Our Origins

The Jubilee Centre was founded in Cambridge in 1983 to provide a clear and coherent biblical vision for our economy and society. Drawing on a comprehensive study of the Bible, including a detailed analysis of the Law in the Old Testament, the Centre identified the centrality of good relationships as the touchstone of a Christian vision for healthy nations and communities. The Jubilee Centre’s work ever since has been to continue developing and applying this vision to life in the UK, for the good of all.

The Jubilee Centre was founded by Dr. Michael Schluter CBE, who led the Centre for many years. An economist by training, Dr. Schluter developed the Centre’s social vision into a coherent framework, drawing together some of the UK’s most original Christian thinkers and setting out a new approach based on ‘relational thinking’. The Centre was also very active in working with churches and other partners across the UK to implement the vision.

The Jubilee Centre’s new approach was tested early on in 1985 when Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative government put forward legislation to deregulate Sunday trading — allowing regular commercial trading to take place on Sundays. The Jubilee Centre developed and published a constructive Christian response, taking a relational position in presenting the economic and social arguments for a modern ‘Sabbath’ and highlighting its benefits for families, small businesses and communities. It then followed this by establishing an independent national campaign – the ‘Keep Sunday Special’ campaign - which brought together churches, trade unions, businesses and others to successfully defeat the Government’s Shops Bill, the only time that a Government Bill was defeated in Mrs Thatcher’s 11 years as Prime Minister.  

This experience suggested a powerful model for change: biblical research shaped a positive vision for life in the UK, followed by practical implementation in collaboration with others. This is the same approach we use today.

Institution building

The Jubilee Centre continued to publish biblical research and also set in train new initiatives inspired by that research.  The Newick Park Initiative was established in 1986 to help promote peace in South Africa and later in Rwanda; it eventually became Concordis International, whose peace-building consultation processes continue across Africa today. 

Following further research into debt, Credit Action was established in 1988 to educate on the dangers of easy credit; today it is known as The Money Charity.

In 1994, a major shift occurred with the creation of the Relationships Foundation. Taking the relational thinking developed from biblical research, the Relationships Foundation has taken forward ‘relational thinking’ in the secular sphere, applying the core idea that good relationships are essential for a healthy society.

In 1999, the Jubilee Centre and the Relationships Foundation both contributed to the founding of Citylife, a charity which raised social investment for charitable purposes. Its first project was a charitable bond to raise nearly £800,000 to help tackle unemployment in Sheffield. In 2010, Citylife became Allia and it has gone on to raise nearly £1 billion of investment to deliver social impact in the UK.

Research and training

In more recent years, the Jubilee Centre has focused on developing and publishing high quality theological research, applying biblical insight to many pressing social, economic and environmental issues of our day – many of which can be found on the Resources page of this website.  Our work has included publications, national conferences, online training courses, and the SAGE Graduate Programme.

Families and communities, fair economic relationships and environmental flourishing

In 2022, the Jubilee Centre shifted its emphasis to focus on change in the approach to business management in the UK. Due to economic pressures, it has not been possible to maintain this focus so, in 2023 the Jubilee Centre has returned to its original purpose: to promote a Christian relational vision for society.

This involves biblically-informed relational policies and practices to build stronger families and communities, to promote a business model based on stakeholder involvement, and to teach care for the environment motivated by love of God and love of neighbour.

Our core mission remains the same – we continue to promote a Christian vision for nationbuilding and public policy with an emphasis on stronger families and communities, fair stakeholder relationships in companies, and environmental flourishing both now and for future generations.