4 October 2011, 12noon - 2.30pm, Anderston Kelvingrove
Church, 759a Argyle Street, Glasgow
Community Organising - or more accurately 'broad-based
community organising' - has become increasingly well known in
recent years. Born out of the experience and work in the 1930s of
Saul Alinksy (Chicago), it operates around organisations coming
together to tackle injustice and to bring about change. Probably
the world's best known Community Organiser is Barrack Obama who
spent a number of years working in Chicago as one before he went on
to other responsibilities. In the UK, the most visible exponents of
community organising are Citizens UK (www.citizensuk.org). Although
a broad-based movement, faith communities have always played a
significant role in community organising.
A number of organisations in Scotland, including Faith in
Community Scotland, the Church of Scotland, the
Conforti Institute and the STUC are currently
exploring ways in which Community Organising can be
developed in Scotland in partnership with Citizens UK. On
the 4th October we will be joined by Luke Bretherton
(King's College, London), the author of a range of books including
Hospitality as Holiness and Christianity &
Contemporary Politics. Luke, one of the UK's foremost
political theologians, has been involved in Citizens UK for a
number of years and just completed a major three year study of
community organising in the UK, Europe and the States. He
will share some of his insights including why and how faith
communities might get involved.
To book your place, please contact Kat Watts (0141 248 2905; kwatts@cofscotland.org.uk).