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Al Barrett

@al-barrett.bsky.social
819 followers 823 following 94 posts

CofE vicar, dad, theologian (esp church & mission, community & ecology, class & capitalism, race & whiteness, gender & masculinities). Listening, learning, wondering. #BeingInterrupted, staying with the trouble, decomposing mastery, making kin 🌍💚✊🏽🌈 he/him

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Reposted by Al Barrett
Ben Niblett @benniblett.bsky.social · 10/12/2025
Lots of wisdom in this from @al-barrett.bsky.social gracetruth.blog/2025/12/05/r...
gracetruth.blog
Responding to Tommy Robinson’s Christmas rally – by Al Barrett
Revd Dr Al Barrett is Vicar of Hodge Hill Church, Birmingham. He has contributed to a new resource: Joy for All: Supporting churches to respond to the co-option of Christmas by the far right The sh…
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Churches Together in England @churchesengland.bsky.social · 07/12/2025
Good news of great joy for all Christmas resources from a wide breadth of traditions in response to Christian nationalism. A clear message of love for all our neighbours, resisting agendas of division and hostility bit.ly/4a3619Q #JoyForAll #ChurchesTogether Thank you @al-barrett.bsky.social 🙏
Bus Stop Nativity by Andrew Gadd. Image used with permission.
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Al Barrett @al-barrett.bsky.social · 22/07/2025
When everything is falling apart, look to the compost heap for signs of new life… Do join us for this conversation: Composting Christianity 🤎 www.tickettailor.com/events/willi...
tickettailor.com
Select tickets – Composting Christianity: a Radical Re-imagining from the Grassroots – Zoom
In turbulent times, full of uncertainties in our global and national context, the concept of ‘Composting Christianity’ (Al Barr...
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Parody Nigel Farage @parodypm.bsky.social · 12/07/2025
Exactly Liz, nothing represents 'our national culture' more than Greek statues made in Greece by Greeks.
Liz Truss tweets 'Britain should keep the Elgin Marbles.Those trying to undermine our national culture should be taken on, not appeased.
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 23/06/2025
Holding people to ransom Thames Water lenders demand govt block campaigners from legal action. Their demands: Exemption from environmental laws. No fines, prosecutions for abuses. Rocketing customer bills. Continue with sewage dumping, cash extraction. Let TW collapse. Nationalise for £1.
theguardian.com
Thames Water lenders demand government blocks campaigners from legal action
Creditors owed £13bn say ministers should prioritise ‘environmental betterment over punitive enforcement’
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Helen King @helenking.bsky.social · 12/06/2025
Disability and the Church of England: Tim Goode is always worth hearing on why we need to do so much better viamedia.news/2025/06/12/t...
viamedia.news
The Body the Church Forgot: Reimagining Sacred Space from the Margins - ViaMedia.News
by Revd Canon Timothy Goode, Canon for Congregational Discipleship and Nurture at York Minster and member of the National Disability Task Group It is no small thing to speak in Canterbury Cathedral. T...
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 13/05/2025
Keir Starmer immitates Reform in his divisive speech. Accuses immigrants of causing “incalculable damage”, making the UK “an island of strangers”. Rightly faces backlash from unions, employers, MPs. Silence on class war, inequalities, profiteering, lack of public services, fuelling frustrations.
independent.co.uk
Despair at Starmer’s ‘divisive’ language as he clamps down on immigration
Backbench Labour MPs, unions and charities criticise the PM, who is urged to apologise for his ‘dangerous’ comments
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Alan Ferrier @alanferrier.bsky.social · 12/05/2025
“They found themselves made strangers in their own country” — Enoch Powell's Rivers of Blood speech (1968) “We risk becoming an island of strangers” — Keir Starmer (2025)
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Mark Hutchings @markhutchings.bsky.social · 13/05/2025
If we really are becoming an “island of strangers”, one remedy is to get to know each other better. Just a thought.
