The conversation, entitled ‘Kingdom Economics', explored how the Bible challenges us as Christians to think about economic issues. While our culture places an emphasis on consuming, biblical teaching encourages sharing: how can we practise that more as Christians and churches? While the language we hear today is that of ‘scarcity' and ‘crisis', the Bible calls us to trust God's abundance and acknowledge that we have ‘enough'. How might that look as ‘public policy'?

Participants discussed what churches are already doing in terms of practising different economic models. They also considered how churches might fuel a new economic debate, a new ‘economic imagination', and how this would be linked to the task of evangelism.

Conversation participants committed themselves to an ongoing engagement with Scripture to develop a ‘Kingdom economics', and to gathering and sharing stories of what churches are doing at grassroots level. In undertaking to meet again later this year, they want to involve a wider constituency of Christians in the conversation, including business leaders.

The discussion was organised by the National Director of New Zealand Christian Network, visionnetwork, Glyn Carpenter, and the Chair of Theology and Public Issues at Otago University, Professor Andrew Bradstock.

Pic: Andrew Bradstock (left) and New Zealand Christian Network (visionnetwork) Director Glyn Carpenter.