Kenarchy Volume 1.6 – The Kenarchy Journal

Kenarchy Journal: Starting Points: women, poor, land

The centrality of the poor to the work of the kingdom of God in the 21st century West

Author:
Roger Haydon Mitchell

Abstract

This paper centres around three foci: incarnational hermeneutics, the social impact of spiritual renewal and the cultivation of emerging new political space. Firstly, the implications of an incarnational or ‘Jesus’ hermeneutic for reinstating the poor as the primary focus for theology is considered. This emphasises the centrality of the poor as a defining characteristic of the Jesus narrative and includes accounting for the displacement of Jesus’ focus on the poor throughout the history of the church. Secondly, a personal and historical genealogy of the last three generations of spiritual renewal is evaluated as testimony to the reinstatement of the poor as primary agents of the gospel. Thirdly, an attempt is made, drawing on the work of contemporary political theologians, to explain and delineate the new post-secular political space in the western world with reference to the inroads of Islamic extremism, Trump’s populism and the UK’s Brexit. Conceiving this space as a fulfilment of the consequences of empire, the poor are presented as a current political category. Finally, the role of the ecclesia as servants with the poor in cultivating the emerging space is configured as an expression of the politics of love. The paper draws on the findings of my own research into the subsumption of transcendence by sovereignty in Church, Gospel and Empire: How the Politics of Sovereignty Impregnated the West (Eugene, Oregon: Wipf and Stock, 2011) and the experience of The Poverty Truth Commission, https://www.faithincommunityscotland.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Poverty-Truth-Commission-8_opt.pdf and particularly the Morecambe Bay Poverty Truth Commission.

DOI:
https://doi.org/10.62950/vzwpl16

Pages 76-84

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About Kenarchy

While kenarchy is a gift for everybody, those of us who configure the politics of love in these terms are strongly motivated to do so in a way that deeply penetrates existing socially constructed mind-sets. This is why we combine applied academic research and writing together with grassroots social, economic and political activism. Kenarchy developed initially as a form of political theology and we make no apology for that, but it now embraces a wide and interdisciplinary perspective relevant to the politics and theology of love. The purpose of this Journal is to advance the applied research, and as such, it is an academic journal.

Lead Editor:

Roger Haydon Mitchell, PhD, theologian and activist, honorary researcher in the Lancaster University Centre for Alternatives to Social and Economic Inequalities, and political theologian with the Westminster Theological Centre

Associate Editors:

Sue Mitchell, MSc – co-facilitator for the Morecambe Bay Poverty Truth Commission, leading conversations between people with lived experience of poverty and decision makers, towards a new sociality

Bradley Jersak, PhD – (BradJersak.com) is the editor of CWRmagazine and Clarion-Journal.com, Principal & Director of Theology & Culture, at St. Stephen’s University

Andrew Klager, PhD – Provost & Vice-Chancellor, Professor of Religion and Peace Studies, Director of the Jim Forest Institute for Religion, Peace and Justice, St. Stephen’s University, Canada

Publishing Team:

Mike Winter, PhD
Martin Scott

In order to undergird the academic quality and scope of the Journal we are delighted that the following have agreed to be academic advisors to the lead editor and team.

Academic Advisors:

Linda Woodhead MBE DD FAcSS is FD Maurice Professor and Head of the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at King’s College London

Professor Maggi Dawn, MA, PhD (Cantab), CCTM, APRS, APSE, Principal, St Mary’s College, Durham University, UK

Professor Anthony Reddie, Extraordinary Professor of Theological Ethics at the University of South Africa and Director of The Oxford Centre for Religion and Culture, Regent’s Park College, University of Oxford

Thomas Jay Oord, PhD, Director, Doctoral Program at Northwind Theological Seminary/C4ORT, Director, Center for Open and Relational Theology

Timothy Stacey, PhD, Lecturer in Religious Studies, Leiden University, The Netherlands, Co-Founder and Co-Director, AltVisions, Co-Founder and Co-Director, Lived Religion Project

Submissions to the Journal

Submissions are welcomed from a wide and interdisciplinary perspective relevant to the politics and theology of love. Initial submissions must include at least a 250 word abstract and a brief outline. Please state your full name, your applied research field and any other information you deem relevant. Full submissions from now on should be in the region of 3,000-10,000 words and be in accordance with our Chicago “notes and bibliography” in-house style. Longer articles will be accepted at the discretion of the editors. All full submissions will be double peer reviewed before acceptance for publication.

Use the contact form to submit your proposal.

You are welcome to copy and paste brief sections of the articles for the purposes of your own work making sure that you reference your source accordingly. You are also welcome to download articles from the site but only for your personal use and not for publication or sale.

The Kenarchy Journal (ISSN: 2976-6001) is published in Lancaster UK by 2MT, Charity registration number: 1069653.