, a fundamental step is a serious and properly funded industrial strategy. Correcting the wrongs done to the communities from post industrial and coastal towns and the neglected parts of our great cities is forty years overdue. Such a step requires more than rhetoric, more than piecemeal initiatives, more than issue-based campaigns. It requires the political will to reform the economy. This is looking unlikely: the scale of debt, and the enslavement to vested interests is too great. Governments perpetuating the neoliberal economic model have limited room for manoeuvre.
Meanwhile the unravelling continues apace. We are witnessing a great spiritual and moral confusion and a hunger for meaning. As Christians in this era of global instability we must tell the truth. We don’t deal in false hope; we offer real hope in Christ. In post-Christendom, we don’t fall for the false freedoms of the modern Egypt, but choose true freedom in our identity in God. To ward off the darkness, we draw strength from knowing that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us”. Our calling is incarnational: to work together with God and with our neighbours to build the common good. Like Him we are called to live as a people who deal in grace and truth.
As ever we’ve been devoting our energy to inspiring and supporting you to play your part, however great or small. You’ll see in the full newsletter a flavour of our work. You’ll find the latest episodes from our Leaving Egypt podcast; a story of transformation by Nick Graves on a council estate; a provocative lecture by Jon Kuhrt on Christian social action in memory of Frank Field; a talk by Archbishop John Wilson on the challenges and opportunities facing the Church; a set of bible studies from me, Jenny Sinclair on becoming a justice-seeking, relational church; an article from me on the election; resources on the common good and politics; and an encouraging update from my colleague Jo Stow, leader of Common Good Schools.
Finally, in the full version of this newsletter, you’ll see I’ve assembled a longer than usual selection of articles to help you navigate the signs of the times in this election year – plenty of summer reading – and a few recommended books and podcasts too.
Wishing you and yours every blessing and a peaceful summer
Jenny Sinclair, and the Together for the Common Good team
This is just the editorial from the T4CG Newsletter, Summer 2024. To view full version click here