Dear Dean Knowles, There are all sorts of meetings taking place on the steps of St. Paul's. People from diverse backgrounds, bankers, homeless people, pensioners and schoolchildren engage in an ongoing conversation which offers new perspectives and hope in our desperate times. When the former Canon asked the police to vacate the steps before the service on Sunday the 16th, he was upholding the tradition of sanctuary, which has never been broken by the church in all of England's history. On that day, many protesters attended a service at St. Paul's for the first time. Many would like to do so again, as would your regular congregation, who have sought sanctuary elsewhere. With the concerns of the health and safety and fire departments fully addressed, there is no reason why the doors should be closed and services interrupted, and no reason why the cathedral should loose its door takings. Our churches are not financial investments but houses of prayer, reflection and peaceful dialogue. In our makeshift university, our cafe, our general assemblies and random encounters, we discuss solutions to urgent problems which parliament and the mainstream media have failed to tackle. From this conversation, nine points have emerged: 1. The current system is unsustainable. It is undemocratic and unjust. We need alternatives; this is where we work towards them. 2. We are of all ethnicities, backgrounds, genders, generations, sexualities dis/abilities and faiths. We stand together with occupations all over the world. 3. We refuse to pay for the banks’ crisis. 4. We do not accept the cuts as either necessary or inevitable. We demand an end to global tax injustice and our democracy representing corporations instead of the people. 5. We want regulators to be genuinely independent of the industries they regulate. 6. We support the strike on November 30 [by unions in defence of public sector workers' pensions and against spending cuts] and the student action on November 9, and actions to defend our health services, welfare, education and employment, and to stop wars and arms dealing. 7. We want structural change towards authentic global equality. The world’s resources must go towards caring for people and the planet, not the military, corporate profits or the rich. 8. We stand in solidarity with the global oppressed and we call for an end to the actions of our government and others in causing this oppression. 9. This is what democracy looks like. Come and join us! *************************************** In the tradition of the church, sanctuary is inviolable. In scripture, the prophets repeatedly call for social justice and concern for the poor. Jesus chases the moneychangers from the temple forecourt, and Isaiah tells of "woe to those who enact evil statutes, and to those who continually record unjust decisions, so as to deprive the needy of justice". Outside St. Paul's, people are attempting to introduce reason into a political game which has been overtaken by the base urges of greed and power. In nearly 1000 cities around the world, people are sleeping on the pavement in the hope of a world running on something more noble. We the undersigned ask you also to consider the camp not as a threat to the cathedral but as an opportunity. We invite you to take part in this conversation, whether over the mic or over a cup of tea, to trade teachings, perspectives, and hopes for a more harmonious world.