Always Hope

The Rt Hon David Cameron MP 10 Downing Street London SW1A 2AA Good Friday, 2012 Dear Mr Cameron I read with great interest your Easter message, in which you talk about the character of Jesus and values of Christianity. You have received criticism from those who think you went too far, and those who think you did not go far enough, but I for one was pleased to see you put Easter in a Christian context. I particularly noted the way that you clearly identified yourself as one of the Christians who will remember the life and sacrifice of Jesus this Easter. So please allow me to wish you in return a happy Easter. As a Christian, you will, like me, have spent part of today contemplating the extraordinary, epoch-changing event of the crucifixion, and the sacrifice made by Jesus Christ on our behalf, that the world might be redeemed. As Christians, nothing we do can be unaffected by it. Both you and I follow vocations in which our faith really ought to make a difference to the way we...

This really interesting piece from last week's Guardian deserves some close reading. "The Big Society" remains a nebulous concept but as it slowly takes shape, some Christian groups have been joining the conversation. The Church of England in particular has started to put some flesh on the bones of what this might look like .  But is this driven by the motives that Riazat Butt suggests? Christian leaders have welcomed David Cameron's concept of a big society, seeing it as a way to re-establish their place in society. I can well believe that there are people who think exactly this: a chance for the church to regain its lost status as lynchpin of British society and doorkeeper of the way to social assistance. Part of me even warms to the idea, thinking that perhaps this might help to reverse the trend of secularisation and the marginalisation of Christianity in public debate. But to "re-establish our place in society" is not a noble goal. The only poss...

Polly Toynbee scents a political point in the Guardian ( online ), laying into the Government for their proposed funding cuts to the "third sector". This is an interesting point, revealing a tension between the rhetoric of the "Big Society" and the reality of funding cuts. Should charities, including churches, be worried? On one hand, there must be concern that the constraints on public funds will have an impact on charities working in areas of social need. Government grants that have been useful to all kinds of projects and charities over the past few years are fast drying up. On the other hand, we need to remember that it's a bit misleading to speak about the Government "cutting" charities which, by definition, are independent bodies and not run by the state. If you look more carefully at Toynbee's article, you see that most of the cuts are in fact to Government-run volunteering agencies and other quangos dealing with the third sector. I su...