ABSTRACT
The context to the ARCS project was that distinctive social complexity which is London – a global, plural, late modern city, variously characterised as secular and post-secular. This chapter not only sets out some of the key features of this context, but seeks to illustrate, from the Accounts of practice, the ways in which these recognised social characteristics both shaped and were responded to by the Practices whilst relating them to some key writings in the field. The well-discussed theme of ‘hospitality’ is explored in relation to our Practices, and some critical questions raised, before the chapter moves to look at how an urban culture of ‘civility and inclusivity’ shaped the co-researchers’ work. A final theme of ‘inequality and injustice’ leads to a conclusion in which some first tentative features of a practice-engaged ecclesiology can be glimpsed.
