A lot of this analysis and prioritising the mission of the local church is spot on.
The first thing that strikes me is that (as in the New Testament) churches that are growing and flourishing, are URBAN, set in contexts of superdiversity (which also tends towards young and aspirational populations), and it is less important whether those areas are prosperous or deprived. I think and fear it is less so in peripheral areas (in the rural context, and in coastal and post industrial communities). It is there, and I fear in the churches there, that you are more likely to find entrenched racism, Islamophobia (BTW.. are you going to blog on that issue?) and a pro Brexit / Reform Party vote.
The second thing that worries me is that in concentrating predominantly of the life of the local church, we might take our eyes off the ball on the serious justice and political issues. There is clearly an "Englishness" narrative in the current culture wars, that still links Christianity with white privilege, and puts pressure on minorities. Farage, Dawkins, Tom Holland and Paul Marshall all seem to support a cultural Christendom, whether or not they have personal faith in Christ... But it's complex, becasue a lot of the middle class Majority world heritage Christians, who fill HTB and other London churches tend to be culturally conservative and may support the political right...(which wasn't the case of the Pentecostal churches of the Windrush generation)..
I have also more time for intersectionality as a tool of analysis than you seem to have, though it is very multidimensional and superdiversity is clearly a very important term. I think intersectionality only becomes problematic when it is used simply as a way of stacking up layers of prejudice, disadvantage and victimhood..
A lot of this analysis and prioritising the mission of the local church is spot on.
The first thing that strikes me is that (as in the New Testament) churches that are growing and flourishing, are URBAN, set in contexts of superdiversity (which also tends towards young and aspirational populations), and it is less important whether those areas are prosperous or deprived. I think and fear it is less so in peripheral areas (in the rural context, and in coastal and post industrial communities). It is there, and I fear in the churches there, that you are more likely to find entrenched racism, Islamophobia (BTW.. are you going to blog on that issue?) and a pro Brexit / Reform Party vote.
The second thing that worries me is that in concentrating predominantly of the life of the local church, we might take our eyes off the ball on the serious justice and political issues. There is clearly an "Englishness" narrative in the current culture wars, that still links Christianity with white privilege, and puts pressure on minorities. Farage, Dawkins, Tom Holland and Paul Marshall all seem to support a cultural Christendom, whether or not they have personal faith in Christ... But it's complex, becasue a lot of the middle class Majority world heritage Christians, who fill HTB and other London churches tend to be culturally conservative and may support the political right...(which wasn't the case of the Pentecostal churches of the Windrush generation)..
I have also more time for intersectionality as a tool of analysis than you seem to have, though it is very multidimensional and superdiversity is clearly a very important term. I think intersectionality only becomes problematic when it is used simply as a way of stacking up layers of prejudice, disadvantage and victimhood..