Welcome to the T4CG Newsletter for the Christmas-New Year season.
The Waiting
Dear Friends,
This waiting in late Advent is bittersweet. The tensions of our time interweave and demand our attention.
I was on Bondi Beach four months ago, on a cold and blustery August afternoon. It was smaller than I’d imagined - intimate, well-loved, familiar. Soft sand beneath a darkening sky. Surfers riding waves in the fading light. A family in wetsuits packing up, happy and tired. A place of unspoken trust.
Now that trust is shattered. People said ‘never again’, yet here was another Islamist pogrom - this time at Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights. Men, women and children brutally murdered. Our Jewish brothers and sisters are once again forced to bear the unbearable. This violence is rightly named antisemitic, but the terror is aimed at us all.
How do we comprehend such darkness?
“When Jesus came near and saw the city, he wept over it.”
At home, the UK is in the midst of a deep crisis. Trust in the State is collapsing; people are angry and communities are fragmented. A profound disconnect has developed between the political class and the demos. After decades of moral relativism, belief systems are contested and confused. The renewal of our dear country now requires decisive action - spiritual as much as political.
Our lost society needs Christ. The deep resources of our spiritual and intellectual traditions are urgently needed. Yet too much of the Christian family has lost confidence and drifted from its mission. Too many people have unknowingly internalised secular assumptions or have been misled, some by the progressive left and others by the nationalist right.
The prayer of St John Paul II speaks powerfully into this moment:
“Lord, restore your church on earth with the gifts of penance and reconciliation.”
This call for the restoration of the ‘church’ is not limited to institutions – it’s an invitation for God’s people to come home. Penance is an invitation to recognise how far we have strayed.
There is also a disconnect between parts of the church and the country. Too many Christian institutions have failed to engage with the issues of greatest concern – especially to poorer communities: the offshoring of jobs and loss of livelihoods, the erosion of cultural inheritance, the gross mismanagement of mass migration, and the lack of moral leadership regarding the mass rape of young girls.
Instead, the churches’ response, though well-meaning, has mostly been narrowly focused on welfare expansion and the creation of a vast food-bank network. Conceived through the lens of poverty-alleviation rather than to empower economic independence, these efforts have inadvertently propped up the neoliberal high-welfare, low-wage economy and encouraged dependency, alienating the very communities they sought to help.
“If you, even you, had only recognised on this day the things that make for peace.”
This has been a tragic story of estrangement. But we can, and we must, tell a better story - a covenantal story of love, solidarity, justice, reciprocity, the dignity of work, good citizenship and meaning. Such a story begins with repentance, followed by humble listening, and then action - action that must be both spiritual and political.
Politically, decisive steps are needed to restore public trust. A devout Muslim, the Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has courageously declared that it is her “moral mission to fix this broken [immigration] system so that it stops creating division.” Clear that this is not a matter of religious prejudice, racism or xenophobia, she is “not scared of calling out Islamism.” She knows that avoiding the truth about this dangerous ideology harms everyone - not least ordinary Muslims and refugees.
Spiritually, action is already underway. A great shaking is taking place. The movements of the Holy Spirit are mysterious, but we know they often begin at the peripheries. The first public witnesses to the incarnation were shepherds.
“But now it is hidden from your eyes.”
There has been some excitement across the churches about a so-called ‘quiet revival’. Yet some grassroots expressions - particularly those explicitly linked with concerns around Islamism and identity - have been condemned by establishment church leaders. But as Jason Clark observes, “revivals have always been dirty - never hygienic.”
It is too early to judge. But the call to penance must follow the way of Jesus, who welcomes sinners and eats with them. The incarnational God ‘touches grass’ he enters history vulnerably; he deliberately risks rejection to be with those on the outside. If we do not question our assumptions, if we never touch grass, we may miss what God is doing.
For decades, life in the UK, along with all of the West, has been shaped by an elite-driven, technocratic political settlement rooted in a cult of individualism. This settlement amounts to a rejection of our shared spiritual inheritance. Its transactional logic infected the whole culture, including our churches. Managerial approaches exhausted too many of our church leaders, turned believers into consumers, and reduced neighbours in need from friends to recipients.
Jesus himself is peace (Eph 2:14)
The restoration of trust requires spiritual as well as social and political interventions. As God’s people we are called to be the handmaid of the Lord, not of the State. This is the time to live out a generous and capacious story, one that is grounded in an authentic Christian anthropology.
As Andrew Willard Jones writes in The Church Against the State, we must now “cultivate and expand structures of friendship that still exist…. Ultimately, the only solution to our political problems is Christian love of neighbour and love of God...”
This is the vision of the common good which T4CG is promoting. Its outward facing, relational instinct is to join with God to re-weave the bonds of family and community. Rooted in the gospel and Catholic Social Thought, its pillars are solidarity, subsidiarity, and the transcendent nature of the human person. It balances rights with responsibilities, calls for contribution at every level of society and accommodates people of all faiths and none. It brings light into darkness, can tell right from wrong, and speaks the truth in love.
We have strayed far.
In this pregnant moment, we are being called home.
We may be waiting for Christ; but in truth, he is waiting for us.
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Wishing you the peace of Christ this Christmas
Jenny Sinclair and all the team at Together for the Common Good
In this edition
Jean Flood Neighbourhood Nativity
Andrew Willard Jones Church Against the State
Leaving Egypt podcast latest episodes
Angie Allgood If I disappeared, would anyone care?
