CCMJ APPRAISAL MAY 2016 : At the turn of the year I asked for comments on the purpose, processes and proposals that lie behind the right to claim use of the title CCMJ in readiness for an Appraisal dialogue on May 14th. That day was not good for gathering a fairly representative attendance and so was cancelled. A small group will meet tomorrow, Wednesday at 4 pm at Quaker House, Euston to consider this appraisal and discuss the future of CCMJ. Now I attempt here to reflect on the overall impression gained from the very varied returns.
In the evolution of our ‘agency’ over the last 30 years from a tiny UK institution to a wide network even with some of our associates in Ireland, NZ, Australia, Canada, Nigeria, Mexico, any return to a formal organisational model will undermine the confidence of many who in their contribution to this period of appraisal have affirmed the present model of self-organising cells in its strong bio-mimicry.
A basic discernment of the last two years since we put the CCMJ Constitution on ice and adopted the chaplaincy model, partly on a principle of universalism that many adopted last year and partly because we could not when working on such a wide geographical range, is this…..
Through wide dialogue as we developed a political process through the Independent Constitutionalist UK [ICUK] aspect of our deliberations, it became apparent that we are supporting the conscious or unconscious ‘doing of theology’ and receiving valuable insights by a universal openness and accessibility rather than coming to the competitive arena with the drag of an organisation and the dangers of rigid positions. ‘Christian’ in CCMJ indicates a responsibility to the biblical theme of searching for inclusive justice and a commitment to engage with churches as much as with all the
agencies with whom we have communicated in a variety of ways. Compassion for churches mired in institutional drag must be a continuing aspect of CCMJ witness
Inclusive justice can only be generated through the conscious and habitual RECOGNITION OF THE STAKEHOLDERS within THE SEVEN RAINBOW VALUES – Spiritual – Planetary – Ecological -Economic – Community – Social – Personal.
In our present networking as an approach to a contemporary definition of the biblical concept of ‘Kin[g]dom of God’, we have associates at work in various levels of dialogue in the ordinary language of today, with such agencies as the following, most of them have CCMJ associates in their number.
Tax Justice Network [TJN] –
Positive Money
New Economics Fdn [NEF]. –
Taxpayers Action Party [TAP]
Together for The Common Good [T4CG] –
National Justice and Peace Network [NJPN]
Equality Trust
Citizen’s Income [BI and CI]
Critical Thinking
Solaroof
The Goffin, Exeter
Land Research Trust [LRT]
Coalition for Economic Justice [C4EJ] majoring on Land Valuation Charging
Henry George Foundation [HGF]
Social Credit Secretariat
The UK’sTrust companies
Independent Constitutionalists UK [ICUK]
Frome’s Flat-Pack Democracy
Community Land Trusts [CLT]
The Gandhi Foundation
Innovative studies in Southampton and the Bp Bell Institute Movement
Compass
ReImagine
Natural Inclusion [NI]
Runnymede Project
– and many more ……..
The institutional model of exploring the relevance of faith under a static constitution did not in 30 years grow more than a few dozen ‘members’. Moreover it had almost no impact at all on organisationally driven-on and dragged-down membership churches. We did not greatly advance understanding or acknowledgement of the fundamentals of ‘usury’ as an exponentially degrading feature embedded and bound up in a Politics falsely separated off from Economics, both ignoring basic aspects of nature’s integral creativity or human need for justice as the only path to peace.
Mutual chaplaincy, in an open association respecting self-organising-cells and gradually attracting a sense of common purpose relating both to individuals and to agencies/organisations, is not another institutional model but an open association working with such inclusive intent and humbly effective learning of the wisdom of aphorisms we have garnered to guide us see the Collaboration box attached] and relating at many different levels of mutual learning and bold actions. Each week in the Global Table’s ‘Matters in the Air’ we include this footnote:
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*WE CONTINUE REFLECTING* on the value of these three perspectives in our quest for inclusive justice. Inevitably there is overlap between each mode of approach. Each and all add richness to our searching and encouragement to collaboration.
*1.The Christian Council for Monetary Justice [CCMJ]* – examining enduring wisdom and contemporary evidence about money and its effect on society – utilising resources of the enduring wisdom from current evidence, scriptures, histories, valued publications http://www.ccmj.org. Bromsgrove 2010 was a turning point. Positive Money took on the issue of usury, allowing CCMJ to broaden explorations into BOTH-AND.a larger theological perspective on planetary integrity and the nature of an integrated Political-Economy. Then CCMJ helped create and develop the Coalition for
Economic Justice [CEJ], some 11 agencies in collaboration. Meanwhile Citizens’ Income was developing its own momentum. So, CCMJ was able to concentrate on the need for wider outreach and the development of collaboration around ‘inclusive justice.’
*2. London Global Open Table [LGOT]* – providing an open forum for serving a wider network of good faith with a point of weekly reference. All are welcome to send items for ‘Matters in the Air’ to indicate where our dialogue and action might take us in each particular week:
http://www.globaltable.org.uk/wp inclusive Justice is examined in a very broad spectrum.
*3. Trustees All:* and the* Independent Constitutionalists UK* [ICUK] – advocate and advance a targeted initiative by ‘principled pragmatism’ to take viable, if difficult, steps towards weaving politics and economics – governance and vital trading – into a People’s Political-Economy of
Trusteeship in Harmony with Nature. We will travel the new path via the 2020 [or earlier] General Election. The ICUK’s Manifesto and Charter provide an incremental, imperfect process of evolving a *People’s Political-Economy of Trusteeship in the Harmony of Nature:* http://ww.constitutionalists.uk
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CCMJ needs a team of ‘jobbing theologians’, with minds open to new language and new forms of democracy based in ‘principled-pragmatism’; men and women willing to enhance debate and action on the contemporary interpretation of the ‘Kin[g]dom of God’ without institutional drive or drag. The human sensitivities we have identified in the ICUK guidelines for collaboration [as attached ] are a profound interpretation of enabling love in action wherever people meet to pursue elusive inclusive justice. These guidelines and CCMJ itself enable self-organising-cells independently to work together to exercise ‘power-with’ for the common good to replace the insidious damage caused by institutionalised ‘power-over’. Let CCMJ remain an open community courageously sharing the ministry of good news by life expressed within the ‘Covenant of gift and responsive trusteeship’ …..not under contract to slavery.
Its financial position since we relied on voluntary subscriptions without reminder is credit of £78.41 – though there is a donation of £250 awaiting its account, if CCMJ remains an open, voluntary funded chaplaincy model. It would not be available for a formal organisation.
Peter, CCMJ moderator
