Nigel Scotland – författare

Settlements were a distinctive aspect of late-Victorian church life in which individual philanthropic Christians were encouraged to live and work in communities amongst the poor and set an example for the underprivileged through their own actions. Often overlooked by historians, settlements are of great value in understanding the values and culture of the 19th century. Settlement missions were first conceived when Samuel Barnett, the incumbent of St. Jude's, Whitechapel, in the East End of London, sought to introduce them as a major aspect of Victorian church life. Barnett argued that settlers should be incorporated into London communities that suffered from squalor and poverty to live and work alongside the poor, to demonstrate their Christian faith and attempt to enhance social conditions from the inside. His first recruits were Oxford undergraduates and when Toynbee Hall was founded in Oxford in 1884, his radical vision of adapting Christian morality towards tackling social deprivation had begun. By the end of the Victorian era more than fifty similar institutions had been created.Whilst few settlements lasted beyond the Victorian period, by injecting Christian ethics into trade unions, local government and the community, they had a huge impact which is still felt in the way these organisations operate today.

Settlements were a distinctive aspect of late-Victorian church life in which individual philanthropic Christians were encouraged to live and work in communities amongst the poor and set an example for the underprivileged through their own actions. Often overlooked by historians, settlements are of great value in understanding the values and culture of the 19th century. Settlement missions were first conceived when Samuel Barnett, the incumbent of St. Jude's, Whitechapel, in the East End of London, sought to introduce them as a major aspect of Victorian church life. Barnett argued that settlers should be incorporated into London communities that suffered from squalor and poverty to live and work alongside the poor, to demonstrate their Christian faith and attempt to enhance social conditions from the inside. His first recruits were Oxford undergraduates and when Toynbee Hall was founded in Oxford in 1884, his radical vision of adapting Christian morality towards tackling social deprivation had begun. By the end of the Victorian era more than fifty similar institutions had been created.Whilst few settlements lasted beyond the Victorian period, by injecting Christian ethics into trade unions, local government and the community, they had a huge impact which is still felt in the way these organisations operate today.

A recent journal article stated, "There is something missing in the way the churches do Communion." Why is it that this central act of Christian worship is often so dull, dreary, and formal? Indeed at times it can be as somber as a funeral with people silently queuing cafeteria style in lines to receive a morsel of bread or a rice paper emblem of bread and then joining the wine queue for a tiny sip of wine. Strangely the churches call the Eucharist a "supper," but there is no meal in the gathering. Indeed on occasions it can feel a bit like the Mad Hatter''s tea party, which was supposed have mouth-watering festive things to eat but there was only bread! Where is the convivial joy and fellowship of a Passover celebration? Why is there no overwhelming joy like that of the two disciples who encountered the risen Jesus in the breaking of bread in their house in the village of Emmaus on that first Easter evening? This book, The New Passover: Rethinking the Lord''s Supper for Today, traces the way the Christian churches changed the simple meal of the New Passover into an esoteric theological public ritual. Luther and the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformers abolished the Mass and restored the bread and wine to the people but they only half completed the task. They recognized that Jesus intended the Eucharist to be a Supper but there was nothing in their liturgies to satisfy physical hunger. This book argues that the Last Supper was a Passover meal and that churches today need to celebrate the Lord''s Supper Passover style in the context of an evening meal with ordinary bread and wine, in small groups of believers only and in houses and homes. It is to be a joyous celebration meal providing spiritual strength, fellowship, thanksgiving, and remembrance.

A major aspect of the history of Christian missions is the way groups who have jumped the ecclesiastical ship have renewed and recalled their parent bodies back to biblical roots and a biblical vision. This book examines fourteen such vibrant Christian movements which operated outside the box. Each chapter ends with a practical section highlighting those factors that made the particular group successful. They were all missional movements that pursued a Christian vision and developed structures to facilitate it. In contrast, the traditional organizations from which they emerged tended to do mission from an established, given structure. Here are seriously committed movements that offer a dynamic challenge to our contemporary churches.

In this book, historian Nigel Scotland examines ten powerful revival movements that hugely impacted the social life and culture of large sections of America and the British Isles. Revivals represent a high point of Christian experience, renewing and empowering the life and worship of Christian communities. In consequence they draw large numbers of new people to personal faith in Christ, which in turn brings lasting and positive change to social life and culture. In this book special attention is given to the ways in which vibrant Christian faith challenged racism, fought and overcame slavery, helped to birth trade unions, campaigned for temperance, led to a rapid growth in education, from Sunday schools to universities, provided equal opportunities for women, and renewed family life and relationships.

Settlements were a distinctive aspect of late-Victorian church life in which individual philanthropic Christians were encouraged to live and work in communities amongst the poor and set an example for the underprivileged through their own actions. Often overlooked by historians, settlements are of great value in understanding the values and culture of the 19th century. Settlement missions were first conceived when Samuel Barnett, the incumbent of St. Jude's, Whitechapel, in the East End of London, sought to introduce them as a major aspect of Victorian church life. Barnett argued that settlers should be incorporated into London communities that suffered from squalor and poverty to live and work alongside the poor, to demonstrate their Christian faith and attempt to enhance social conditions from the inside. His first recruits were Oxford undergraduates and when Toynbee Hall was founded in Oxford in 1884, his radical vision of adapting Christian morality towards tackling social deprivation had begun. By the end of the Victorian era more than fifty similar institutions had been created.Whilst few settlements lasted beyond the Victorian period, by injecting Christian ethics into trade unions, local government and the community, they had a huge impact which is still felt in the way these organisations operate today.