Logo

 

Banner Image:   Baptist-Times-banner-2000x370-
Template Mode:   Baptist Times
Icon
    Post     Tweet

A Faithful Presence

Russell's account of the Working Together for the Common Good initiative a generation ago offers a mix of hope and disappointment

 

A Faithful PresenceA Faithful Presence - Working Together for the Common Good
By Hilary Russell
SCM Press
ISBN 9780334053897
Reviewed by Alec Gilmore

An unusual book which functions at many levels. On one, it is a fairly straightforward historical account documenting what Working Together for the Common Good (T4CG) set out to do and achieved in Liverpool in the 1970-80s under David Sheppard, Derek Warlock and fellow church leaders. The partnership reflecting a rare expression of ecumenism in relation to the local social, political and human problems of the day.

On a second, it is a personal statement by this Liverpudlian author as she reflects on the T4CG 'underpinning themes that have lingered with me' over several decades and 'much informed my experience and thinking'.

On a third, it is a detailed account of those 'underpinning themes' as Liverpool's Church Leaders experimented with closer cooperation to address the specific needs of the unity which led to 'an ecumenism of Kingdom building', as against the more familiar co-operation for church unity. Needless to say, with that agenda, the underpinning themes were very broad and most of them are still with us: equality, housing and homelessness, faith communities, work and pensions, food and rural affairs, the environment and Justice and Peace. You name it . . .  and in every case the key was always 'Conversation and Transformation' for the common good, leading to an ecumenism as 'More Together, Less Apart'.

Finally, on a fourth level, we have the fruit of serious research by the author on how things have developed since, mainly in Liverpool but not without an awareness of the wider context.

The fact that lines of demarcation between the levels are not clearly defined doesn't always make for easy reading, but that is probably how it should be because that is how it is in life. 

The book (qua book) is fine. The content is a mix of hope and disappointment. Hope because of what the leaders did, the potential they explored and opened up.

Disappointment because it is hard to feel that we have progressed much further since. Optimists will reach for their pens to demonstrate that we have. Pessimists will feel that little progress has been made and some will even feel we have slid backwards.

Readers in both camps would do well to spend some time searching for 'Sheppard, Warlock, et al' in current church leadership. Russell plays all the right notes but the theme music still seems more end of the 20th rather than the beginning of the 21st centurie as we struggle to catch up with where we are now.  
 
 

Alec Gilmore is a Baptist minister

 

 

 

Baptist Times, 16/12/2016
    Post     Tweet
My Big Story Bible by Tom Wright 
'Wright is retelling the stories in an accessible way in something closer to the whole Bible, with his inclusions of the books of the prophets and the New Testament letters'
Clever Cub Forgives a Friend, and Invites Someone New, by Bob Hartman  
Latest titles in series which takes the world of the child seriously and then tries to choose appropriate stories from the Bible to address their experiences - relevant and readable
The Hardest Problem: God, Evil and Suffering by Rupert Shortt 
'Not only helpful to Christians but worth passing on to thoughtful unbelievers who find the problem of evil and suffering an obstacle to belief'
Heroes or Villains by Jeannie Kendall 
'A gem of a book, thoughtfully and insightfully exploring the qualities we share with Bible characters'
Poverty, Riches and Wealth by Kris Vallotton
A book which makes you think with sections you might disagree with - but the golden thread that you are wealthy in proportion to your generosity, not according to your riches - is an excellent, Biblical principle
Lydia by Paula Gooder 
'Thoroughly recommended, not just as a historical novel, but also as a useful reference book kept close to the regularly-used commentaries'
     Reviews 
    Posted: 01/03/2024
    Posted: 22/09/2023