Today I was invited to the second meeting of the Forum for Change at the London Institute of Contemporary Christianity.

‘The Forum for Change is a network of agencies who are working for change in the UK and any church or originsation can participate that has a passion for transformation’. The vision is to create an environment where we can all work together, having a stronger voice, less duplication and so maximize our impact on the nation.

This originally came from a dream to see the nation transformed again by Christian values of respect, integrity, love and trust.

The vision is great – but I find myself wondering if it is achievable.

There was a lot of talk of reclaiming and a lot of talk about how the reformation transformed this country which resulted in the growth of our civilisation and practices as we know them today.

We were reminded that the reformation resulted in people learning to read the bible for themselves, learning to think for themselves and so becoming individuals with the right to question and challenge. We were also reminded that the reformation resulted in the end of slavery and the access of mass education to all.

It was suggested that evangelicals could, again, dictate the agenda as Wilberforce and Shaftesbury had in the past. It was believed that just like then we could positively influence art, the media, politics and education.

How could we do this – we need to know our enemy, pick our battles and be strategic. We do not know who our enemies are and so we need to look out for them. It was also suggested that to transform the country we need to challenge and put God back on the agenda.

I want to see this country transformed – I would love to see the UK seen again as the honest trading nation with a the backbone of Christian morals. I a not sure that this will work with ideas being expressed today.

Much of what I heard was good – but there seemed to be a partial memory. Yes, evangelicals were at the forefront of transformational change. There are, however, instances of where evangelicals have upheld injustices. Institutional racism, sexism, homophobia – these are just three that I believe evangelicals could be considered as upholding currently.

Before we can start to influence, I wonder if we need to repent. Actually, today, two people from the Shaftesbury Society said as much. The church needs to repent for the wrong it has done in the past and, I believe, for the lack of love it is showing to the marginalised, the poor and to those from different traditions.

In addition I heard no comments or suggestions that reminded us that at the time of the reformation people were presented with Christian belief or no belief. The 21st century UK now has all the major world religions and many others. The voice of Jesus is but one voice amongst many. This in itself needs to be taken on board as a major factor when we look to transform the nation. We cannot just believe a second reformation will transform our nation!

I have a lot of questions – mainly on the practicalities of being able to work together and whether organsations have the guts to adopt a kingdom view and work together, pooling resources and dropping stuff for the good of others. I don’t think that will happen without a fight – but I don’t think we can transform without that kind of commitment.

I did, however, leave inspired. There are a lot of issues and a lot of difficulties, but God brought together around 100 ‘senior’ leaders from churches and organisations to actually talk to each other about how we might work together to transform this nation. That on its own should be seen as a miracle. I do not believe that could have happened only a couple of years ago.

Maybe, as Joel Edwards and the steering group of the Forum believe, there is a move and prompting of the Holy Spirit in this. The issues I have and outlined above are human issues and I fully accept God can sort them if he chooses to.

Transformation of this nation – now wouldn’t that really be great!