Politics and Society

NETWORK LEADERS

Nola Leach is a co-leader of the European Politics and Society Network and serves as the Chief Executive of CARE (Christian Action, Research & Education), one of Europe’s leading Christian charities which provides resources and helps bring Christian insight and experience to matters of public policy and practical caring initiatives. CARE undertakes a variety of social caring and educational programmes and research. It is represented in the UK Parliaments and Assemblies, at the EU in Brussels, and at the UN in Geneva and New York. As Head of the Public Affairs team, she leads campaigns on topics such as human trafficking, Internet pornography, and the value of human life from its beginning to natural end. She has overseen the publication of Living Free, a sequel to the CARE book Searching for Intimacy – a resource designed to help those trapped in the net of Internet pornography. She is increasingly in demand as both a writer and public speaker. She has penned numerous articles, and regularly appears in the media.

NETWORK SPEAKERS

Caroline Eade works as a lawyer in Cambridge, England. Having initially trained as a litigator, she now specialises in charity law.  She was until recently a trustee of the Jubilee Centre, which aims to research and apply biblical teaching to contemporary society, and she is a member of the writing group for Cambridge Papers, a Jubilee Centre publication. She is also active as a member of the Lawyers’ Christian Fellowship. Having studied theology at university before retraining as a lawyer, she now mentors undergraduate theologians and law students in her home church, and also co-leads a fellowship group.

Glynn Harrison is Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry, University of Bristol, UK, where he was a practising consultant psychiatrist and Chair of the Department of Psychiatry. He preaches locally and speaks widely on issues of faith and psychology, neuroscience and psychiatry. He is especially focused on supporting men’s ministries and fostering the development of Christian leaders and pastors.

Roger Kiska serves as legal counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund and is based in Bratislava, Slovak Republic, where he specialises in international litigation with a focus on European law. He is developing the ADF-allied attorney network in Europe, working with allies to litigate European cases that have a potential for impacting ADF efforts in America. Before joining ADF in 2008, Kiska served as legal counsel at the European Center for Law and Justice. He earned his J.D. at Ave Maria School of Law in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He is admitted to the State Bar of Michigan and successfully completed the United Kingdom’s Solicitor’s Transfer Exam–the British equivalent of the American Bar exam.

Timothy Laurence is former Public Theology Associate and London Chairman of the UK Lawyers’ Christian Fellowship. In this capacity Tim arranged, contributed to, and edited “Good News for the Public Square” – a collection of London-based lectures for Christian lawyers giving a Biblical framework for Christian engagement in law and government. An Oxford graduate and a former banking regulation lawyer at international firm Hogan Lovells, Timothy is now engaged full time in theological studies at London Theological Seminary.

Lord Mackay of Clashfern KT PC QC is an active member of the House of Lords in the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Appointed to the Faculty of Advocates im 1955 he was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1965. He was appointed Lord Advocate in 1979. He was appointed Lord Chancellor (Chief Justice, Head of the Judiariary and Cabinet Minister)  by British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in 1987 continued in this office under John Major until 1997. He is Patron of the Lawyers' Christian Fellowship, succeeding Lord Denning.

Arttu Makipaa, a Finnish national, received graduate and postgraduate training as an economist in Germany (Heidelberg and Bonn). After a time in teaching and research, mainly at the Center for European Integration Studies (ZEI) in Bonn Germany, he began serving at the European Union institutions as an economic policy adviser (since 2006), and also has experience in consulting both private and public sectors. His private research interest has long focused on the relationship between faith and economics.

Matthew Price is the International Director of Lawyers Christian Fellowship (UK), having been appointed in April 2010. A qualified solicitor, he worked for almost six years with corporate law firm Slaughter and May in the city of London before serving for three years in Uganda working alongside Uganda Christian Lawyers’ Fraternity in Kampala. Serving with BMS World Mission, Matthew spent his time in Uganda, helping UCLF establish a criminal public defence programme. This programme has already offered representation to over 750 prisoners, many of whom have been remanded for significant periods before trial. He is married with three young children.

Lennart Sacrédeus is a native of southern Sweden and the son of Lutheran clergy. Though educated partly in the United States, Lennart received his BA at Lund University and subsequently worked as a journalist at various local and Christian papers including Varlden idag (The World Today), as well as a high school teacher in religion, political science and history in Mora, Dalarna, Sweden.  He was the Deputy Mayor of Mora for the Christian Democratic Party (KD) from 1998 to 1999 and a Member of European Parliament for the European People’s Party in the Committee for Foreign Affairs, Defense and Human Rights from 1999 to 2004. From 2006 to 2010, he served as Vice President of the European Parliament Delegation to Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova, and also a Member of Parliament in the Committee on Taxation. He has been a member of the Church of Sweden (Lutheran) National Synod and National Church Board since 2005. 

Christina Summers was elected as a Green Party Councillor in Brighton and Hove in May 2011. In July 2012 she stood alone in voting against same-sex marriage resulting in her expulsion from the Green Group. She now sits as the council's only Independent. She has previously worked in many diverse fields including the third sector, and has set up and managed several social projects across Brighton working with volunteers, agencies and churches as well as the council. She is a zealous campaigner for her constituents but also on issues that beg a Christian influence such as abortion and freedom of speech. As well as earning a European Business degree she has trained in Radio News Broadcasting earning a short stint at the BBC World Service, and has media experience in television, radio and print. She has been a public speaker on numerous occasions and taken part in many debates particularly concerning her Christian faith.

Sandra Sykes, after a decade at the BBC Natural History Unit as a Radio 4 producer and presenter, is currently the Director of Changing Views Ltd, a production house providing promotional films which enhance the marketing or fund-raising potential of businesses and  organisations throughout the UK.  Previously she spent over twenty five years in the media, in her Natural History Unit days devising the very popular strand Changing Places, moving on to BBC Birmingham where she worked on BBC TV’s Countryfile and produced Radio 4 classics such as Open Country, Ramblings and Farming Today, winning the 2006 British Environment and Media Award for the best radio news/current affairs programme for Costing the Earth. She won three national Andrew Cross Awards for religious broadcasting while a presenter of live current affairs programmes on BBC local radio. She is a highly experienced media trainer for TV and radio, coaching household names from several central government departments, including the Cabinet Office. She is a B.Sc. Honours Zoology graduate of St Aidan’s College, Durham and holds a  Post Graduate Certificate in Education from Hughes Hall, Cambridge.

Leo van Doesburg is External Affairs Manager for the European Christian Political Movement (ECPM), a European political party committed to promoting Christian values in public life. He graduated Commercial Economics and International Management Studies from Ichthus University in Rotterdam, Faculty Economy and Management, and has worked in the business sector for several years before becoming involved in the political field. He is actively involved in policy-making at various national and European institutions and has offered many trainings and courses on Christian Democracy, Freedom of Religion & Conscience, Family Values, Human Dignity and Peace & Reconciliation. In 2011 he was awarded the Conscience and Freedom Award for diligently promoting religious freedoms in Europe.

NETWORK PROGRAMME