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Alan Ferrier @alanferrier.bsky.social · 13/05/2025
On this day four years ago, when Glasgow decided not to be part of an “island of strangers.” “These are our neighbours. Let them go.” #KenmureStreet
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Hyphen @hyphenonline.com · 02/05/2025
🔴 The government has lost its appeal over controversial anti-protest legislation introduced by Suella Braverman. Civil rights organisation @libertyhq.bsky.social, which led the legal challenge, hailed the ruling as a major win for democracy. hyphenonline.com/2025/05/02/s...
hyphenonline.com
Government loses appeal over controversial anti-protest law
Labour had fought to keep Suella Braverman’s legislation allowing police to crack down on ‘more than minor’ disruption
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Soraya Nadia McDonald @soraya.press · 17/04/2025
"In an earlier post, she wrote: "As for the inevitable death, if I die, I want a loud death, I don't want me in a breaking news story, nor in a number with a group, I want a death that is heard by the world, a trace that lasts forever, and immortal images that neither time nor place can bury."
euronews.com
Photographer Fatima Hassona killed ahead of Cannes documentary debut
The Palestinian photojournalist Fatima Hassona, killed along with ten family members in an Israeli air strike on her home in northern Gaza, is the star of a documentary due to be screened at the Cannes film festival next month.
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Liz Slade @lzsl.bsky.social · 16/04/2025
Come and join us see what is ready to be left behind as we sense how to make the churches that are needed for these times
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Liz Slade @lzsl.bsky.social · 16/04/2025
My co-host Al and I are both people who find ourselves in both the edge-places and the centre theologically, culturally, organisationally and know the good things and the painful things of church. More info on Hospicing Modernity here: decolonialfutures.net/hospicingmod...
decolonialfutures.net
Hospicing Modernity
The book “Hospicing Modernity: Facing Humanity’s Wrongs and the Implications for Social Activism” was published in September 2021. If you are in Canada, you can purchase the book …
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Liz Slade @lzsl.bsky.social · 16/04/2025
I am delighted to be collaborating with @al-barrett.bsky.social on this - since starting to read Hospicing Modernity a couple of years ago I’ve been wanting to read it with people holding church-ish responsibility, and now the time has come. Open to all who feel drawn to it.
Hospicing modernity & church 

An invitation for those who hold responsibility in a church or spiritual community to read Hospicing Modernity by Vanessa Machado de Oliveira. We will learn from each other as we share our experiences and practices, feeling and thinking together. 

Fortnightly online gatherings facilitated by Liz Slade (Unitarians UK) and Al Barrett (Hodge Hill Church).
To sign up or find out more contact Liz on eslade@unitarian.org.uk)
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Al Barrett @al-barrett.bsky.social · 16/04/2025
‘Hospicing Modernity’ is the book of the moment for me. I’m so excited to be collaborating with the fabulous Liz Slade to invite you to join us in exploring it together, and how it might transform our approaches to church and world.
Hospicing Modernity & Church. An invitation for those who hold responsibility in a church or spiritual community, to read Hospicing Modernity by Vanessa Machado de Oliveira. We will learn from each other as we share our experiences and practices, feelings and thinking together.
Fortnightly online gatherings, facilitated by Liz Slade (Unitarians UK) and Al Barrett (Hodge Hill Church).
To sign up or find out more, contact Liz on eslade@unitarian.org.uk
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SCM Press @scmpress.bsky.social · 25/03/2025
Join Robert Beckford, Rachel Starr and various contributors to 'Behold the Men', which we published in January, at an event this Saturday responding to the book. 2-5pm at @queens.ac.uk Speakers include @al-barrett.bsky.social You can register here: queens.jotform.com/250341999354...
A poster with Behold the Men in large red letters
The rest of the text read:
Continuing the conversation
Join us for a wide-ranging conversation in response to the
publication of Behold the Men: An introduction to critical
theologies of masculinities, edited by Queen's colleagues Robert
Beckford and Rachel Starr.
