It is reasonably well known that William Wilberforce campaigned for many years to end slavery in England. What is less known is the story of the community of friends that shared his struggles and his evangelical Christian faith. That is the story which Stephen Tomkins tells in his book The Clapham Sect: How Wilberforce’s Circle Transformed Britain. The friends included John Newton the author of “Amazing Grace”, John Thornton one of the richest businessmen in England, Hannah More a famous writer, Henry Thornton a famous banker and economist, and a number of other notable people.
Although Wilberforce and his friends never formed a separate church or religious group, they were pejoratively referred to some years after Wilberforce’s death as the “Clapham Sect”, and that name has persisted. As well as taking the lead in the anti-slavery fight, they were deeply involved in the colonisation of Sierra Leone as a new home for freed slaves. This turned out to be a highly unsuccessful social experiment. They were also involved in various campaigns to combat immorality and in the founding of the Church Missionary Society and various other missionary endeavours.
With the benefit of hindsight, many of the activities undertaken by Wilberforce and his friends can be regarded as mistaken; however in my view the author is a little too forceful in passing judgment on the moral views held by the members of the Clapham Sect. The story is an important one for Christians to be aware of, as it shows how a small group of sufficiently persistent Christians can create significant lasting differences in a whole country. I enjoyed reading the book, although I found some parts more engaging than others.
The “business-is-best” philosophy is powerful and seductive, but it is a dangerous mirage when applied to social change, according to Michael Edwards in his book Small Change: Why Business Won’t Save the World. To read my full review of the book, please visit my business blog.
Our daily encounters with others are the arenas in which our relationship with God becomes incarnate, and most of us need a little help in this area, according to James Bryan Smith in his book The Good and Beautiful Community: Following the Spirit, Extending Grace, Demonstrating Love. The book attempts to offer ways in which followers of Jesus can have healthy relationships and become blessings to the world around them.
As the King James Bible asserts, Christians are a “peculiar” people, or at least they should be. They should obey earthly laws but live by higher laws. They should be living lives that are so winsome that others want to have what they have. They should live in a hopeful, serving, Christ-centred, reconciling, encouraging, generous, worshipping community. To help readers work towards this, the author provides soul training exercises at the end of each chapter.
I tend to regard spiritual disciplines are something that is good for me, rather than something I find exciting. Nonetheless as I read the book I found myself resonating with and attracted to the “good and beautiful community” that the author portrays. The soul training exercises may not suit the theological inclinations of all readers, but the essential characteristics of the Christian community that the book describes are compelling.
In the past 60 years, many Asian countries have defied economic logic and ascended to the forefront of the global economy. Business correspondent Michael Schuman gives his explanation for this in his book The Miracle: The Epic Story of Asia’s Quest for Wealth. To read my full review of the book, please visit my business blog.
An effective leader needs to be able to retain the respect of the people that he or she leads, but in churches this often leads to church members expecting each other to behave in an impossibly saintly manner. To live up to expectations, people feel pressured to play along and avoid displaying any vulnerability. In his book Dare to Drop the Pose: Ten Things Christians Think but Are Afraid to Say, Craig Groeschel encourages us to drop our fake facades and confess our failings.
The book deals with a number of failings that Christians find embarrassing to confess, including failure to love other Christians, struggling to stay sexually pure, fighting feelings of loneliness, not enjoying to pray, worrying too much, doubting God, feeling inadequate, reacting poorly to criticism, and fearing failure. This is not one of those books in which the preacher merely points out other people’s sins; Craig confesses to being guilty of each of them himself.
Most Christians even fear confessing to themselves that they are guilty of particular sins, perhaps because this would make them feel they have to do something about it. This is a very helpful book because it shows people their failings in a non-judgmental manner that avoids provoking a defensive response, while making it very clear that remedial action is required. The book is also easy and entertaining to read, and I highly recommend it. Note: This is the same book as the one previously published under the name Confessions of a Pastor.
One thousand years ago, there were almost as many Christians in Asia and Africa as there were in Europe, and yet we tend to think of the Roman Catholic church as being essentially the only church prior to the Protestant Reformation, according to Philip Jenkins in The Lost History of Christianity: The Thousand-Year Golden Age of the Church in the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Churches that were thriving in the Middle Ages have now vanished, almost without trace.
In the year 544 AD, the city of Merv in southern Turkmenistan became a metropolitan see of the Eastern Church, forming a base for mission further East in Asia. By 550 AD numerous monks had reached China, although the first recorded establishment of a mission in China was at Ch’ang-an in 635. The Emperor Taizong was tolerant towards Christianity, but the mission was destroyed in the 9th century when Emperor Wuzong expelled foreign religions. Genghis Khan was no Christian, but he knew a number of Nestorian Christians.
So how did large numbers of apparently vigorous churches disappear? In the Middle East, Africa and parts of Asia, Christianity coexisted peacefully with Islam for many centuries when Islamic rulers were tolerant, but was eradicated when Islamic rulers were less tolerant. Much of the church in the Middle East was wiped out in the early part of the 20th century.
There is certainly plenty of interesting information in the book. However, a lot of the text seems to be the subjective views of the author rather than a recounting of historical occurrences. The chapters are not arranged chronologically, so the exact sequence of events is not easy to follow. This is not amongst the most engaging history books that I have read, but it certainly has aroused my interest in medieval church history.
Many partnerships between churches in developed countries and churches in developing countries fail because the parties do not communicate well or do not understand each other’s culture and expectations. Mary Lederleitner sets out to remedy this situation in her book Cross-Cultural Partnerships: Navigating the Complexities of Money and Mission. The book explores a range of difficult issues including differing cultural beliefs about financial resources, the relationship between accountability and paternalism, and dealing with misunderstandings and conflict.
Westerners tend to have an individualistic approach to money, whereas people in many other cultures have a collectivistic approach. Americans often think of partnerships in terms of short-term transactions, whereas Africans may think of partnerships as lifetime commitments. Westerners may view the use of designated funds for a non-designated purpose as stealing, whereas people from other cultures may view the failure to share resources as stealing.
The author explains a wide range of concepts which should be considered to ensure successful partnership including communication and harmony, “face”, status, the meaning of gifts, ambiguity, perspectives about time, dependency, possible negative effects of foreign funding, dignity, mutual accountability, capacity building and sustainability, conflict management, and dealing with embezzlement.
Although the subject matter is very important in the context of current trends in global mission, I was expecting the book, based on its title and cover, to be fairly dry and academic. This turned out not to be the case at all. The author’s writing style is highly engaging and the content is presented in a very readable manner. In my opinion this book should be at the top of the reading list for any church which is involved, or thinking about becoming involved, in a cross-cultural mission partnership.
To succeed in business you need to be good at what you do, but you also need to have a good network of contacts. There is both an art and a real science to developing social and business relationships, according to John Timperley in his book Network Your Way to Success. To read my full review of the book, please visit my business blog.
It is reasonably well known that William Wilberforce campaigned for many years to end slavery in England. What is less known is the story of the community of friends that shared his struggles and his evangelical Christian faith. That is the story which Stephen Tomkins tells in his book The Clapham Sect: How Wilberforce’s Circle Transformed Britain. The friends included John Newton the author of “Amazing Grace”, John Thornton one of the richest businessmen in England, Hannah More a famous writer, Henry Thornton a famous banker and economist, and a number of other notable people.
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