theRubicon Match Factory

Lucy AitkenRead introduces The Match Factory

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n the June 2nd last year, politicians and artists, church-attendees and mosque-goers, teenagers and grandparents descended on the banks of the Thames, UK. Thousands of us were there to send then-prime minister Tony Blair on his way to the G8 summit with a message ringing in his ears: the British public cares about global poverty. Together through activist stunts, prayer vigils, a march and a worship service we were blowing the whistle on the fact that the Millennium Development Goals were not on target to be met. The MDG’s, set by world leaders in 2000, had several important aims such as halving the amount of people who live below $2 a day by 2015. The G8 summit had much potential for getting things back on track.

The day was set, a diverse crowd united and the missive met its mark.
 It was a day where all sectors of society cooperated and employed their strengths and tools to bring about change; it was fantastic to see the Church step up and play an important role.
 In order to promote this sort of happening I have compiled a list for people to refer to as 2008 is planned. This social action calendar appears as The Match Factory on theRubicon and it also appears on a website I created. Both are simply lists of the days inaugurated by agencies such as the United Nations, that are concerned primarily with matters of social justice or human rights. Most were established in order to help people remember, stir people to reflect and prompt people to act. I feel we, people of faith, would do well to put a few of these dates in our diaries or the church schedule for a few simple reasons….

• God cares about the issues. A quick scan of the list could trigger some well-known Bible verses; orphans, peace, hunger, freedom. They are subjects dealt with extensively throughout scripture, every time leaving us with the sense that God is deeply concerned with human suffering and relief.
• Awareness and engagement with significant global/domestic dates provides a grounding to our faith agenda. It is a shame that too often the concept of “set-apartness” manifests in a Church that is isolated and out-of-touch. The calendar dates could potentially tether our sometimes ethereal schedule to the realities of this tough world.
• The dates provide great “connection spaces” - a chance for everyone to celebrate, mourn, protest or party together. The issues offered for exploration in the calendar get people of all backgrounds, disciplines and persuasion ruminating, if not positively passionate. Why not harness this as an opportunity for all-out collaboration between organisations, individuals, community groups? Networks that spring from a one-off event, or issue, can last a lifetime.

There are several things you could do with the dates that range from simply including the issues on the day in your prayer-time to hosting a conference on the subject. The options are limitless but to help with the planning every few months we will be posting an introduction to the next batch of Match Factory dates, focusing on a few specific ones with ideas for action and links to further resources.

Writer: Lucy AitkenRead lives in London, England where she is studying and working on the activist team of a development agency. Lucy enjoys ranting and raving and marching about various global issues. Lucy will continue to monitor, expand and write the quarterly Match Factory listing on theRubicon. Visit her blog which she updates periodically.

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