Saturday 29th March 2024
2pm - 5pm
The Queen’s
Foundation,
Birmingham
Speakers:
Robert Beckford
Al Barrett
Carlton Turner
A.D.A France-Williams
Carver Anderson
Eddy Aigbe
Karl Rutlidge
Simon Sutcliffe
Drinks and snacks will be provided. To attend the event, please
register here: https://queens.jotform.com/250341999354869
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Lizzie Taylor @steeplekeeper.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
You can still book for in person /online, to join us at @watch-notequalyet.bsky.social Conference next Saturday morning. It’s an important one. @churchofengland.org Cost won’t be a barrier: please contact via our WATCH Secretary if we can sort that. #NotEqualYet www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/not-equal-...
Conference poster, listing speakers Rt Rev Rosmarie Mallet, Rev Dr Liz Shercliff, Rev Dr Leah Robinson, + Rev Dr Charlie Bell joins too.
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Guy Shrubsole @guyshrubsole.bsky.social · 12/03/2025
'Who owns land is one of our oldest and darkest secrets... so I'm excited that the government have announced plans to open up the Land Registry' Was great to speak with @mrjamesob.bsky.social yesterday about uncovering who owns England: youtu.be/gqS5OMVCL-E?... (1hr 25mins in, 11.50-12noon)
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The Guardian @theguardian.com · 11/03/2025
New scheme to offer campers unprecedented access to wild spaces across Britain
theguardian.com
New scheme to offer campers unprecedented access to wild spaces across Britain
A new partnership will give campers exclusive access to rewilding sites and a chance to join in with conservation efforts Campers looking for a back-to-nature experience this summer will be able to wild camp on land that was previously off-limits across…
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Ahhhhh @nerdjpg.com · 26/02/2025
There is no way for for “democracy” to function in a world that looks like this
Wealth gap 2022 (it’s gotten worse)
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
French lower house votes through wealth tax. A 2% minimum tax rate on the wealth of individuals whose net worth exceeds €100m. It is not yet law. UK needs to do similar to reduce inequalities. Instead govts penalise low/middle income families and make poor pay more for crumbling infrastructure.
lemonde.fr
French lower house votes through left's wealth tax on ultra-rich
Thanks to abstention by far-right MPs, the 'Zucman tax' was adopted by the Assemblée Nationale, on Thursday. It is unlikely to be approved by the Sénat. The Finance Ministry has been preparing a much ...
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EuropeanPowell @europeanpowell.bsky.social · 22/02/2025
Keir Starmer is on course to facilitate the far-right winning not only the next election but he is actively executing far-right policies from the neoliberal playbook. Thread www.theguardian.com/global/comme...
theguardian.com
Extremists would not need to create an authoritarian state in Britain: Starmer is doing that for them | George Monbiot
The PM and his ministers are supporting illiberal laws that hard-right authoritarians could apply with zeal, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
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Grace Thomas @gracerethomas.bsky.social · 10/02/2025
Early morning prayers for those preparing to attend #GeneralSynod Prayers for helpful, Spirit led discussions and decisions For wisdom in navigating the difficult issues needing to be addressed Thanks to all making this commitment, may you be strengthened by the grace of God in the coming days
Lit candle next to a cross hanging on a wall, picture of the Holy trinity to the left
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Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg @theradr.bsky.social · 08/02/2025
As the expected Christian Nationalism EO came in, I’m seeing a bunch of “this isn’t real Christianity” noise in my mentions. Nope. Christian friends. 1/x 🧵 This is 💯 part of the history of Christianity, dating to Constantine, to the Holy Roman Empire, forced conversions, Inquisitions, +
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Al Barrett @al-barrett.bsky.social · 09/02/2025
Re-sharing this, with an addition to reflect on some wise pushback on the 'burn it down' theme (which I wasn't actually advocating, but acknowledging in myself). Hope it contributes to a deepening honesty in our conversations about the church right now... thisestate.blogspot.com/2025/02/burn...
thisestate.blogspot.com
"Burn it down": responses to/within the polycrisis in the CofE
I remember all-too-well those first few days of the COVID pandemic. As a team locally, with oversight of our youth and community-building wo...
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Charlotte Gale @revcharlottegale.bsky.social · 09/02/2025
More really good stuff from Al.
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Emma Mitchell @silverpebble2.bsky.social · 03/02/2025
Having a rough time mental health-wise atm due to big difficult life things & associated overload. If your brain’s struggling too-grief, work stress, relationship trickiness, feeling v tired with the world, then this photo’s for your brain, to give it a leafy lift-a speck of precious dopamine.
