William Temple

Born into the Establishment, his father Frederick being Archbishop of Canterbury from 1896-1902, Temple was both a national and international figure.

Appointed Bishop of Manchester in 1921 at the age of 40 and then in 1929 Archbishop of York, Temple and his ministry came to epitomise the face of a renewed Church engaging with society in the midst of a nation in social and political turmoil, coping not only with the aftermath of one war but also another dangerously looming on the horizon.

A philosopher of deep spirituality with an insatiable appetite for hard work and ability to communicate with all classes, Temple’s Oxford University Mission addresses of 1931 entitled Christian Faith and Life to the packed University Church influenced a whole generation of future leaders: “People are always thinking that conduct is supremely important, and that because prayer helps it, therefore prayer is good. That is true as far as it goes; still truer is it to say that worship is of supreme importance and conduct tests it.”

Conscious of the deepening divisions within Europe, he was determined that if the Churches were to have any future credibility they should present a united front spiritually and socially. In 1942 he co-founded the Council of Christians and Jews. From the Edinburgh Missionary Conference of 1910 to the foundation of the World Council of Churches he helped to steer the ecumenical ship, and the success of the first General Assembly of the WCC in Amsterdam in 1948 was in no small part a credit to him.

Together with his keen interest in education and his collaboration with Rab Butler on the 1944 Education Act, Temple’s contribution was decisive in Labour’s landslide victory in 1945. A not uncritical supporter of the Labour Party and following in the Christian Socialist tradition of F. D. Maurice and Henry Scott Holland, it was Temple who coined the phrase “the Welfare State”.

Working with his Rugby contemporary R. H. Tawney, the seminal Labour thinker, and William Beveridge, the architect of the welfare reforms which sought to banish the five giants of want, idleness, squalor, ignorance and disease, Temple’s book Christianity and Social Order, published in 1942, provided a challenging theological gloss to this vision: “. . . there is no hope of establishing a more Christian social order except through the labour and sacrifice of those in whom the Spirit of Christ is active, and that the first necessity for progress is more and better Christians taking full responsibility as citizens for the political, social and economic system under which they and their fellows live.”
He died at the age of 63 after being Archbishop of Canterbury for only 30 months.

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Simple Church - Amish Church

I heard a news story this week that really made me think about a simple church. I heard about a group of people bound by a similar faith. These people have no outreach program. These people do not practice evangelism. These people do no vacation Bible school. These people do no church camp or recovery groups or community Christmas programs. These people do not do world missions and have no "cooperative program." This ecclesiastical body must be shrinking and dying, you say? No, guess again. This group of people have doubled their population in sixteen years. They are growing much, much faster than Baptists and all other evangelical churches. Who are they? The Amish.


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Tips for Saving Money on Your Grocery Bill

America's Cheapest Family' Offers Tips for Saving Money on Your Grocery Bill
The Economideses Share Deals, Discounts and How to Reduce Food Costs for Their Family
By MIKE VON FREMD
Aug. 22, 2008

At a time when many consumers' grocery bills are rising, the aptly named Economides family is able to feed itself inexpensively.
The cheapest family in America offers tips on how to save money.

The family of six spends only $350 monthly on groceries.

Annette Economides said she and her husband, Steve, see the search for great deals as thrilling entertainment.

"If your job is to stretch your dollars and you can do it and have success at it, wouldn't you?" she said.

The pair and self-proclaimed cheapest family are able to stock a lot of food for a little bit of money, thanks, in part, to coupons. They use them for almost every item. During one recent shopping venture, for instance, the Economides bought more than $140.58 worth of food for $53.01.

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Maker of Film on Binayak Sen's Life Imprisoned for 90 days

Ajay T G, who made a film on the life and work of Dr. Binayak Sen, was arrested under the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security (CSPS Act, 2005)on May 5, 2008, for “having links with the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist). Dr. Sen was also arrested on similar charges on 14 May 2007. Ajay has been serving as a state executive of the Peoples Union of Civil Liberties (PUCL) in Chattisgarh. When the police failed to find any evidence to support their charges within the mandatory 90 days period, Ajay was granted statutory bail on August 4. He was warned not to travel or speak to the press and the case against him has not been closed. This has been the case with Binayak Sen who is still in prison for more than one year. In this blog we have requested the readers' support to the efforts to free Binayak Sen.

Ajay and his wife, Shobha, attended Tuesday’s public meeting in Delhi organized by human rights activists and journalists, including Arundhati Roy, at their own risk.


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Chengara Land Struggle: Sign the Petition

Aound 5000 landless families who are engaged in a struggle to claim land for a living in Chengara in Kerala State are facing violent reprisal from a bunch of goons with the connivance of the Government of Kerala. In order to show solidarity to the victims and to o put pressure on the Government of Kerala to act immediately and secure justice a petition addressed to the President of India by some concerned individuals and organisations are being circulated. You can also participate in this campaign by signing the petition. To sign click here.

The Chengara struggle is a movement by landless Dalits, Adivasis and other marginalised peoples to gain ownership of land that began on 4th August 2007 in the southern plantation belt of Pathanamthitta. It is a fight to re-claim ownership of land that has been part of a long standing promise of the Government. To this end about 5000 families totaling around 24,000 people from different parts of the region have moved on to the Harrison Malayalam Private Ltd estate, building tents with poles and plastic sheets to establish the struggle front. The impugned land was a part of a leasehold to Harrison Malayalam Ltd, which expired in 1985 and no rents have been paid to the State exchequer since. The struggle is also a statement against illegal encroachment of land that ought to belong to the people by a corporate entity for commercial purposes with the tacit support of the State machinery.

The Chengara Land struggle is being carried forward under the banner of Sadhujana Vimochana Samyuktha Vedi (SJVSV) and has the support and solidarity of various Civil Society groups, movements and citizens across the country. In order to show solidarity the people in struggle and to put pressure on the Government of Kerala to act immediately and secure justice for the landless people petition, addressed to the President of India is Constitutional authorities in this country, epeaceful protestors.

The State Government is yet to make any serious move to initiate negotiations with the protestors. The past feeble attempts at discussions were more a ploy to threaten the agitators with police action and subvert the agitation. The ruling party has resorted to a violent reprisal resorting to violent intimidation including rape, defamation and deliberate cutting off food and other lifeline supplies to the protesters for more than 10 days.