Error
  • Error loading feed data.
Welcome to ISR

ISR puts faith to work in the community and in the workplace. We do this by expressing Christian values at work and in economic life and working for social justice with church communities in the South West.

Listen to ISR's AGM Seminar,
Hope of Business, the Business of Hope

Read our Annual Report 2008
alt
alt alt
alt alt

 

Write comment (0 Comments)
 

News & things

Upcoming Events
News
Glimpses of Faith: Raising awareness of faith diversity in a Bristol Hospital

An open door to diversity

Bristol Blue Wave: December 5th 2009

Bristol Nights

Interfaith Week 2009

Latest additions

News feeds

Church Times
Methodist Church
Ekklesia
Church of England
Guardian Religion
  • Sheikh Mohammed Tantawi obituary

    Leading moderate Muslim cleric and an advocate of dialogue between civilisations

    Sheikh Mohammed Sayed Tantawi, who has died aged 81 of a heart attack while in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, used his position as one of Islam's leading spiritual authorities to champion Islamic moderation worldwide. In 1996, the president of Egypt, Hosni Mubarak, had appointed Tantawi grand imam of the Al-Azhar mosque and head of the Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Sunni Islam's pre-eminent centre of learning, a position he held until his death. He shared platforms with the Prince of Wales and, in 2008, spoke at the Oxford Centre...

  • Rome school criticised for installing condom machine for pupils

    Cardinal deplores initiative for 'trivialising sexuality' as headmaster of Kepler school urges others to follow

    For its critics in the Vatican, it is a matter of "deep concern". For its proponents, it is "evidence of great courage".

    Amid national controversy, the Kepler scientific secondary school today became the first in the Italian education system to install condom vending machines for students. The machines, in the girls' and boys' toilets, will sell cut-price condoms just a few miles from the Vatican; the Kepler is in a lower-middle class district of Rome, just outside the city's ancient walls.

    Cardinal...

  • Who really wears a burka? | Andrew Brown

    Despite the furious debate around the question of banning burkas it's actually quite hard to find one in western Europe

    One of the joys of online journalism is that you can include links to your sources, and this pleasure is never keener than when the source is a 75 page PDF of an academic report in Danish. This one contains some very useful perspective on the debate about banning burkas, to be precise, Niqabs. The Danish government thought to ask how many people such a ban would...

  • The new Buddhist atheism | Mark Vernon

    A book setting out the principles of a pared-down Buddhism has won praise from arch-atheist Christopher Hitchens

    In God is Not Great, Christopher Hitchens writes of Buddhism as the sleep of reason, and of Buddhists as discarding their minds as well as their sandals. His passionate diatribe appeared in 2007. So what's he doing now, just three years later, endorsing a book on Buddhism written by a Buddhist?

    The new publication is Confession of a Buddhist Atheist. Its author, Stephen Batchelor, is at...

  • Egypt's chilling conservatism | Baher Ibrahim

    A new religious conservatism is on the march in Egypt, with women the biggest losers

    It's no secret that in Egypt religious conservatism is growing. The only people denying this fact are the conservatives themselves, who tell us that we are on a path to hell in blind imitation of the west.

    This conservatism has taken many undesirable forms, all of which highlight the disturbed psychology of the Egyptian people in recent years. Perhaps the most obvious symptom of this conservatism is the abnormal preoccupation with women, and I don't mean women's rights. The void left by...

