Last night "thing in a pub" (it does have a real name, I just disguise it to protect all parties) had a speaker from Christians in Science who was truly excellent.  My only disappointment, an ongoing one, was that the publicity had been loused up and that no one brought anyone along.  That said, there were nine of us plus a couple of eavesdroppers.

His main theme was Richard Dawkins' writings which he handled with repsect and sensible critique, as he did the various responses to them.  His main thesis seemed to be that Dawkins' book is unscientific in its approach; Dawkins' views may, at least in part, be correct but they are not supported from evidence - if an undergraduate submitted the book as their dissertation they'd be given it back with a poor mark!

When we got to the open forum, it was telling that the only person who really engaged was the person most on the fringe of the church, and her question was about evolution and how because we haven't found the missing link it must be wrong.  Theistic evolution, it seems, is more something that ministers know about, than people in the pew.

I asked him what he thought the current issues were for the science/faith interface.  He felt there were three: -

• The Dawkins-based type of debate - which can be stereotyped as religion in evil, science is good
• Conservation and 'creation care' vs a kind of 'the quicker we wear out the planet the sooner Christ returns' approach (scary!)
• Medical ethics, especially in relation to genetics and stem cell research, embryo research and questions of when life begins.

Our speaker was a man of deep faith, attends both Methodist and FIEC churches and preaches in the former.  A zoologist by training, he teaches both science and RE in secondary schools.  He was deeply respectful of other faiths, and none, willing to engage with people of any persuasion in honest debate.  I, for one, enjoyed and was entriched by the event.

Sounds like a good organisation to direct any scientists/technologists/engineers towards, and I get the impression that all hues of Christians would be welcomed and respected - plus they attract top speakers to their conferences from both theology and science.

Next month we are doing 'Sing Christmas' with Radio Leicester and hoping to match last year's 50+ folk.