Occupy Sheffield is pleased that the Bishop is entering in to the debate and look forward to further discussing possible solutions to the important issues raised.

To: Bishop’s secretary
Sent: 17 November 2011 10:55
Subject: Invite to Bishop Steven from Occupy Sheffield

Dear Bishop Steven,

I have been asked to contact you by the General Assembly of Occupy Sheffield. Thank you for your recent statement about the Occupy movement. We all thought that was very helpful. We would like to invite you to meet us at a General Assembly at a time convenient to you. Best time for us would be any evening at 7pm when we have the most number of people at the camp.

I am disturbed that the main message from the Church of England getting to the media at the moment is that the cathedral does not welcome the occupy camp and wants us to leave. We also seem to be getting bogged down in minor points of health and safety. I would hate to see this diocese repeating the public relations disaster that happened at St. Paul’s. We are asking the cathedral to engage with us in the “Big Discussion” you called for. They have chosen to only engage with us through Carl and this approach is clearly not working. Given that the protestors and the cathedral share a common vision of inclusivity and social justice this seems a real pity.

I have tried to meet with the dean but up to now he has not returned my call.

Thanks again for speaking out on these vitally important issues. I look forward to seeing you soon.

Your brother in Christ,

Deacon Dave Havard

The reply from Bishop Steven:

To: Deacon Dave
From: Bishop of Sheffield
Date: Tue, Nov 22, 2011 at 4:06 PM
Subject: RE: Invite to Bishop Steven from Occupy Sheffield

Dear Dave

Thank you for your message. I’m following events around Occupy Sheffield closely.

As you may know the Cathedral are working hard to arrange a meeting between ecumenical church leaders and the members of the occupy camp to explore the issues you are raising and I am looking forward very much to taking part in that conversation.

I took my own thinking and speaking on the issues a little further on Saturday in a Presidential Address to the Diocesan Synod. The full text is on our website but I have pasted what I think are eight key discussion points below. Perhaps these could form part of the agenda when we meet?

I will be interested when we meet to explore what the members of the camp think needs to be done about the problems you are seeking to draw to the world’s attention. If you could send me a concise statement of the main points of the protest and the action you are looking for that would be really helpful to me and to others.

With kind regards

Steven

Extract from Presidential Address

1. Each human person is made in the image of God and is of infinite and equal worth.

2. Greed for more money and possessions does not lead to happiness. It leads to dissatisfaction and to more greed.

3. The laws and customs of a society should not encourage greed but hold it in check. Where those laws and customs simply give free rein to greed there is something deeply wrong.

4. A healthy society should take care of the poorest, the least and weakest who are not able to help themselves.

5. Human beings are not independent. We live interconnected lives. We flourish best in families and in community.

6. A healthy society should strive for equality and fairness more than it strives for prosperity.

7. A healthy society is one in which people take responsibility for their own actions and are very cautious indeed about debt.

8. Human beings are made for life in community and life in communion with God. We are called to live in the perspective of eternity. If we do not, the result is emptiness.