From Piccadilly station to Manchester Cathedral: a note on the ways of being public with faith.

When I go to Manchester, I tend to get a train that stops at Piccadilly station. To get to Manchester Cathedral you have to walk about a mile down one long stretch of shops, cafes, restaurants and stalls. It’s a hive of activity, with buskers often spaced meters apart from one another. Interestingly, I often see a number of examples of ‘public faith’. There are usually one or two street preachers with various placards, a speaker and a microphone. Usually, their message centres on the need to be saved quickly, because you don’t know what will happen when you die, and when that is going to happen…it could be today! I have also walked past numerous Jehovah’s witnesses and Mormons. There’s also been a marquee with leaders from the local mosque giving leaflets about the Qur’an and the Islamic faith.

This is one way of being public with faith. While those who operate with this kind of public faith do so with noble intentions – indeed I have experience on both ends of the microphone – the end result, in my view, is a bland view of the world that stops us seeing God’s presence in the lives of others, and in the world. We reduce Christianity to ideas, beliefs and messages, rather than seeing Christianity as a way of being that bears witness to the God who is present in both the church and the world. However, there are alternative forms of public faith that have different aims and enable us to see God in the lives of our neighbours.

I spent a number of years for my PhD studying the public theology of Manchester Cathedral. Briefly, public theology is theological reflection on public life, both offered in the church and in society. It explores how Christians can engage the world and in society. The significant emphasis of public theologians is found in Jeremiah 29:7:

But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.

For Jeremiah, the exiles’ task was not to make Babylon Jewish, to try and convert their captors. Rather, their task was to love their neighbours as themselves, to seek to do good in the place they found themselves, however disturbed and conflicted they felt about this task. And at Manchester Cathedral, the goal is the same.

Why cathedrals?

If you are anything like how I was before I started my PhD, you’ll think that cathedrals are little more than great tourist attractions, which ought to be awed for their stonework, grand ceilings, incredible organs, and their general ability to make one feel as though they have stepped into another time. I would not have thought that cathedrals could be exciting spaces of mission and witness. But isn’t it interesting how cathedrals seem to operate as points of gathering for important cultural, city and national events? As Simon Oliver says:

When bombs explode on our streets, a member of the Royal Family dies, a nation remembers its war dead, or a national charity wants to celebrate the anniversary of its founding, we default to a more substantial and enduring ‘middle’, the cathedral, which, because of its Christian proclamation, provides an expression of unity and hope that exceeds the chaotic pluralities of modern society. It is a genuine via media, lying comprehensively in the middle of public and private, sacred and secular, heaven and earth.

What I find interesting about cathedrals generally, is that they seem to transcend boundaries that might be assumed to be in place. They are both civic spaces, and social spaces. They can be used for secular events but are always sacred spaces. There may be a market hall put up in the Nave, while the Eucharist takes place in the Quire. And as such, they are unique spaces, that all people can feel welcomed within to participate.

Manchester Cathedral aims to be a space which fosters cohesion, unity and justice within the diversity of its city. Through various networks, forms of social action, hosting debates and forums, celebrations of all kinds, engaging with people of all faiths and non, seeking inclusion for those marginalised and excluded, the cathedral aims to be a beacon of hope and life in its city. It strives to be a cathedral to people of all faiths and none.

Take part

During the session I am leading on the Faith in Public: Political Theology for Mission residential, I will be exploring the theological and biblical foundations for political engagement. We will visit Manchester Cathedral and it will be a key case study to explore some of these themes more deeply.

Book your place now

Dominic Budhi-Thornton is a public theologian who explores the connection between faith and practice, particularly in relation to marginalised communities and issues of justice. He is the author of the book Public Theology in the Post-Secular Age: Lessons Learned from Manchester Cathedral (Pickwick: 2025). 

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The post On being public with faith appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

This week, the BBC featured an article exploring the rising number of Tommy Robinson supporters turning to church. It shines a spotlight on some tricky questions we have to navigate as Christians and churches at this time; what does it mean to show the love of God to all, to welcome the stranger, and be faithful followers of Jesus?

On the one hand there’s something to celebrate: people are coming to church who have not walked through the doors for years and years, perhaps ever. And yet their motives, as the article identifies, are often not primarily about following Jesus or even finding out about Christianity, but rather supporting an institution which they feel is able to defend something of what it means to be British.

As the article asks, how do churches respond to this, when some of the assumptions about Christianity and its values being brought by those turning to the church might be seen by many to misrepresent Jesus and his teachings? Indeed, a few weeks ago a number of Church of England bishops, with leaders of other denominations, accused protestors of co-opting the cross and causing division.

As we explore on our course Faith in Public: Political Theology for Mission, these kinds of questions are ones which churches have faced many times in the history of Christianity.

Jesus wasn’t born into a Jewish nation, but one occupied by Roman rule. It was about 300 years after his death that the question of what a Christian nation would look like came up, when Constantine converted to Christianity. For some, this is the point at which Christianity lost its way – becoming involved in state power was corrupting. Instead, they might say to see true Christianity one has to look to the margins, to those who maintained the radical message of Jesus despite the church working with the state – think of the desert fathers, monastic movements, the anabaptists in the reformation, of the non-conformists of more recent years. In this view, accepting Britain has been losing its Christian identity for some time, and even encouraging that, is a sign of faithfulness to the gospel because it gives the church freedom to truly model Christian living – often in spite of what governments may do.

