This is a text-only version of an article first published on Wednesday, 15 June 2016. Information shown on this page may no longer be current.
As the Prime Minister convened a summit on tax, trade and transparency, the Oxford Diocese pledged to get behind a campaign seeking tax justice. The Diocesan Synod pledged to engage with these vital issues just a week after a national IF campaign service in London and just before IF campaigners created a "pop-up tax haven" on London's South Bank.
On June 15, the Oxford Diocesan Synod overwhelmingly supported a motion entitled Tax, Trade and Transparency, The IF Campaign and the Church.
In the motion, Synod recognised the complexities and ethical dimensions of governance issues in tax, trade and transparency, and the need for reforms to create greater transparency and equity.
The Diocese, it said, would encourage parishes to engage through discussion, reflection, prayer and action.
Proposing the motion, the Reverend Andrew Bunch, who made the three Ts quip, noted that engaging with complex issues was like adopting new technology.
First it looks too difficult to deal with.
With time and study one begins to get a sense of how it works.
And then it's time to act.
Two visiting experts had earlier spoken about areas for reform.
First was Sophia Harding, programme officer for Publish What You Pay, a global coalition working to ensure that citizens of resource-rich countries benefit from the countries' oil, gas and mining revenues.
Sophia's talk focused on citizens in various countries who, because of a lack of transparency, had been unable to benefit from these revenues.
She applauded moves by the European Union earlier in the week to ensure that companies in the oil, gas and mining sectors publish all the payments they make to governments, enabling citizens to hold leaders to account and fight corruption.
Churches in the UK, she noted, had been part of the campaign for the new EU legislation.
Sophia was followed by Paul Spray, Head of Policy and Programmes at Traidcraft, who contrasted the stories behind two images, one of an East African tea picker benefiting from Fair Trade and one of the garment factory in Bangladesh that collapsed, killing more than 1,000 workers. "Trade, he noted, "directly connects us with people in the global south who are paid much too little, and you can do something about it. "Maranda St John Nicolle, World Development Adviser for the diocese, noted that "doing justice" and challenging injustice are hallmarks of Christian mission.
Following on from the morning's Gospel reading (Matthew 14:25-35), she encouraged churches to draw on the theological and practical expertise of their members to undertake prayer and action. Jessica Hall representing Christian Aid and their Tax Justice Campaign noted "It was great to see that many church leaders are sympathetic to the issues of Tax, Trade and Transparency.
We know of many church goers that have taken action on Tax Justice in the last few years and I am sure they will welcome support from their clergy. "