'Should we accept deep cuts to vital services while billions are still spent on our huge arsenal of weapons of mass destruction?'

A few weeks ago, the Archbishop of Canterbury went to Zimbabwe and told Robert Mugabe to call off his thugs and let faithful Christians live their lives.

He was universally acknowledged as brave and principled. It was the best press coverage the Church had received since, well, probably the Reformation.

If you’d told me that within a couple of months the front page of the Guardian would again be praising an Anglican cleric, I’d have been surprised but happy to learn that we were on a roll.

However, the lionisation of Revd Canon Dr Giles Fraser by the left-leaning press is only half the story…

Around the same time Rowan Williams was touring Africa, a group of people began ‘occupying’ Wall Street. They set up tents in an area adjacent to the financial nerve centre of the world.

Soon they were referring to themselves as ‘the 99%’ and defining themselves in opposition to the 1% of those in society who benefit disproportionately from the world’s current economic system.

Established

The movement spread and soon a camp was established (more by accident than anything) outside St Paul’s Cathedral. What has happened since has not been the best PR for the C of E. That’s probably the case but there’s something more fundamental here…

The Occupy movement, while still numerically small, has become the talk of the media the world over.

The sovereign debt crisis in Greece, the debate over an EU referendum and other important stories have been pushed down the agenda. In this situation, we can usually expect a leading churchwoman or man to respond with some platitudes and we all can carry on as before.

Except the tanks (tents) are now parked (pitched) on our lawn (umm, pavements). The protestors’ presence at St Paul’s has brought the same question to the minds of headline and banner writers alike - What Would Jesus Do?

Well, we know what Jesus did. He cast the money-changers out of the temple. Simple as. But does that translate easily into an answer for how the whole Church should react to the Occupy movement?

Well, the protestors are raising serious and important issues. Are we satisfied living in a world where 20,000 children die of poverty and malnutrition every day, while the pay of top corporate executives has been raised by 50% in a year?

Billions

Should we accept deep cuts to vital services while billions are still spent on our huge arsenal of weapons of mass destruction?

I went to see the camp for myself (and took part in a flash Evensong, but that’s another story). It seemed good-natured and relaxed. There was, however, some of the usual nonsense associated with protests (posters for conspiracy theories about vaccines, for example) and a worryingly large picture of Stalin.

Yes, genocidal maniac Josef Stalin, who in my recollection didn’t care greatly for the 99%. But on the whole, the camp seems a positive, peaceful place. However the longer it stays, legal action permitting,  the less coverage it will get and the further down the news agenda its issues will slip.

This is why the full answer to the concerns raised by the occupiers have to be answered not on the streets of London, New York and elsewhere, but in the corridors of power.

Change will not come from above though. The occupiers and those sympathetic to their aims must learn to partner with organisations and politicians who have the ability to get things done.

A great example of this is on tax justice. The protestors have rightly pointed out that it is scandalous for rich people and wealthy corporations to avoid tax through the use of legal loopholes while the rest of society (and more to the point, the developing world) is suffering.

Justice

Christian Aid has been leading the fight on tax justice, so if the occupiers really want action, they should sign up to the campaign and start lobbying MPs and corporations alongside Christian Aid.

Conversely, Christians should be reaching out to those within the Occupy movement and inviting them to the party.

If Christian faith is about one word it’s about this one word: transformation. Yes, personal transformation is vital. But corporate and societal transformation are just as much part of God’s plan for the redemption of the world.

Maybe we can begin to catch something of God’s vision for justice, which is bigger than the occupations and bigger than all of us.

Andy Walton is a freelance writer and broadcaster, and can be heard on Premier Christian Radio.

• Discuss the article here