Simon Butler

The Living Ministry project is a ten-year programme by the Church of England to better understand what enables clergy – stipendiary, self-supporting and chaplains – to flourish, both in terms of personal wellbeing and effectiveness in their role. This booklet is the result of inviting clergy to reflect on their vocation and ministry experience in five areas: • Calling to priesthood • Institutional identity • Shape of ministry • Places and posts • Tasks of ministry Drawing on this research, How Clergy Thrive offers significant insights into the factors that allow priestly ministry to flourish, the pressures and challenges that hinder it, and the training programmes that will be needed for the future. It gives an accurate portrayal of lived clergy experience in the Church of England today that will be essential reading for all involved in clergy selection,training and support, and will give priests invaluable insights into the dynamics of their work.

For more than two centuries, the idea that the world's ills are caused by poor people having too many babies has been remarkably successful at diverting attention from the social causes of poverty and injustice. Once the exclusive preserve of right-wing ideologues, the argument that rising population and immigration is damaging to the environment is increasingly defended in mainstream media and in the environmental movement. This is a clear, well-documented and popularly written refutation of populationist ideology, focusing in particular on the arguments on the environment.