Politics and religion is the thorny subject to be tackled by the first Bishop of Huddersfield the Rt Rev Dr Jonathan Gibbs.
“Should the church stay out of politics?” is one of the questions Bishop Jonathan will address when he delivers the prestigious Harold Wilson lecture at Huddersfield University later this month.
The lecture, on Thursday April 23, is a timely one coming less than two weeks before voters go to the polls in the General Election on May 7.
In February the Church of England launched a strongly-worded attack on Britain’s political culture, criticising politicians of all parties for offering voters “sterile arguments” and making people apathetic about going to the ballot box.
In a 52-page joint open letter from all the Church of England bishops – entitled: Who is My Neighbour? – congregations were urged to vote in the General Election.
The letter called for a “fresh moral vision of the kind of country we want to be” and made veiled criticisms of government welfare policies saying: “There is a deep contradiction in the attitudes of a society which celebrates equality in principle yet treats some people, especially the poor and vulnerable, as unwanted, unvalued and unnoticed.”
The Harold Wilson lectures have been jointly run by the university and the historic Diocese of Wakefield since they were pioneered by the Bishop of Wakefield, the Rt Rev Stephen Platten, in 2004.
Previous speakers from the world of politics, theology and academia include Lord Ashdown, Ann Widdecombe, the late Tony Benn and Robert Winston.
University vice-chancellor Prof Bob Cryan said: “The Harold Wilson Lecture is now entering its second decade and is firmly established as an important part of the year at the University of Huddersfield and for the town and district as a whole.
“It is therefore fitting that our latest lecturer should be Bishop Jonathan. As the first Bishop of Huddersfield, he represents the opening of a new chapter.”
For Bishop Jonathan, theology and politics is a subject close to his heart having studied both subjects at university. He has already chaired two local hustings events.
The Bishop will ask: “How can the church stay out of politics when God is concerned with the whole of human life?”
Bishop Jonathan said he was looking forward to the lecture and added: “Some would argue the bishops should be a voice for the voiceless.
“Wherever the church is, it should join and encourage the debate about our shared future and seek to raise people’s eyes to a bigger vision of what human beings and society can truly be.”
Tickets for the event, which starts at 6.30pm at the university, can be obtained by booking online at www.hud.ac.uk , emailing HaroldWilsonLecture@hud.ac.uk or by ringing 01484 471568.
