Friday, 3 October 2008
Chislehurst Songs of Praise: Saturday 11th October, 11.30am
On Saturday October 11th, 11.30am, Hope for Chislehurst will be hosting a Songs of Praise event on Chislehurst High Street, outside the Active Age Centre next door to Sainsbury's supermarket. It promises to be a great time with singing led by Chris & Jennie Orange and band, a musical performance, and stories of hope from local people. So please come along and join in! See you there.
Thursday, 2 October 2008
THE CHURCH AND THE CREDIT CRUNCH
Each statistic vies to be the most striking:
• Total U.K. personal debt at the end of August 2008 is £1,448 billion
• This is now greater than U.K. annual G.D.P. (which is currently £1,410 billion)
• Average household debt is £59,350 (including mortgages)
• 1 person every five minutes is declared bankrupt or insolvent
• 104 properties are repossessed daily
The focus recently has been on ailing banks, but if anyone could be in any doubt about the impact the shortage of credit is likely to have on ordinary families, these figures are proof of the alarming precariousness of many U.K. households. Few things worry people more than unmanageable debt and these statistics reveal a nation burdened with anxiety.
The Bible has much to say about wealth, possessions and debt. The Jubilee laws of the Old Testament made provision for the remission of debt every seven years. The aim behind this law was to protect the integrity of every extended household in Israel because debts led to land being sold which broke up families and made people destitute in an agrarian society. It was from such laws that the inspiration for the international debt remission campaigns of the last decade was drawn.
Jesus had much to say about wealth and possessions, advising his followers to resist their addictive lure and to be satisfied with less. Our society has singularly failed to follow his guidance – we are more or less all implicated in this – and our generation may now be reaping what it has sowed.
Thankfully Jesus also invited all who are weary and heavy laden to come to him for rest. He cares deeply about our welfare. Every family mired in fear or panic over their finances should know this. It’s not as if every person or family with unbearable debts has brought this on themselves anyway. Manageable debt can suddenly become unmanageable on bereavement, divorce, illness or unemployment.
On September 27, members of Churches Together in Chislehurst heard Richard Latteman from the national Christian charity Stewardship give a talk on the nature of this problem and the way churches might help people manage their money more prudently. Jesus invites his followers to lift the burdens from the heavy laden in his name. We are exploring ways we might develop such a ministry in our locality. If you have any interest in pursuing this - especially if you have a professional background in finance and are looking for ways to serve the Lord in more unobtrusive ways than you have previously been invited to - let me know at sburtonjo@aol.com
Reverend Simon Burton-Jones
• Total U.K. personal debt at the end of August 2008 is £1,448 billion
• This is now greater than U.K. annual G.D.P. (which is currently £1,410 billion)
• Average household debt is £59,350 (including mortgages)
• 1 person every five minutes is declared bankrupt or insolvent
• 104 properties are repossessed daily
The focus recently has been on ailing banks, but if anyone could be in any doubt about the impact the shortage of credit is likely to have on ordinary families, these figures are proof of the alarming precariousness of many U.K. households. Few things worry people more than unmanageable debt and these statistics reveal a nation burdened with anxiety.
The Bible has much to say about wealth, possessions and debt. The Jubilee laws of the Old Testament made provision for the remission of debt every seven years. The aim behind this law was to protect the integrity of every extended household in Israel because debts led to land being sold which broke up families and made people destitute in an agrarian society. It was from such laws that the inspiration for the international debt remission campaigns of the last decade was drawn.
Jesus had much to say about wealth and possessions, advising his followers to resist their addictive lure and to be satisfied with less. Our society has singularly failed to follow his guidance – we are more or less all implicated in this – and our generation may now be reaping what it has sowed.
Thankfully Jesus also invited all who are weary and heavy laden to come to him for rest. He cares deeply about our welfare. Every family mired in fear or panic over their finances should know this. It’s not as if every person or family with unbearable debts has brought this on themselves anyway. Manageable debt can suddenly become unmanageable on bereavement, divorce, illness or unemployment.
On September 27, members of Churches Together in Chislehurst heard Richard Latteman from the national Christian charity Stewardship give a talk on the nature of this problem and the way churches might help people manage their money more prudently. Jesus invites his followers to lift the burdens from the heavy laden in his name. We are exploring ways we might develop such a ministry in our locality. If you have any interest in pursuing this - especially if you have a professional background in finance and are looking for ways to serve the Lord in more unobtrusive ways than you have previously been invited to - let me know at sburtonjo@aol.com
Reverend Simon Burton-Jones
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