The time for political action by the Black Church is now

Following the launch of the Black Church Political Mobilisation - A Manifesto for Action, Rev Ronald Nathan writes how the Christian community can make the Manifesto for Action a reality

In the 75th year after the landing of the Empire Windrush on British shores, the second edition of the Black Church Political Mobilisation: A Manifesto for Action has been published by the National Church Leaders Forum (NCLF). This is a further sign of the growing maturity of the African and Caribbean churches in the United Kingdom. Much has been said since the May 20 launch about the possible prophetic challenge that the Manifesto brings to the political establishment in the United Kingdom of Great Britain. What is sometimes missed, with both the first edition published in 2015 and the current edition, is the theological and programmatic challenges that the Manifesto addresses within the Black Church.

It is quite interesting that in many of our congregations, we are familiar with the biblical text where we read and champion the lives of Moses, Daniel, Joshua, Esther and Deborah, to name a few, yet totally ignore the fact that these anointed personalities were politicians. In other words, what we do is to make the Old and New Testaments of the Bible conform to the thought and idea that true spirituality is devoid of political engagement. To hold such an ideological position may be a contemporary religious emphasis, but it is neither biblical nor is it Christian. That emphasis was birthed in the bosom of colonialism, and was utilised in European colonies to make the growing Black Christian population passive. It was part of colonial mission theological education designed to keep slaves in their place and to undermine any possible revolt or uprising by the colonised.

So, the publication of the Black Church Political Manifesto 2023 is an instrument to bring a rebalancing of the biblical concepts of ‘faith’ and ‘works’. “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature” must include the political world and the politicians. The Gospel, as defined by Jesus in Luke 4:18-20, clearly speaks to a release of Pentecostal power “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me” in the fields of poverty reduction, health and prison reform and