A collection of delicate spring garden flowers including hellebores, primroses, cowslip, grape hyacinth, heather, anemone blanda, Scilla, saxifrage and a very small daffodil.
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Liz Slade @lzsl.bsky.social · 06/02/2025
If you work in or around a church or care about the institutions that shape our society, I implore you to make a cup of tea and read this excellent and timely post from @al-barrett.bsky.social thisestate.blogspot.com/2025/02/burn...
thisestate.blogspot.com
"Burn it down": responses to/within the polycrisis in the CofE
I remember all-too-well those first few days of the COVID pandemic. As a team locally, with oversight of our youth and community-building wo...
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Al Barrett @al-barrett.bsky.social · 06/02/2025
This blog post has been bubbling up for a while. It tries to do justice to the emotions I sense swirling around me and within me - and to do some theological re-framing along the way... thisestate.blogspot.com/2025/02/burn...
thisestate.blogspot.com
"Burn it down": responses to/within the polycrisis in the CofE
I remember all-too-well those first few days of the COVID pandemic. As a team locally, with oversight of our youth and community-building wo...
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Clint Smith @clintsmithiii.bsky.social · 30/01/2025
Black Lives Matter fundamentally broke these people’s brains. They couldn’t bear the idea that they might have to tell a different story about this country and thus tell a different story about themselves. They hated it, and now they are using everything they have to never feel that way again.
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Shaun Spiers @shaunspiers1.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
Not a great message to green investors now turning away from the US: "we're not too serious about net zero, we'd sooner have a row about a carbon budget-busting airport expansion that won't happen for years, if ever". We need a serious (green) growth strategy. www.ft.com/content/a83f...
ft.com
Rachel Reeves says growth ‘trumps’ net zero as Heathrow runway decision looms
Chancellor will indicate backing for west London airport expansion next week
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Alastair McIntosh @alastairmci.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
Liberation theology is theology that liberates theology to liberate. It emerged in Latin America in the late 1960s with & from the poor. Yesterday, Bishop Mariann Budde revealed its power to the new Roman Emperor. Those of us who want to change the world might have a read of the Sermon on the Mount.
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My Zero Carbon #ClimateAction @myzerocarbon.org · 20/01/2025
. Ok, we know it is a tough day for a lot of you. Take a deep breath and relax. We will carry on fighting for #ClimateAction We will not give up!
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Al Barrett @al-barrett.bsky.social · 20/01/2025
We are still looking for new residents for our 2 Community Houses. If you feel drawn to intentional community, we’d love to hear from you. 🤗
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Peter Wening @peterwening.bsky.social · 19/01/2025
Mayor of #Rafah in the southern #Gaza Strip: "The city is in a tragic scene of destruction and devastation, reduced to rubble and ruins due to the Israeli aggression. 15 water wells have been destroyed to disrupt life in the city." #Palestine Photography: Hasan Aslih
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Dr Jackie Turvey Tait @jaxtait.bsky.social · 18/01/2025
"The rapid increase in CO2 is "incompatible" with the international pledge to try to limit global warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels" "Limiting global warming to 1.5C would require the CO2 rise to be slowing, but in reality the opposite is happening," says Richard Betts of the Met Office.
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Armand Sarlangue @armandsarlangue.bsky.social · 18/01/2025
A river delicately snaking in the Icelandic Highlands, fed by the last snow melting… That little spot light really caught my eye so I had to capture it. Captured from a bush plane. #bluesky #photography #scapes #landscape #aerial #art #nature
A river snaking along a lush valley in the Highlands of Iceland. The water comes from the last snow melting on the distant mountains.  Overall ambiance is dark, and there is a light pit illuminating a small area just at the foot of the mountain.
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Al Barrett @al-barrett.bsky.social · 18/01/2025
This is probably not a huge surprise, but pretty grim nonetheless..
