ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the dialogue between Shirley Williams and Michael Bourke, took place on 23 February 2005 at Church House, Westminster, and was facilitated by Anthony Howard. The purpose of this dialogue is to try and tease out the various themes which they offer concerning public life – the picture they paint of contemporary society – and the nuances and suggestions they make about the place of the Church. When the Church of England was born, being was the same as believing, and communities – essentially often immobile – consisted of lives which interwove with each other and interwove with the Church. The chapter suggests that spirituality has separated out from Christian faith partly because it hasn't found Christian doctrine a suitable vehicle for it. One of the Christian doctrines which contemporary spirituality finds uncongenial is the doctrine of sin.
