Review for Ministers-at-Work by Rob Fox July 2006

After reading and reviewing Malcolm Brown’s previous book “After the Market: Economics, Moral Agreement and the Churches’ Mission” (Peter Lang, 2004), it was with eager anticipation I launched into this chunky work, and was not disappointed. Malcolm is Principal of the Eastern Region Ministry Training Course, was previously Executive Secretary of the William Temple Foundation, and has served as an Industrial Missioner in Southampton. Here he has teamed up with Paul Ballard, Professor Emeritus in the School of Religious and Theological Studies, Cardiff University, “where he taught Practical Theology with an emphasis on the place and purpose of the Church in society”, and wrote several books in this area.

The book is a survey and analysis of how the Churches in Britain have sought to engage with economic, and consequentially political, life over he past 60 years or so, illustrated by a broad range of extracts from source documents and, where it best serves the purpose, commentaries by leading figures in this field. The authors each bring considerable expertise from their own backgrounds and have researched meticulously. The result is a comprehensive, informed and informative survey that is accessible both to those with some existing knowledge and the newcomer.

There are four main sections, nominally covering respectively the period to 1945, 1945-’79, 1979-’90 and 1985 to the present. Inevitably there is considerable overlap, especially where allowing a theme to develop is more informative than chronology. There a couple of points in the early section where this leads to anticipating what is still in the future, but the overall shape is not distorted. There is in addition to a Foreword by John Atherton, arguably the leading British theologian of economic life of the past two decades, and two ‘bookend’ sections surrounding the survey: “The Economy as a site of Christian Mission” – which cogently presents the case for, and a forward look in “Where now?”, which is particularly thought-provoking. Both are an invaluable aid in setting the context for the study, defining terms, and pointing up the major themes.

In addition to the extracts, each section contains considerable, and necessary, narrative, outlining and commenting on the politico-economic circumstances of the time, Church responses and initiatives, and how particular several volumes, but it is not difficult to follow the outline of key initiatives and events, even with little prior knowledge.

Not surprisingly, given the backgrounds of the writers, the book is strongest in it’s treatment of Industrial Mission and official reports from the Church of England’s now-defunct Board of Social Responsibility and other organisations such as the Methodist, Roman Catholic and United Reformed Churches, and the British Council of Churches / Churches together. Also used well are writings on and from organisations and individuals (though, regrettably, no mention of CHRISM). For example, the significance and work of CIPL and CABE are both covered well, and though the mentions of the Worker Priest movements in France and the UK are brief, they are well informed. There is some good material, including theological reflection, from the William Temple Foundation and former Methodist College in Luton. The systematic coverage of all the major denominations in Britain, with the data from Scotland particularly informative, is commendable, and the extensive bibliography is a real gold mine.

What are the main strengths then? The authors are very well versed in theology and in economic theory; neither are they are not shy of pointing out how inadequate understanding of the latter has handicapped the Churches’ ability to influence business, Government and labour. The evaluation of what has worked or not, and why, in the various initiatives and responses is both perceptive and well illustrated. There is much reasoned critique, in particular of methodology and strategy, which is always supported by examples and includes the Industrial Mission (IM) movement itself. There are numerous informative ‘stories’, especially in the two later sections. I particularly appreciated those of Mike Vincer, Chaplain at Manchester Airport, and Mostyn Davies, long-serving Industrial Missioner in Peterborough. The formidable research and wide variety of sources are used in a balanced and sensitive way. Where in a section there is a preponderance of information from / about a particular source this is explained, as, for example, with the Reports produced by the Church of England’s Board of Social Responsibility in the 1980s. Occasionally one would like a little more - the period to 1945 occupies only 34 pages for example – but this is an incentive to read further.

The points that stood out to me, some of which at least I think were intentionally highlighted by the authors, were: The ambiguous relationship of the Churches to Industrial Mission (of which the ‘reining-in’ of the Sheffield Industrial Mission in the mid-1960s is but one of many examples); The continuing slowness of the Churches in realising that they no longer have a right to be heard simply because they are churches; The inadequacy of the theology being ‘done’ around engagement with the economy (including within IM); The clear tendency of IM and the Churches to address the negative aspects of the economy and the casualties of change; Consequently, the failure to affirm what is good and constructive within economic life; The failure to engage effectively with many aspects of the economy, in particular white-collar employment, and economic life beyond employment (notwithstanding the initiatives among retail workers by some Industrial Missioners since the late 1980s).

There are, inevitably within the broad scope of the book, gaps. For example there is no reference to the Oasis Project among those working in the Insurance companies in Edinburgh (see MaW January 2006, Resources section), and more assessment of the impact of some initiatives would have been welcome. Nevertheless for MSEs and all those working in bringing together the worlds of the Churches and of working life, this is an excellent resource and deserves to be read widely.