Diocese of Bristol
  • Diocese negotiates green energy deal
    The Diocese of Bristol has negotiated a discounted tariff with leading “green” electricity provider, Ecotricity, for churches and church schools, and for the homes of clergy and others on an “opt-in” basis. The scheme with Ecotricity enables all to switch to a green energy provider at a competitive rate. It will also help establish an Environmental [...]
  • Discounted green electricity tariff for Diocesan users
    To: PCC Treasurers and Licensed Clergy New Green Electricity Scheme The Diocese of Bristol, through its Synod on 14th November 2009, agreed to call upon local churches within the Diocese to take substantial action to reduce their carbon emissions by switching to green tariffs for electricity. As a result, we have negotiated a scheme with the electricity supplier [...]
  • Lent Podcast: Wednesday 3rd March: Living in the light of God’s Word
    What does it mean to live as a Christian follower in the 21st century? During Lent, Bishops Mike Hill and Lee Rayfield are addressing the question of “How now shall we live?”, exploring living in the light of God’s love, provision, Word, presence, people and call. On Wednesday 3rd March, Bishop Lee spoke about Living in the [...]
  • The Wild Goose takes off!
    Bristol homeless project receives £125,000 from a “Secret Millionaire”. The Church Urban Fund (CUF) and ISR were thrilled to hear that one of their partner projects, Crisis Centre Ministries’ Wild Goose café, has been given £125,000 to further its work with homeless people in the City Road area of Bristol. The gift from Dawn Gibbons came [...]
  • Malmesbury Abbey Skate
    A 12th century Benedictine abbey is not the most obvious place to see young people hanging out, but during February half-term, hundreds of teenagers and children filled Malmesbury Abbey over the course of three days to take part in Malmesbury Abbey Skate. Organised with Christian Surfers UK, this was the second year running that the Abbey [...]
Ecumenical News International
Theos debates
The Current Debate Feed
Theos Articles RSS Feed.
  • How should Catholics vote?
    There are around 4.2 million Roman Catholics in England and Wales, just over 800,000 in Scotland and nearly 680,000 in Northern Ireland. It would be a very significant thing if the Catholic Church were to swing this considerable weight behind the Conservative Party in the coming General Election. That is exactly how some commentators have spun the publication of the Catholic Bishop’s Conference’s pre-election document, "Choosing the Common Good". What do you think? Join the debate!
  • Is Labour the natural home for British Muslims?
    Received wisdom over recent years has seen the Iraq war as having irreparably damaged relations between the Labour government and British Muslims. Yet according to a new Theos/ComRes poll, if there were a General Election tomorrow, 35% of voting Muslims would vote Labour. What do you think? Join the debate!
  • Is the BBC marginalising religion?
    On Wednesday the Church of England Synod voted to express 'deep concern' about a drop in religious programmes on British television. Is the BBC living up to its 'public service' remit? What do you think? Join the debate!
  • Will a change to the electoral system restore trust?
    According to Gordon Brown, “it’s clear that people want to change the way that politics is done in this country... the public have been rightly outraged by the expenses crisis, so trust needs to be restored”. But does the proposed solution fit the problem? What do you think? Join the debate!
  • What are your social attitudes?
    There are two sides to every story. The recent publication of the 26th British Social Attitudes survey is classic example. Britain, it reveals, is a more tolerant society than ever before. Or does it show Britain as a more selfish society than ever before? What do you think? Join the debate!
  • How much is a banker worth?
    The New Economics Foundation (NEF) recently published a report entitled A Bit Rich. Prompted by the controversial bonuses paid out to top bankers, it examines the relationship between pay and value. But how do we assess the subjective value of work, not just its objective value? What do you think? Join the debate!
  • What is character for?
    The think tank Demos recently launched another eye-catching project. The Character Inquiry will commission new research into character development in early years and parenting, and will revisit one of the most fundamental questions of political thought: what makes a good citizen? Will they be able to answer it? What do you think? Join the debate!
  • Who will win in 2010?
    The turkey has been picked clean, the New Year hangover cured and everyone is back at work. And the phoney war has begun. David Cameron recently observed that “the next general election is no more than 153 days away.” It promises to be a long 153 days. What do you think? Join the debate!
  • Why have politicians avoided religious Christmas cards?
    The Christmas cards of the nation’s politicians have been the subject of endless discussion and analysis. All three main party leaders have avoided religious references, though their rhetoric through the year has shown that they are by no means anti-faith. So why the Christ-less Christmas cards? What do you think? Join the debate!
  • Copenhagen and climate action: do we need to turn to the religions?
    The challenge posed by man-made climate change is often said to be the most complex problem ever to confront humankind. The climate challenge starts with science but action to deal with it depends on politics, and progress so far with climate policy has been completely inadequate. If political leadership is necessary but far from sufficient, what other sources of pressure, exemplary action and social and technical innovation are available? What do you think? Join the debate!