In November 2009 I had an opportunity to hear Dr Revd Ken Leech speak on the subject “Is there an Anglican Tradition of Social Justice?” at St Mary-le-Bow in Cheapside, London.  Ken Leech (or “Father Ken”, as he was introduced by Revd George Bush, the rector of St Mary-le-Bow) is well qualified to speak on such a subject, having been involved with Anglican social projects for over 50 years.  As a curate at St Anne’s Soho in 1969 he founded the homeless project Centrepoint .  He was later the Rector of St Matthew’s, Bethnal Green, in one of the poorer parts of the capital.  He has been involved in any number of social projects in London, and is a former director of the Runnymede Trust , a think-tank on public policy, and has written several books on related subjects.

 

Father Ken opened by saying that there are a number of different traditions of social justice in the Anglican Church; not all of which are commendable.  First, however, he pointed out that the Church if England is not a typical Anglican church.  Not only is it the only established state church in the Anglican Communion, it is also the only church where the majority of its members are lapsed.  On the subject of the establishment, this gives the Church of England its first social function – which is to protect the status quo.  This role, Father Ken considered, damages the Church; and whist some like to think that preserving the status quo is a politically neutral position, he proposed that it is intensely political– it’s just not radical politics.  However, the other side of being the state church is that it gives us the parish system.  This obliges us to take our immediate neighbourhood seriously, whether the people in that neighbourhood are Christians or not.  Father Ken contrasted this with his experience in the USA, where sometimes the entire congregation and the vicar commute to the church and have no interest in, or knowledge of, the local community.

The other two traditions of social justice that Father Ken spoke of were what he termed the “top down” approach and the “grassroots up” approach.  The top down approach involved forming committees to investigate social issues, writing papers and making recommendations.  This was fulfilled by the Anglican body the Board for Social Responsibility, and one example he cited was the “Faith in the City ” report.  He said this is valuable work, but has its limitations.  Firstly the length of time it takes to produce any such paper; and also the fact that such papers don’t actually make a difference by themselves.  They must be backed up by grassroots action.  This approach, the “grassroots up”, is of course were Father Ken has had most experience. 

He related some  anecdotes from his experience in creating Centrepoint , a night shelter for the young homeless in Soho.  (The name had not originally been intended to be the same as the tall tower at the end of Tottenham Court Road , but when the co-incidence was pointed out, he was more than happy with the juxtaposition.)  He described the project as “a crazy thing to do”.  It started with no money and had to scrounge beds and food from local hospitals and businesses.  Many of the volunteers were Roman Catholic sisters – and anyone else who was prepared to help out.  This pattern of starting small and growing from an immediate need was, he said, the only way to build this type of action.  You have to start where you are.

In his introduction to the talk, Father George Bush had responed to the question “is there an Anglican tradition of social justice?” by saying that the answer is “yes, it’s Ken Leech”.  Father George had a bit to say about politics and religion too.  He told a story of a cleric who had said to him that he hadn’t come to church for a lecture on politics – to which Father George had responded by asking what gospel the gentleman had been reading.  Father Ken’s talk was one in a series of lectures on Christian Social and Political Thought, organised by Justshare, a coalition of churches, agencies and other bodies committed to global development and social justice .  The next lecture is in January 2010 when Revd Dr Nicholas Sagovsky will speak on “The City of God and the City ”.

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