Latest Resources

December 2021 is a season of change for Jubilee Centre. After 10 years of leading the work of the charity, its Director, Jonathan Tame, is stepping down to get involved in the challenges around housing in Britain. At this event he offered a retrospective of what the Jubilee Centre has been able to accomplish over the past decade, and outlined the most significant things he has learned during his tenure about the calling of God’s people to be salt and light - and what it takes to engage in biblical social reform today. Some of

Jubilee Centre's Trustees also offered their own reflections of the past decade, and looked forward to the future of Jubilee Centre as its new Director takes over.

You can find other videos from the 2021 Seeds of Change conference here.

The Covid-19 pandemic has ushered in an acceleration in the adoption of technology. From basic services - such as online grocery shopping, Amazon deliveries, Zoom conferencing, FaceTime and Deliveroo - to the rapid rise of personalised digital services - including online GP appointments, Covid test QR codes, and even vaccination passports - we are witnessing the rapid digitisation of life, changing public consciousness, and acceptance of new technologies in the last two years. Where is this breakneck innovation leading us?

In this session we shed light on three specific areas of interest in this new world: health and data, Surveillance Capitalism, and avenues for practical action. These avenues look at institutional reform, as well as changing our habits to develop a ‘rule of life’ that ensures we are the masters of our technology, not the other way round.

You can find other videos from the 2021 Seeds of Change conference here.

The Covid-19 lockdowns led many people to a greater awareness and appreciation of nature and the environment around them. The recent disruption of food supply chains is causing us to question our present food systems in terms of food security, environmental sustainability and ethics. At the other end of some supply chains are low-income countries reliant on agricultural and commodity exports. Here, the pandemic has exposed a similar set of vulnerabilities, with both farmers and consumers at risk.

This session explored how two community agriculture projects are seeking to raise awareness of the connections between food systems and the environment, and to reduce the alienation between people and the land which both produces their food and contributes to their mental health and wellbeing.

You can find other videos from the 2021 Seeds of Change conference here.

Some businesses have thrived through the pandemic, while others have floundered; of those, some have been able to access government funding, and some not and have gone under. What role does business play in wider society? If businesses receive public support, what do they contribute in return for the good of society?

This session explored the social purpose of business and considered how companies can incorporate social purpose into the heart of what they do and how they do it.

You can find other videos from the 2021 Seeds of Change conference here.

National policy responses to the Covid-19 pandemic have prompted dramatically higher levels of government borrowing in several higher-income countries, financed by further rounds of central bank asset purchases (QE). In the wings, Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) is tempting finance ministers with the notion that government borrowing can be almost limitless – provided it doesn’t cause inflation, but is it really the solution for government finance?

What about debt on the opposite end of society, at the household level? We hear about a campaign to cancel Covid-related debt and from an organisation supporting people who are drowning in debt.

You can find other videos from the 2021 Seeds of Change conference here.

Whatever the outcome of the 2021 COP26 climate conference, it's already clear that we must face the consequences of climate change that are already on track, especially climate-related disasters.

Our online Facing the Climate Crisis event was based around a live presentation of our latest Cambridge Paper, "Reducing Disaster Risk: creation care and neighbour love" by its author, Amy Donovan.

A specialist panel discussed the issues raised, including some of the tensions around climate action.

To read the original paper click here.

We are in the midst of a digitally-enabled industrial revolution. As with all previous revolutions, this one is attended by by both benefits and perils.

This online live presentation of our latest Cambridge Paper, "Surveillance Capitalism: the hidden costs of the digital revolution" describes and examines the business model called "Surveillance Capitalism" and demonstrates its intrinsic dependence on deception, addiction and exploitation. 

The authors of the report - Jonathan Ebsworth, Samuel Johns and Mike Dodson - also suggest practical responses that individuals and communities can take to face these challenges with hope and assurance. 

To read the original paper click here.

Recent years have witnessed heated debate over how Western nations remember their pasts. A generation of historical research on racial slavery and imperial expansion is now informing public memory. The turn to ‘difficult histories’ has provoked a reaction and calls for the reassertion of ‘patriotic history’.

At this Cambridge Papers Live online event, historian and Cambridge Paper author, Professor John Coffey surveys the controversy and asks how Christians should respond.

To read the original paper click here.

Image credit: AgnosticPreachersKid, Creative Commons BY-SA 4.0

UK housing prices have risen faster than wages since the mid-1990s, leading to a reduced ability of young people to live in secure homes, and a housing affordability crisis. Cambridge Paper author David Corbett shows that, by emphasising the concepts of ‘stewardship’ and ‘home’, there are opportunities for Christians to make a significant contribution in addressing the housing crisis.

A response is given by Chris Beales from the Archbishop of Canterbury's Commission on Housing, Church and Community.

You can read the Cambridge Paper that provides the basis for this talk here.

This is an online presentation and discussion of the Cambridge Paper, After The Virus: is it time for a debt 'jubilee'?, by the author of the report, Paul Mills.

Debt forgiveness is back in fashion and may be about to become 'all the rage'. Given the virus-induced economic slump of 2020-21, the idea of substantive debt relief is being revived as a way to alleviate financial burdens on stressed households, companies and governments. However, the benefits of these proposals need to be weighed against the costs and injustices of changing the 'rules of the financial game' retrospectively. The concept of a societal cancellation of debt has an ancient heritage that includes the seven-year system of debt elimination found in biblical law. What should Christians think about the growing consensus that there should be some kind of global debt write-off?

You can read the Cambridge Paper that provides the basis for this talk here.