Matthew Sanders The Church’s Mission in the Age of AI
Susannah Black Roberts Staying Human: Being Human in the Age of AI
Dan Hitchens Staying Human: Useful Lives
Signs of the Times - our latest collection of articles from across the media - in this edition, under the headings Humanity, Bondi Beach/Islamism/Antisemitism, Changing Church [including blogs on revival and Christian nationalism), UK news and International news. You will also find a list of Recommended Books.
Discover all these pieces below.
We need your help
Together for the Common Good equips churches, schools and leaders for the common good. Get a picture of what we do in A Better Story - our latest impact report.
Our small band of loyal supporters are the lifeline of this mission. However, to sustain this work we need to encourage more people to contribute.
Can you help? The easiest way to lend a hand is to become a paid subscriber from £5/month or £50/year, or a Founding Member at £150/year. Alternatively you can make a donation or give a gift subscription as a Christmas present! Thank you ❤️
A Neighbourhood Nativity
While some churches sense symptoms of revival, many more are struggling with signs of decline. Yet there is life in the old bones yet. The flesh may be weak but there is a quiet determination among some of the most senior faithful. A deep dedication and love of place and an attentiveness to the Holy Spirit is moving them to beautiful works of grace.
In this story, the Rev Jean Flood writes about some remarkable octogenarians, a school, and the community at the heart of Walton in Liverpool - the most deprived constituency in the country. Read Jean’s story.
Church Against the State
Exploring what comes after the failures of liberalism, Andrew Willard Jones proposes subsidiarity as a key for rebuilding our political economy. Andrew argues against tweaking our centralized, social-engineering, late-modern administrative states. Rather, he suggests that we identify, cultivate and expand structures of friendship that still exist. Ultimately, the only solution to our political problems is Christian love of neighbour and love of God - all other efforts will necessarily fail.
Andrew is a leading Catholic political theologian and historian and Provost of The College of St. Joseph the Worker in Steubenville, Ohio. Read the essay.
Leaving Egypt podcast
Discover the Leaving Egypt podcast with co-hosts Jenny Sinclair and Alan Roxburgh and explore what it means to be God’s people in an age of unravelling. Guests from across the Christian traditions meet with Jenny and Al to read the signs of the times and share stories of hope from the grassroots. Listen to the podcast here.
John Clifton With Christ in the Margins
Tim Dickau Building God’s Kingdom in the City
Sarah Small Listening with God in the Forgotten Places
Listen to Al and Jenny’s personal faith journeys as our co-hosts interview each other:
Alan Roxburgh Reimagining the Purposes of God
Jenny Sinclair A Passion for God’s Justice
In the new year we’ll welcome more wonderful guests including Anne Snyder, Andrew Willard Jones, Cam Roxburgh, Luigino Bruni, a joint episode with Jide Ehizele and Harvey Kwiyani - and many more.
If I Disappear, Would Anyone Care?
Angie Allgood is a social worker from London’s East End whose vocation has been shaped by a deep faith and extended family living. In this moving story, she relates vital lessons about belonging and connection learned through her friendship with homeless people. As well as a powerful testimony about how the Spirit shapes us, this is a reminder of the infinite value of every human life.
Angie is the fourth of six generations to live in the same few streets and is the Director of NEWway Project, a small local charity that supports single adults affected by homelessness. Read Angie’s story.
The Church’s Mission in the Age of AI
The implications of the new AI Industrial Revolution are still regarded as rather vague for most people. But what does it mean for human integrity, for families, communities, the dignity of work, for social justice and civic peace - indeed for Christian mission? We are delighted to bring you this outstanding lecture by Matthew Harvey Sanders. As CEO of Longbeard, home of Magisterium AI, Matthew is responding to the immense challenges of artificial intelligence with extraordinary works of grace. Read the lecture.
Common Good Schools – Advent Update
At the end of a busy term, Jo Stow, our Common Good Schools Project Leader, shares her excitement for the year ahead. She looks forward to launching our brand-new programme for primary schools, unveils the Common Good Schools Bursary Fund, and highlights an inspiring film from one of our partner secondary schools. Jo also previews our upcoming activities and speaking engagements for 2026, and invites you to get involved—whether by joining in or praying for this vital work. Read more.
Staying Human series - the latest
In October Susannah Black Roberts gave the third lecture in the Staying Human series – Being a Person in the Age of AI. Exploring what Christian humanism means for the new era, she investigates practical ways to preserve and cultivate our humanity in a world that threatens to make us obsolete.
Listen to Susannah’s talk and Q&A and download the text here.
In November Dan Hitchens gave the fourth lecture in the Staying Human series - Useful Lives. Addressing what assisted suicide really means, he traces the change of era from Cicely Saunders’ hospice movement to the present paradigm of personal “choice” and asks how Christians should respond to this cultural turning point.
Listen to Dan’s talk and Q&A and download the text here.
Forthcoming
Our Staying Human lectures continues in 2026 – details to follow. Meantime catch up with the series so far - talks and Q&As with Luke Bretherton, Jon Cruddas and Maurice Glasman, Susannah Black Roberts and Dan Hitchens. Feel free to share.
Listen to recordings and download texts to read at your leisure here.
Signs of the Times and Recommended books
Discover our latest collections of articles to help you navigate this time of upheaval. We’ve assembled articles on Humanity, Bondi Beach, Islamism, Antisemitism, Changing Church, UK and International news - from across the media. You will also find our latest Recommended Books. Read more.
Thank you
Header image: Adoration of the Shepherds, Caravaggio (1609)