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Christians can be found at the forefront of many different social movements. In some cases, their commitment to Chris’s message moves them to take to the streets in protest. Come hear from people whose courage and commitment to Christian witness has led them to the very front lines of contemporary struggles for justice, even to the point of putting themselves at risk of violence and prosecution.
Week 1
Andrew Bradstock (University of Winchester)
Professor Andrew Bradstock introduces the module with a talk on the history of Christians in protest movements. Taking us from the Peasants’ Revolt through to the Occupy movement, Professor Bradstock will help us to contextualise the rest of the module while enriching our understanding of Christian protest, including its theological rationale.
Andrew Bradstock is a professor emeritus of the University of Winchester. He has authored and edited several books on radical Christianity, including (with Chris Rowland) Radical Christian Writings (Blackwell, 2002) and Radical Religion in Cromwell's England (IB Tauris, 2011).
Week 2
Melanie Nazareth
Melanie is a family lawyer and mother of four young adults who will face the challenges of living in our climate changed world. Her childhood was spent in parts of the world already suffering the consequences of those changes. In the past few years she has been involved in 24/7 climate protest vigils outside Westminster Parliament and Downing Street. In 2021 she was also part of a group that went on a protest pilgrimage from London to COP26 in Glasgow. This aim of the pilgrimage was to have conversations with local communities about intergenerational and global climate justice, and to empower people to get involved in addressing these issues.
This week, Melanie will be talking about prayer vigils and pilgrimage as an accessible form of distinctively Christian protest.
Week 3
Angela Ditchfield
Angela Ditchfield is a single mum involved in non-violent direct action, who seeks to target the root causes of poverty, war and oppression.
Angela will be discussing the act of putting one’s body in the way of injustice, including by locking-on, blocking roads, stopping AGMs, and interrupting careers talks.
Week 4
Rev Mo Budd
Mo Budd is a curate in the Church of England. They have a background in grassroots trade union organising and were involved with the Don't Pay UK campaign last winter. They will be talking about the differences and overlaps between Christian political and social action, and activist subcultures.
Week 5
Fr Martin Newell
Fr Martin Newell is 56, a native of suburban east London, and a Passionist priest. He was ordained for Brentwood Diocese in 1997 before joining the Passionists in 2001, after working in east end parishes for 5 years. He helped start an anti poll tax union in Liverpool in 1989, and was first arrested for nonviolent protest in 1997 alongside 6 refugees from Timor Leste. He’s since been arrested 35 times and been in prison 7 times, for a total of 8 months. He sees this as a way of following Jesus along the way of the cross of nonviolent love. He currently lives and works with destitute asylum seekers at the London Catholic Worker house.
Fr Martin will be concluding our course with a discussion of his experiences and causes through the lens of Christian witness.
Dr Nicolete Burbach is the Social and Environmental Justice Lead at the London Jesuit Centre. Her PhD thesis looked at Pope Francis’ hermeneutics of uncertainty, and her research focuses on resourcing Pope Francis to think through issues of alienation and disagreement, with a particular focus on navigating the difficulties around trans inclusion in the Church. Previously, she has taught modules on postmodern theology and Catholic Social Teaching, both at Durham University.
