PM endorses new Micah Challenge book on church responsibility to poor

Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Tory leader David Cameron and Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg have all endorsed the new book 'Micah's Challenge: The Church's Responsibility to the Global Poor'.

In his foreword, the UK Prime Minister warmly welcomes the book and reflects on the role played by the Christian faith in working towards a more just world, "Micah Challenge is harnessing that faith to unite Christians globally from across church denominations to deepen that commitment to people living in poverty through prayer, service and advocacy.

"You are already making a huge difference," he says.

Micah Challenge is a coming together of people in 40 nations across the globe who want to take up the challenge laid down by the Old Testament prophet, Micah, and speak out against the injustice of global poverty.

The Millennium Development Goals are "the most comprehensive and ambitious commitment that the world has ever made to combating the evils of poverty", according to the former Archbishop of Cape Town, the Most Rev Njongonkulu Ndungane, just one of the theologians and activists from around the world who have contributed to the book.

Jim Wallis, author of God's Politics, in his contribution to the book, alludes to the fact that down the years the Christian faith has been a powerful force behind social movements. "The network of faith communities, non-governmental organisations, celebrities, and millions of people around the world has brought a moral spotlight to the unsustainable indebtedness and the systemic poverty of the world's poorest countries."

In his foreword, Mr Brown, calls for a similar global coalition to "galvanise the action" required to respond to what he describes as "a development emergency".

With contributions from Tony Campolo, René Padilla, Joel Edwards and others, Micah's Challenge looks set to be a book that not only calls Christians to think afresh and act decisively, but speaks more broadly to a world that is earnestly seeking solutions to the grave problem of poverty.

The book offers a variety of perspectives on our global responsibility to the poor amongst us. Following an introduction on the history and vision of Micah Challenge, the chapters move from biblical and theological reflections on issues of poverty, through more practical explorations of social ethics, to a corporate and personal call, which asks the question, 'What are we doing about all this?'

Dr John Sentamu, Archbishop of York, in his commendation of the book, states, "Micah's Challenge calls us as Christians to live out the kingdom values evident in our faith, to set free those captive to poverty, to release those bound by economic injustice, and to proclaim the abundance of God's creation for the two-thirds of our world".

Micah's Challenge - editors Marijke Hoek and Justin Thacker - published April 2008 by Paternoster. CODE/ISBN: 9781842276068