Saturday’s Times in its ‘The last word’ (p. 31) quoted Steven Jay Gould, the palaeontologist: “A man does not attain the status of Galileo merely because he is persecuted; he must also be right” This perpetuates the strongly-embedded cultural myth that Galileo was persecuted by the Church as a truth-telling…
If you’re planning to be up all night, watching the General Election results come in, here’s a handy crib sheet for you: Election Night Score Card! It’s easy to use and gives you the mostly likely swing seats (according to Survation) and the time you’ll see them come in. It shows…
Former UTU Director, Noel Irwin, reflects back on friendship, hospitality and scheming with Grace Vincent. I first met Grace Vincent in the summer of 1999 when I came over to Sheffield to attend UTU summer schools and talk with John Vincent about doing a PhD with him and UTU. Grace…
Grace was recently diagnosed with cancer and died at home on 25th May. John and her children were with her. Grace has touched many lives in UTU and in the Ashram Christian Community for the last fifty years and has been a member at the heart of UTU since it’s…
Extremists and hate-preachers like Nigel Farage and Katie Hopkins are being defended by their acolytes on social media. These are people who will defend the indefensible tirelessly and their war cry is always ‘free speech’. But freedom of speech is not what they think it is. Here’s why. Freedom and…
The Urban Theology Union is a member-led learning organisation of Christians in UK urban contexts. Our long-serving, retiring lead administrator saw us through the transition from a residential centre to our city-centre teaching unit. We are looking to employ a well-organised people-person as Office Manager for our next phase of change…
History tells us that if the elites upset the people they will kick back and national loyalty will not always keep them passive and patriotic. This may make some sense of the US situation. In 410 Alaric and his Visigoths sacked Rome, despite its 18 km wall that in some places…
This week we had two days with our 2014 cohort of our Graduate Study Seminar. As staff we always leave these seminars buzzing with the new ideas and possibilities that we hear from our members as they assemble their writing and research plans or begin to wrestle with the ethical and…
Sheffield Church Action on Poverty, Sheffield University Chaplaincy and the Urban Theology Union came together yesterday (4th May 2017) with food bank volunteers from across the city with a big question: how do we go beyond food banks? A big thanks to Jeremy Clines, from the University Chaplaincy for bringing…
Thursday 4th May, 2017, 6pm to 7.30pm Council Chamber, Octagon Centre, University of Sheffield Come and join in a conversation in-the-round about our experiences of food poverty in Sheffield. Book your free ticket via Eventbrite. The event is for any grappling with food poverty personally, or helping with meals, food-bank…