Al Barrett
@al-barrett.bsky.social
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
Pinned
Al Barrett
@al-barrett.bsky.social
· Nov 19
Another kind of introduction… Books, chapters & articles contributed over the last 16 years. A few more coming out in the next few months. I can’t quite believe it’s turned into such a collection… 😱
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...
www.tickettailor.com/events/willi...
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...
www.tickettailor.com
July 22, 2025 at 9:19 PM
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...
www.tickettailor.com/events/willi...
Reposted by Al Barrett
Exactly Liz, nothing represents 'our national culture' more than Greek statues made in Greece by Greeks.
July 12, 2025 at 8:38 AM
Exactly Liz, nothing represents 'our national culture' more than Greek statues made in Greece by Greeks.
Reposted by Al Barrett
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.
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.
Thames Water lenders demand government blocks campaigners from legal action
Creditors owed £13bn say ministers should prioritise ‘environmental betterment over punitive enforcement’
www.theguardian.com
June 23, 2025 at 6:53 AM
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.
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.
Reposted by Al Barrett
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...
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...
viamedia.news
June 12, 2025 at 7:41 AM
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...
Reposted by Al Barrett
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.
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.
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
www.independent.co.uk
May 13, 2025 at 6:00 AM
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.
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.
Reposted by Al Barrett
“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)
— Enoch Powell's Rivers of Blood speech (1968)
“We risk becoming an island of strangers”
— Keir Starmer (2025)
May 12, 2025 at 2:12 PM
“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)
— Enoch Powell's Rivers of Blood speech (1968)
“We risk becoming an island of strangers”
— Keir Starmer (2025)
Reposted by Al Barrett
If we really are becoming an “island of strangers”, one remedy is to get to know each other better.
Just a thought.
Just a thought.
May 13, 2025 at 6:09 AM
If we really are becoming an “island of strangers”, one remedy is to get to know each other better.
Just a thought.
Just a thought.
Reposted by Al Barrett
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
“These are our neighbours. Let them go.”
#KenmureStreet
May 13, 2025 at 10:58 AM
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
“These are our neighbours. Let them go.”
#KenmureStreet
Reposted by Al Barrett
🔴 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...
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...
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
hyphenonline.com
May 2, 2025 at 12:21 PM
🔴 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...
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...
Reposted by Al Barrett
Labour: We hate immigrants!
Poll: Labour down 5 points.
Labour: And the disabled! We hate them too!
Poll: Labour slide continues!
Labour: Look! We’re going to stick hot pokers in trans women ok?
Poll: Labour on course for first ever negative polling percentage!
Labour: Stupid electorate!
Poll: Labour down 5 points.
Labour: And the disabled! We hate them too!
Poll: Labour slide continues!
Labour: Look! We’re going to stick hot pokers in trans women ok?
Poll: Labour on course for first ever negative polling percentage!
Labour: Stupid electorate!
May 2, 2025 at 7:53 AM
Labour: We hate immigrants!
Poll: Labour down 5 points.
Labour: And the disabled! We hate them too!
Poll: Labour slide continues!
Labour: Look! We’re going to stick hot pokers in trans women ok?
Poll: Labour on course for first ever negative polling percentage!
Labour: Stupid electorate!
Poll: Labour down 5 points.
Labour: And the disabled! We hate them too!
Poll: Labour slide continues!
Labour: Look! We’re going to stick hot pokers in trans women ok?
Poll: Labour on course for first ever negative polling percentage!
Labour: Stupid electorate!
Reposted by Al Barrett
"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."
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.
www.euronews.com
April 17, 2025 at 9:43 PM
"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."
Reposted by Al Barrett
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
‘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.
April 16, 2025 at 7:56 PM
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
Reposted by Al Barrett
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...
More info on Hospicing Modernity here: decolonialfutures.net/hospicingmod...
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 …
decolonialfutures.net
April 16, 2025 at 8:44 AM
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...
More info on Hospicing Modernity here: decolonialfutures.net/hospicingmod...
Reposted by Al Barrett
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.
Open to all who feel drawn to it.
April 16, 2025 at 8:19 AM
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.
Open to all who feel drawn to it.
‘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.
April 16, 2025 at 7:56 AM
‘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.
Reposted by Al Barrett
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...
2-5pm at @queens.ac.uk
Speakers include @al-barrett.bsky.social
You can register here: queens.jotform.com/250341999354...
March 25, 2025 at 3:09 PM
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...
2-5pm at @queens.ac.uk
Speakers include @al-barrett.bsky.social
You can register here: queens.jotform.com/250341999354...
Reposted by Al Barrett
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-...
@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-...
March 24, 2025 at 10:26 AM
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-...
@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-...
Reposted by Al Barrett
'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)
Was great to speak with @mrjamesob.bsky.social yesterday about uncovering who owns England:
youtu.be/gqS5OMVCL-E?... (1hr 25mins in, 11.50-12noon)
March 12, 2025 at 2:50 PM
'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)
Was great to speak with @mrjamesob.bsky.social yesterday about uncovering who owns England:
youtu.be/gqS5OMVCL-E?... (1hr 25mins in, 11.50-12noon)
Reposted by Al Barrett
New scheme to offer campers unprecedented access to wild spaces across Britain
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…
www.theguardian.com
March 11, 2025 at 7:12 AM
New scheme to offer campers unprecedented access to wild spaces across Britain
Reposted by Al Barrett
There is no way for for “democracy” to function in a world that looks like this
February 26, 2025 at 2:27 AM
There is no way for for “democracy” to function in a world that looks like this
Reposted by Al Barrett
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.
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.
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 ...
www.lemonde.fr
February 25, 2025 at 2:29 PM
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.
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.
Reposted by Al Barrett
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...
Thread
www.theguardian.com/global/comme...
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
www.theguardian.com
February 22, 2025 at 7:32 AM
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...
Thread
www.theguardian.com/global/comme...
Reposted by Al Barrett
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
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
February 10, 2025 at 6:41 AM
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
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
Reposted by Al Barrett
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, +
Nope.
Christian friends. 1/x 🧵
This is 💯 part of the history of Christianity, dating to Constantine, to the Holy Roman Empire, forced conversions, Inquisitions, +
February 8, 2025 at 11:13 PM
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, +
Nope.
Christian friends. 1/x 🧵
This is 💯 part of the history of Christianity, dating to Constantine, to the Holy Roman Empire, forced conversions, Inquisitions, +
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/2025/02/burn...
"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...
thisestate.blogspot.com
February 9, 2025 at 4:53 PM
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/2025/02/burn...