The concern is that when churches think the answer is to step into positions of power to further the cause of Christianity, the risk is that Christians and churches overestimate their ability to do good, and instead either become co-opted into someone else’s agenda, or in seeking a particular good, end up turning to increasingly manipulative means to make those happen. What the bishops were saying back in September was that while some saw an opportunity in the Unite the Nation march to name things they were proud of and wanted to maintain within Britain, the problem was that rather than shaping the narrative they became co-opted by a movement with origins in a far-right agenda. Jesus pointed out that his kingdom was not of this world, and he rebuked his followers for trying to bring it about by force. Jesus’ kingdom would only become a reality when he returned, and until then the kingdom was to come about like yeast through the dough, or like seeds which grow up without anyone noticing.

So, what does it mean for Christianity to influence, shape and witness to our nation?

In the Faith in Public course, we meet with people who have done just that. We will hear the story of Manchester Cathedral and the ways in which it has sought to be a faithful Christian presence, shaping the public life of Manchester through its words and actions. We will hear from Ian Rutherford, a Methodist minister working at Methodist Central Hall, about the way he has collaborated and worked with so many seeking a common good which reaches across divides to find ways for all to flourish.

In a number of places the Bible describes followers of Jesus as foreigners and pilgrims and those whose citizenship is in heaven. Our calling is not to make the world look like what we think Jesus’ kingdom should look like by our own strength and power, but to live as citizens of that kingdom which will come with Jesus’ return. This is challenging but Jeremiah’s letter to the exiles living in Babylon can help us to make sense of this. Writing to the Jews who were living in an alien culture where God was not worshiped, they would have been surprised to hear Jeremiah telling them that God said: “Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare” (Jeremiah 29:7). They were called to collaborate with those in Babylon and do things which promoted its welfare. By collaborating together, there are possibilities for faithful witness, for justice and for mutual flourishing.

The place of church in society is not a simple question, but fortunately people have been thinking about this and living it out for centuries. In our currently climate the risk is we look for easy answers; and yet the reality is it is hard, slow work, of prayer, of building relationships, of navigating difference and working towards the welfare of all.

Want to explore this further?

Come and take part: Faith in Public: Political Theology for Mission takes place via online learning and a residential in Manchester from Thursday 7 to Saturday 9 May 2026. Book your place now.

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The post Church, mission, politics and being a Christian nation: corruption, co-option or collaboration? appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

When Christians speak out about the big issues and challenges of the day, they are often met with the comment: “churches should keep out of politics.”

by James Butler

12 November 2025

Faith in Public: Political Theology for Mission, a three day, residential event, argues the opposite: churches and Christian organisations must engage in the big issues of our day in public ways. It’s part of our faithful witness and we have something important to offer these conversations. 

Wondering what this looks like in practice? If you are a Christian working in a public role, involved in a church or organisation seeking to engage with society, or interested in exploring what it means to witness to Christ in public, then this course is for you.

Introducing the Faith in Public course

The event will take place in Manchester – which has a long history of being at the cutting edge of politics and social justice in the UK – providing the opportunity to spend time with churches, organisations and people living faith in public.

• Grace Thomas, Canon Missioner at Manchester Cathedral and Environment Officer for Manchester Diocese, will explore how the Cathedral has been a place of public witness over the centuries.
• Ian Rutherford, City Centre Minister at Methodist Central Hall Manchester, will help delegates explore how faith is lived in public today. 
• Jane Perry, from Church Action on Poverty, will discuss the importance of hearing from people with lived experience of poverty, and outline practical ways to ensure they are fully included in church-led political engagement.
• Dominic Budhi-Thornton, a public theologian, and James Butler, Church Mission Society Pioneer Mission Training leader, will delve deeper into the biblical and theological roots of such engagement.

Delegates will also meet a number of people working in public roles, including politicians, civil servants and leaders of organisations, to discuss how they navigate their work through their faith.

What previous Faith in Public participants said

Church Mission Society Pioneer Mission Training ran a similar course in London last year. Reflecting on the experience Jo, a vicar and leader of a mission-focused charity, said:

“This course offered a rare moment when politics was not only allowed at the dinner table but welcomed, which I hugely enjoyed. One of the great joys was seeing people who clearly love Jesus already living this out in their communities and having the opportunity to learn from their experience. I’d recommend it to anyone who wants to think deeply about local politics and discover new ways to put mission into practice.”

Philip, who works for a charity around justice, commented:

“Is it possible to be political and missional at the same time? Well, this is exactly what this programme was all about. It enabled me to deepen my understanding on how I can serve in God’s mission by becoming politically aware and engaged. This programme was also hands-on and practical. And I came away with a sense that I am connected to a wider community of practitioners of justice.”

Background to the Faith in Public course

When teaching on mission I realised that there were a whole range of issues people were facing and questions that people had which had long been reflected on by Christians under the names of political theology and public theology. 

In this course we bring together mission studies and the insights from political and public theology to explore how to live faith in public.

By understanding how historically people have understood the relationship between church and state, and how churches and Christians have navigated public life, we will help people to draw out new ways of thinking, new resources and fresh practices to live faith in public.

Take part

Faith in Public: Political Theology for Mission takes place from Thursday 7 to Saturday 9 May 2026. Accommodation and some teaching will take place at Luther King House, with additional travel into Manchester City Centre to visit relevant projects and venues.

Book your place now

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The post Why Christians can’t keep out of politics appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).