Bishop urges Christians get involved in Election
 By Keith Morris
With the calling of a General Election by Prime Minister Gordon Brown for May 6, Christians across Norfolk are engaging in the political process, organising hustings and appealing for others to get involved.
Rt Revd James Langstaff, Bishop of Lynn, has urged Christian to get involved. He said: “There are clearly many important matters concerning the wellbeing of our nation, local communities and indeed the wider world and the election is an opportunity for people to engage with those issues.
“In the past churches and local ecumenical groups have often been instrumental in arranging such meetings so that people can gather in order to hear from and question the candidates. The role of the churches in acting in this way has been much appreciated. Even if you do not arrange a local meeting, please take the opportunity to encourage members of your congregations to exercise their democratic responsibilities.”
Network Norfolk will aim to cover all Christian aspects of the General Election campaign on a local and issue basis, not from a party political perspective and we have launched a special section of the website to do this. If you would like to help inform the debate, please e-mail editor Keith Morris with your stories, ideas, events, information and web links.
 Events
A Meet the Candidates event, organized by the Norfolk and Norwich Christian Socialist Movement will take place at Norwich Central Baptist Church in Duke Street, on Wednesday, April 14th, at 7.30 pm. The three Labour Party candidates for the Broadland, Norwich North and Norwich South constituencies will speak briefly, and then answer questions on the theme "The Unequal Society and the Common Good". As the CSM organizers state: By restricting speakers to members of one Party, we aimed to encourage speakers to respond from their own ethical standpoints, rather than indulging in the usual point-scoring and criticism of opponents." Questions preferably in advance please to: andrewdickie@cooptel.net. Admission is free. All welcome.
Churches Together in King’s Lynn are organising an Election Question Time – Make Your Cross Count - with local candidates. It will take place on Wednesday April 21, 7.30pm at London Road Methodist Church. Chairman will be Dr Denis Barter. Please submit questions on issues important to Christians to John Belfield on 07739465296 or johnbelfield@btopenworld.com by Sunday April 18.
Café Church featuring a General Election meeting “Who floats your vote?” with Paul Bickley, Senior Researcher with public theology think tank Theos, will take place on Sunday April 11, at Salvation Army, St Giles Street, Norwich at 4pm.
Paul is frequently on national radio and TV giving a Christian perspective on social and political issues. The event features worship, discussion and debate, plus food and coffee on tap.
A Question Time on the issue of Peace with Norwich Prospective Parliamentary Candidates, will take place on Monday, April 12, at 7.30pm, at the Friends’ Meeting House, Upper Goat Lane, Norwich. Chairman will be Peter Belton. Questions only in advance please to: shan_barclay@yahoo.co.uk . Admission is free
There will be an Election Forum with some of the candidates for the Great Yarmouth constituency at the Pavilion Theatre in Gorleston on the evening of Tuesday April 20 at 7.30pm hosted by Tony Mallion.
There will be a chance to ask the candidates about their policies in general and the relationship between those policies and Christian values.
Transforming Norwich are holding General Election Hustings for Norwich North and Norwich South constituencies.
Transforming Norwich executive member Graham Fletcher said: “These Hustings are open to the public but are particularly provided for the members and congregations of our churches to meet and question candidates on issues of special concern to Christians.
Candidates from the main political parties who are standing in Norwich North and Norwich South Constituencies have been invited to attend. At both Hustings, The Ven. Jan McFarlane, Archdeacon of Norwich will chair the meeting.
The meeting for Norwich North Constituency will be held at Norwich Central Baptist Church, Duke St. at 7.30pm on Thursday April 15. To date, Chloe Smith, John Cook, and Jessica Goldfinch have accepted an invitation to be on the platform.
The meeting for Norwich South Constituency will be held at Holy Trinity Church, Trinity St. at 7.30pm on Wednesday April 28. To date, Charles Clarke, Simon Wright, and Adrian Ramsey have accepted an invitation to be on the platform. Click here for more details on these two hustings
Useful websites
A useful guidance document for churches organising hustings has been produced under the auspices of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland.
Promise to Vote is a campaign of Premier Christian Media, aimed at countering apathy in engaging in the political process and offering some evidence that Christians care and will express this at the ballot box. The campaign invites you to sign up a Promise to Vote, which will be relayed to No.10 and local MPs.
By offering a degree of national co-ordination and profile, the initiative aims to increase the number and improve the quality of interactions between Christians and those seeking to represent them in government. In so doing, it hopes that it will encourage a meaningful forum for debate between these two important groups, at both the national and local level.
Aims to encourage Christians of all denominations who subscribe to the historic Christian faith to sign the Westminster 2010 Declaration of Christian Conscience. It calls upon all parliamentary candidates to pledge that they will 'respect, uphold and protect the right of Christians to hold and express Christian beliefs and act according to them. The Declaration says that protecting human life, protecting marriage, and protecting freedom of conscience are foundational for creating and maintaining strong families, caring communities and a just society. | 