Moving on..

This blog is no longer active but is kept only for reference. If you would like more information on the Christian Political Forum please go to our website at www.cpfhome.com. You can also find us on Facebook (www.facebook.com) as ‘The Christian Political Forum’ group.

Events

Well things have been looking good for the CPF this month, not only do we have the latest edition of IMPACT out, but the Inspire Magazine website have run an article on the CPF study guides:
For more info on the study guides, you can go to CPF Home

CPF Study Guide

Click here if you are interested in reading the first of our Bible Study guides. We have decided to start with Deborah who, if you remember, had an army officer loyal to her called Barak ;)

Hertsmere CLP

Last night I attended a debate on the relationship between Church and State in Borehamwood, courtesy of the Hertsmere Constituency Labour Party.
I was there representing the Christian Socialist Movement and, small world that we live in, was Kris Brown representing the Labour Humanists, one of the two people I traveled to Chicago with to support Barack Obama.
The debate was rather friendly and relaxed, although clearly one or two people were passionately hostile against religion. That said, everyone listened to each others points of view and I think everyone, inc myself, left with things to think about. Not least on the issue of whether faith schools are influential on every child that passes through them and on the various types of faith schools. Kris was surprised to hear from me that I knew of one school that was exclusively vegetarian, so we all learned a variety of facts
Plus Kris and I were invited to stay afterwards for crisps, wine, and the raffle draw, although I stayed long enough to call out the first no, chat with one or two people, and catch up with Kris on what we had both been doing since I left the US, as I had a long train journey back home. All in all however, it was a good evening

Paul Burgin
(Jt CPF Co'Ordinator)

Support Gathers for Raid Victims

The Methodist Recorder reports that Methodists are being encouraged to give prayer and support to those who have been caught up in a raid on Johannesburg's Central Methodist Church, where a no of Zimbabwean refugees and up to 1,500 homeless people were sheltering.
Many of them were arrested and half, whose papers were found to be in order, were returned. The Church is widely-respected as a sanctuary for poor and destitute people.
There is of course, the fear that those whose papers were not found to be "in order" could be deported to Zimbabwe.

Rowan Williams - The Aftermath

There has been a bit of a storm lately concerning Rowan Williams's comments about Sharia Law. Whatever the rights and wrongs of those comments, it does raise some interesting points.
Firstly, does the Archbishop of Canterbury need to have a rethink about any press releases and the like regarding public pronouncements he has made and how they can be interpreted?
Secondly, Do we pray for our Church leaders? Sounds a bit twee, but sometimes some Christians (and we include ourselves here, although not towards Rowan Williams) can be theologically hostile towards their leaders, and/or to other Church leaders, where they neglect to pray for them!
Thirdly, how can we be supportive of our leaders in a way which helps prevent such situations in future.

This isn't necessarily condoning or criticising what Rowan Williams as said, but as Christians we should help build each other up and that means making sure such situations, when they arise, are contained

LATEST EDITION OF IMPACT PUBLISHED

The latest CPF quarterly e-zine has been published and includes an interview with Brian Trudgian on the slave trade and articles on evangelising civil servants, climate change, and a review of 2007. To receive IMPACT for free via email, go to our website - www.cpfhome.com - to find out more about IMPACT and how to contact us to subscribe.