The Jubilee Centre is a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

social reform A reform movement or reformism is a type of social movement that aims to bring a social or also a political system closer to the community's ideal. A reform movement is distinguished from more radical social movements such as revolutionary move ...

think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmenta ...

based in the United Kingdom which conducts research into the contemporary relevance of the biblical vision for society. The Jubilee Centre was founded in 1983 by Michael Schluter to explore the continued relevance for modern societies of the biblical social vision. Characterised by its concern for right relationships – and applied to areas as diverse as debt and the economy, criminal justice, care for the elderly, asylum and immigration, the environment, and sexual ethics - this relational agenda led to the publication in 2005 of the charity's comprehensive 'Jubilee Manifesto: a framework, agenda and strategy for Christian social reform' (see ''Books by the Jubilee Centre'', below). It also produces the quarterly ''Cambridge Papers'', an influential collection of peer-reviewed studies on contemporary issues. Inspired by the example of Christian reformers such as

William Wilberforce William Wilberforce (24 August 175929 July 1833) was a British politician, philanthropist and leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, eventually becom ...

, the Jubilee Centre's work led to the launch in 1985 of the now independent

Keep Sunday Special Keep Sunday Special is a British campaign group set up in 1985 by Dr. Michael Schluter CBE to oppose plans to introduce Sunday trading in England and Wales (there are different arrangements in Scotland and Northern Ireland). The Keep Sunday Sp ...

campaign, which was instrumental in bringing about

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...

's first and only defeat in the Commons. Its work later gave rise to a number of other organisations involved in social reform, including

Credit Action Credit (from Latin verb ''credit'', meaning "one believes") is the trust which allows one party to provide money or resources to another party wherein the second party does not reimburse the first party immediately (thereby generating a debt) ...

, the

Relationships Foundation Relationship most often refers to: * Family relations and relatives: consanguinity * Interpersonal relationship, a strong, deep, or close association or acquaintance between two or more people * Correlation and dependence, relationships in mathem ...

and the international peace-building charity Concordis International. Most recently, it launched the informal Fair Sex Movement which "seeks to promote a greater awareness of the personal, social and economic consequences of sexual relationships". A number of groups are now drawing upon the experience and expertise of the Jubilee Centre to establish similar organisations internationally in countries as diverse as Singapore, Kenya, and the US. The Jubilee Centre is a British registered charity (No. 288783), financed by private donations.

Books published by the centre

* ''God, Justice, and Society: Aspects of Law and Legality in the Bible'' (Burnside, OUP, 2010) * ''Free to Live: Expressing the love of Christ in an age of debt'' (Brandon, SPCK, 2010) * ''Votewise Now! Helping Christians engage with the issues'' (Lynas, SPCK, 2009) * ''Just Sex: Is it ever just sex?'' (Brandon, IVP, 2009) * ''Christianity, Climate Change and Sustainable Living'' (Spencer & White, SPCK, 2007) * ''Jubilee Manifesto: a framework, agenda and strategy for Christian social reform'' (Schluter & Ashcroft (eds), IVP, 2005) * ''Votewise: helping Christians engage with the issues'' (Spencer, SPCK, 2004) * ''Asylum and Immigration: a Christian perspective on a polarised debate'' (Spencer, Paternoster, 2004) * ''Christian Perspectives on Law and Relationism'' (Beaumont & Wotherspoon (eds), Paternoster, 2000) * ''Christianity in a Changing World'' (Michael Schluter and the Cambridge Papers Group, Zondervan, 2000) * ''Relational Justice: Repairing the breach'' (Burnside & Baker (eds), Waterside Press, 1994) * ''Credit & Debt: Sorting it out'' (Schluter & Lee, Marshall Pickering, 1989) {{ISBN, 0-551-01780-5

References

External links

Official website
Christian charities based in the United Kingdom Political and economic think tanks based in the United Kingdom Christianity and politics Faith and theology think tanks based in the United Kingdom

Books published by the centre

See also

References

External links