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The Guardian @theguardian.com · 18/01/2025
Sadiq Khan warns western democracy at risk from ‘resurgent fascism’ ahead of Trump inauguration
theguardian.com
Sadiq Khan warns western democracy at risk from ‘resurgent fascism’ ahead of Trump inauguration
London mayor delivers stark warning ahead of Trump inauguration Khan: this is my three-point plan for standing up to the far right and the billionaire bullies The West must face up to a century-defining battle against a resurgent far right that is on…
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Al Barrett @al-barrett.bsky.social · 18/01/2025
Home from leading our church retreat day, on ‘dwelling in winter - looking for spring’. Tired, but in the best of ways. Some generous, spacious time together in beautiful surroundings. Much to be thankful for. 🤍
A round table with coloured cloths on it, a set of postcards of winter scenes, and a candle, and in front an icon of Jesus kneeling down to look at some daisies.A little stream weaving through some woodlandA brown leaf with 2 holes in it, on a blanket of green moss
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Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg @theradr.bsky.social · 17/01/2025
Over 50% of nonviolent movements to overthrow governments are successful within one year of their peak. The key is to engage over 3.5% of the country, a cross-section of society—clergy, kids, grandmas, teachers) using DIVERSE & CREATIVE tactics, with women in leadership. We can do this. More:
lifeisasacredtext.com
On Organizing
time to level up / an early draft of a playbook
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Phil Groom @philgroom.bsky.social · 17/01/2025
#DLTBooks are delighted to publish NOT the Archbishop of Canterbury’s #LentBook: Charlie Bell’s “Searched Me Out and Known Me: Journeying Lent with the Psalms” — highly commended by @helenannhartley.bsky.social, Bishop of Newcastle. 21 page PDF excerpt: www.booksonix.com/dlt/PressRel... #CofEPeeps
Book cover:
Title: Searched Me Out and Known Me
Subtitle: Journeying Lent with the Psalms
Author: CHARLIE BELL

Background image shows a very small person standing on billowing clouds against a backdrop of stars in the night sky.Screenshot from the book excerpt:

‘In this Lenten companion, Charlie takes us through our human frailties, questions, challenges, and joys through the lens of the Psalter.With searing hope he offers us a reflective tool kit to enter the journey to the cross with renewed purpose.Of all the seasons in the church year,Lent perhaps is the one that offers the most to a world hungry for God with little sense of how to connect.The poetry of the Psalms, with praise and lament, provides such a vehicle. Charlie shows us how these most ancient of words and songs resonate with the rawness of our humanity in the present.The reflections in this book offer a firm nudge to those who might need it, and a purposeful comfort where that is most felt.You cannot read this book and not pause to reflect.You cannot reach its end without exploring afresh what it is to truly be a disciple of Jesus. I suspect this book will become more than a Lenten pilgrimage. May it be a prophetic cry to our church and world today.’
Rt Revd Dr Helen-Ann Hartley, Bishop of Newcastle
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Al Barrett @al-barrett.bsky.social · 16/01/2025
This week I have had the joy of gathering together poetry & reflective prose on attending to life while the winter is deep. 🤍
Two printed booklets: one ‘dwelling in winter, looking for spring’, the other ‘Wintering: poems & short reflections’A collection of books in front of a keyboard: Grounded, Wintering, Nature’s Calendar, Easter Garden.
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Al Barrett @al-barrett.bsky.social · 16/01/2025
Thursday therapy. It turns out 50 mins spent, under a tree, with a ginkgo leaf, can go very quickly. Learning to be present, with a ‘beginner’s mind’ and a grounded body… 🍂
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Al Barrett @al-barrett.bsky.social · 16/01/2025
Just finished ‘reading’ this (mostly listening to the audiobook version). Think I’m coming out of it more emotionally devastated than any novel I’ve read. Anyone else feeling similarly - or differently?
Cover of ‘Playground’ by Richard Powers. The tail of a whale appears out of blue water. The tail shape is made out of two faces.
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Chaucer Doth Tweet @levostregc.bsky.social · 14/01/2025
The water-gulpinge glorifiede autocorrect beinge solde as the next big thinge ys no more "Artificial Intelligence" than a mailer daemon ys an imp wyth a forked tale or a websyte cookie a delicious baked goode.
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