Election 2010

Archbishop Emeritus, Desmond Tutu once said "When people say the Bible and politics don't mix, I don't know which Bible they are referring to. It's not the one I've been reading." Which suggests that to ignore politics altogether on the grounds that we are far too busy (Bible reading) is not an option. How might we encourage ourselves and congregations to engage positively with the General Election in the face of media overkill? There are number of resources available:
Faith in Politics: Preparing Churches for the General Election 2010 (on the CTBI website) is a good place to start. From there you can download a guide to planning a hustings meeting or explore how to phrase questions to candidates on the doorstep.
King's College London's Faith & Public Policy Forum runs a series of seminars. The next is on Tuesday 13th April 2010, entitled Muslim Londoners:Tackling Terrorism and Islamaphobia with speaker Dr Robert Lambert MBE. Click link for more dates and details and transcripts of previous seminars.

If books are your thing there are a number of recently published topical titles:-

Richard Harries (former Bishop of Oxford, now Lord Harries of Pentregarth) offers Faith in Politics? Rediscovering the Christian Roots of our Political Values
(Darton Longman and Todd ISBN 978-0-232-52787-2)
From the same publishers comes
Faithful Citizens: A Practical Guide to Catholic Social Teaching
and Community Organising by Austen Ivereigh
(ISBN 978-0-232-52789-6)
Nick Spencer and Jonathan Chaplin's God and Government is published by SPCK, with foreword by the Archbishop of Canterbury (ISBN 978-0-281-06071-9)
Also from SPCK Votewise Now! - helping Christians Engage with the Issues, edited by Rose Lynas with foreward by Joel Edwards

For a shorter read visit the Diocese of St Alban's website and read Bishop Alan Smith's article Don't be apathetic:vote! which concludes with a topical prayer