大象传媒

It is not only political parties who can be caught off guard by a snap general election.聽 Lobbyists, campaigners and leaders of interest groups of every kind feel that their voices simply must be heard at such a time, and there is a frantic struggle to dust off policy documents, review publicity, and find fresh ways to get out the message.

Religious groups are always part of this process.聽 Leaders produce pastoral letters, key issues are identified, and churches and other faith communities are urged to arrange hustings to get face to face with those who want their votes.

But should politics be the business of religious bodies?聽 Does it actually help anybody?聽聽 And might not mixing faith and politics be as much a curse as a blessing - both for the politicians, and for the religious groups involved?

On All Things Considered this week Roy Jenkins is joined by Nick Spencer, Research Director at the Christian tank Theos, author of The Mighty and the Almighty: How Political Leaders Do God, the Rev'd Aled Edwards, chief executive of the ecumenical body Cytun, Churches Together in Wales, Shereen Williams, Director of Projects and Strategy for the Henna Foundation, the Welsh-based charity committed to strengthening families within the Muslim community and聽 George Craig, who spent more than 30 years among the movers and shakers at Westminster and Cardiff Bay, before his retirement as a senior civil servant, which now enables him to spend more time standing in Methodist pulpits.