SPCK BOOKSHOPS are to open on Sundays, after a decision by the St Stephen the Great Charitable Trust (SSG), the Eastern Orthodox charity to which the 23 bookshops were transferred in October 2006 (News, 27 October). Its object is to promote Orthodoxy in Britain.
A statement from “St Stephen the Great/SPCK Bookshops” said that the charity’s chairman, Mark Brewer, who is a lawyer in Houston, Texas, and the company president, Philip Brewer, felt that “due to the nature of the Christian Charity of Saint Stephen the Great, the most important time for this ministry would be when the churches are open and in use.”
Mark Brewer argues that keeping the bookshops open on Sunday is “a vital part of the Charity’s ministry”. He finds sanction in the Ecumenical Canons of the Eastern Orthodox Church. He quotes from part of Canon XXIX of the Synod of Laodicea (343-381), stating “Christians shall not stop work on the sabbath . . .”
The text of the canon, however, reads: “Christians must not judaise by resting on the sabbath, but must work on that day, rather honouring the Lord’s Day; and, if they can, resting then as Christians.” The Ancient Epitome of Canon XXIX reads: “A Christian shall not stop work on the sabbath, but on the Lord’s Day.”
A statement from the senior management team of SPCK Bookshops said that Sunday opening would be during afternoons only. It had “sought the comment and consultation of the men and women who work in the bookshops, our customers, church leaders, and other stakeholders”.
Day One Christian Ministries, which incorporates the Lord’s Day Observance Society, described the Sunday opening as “a retrograde step . . . made on commercial grounds only, with little thought for staff and those longstanding supporters of SPCK who have spoken to us”. It called for the charity to reconsider its decision: “This will save much unhappiness and prevent further complications.”
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