Networks of outrage and hope

Well, it seems it might already be kicking off where we are in a small way!

Just back from coffee with a friend and fellow minister during which he told me that last night our churches together group had a discussion about how to engage more boldly with the council. People spoke of wanting to be a prophetic voice in local government, others of wanting to engage in prophetic actions that demonstrate the life of the Kingdom of God.

This was music to my ears. Though I'm not sure what 'prophetic actions' might look like(!), I am sure that there is a ground swell across the town among Christians and others of good will that something is desperately wrong and that anger is only leading to people feeling frustrated and impotent.

So, we've agreed to use a meeting that I was already due to be facilitating on churches and political engagement in a couple of weeks, to put some flesh on this.

Meanwhile, I picked up Manuel Castells' Networks of Outrage and Hope yesterday, on the recommendation of Paul Mason and because it has such a good title! What better description of church is there than networks of outrage and hope?! Hopefully Castells' book, which casts a seasoned sociologist's eye over the social movements that have sprung up over the last decade, will inspire and inform not only my thinking but also our churches' conversation.