The Bishop of London, Rt Rev Richard Chartres, hosted a Theos drinks reception at the Old Deanery on Tuesday night.

The aim of the event, attended by over 60 figures from the business community, was to introduce the work of Theos and invite guests to join it in its efforts to impact society about the role and contribution of religious faith.

The Bishop paid warm tribute to Theos, observing that religion was the issue of the moment. The predictions of decline were being proven wrong, not least in London where religious observance and activism were growing at an unprecedented rate. Public atheists like Richard Dawkins, the Bishop argued, were helpful to the cause of those who believed in the good of religious faith, given the extreme and irrational nature of their arguments.

Director of Theos, Paul Woolley, outlined three projects Theos was currently engaged in – Consultancy for the NHS on the role of religion in health care, ‘Rescuing Darwin’ (a project on science and religion to challenge the belief that respect for Darwin and his theory necessitates atheism) and ‘God and Government’, a series of essays giving different perspectives on the role of government.