The Rt Rev James Jones, Bishop of Liverpoool
Presidential Address to Liverpool Diocesan Synod
11 November 2006
Predicting the future is a risky business. But it seldom stops pundits and prophets trying their hand. Yet, when we tiptoed towards the third millennium few predicted the role that religion would play in the 21st Century. Nor were there many who imagined that debates about “Britishness” would dominate the media.
For the last few years I’ve been part of a small group in Liverpool made up of 4 Jews, 4 Muslims and 4 Christians. The idea is to get beyond the platitudes of religious and political leaders, to look at our differences frankly and to speak with each other truthfully. At our last meeting the barriers came down fully for the first time. True feelings began to show passionately. It was new territory for us all. It was the lecture by the Pope that got us started. But that’s not where we ended up. Furious disagreement transfigured into the most remarkable discussion about what it meant for us all to be British.
Difficult to summarise but there were five features that made us to various degrees consciously British; law, liberty, language, landscape and monarchy.
An immigrant from the Middle East said how he wanted to stay in Britain with his children because people here abide by the law. Although our prisons may be full to bursting the British do not take the law or lawlessness into their own hands.
A senior man from Pakistan who’s lived here for 50 years cherishes the freedom he’s had to speak out against the Government. He loves the liberty of Britain.
A young barrister who’s mastered the English language takes out a day a week to visit schools and use his formidable skills as a communicator to foster that famous British tolerance.
Each of these three is Muslim and devoutly British. Others contributed to the discussion saying how much they loved the landscape of Britain and its different contours and hues of green.
It was then a Jewish lady who said it was the singing of the National Anthem at all their gatherings that reinforced her own feeling of being British. It struck me how here was monarchy being re-invented for a new era offering a common symbol binding together different tribes.
After our meeting what struck me was how each of these five features owed their shape to the influence of Christianity. The Law to the Ten Commandments, Liberty to the freedom to preach the Gospel, Language to the Bible and the Book of Common Prayer, Landscape to a myriad of churches that stud it in stone and Monarchy to the faith that we are all, especially our leaders, answerable to God.
It is the establishing of the Christian faith in these islands that has created the character of our community and makes it such an hospitable place for people of various creeds, colours and nationalities. At the heart of the Gospel is the truth that acceptance is based not on race but on grace. This was one of the first truths experienced by the early Christians in that in Christ there was no divide along ethnic lines. The integration of this doctrine into our national life is an unsung virtue of Christianity established in our country. It is why in my opinion the nation is in its bones and in spite of extreme elements an hospitable and welcoming society to people of different faiths and nationalities and why Liverpool, as an international port, is now such a cosmopolitan city. Jews, Muslims and Hindus are at home here and Afro Caribbean, Chinese, Somalis and now Eastern European speak with a scouse accent!
Recently I was at the Jewish Civic Service in Liverpool where the Chief Rabbi was preaching. He is one of the nation’s finest preachers. He used a powerful sermon to talk about immigration and integration.
He challenged us to choose between 3 models – the house party, the hotel, the builder of the Tabernacle. In the house party model the immigrant is the guest, welcomed and entertained but with no rights. In the hotel model the immigrant is the paying guest with all the rights that come from paying your way, but with no right of tenure. In the Tabernacle model – drawn from Jewish history - he encouraged us all to see ourselves as co-workers in building a new society together.
The appeal of the Tabernacle is obvious for those of us who want to work together harmoniously for an integrated society. But to press the model – or at least to bend it a little – I would add that the historical foundation for such a super structure is the Christian faith that has been established over the centuries and (to change the metaphor) provides the fabric of our society. It is in evidence especially through the presence of the Church of England.
Who cares for 45% of our nation’s Grade One listed buildings? Who educates over a million of our country’s children? Who offers space for over a quarter of all the playgroups? Who provides for the gathering of the community locally, regionally, nationally when events overwhelm us and people come together in sorrow or in joy? Who is it that ensures that the voice of faith and of other faiths is heard in Government locally and nationally? Who maintains a presence by local people for local people in every neighbourhood and especially in areas of moral and urban deprivation that have been abandoned by the State and by the market?
