Thank you for visiting CUF’s Living Theology Forum, which we hope will become a meeting place for the mutual exchange of shared theological ideas about Christian social action. Our vision for the forum is dynamic rather than static – we see this as something that can be built on, added to, developed, critiqued over time, where the theology can flex according to context, audience, perspective, or critical moments. We want this forum to be participatory, invitational, empowering, challenging and open to challenge. And we will welcome contributions from diverse voices to help build a good library of material and shape the forum as a valued reference source for the wider church.
If theology is the yeast that activates and animates the work and institutional identity of CUF and organisations like ours, this forum can become a sort of ‘laboratory of ideas’ exercising a disproportionate influence on all we do and how we operate. We hope you find the contributions stimulating, thought-provoking and encouraging.
Rt Revd Adrian Newman
CUF’s Bishop in Residence
Living Theology Forum Webinar
Just Church? Why social justice matters for followers of Jesus Christ and the Church
WATCH AGAIN HERE
As the Church of England focuses on social justice during Lent, this webinar explored how the theology and practice of social justice can be central to the life of the Church.
Chaired by Rt Revd Adrian Newman (CUF’s Bishop in Residence), speakers at the webinar included Revd Prebendary Dr Isabelle Hamley (theological advisor to the House of Bishops, and author of Embracing Justice, the Lent material produced this year for the Church of England), Revd Canon Dr Anderson Jeremiah (lecturer in theology and politics at Lancaster University, and a CUF Trustee) and Chris Forster (Strategic Lead Officer, Transforming Plymouth Together).
Four Theological Principles Energising CUF
by Rt Revd Adrian Newman
In what follows I offer a personal view about some core theological principles which inform the work of the Church Urban Fund. These principles are necessary but they will not be sufficient, and more will need to be said in time. But these are offered in a spirit of open exploration and enquiry, as we seek to articulate the essential theological principles which energise the work of CUF.
The GRA:CE Project
The GRA:CE Project is a research project exploring the relationship between social action, discipleship and church growth.
After three years of extensive qualitative and quantitative research, including 350 interviews in over 60 parish communities across England, the finding of the GRA:CE Project are now available.