Love@Work

Author Ian Randall, Phil Jump & John Weaver
Publisher DLT £14.99
Format pbk
ISBN 9781913657017

I would not normally have picked this book up, but I am glad I have read it. Subtitled ‘100 years of the Industrial Christian Fellowship’ it is much more than a history of an organisation and its precursors. The chapters tell of the forerunners of the Fellowship, the Navvy Mission Society and the Christian Social Union and their merger in 1920 to form a body with both missional and academic remits. The book follows the development of the Fellowship through its policies, missions, and individuals, most famously Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy. Each chapter is followed by a reflection which asks pointed questions of how the Fellowship responded to changing conditions in society and employment and what lessons we can learn from those experiences. The authors are all involved with the Fellowship and are seeking its future pathway. Perhaps the later chapters are less helpful than the earlier ones as they occasionally lapse into lists of activities and personnel changes. In these days of Monday to Saturday faith the book shows ways in which mission can be conducted in workplaces.

Reviewed by DAVID HEADING

Work; Outreach