To say it is the Church of England is not to brag or blow a triumphant trumpet. It is simply to recognise that here is the practical, pastoral reality of the Christian Faith established in this country through the Church of England. Its unique and remarkable heritage and contemporary contribution to modern Britain is complemented by our ecumenical partners and our fellow subjects in our sister faith communities.
Establishment is not about claiming pre-eminence; it’s about recognising the unique Christian foundation which serves the whole of our society. That is why we should not be embarrassed to show or wear a cross (I have to say I am rather looking forward to presenting myself at the BA Desk when I next fly the flag! It’s curious that BA should have overlooked the fact the Union Jack is actually made up of crosses!)
The Cross is the symbol of the faith that has given us our laws, our liberty, our language, our landscape, our monarchy – and indeed our schools. Those who now question the role of faith in education need to know that historically (barely over 100 years ago) it was this Christian faith that gave us most of our schooling!
Although the temptation to become polemical at this stage becomes very real I want to resist it by simply registering that it is in the spirit of Christ’s love expressed ultimately through the Cross that we continue to serve the nation as the Established Church and that this service extends to working with other faith communities to create a harmonious and stable society.
It is why the Prince of Wales is right to see himself in the role of Defender of the Faith as also being the defender of faith as a vital aspect of public life and of other faiths whose protection and well-being should be the ethical priority of every human being and certainly every Christian.
This is why after much thought, prayer and consideration I accepted the invitation to be Patron of the refurbishing of the Islamic Prayer Room and Cultural Centre. Notwithstanding the theological differences I saw this as the ethic of the Good Samaritan, the practical application of loving your neighbour as yourself.
As I’ve said elsewhere the future stability of the world and of the North West of England depends upon good relationships between the faith communities.
I count it as one of the virtues of the Church of England that at every level local,
regional and national we have worked at building these relationships as was so powerfully portrayed in “Presence and Engagement” which I presented to General Synod year last July.
We are entering a new phase in our national life. As we live, so new history is being made. I see no contradiction in thanking God for the unique Christian foundations of our society and upon these building a Tabernacle (to use the Chief Rabbi’s image) with people of other faiths and of no faith that expresses the richness of our new diversity. Clearly should there come a time when the superstructure undermines and threatens the historic foundations, for example, a movement that demands the adoption of Sharia law that then will be a point of departure for our democracy and require wise leadership from our religious and political leaders.
It is for Christians as well as for others in a democracy to argue the merits of the values we espouse and to articulate the worth of their application for the common good of all. We must do so neither triumphantly or ashamedly, neither aggressively nor defensively, but with gratitude for our heritage remembering as a previous Lord Chancellor once remarked – “Cut flowers do not produce seeds”.
We remain steadfast in our mission, to see a sustainable, led and transforming Christian presence in every community so that we may all act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God. We will maintain and develop our parishes across the Diocese, even and especially in areas of deep deprivation. What a wonderful example of Luke 14 14-16 (last week’s Gospel) where Jesus calls us to invite to the banquet those who cannot repay the hospitality.
We will pray and act on our prayers to generate Fresh Expressions of Church – invisible parishes that will complement the mission of God in the visible, territorial parishes across the Diocese, recognizing as Jesus promises in today’s Gospel that where even 2 or 3 are gathered in his name he is there and here.
There are some 500 Fresh Expressions of Church throughout the country and over a dozen here in the Diocese, some where the parishes have taken their own initiatives, others where the Diocese has led. I hope very much that our own new Expressions of Church will happen in response to Christians coming together to challenge the bad news of people’s lives. That will vary from place to place. What will be common to all forms of emerging church is an experience of Jesus Christ as Good News in rallying others to challenge and change the Bad News of their own situation.
Christianity remains a potent force in the renewal of our society here in England. Jesus Christ holds before us a vision for the future for which we daily pray, that his will be done here on Earth as it is done in Heaven itself.
/ends