'A liturgy rooted in our story in the UK'

Simon Jones introduces Living for Jesus & Justice, a new book of liturgy 'written by activists for activists, but written in a way to appeal to those who yearn for change in their streets but struggle to articulate that in prayer... written to inspire action in your community group, mission organisation or church'

Two years ago, Red Letter Christians UK published a book called Jesus & Justice: Stories of Radical Christian Living. In it we told 26 stories of ordinary Christian communities doing extraordinary work across the UK that was bending the arc of history towards justice. Everything from radical ways of working to provide people with good homes to breaking down embedded racism in Oxford colleges.

We described it as theology for the feet, activism rooted in radical Christian commitment. It is still available from the Red Letter Christians website and the Baptists Together shop.
 
A question that hovered around that text was how activism was rooted in spiritual disciplines. Our way of working on that book was to meet and pray, to talk and eat together in the context of worship. And in those conversations the idea for another book was born.
 
We were aware that our colleagues in the USA had Common Worship: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals; indeed many of us used that book. But this was a text for a different continent. We began to dream of a liturgy for the ordinary radicals who wrote our first book, a liturgy rooted in our story in the UK, that gave energy to groups and individuals across our country to continue to pursue the justice God calls us to.
 
So this new book, Living for Jesus & Justice: Daily Liturgy for Radical Christians, published on 25 June, is for anyone and everyone keen to sustain their work for justice and equality over the long haul. It is a book that brings activists together in a common prayer life, rooting their work in the energy of God through daily liturgy.
 
We have created a book of uneven quarters. At its heart is a seven-day rolling cycle of morning, midday and evening prayers that weaves together themes of justice and prayer, activism and contemplation. Our aim is to give voice to your and your community’s longing for God to be setting things right in your neighbourhood. It is a daily liturgy that can be prayed by groups, projects, churches, or individuals.
 
This daily liturgy is linked to two other sections, a rewriting of the beatitudes in today’s language (the first uneven quarter in the book). Red Letter Christians are a people of the gospels and at the heart of those works is the call of Jesus to radical living summed up in the words that open the so-called ‘Sermon on the Mount’ (you will find the original in Matthew 5). So, we have reimagined Jesus’ words in contemporary language for our culture in a way that we think is true to Jesus’ original intent.
 
The daily liturgy is also linked to the third quarter of the book, 366 people and events that we have called way makers and way markers, people and events that point to how God is bending the arc of history towards justice in our land, in our communities, one for each day of the year. These are like the great cloud of witnesses that the first century letter to the Hebrews talks about, people who’ve lived the life in a way that might inspire us to live it too, events that show collective action can make everyone’s lives a little better. Hopefully they’ll put a spring in your step as you use this section every day. 
 
The final quarter is a selection of occasional prayers that you might like to use to mark particular events in the life of your community, things that you often struggle to find words for.
 
We believe there is no other resource like this one; we also believe that it will quickly become your go-to collection of prayers to inspire you in your search and work for justice in your neighbourhoods. This is because we think this collection is unique: written by activists for activists, but written in a way to appeal to those who yearn for change in their streets but struggle to articulate that in prayer. Even more importantly, written in such a way as to inspire action in your community group, mission organisation or church.

It is unique in another way too: it seeks to articulate the values of Red Letter Christians in prayers that will not only inspire action where you live but will draw you into a movement across the UK seeking the same things.
 
RLCUK brings together activists from all walks of life looking for inspiration to live for Jesus and justice more effectively. The great thing about RLC as a movement is that it draws together people from across all Christian denominations and none, people of firm faith and people looking for a faith to underpin their activism. And this book puts all that into easily accessible language.
 
Starting in July, the Red Letter Christians’ daily pause, every weekday at 8:00am, will be using the liturgy as a way of bringing people together across the country and as a way of introducing to the rhythm and wonder of these words. Please join us on YouTube (@RedletterChristians). This is a step towards Red Letter Christians UK providing a digital abbey, gathering together folk looking for an online community to practise spiritual disciplines together.
 
The book will be available in e-book form and as an app. So, however you like to access your liturgy, this book offers it. But don’t just take our word for it. Others think this book meets a need not met by other resources:
 
‘I have needed this book for such a long time. We have needed it. A multivocal expression of faith and a radical yearning for justice you can bring into your small group, your church service or your personal devotions. A guide for devotions in the real world, and a book of hope for a better one, not in the hereafter but now,’ says Jonty Langley, editor of Shibboleth magazine
 
And Roy Searle, no stranger to writing and producing liturgy through the Northumbria Community, and a mentor to many a Baptist pioneer, says, ‘This invaluable resource is a gift to individuals and communities who long to integrate prayer into their lives of following the radical, life giving and transforming Jesus.

'Rooted in the Beatitudes the liturgies weave prayer and action together in a beautiful tapestry of seeing and serving the Good News realised in the ordinary, everyday happenings of the world.’
 
Finally, Sian Murray Williams, former National Ministerial Recognition Committee moderator, puts her finger on why this book meets an urgent need in our time: ‘We live in an age where language in international relations, the public square, church discourse, is being gutted of meaning and beauty. The deep polarisation in western culture, driven by ideology, money and power, has made sincere communication across communities difficult.’

Red Letter Christians has stood in the eye of the storm this deep polarisation is unleashing in our neighbourhoods and this liturgy offers a way to tap the energy needed to point to a better way of living together.
 
As Sian goes on to say, ‘The community of Red Letter Christians has leaned with courage into this question. And this is the result. We are gifted with a pattern for daily prayer with words that zing off the page, images that reach into our experience and echo with a visceral truthfulness the Psalmist would be proud of.’

 

Living for Jesus&Justice - Daily Prayers for Radical Christians is published by Darton, Longman and Todd (DLT) on 25 June at £16.99 and can be ordered using this link. 

Simon Jones is an activist, theologian, writer and Baptist minister. He is the founder of grass roots refugee agitation, Peaceful Borders, and editorial advisor to Red Letter Christians UK