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Contributing writers in The Better Hour: Lessons from William Wilberforce: Baroness Caroline Cox, David Blankenhorn, Chuck Colson, Don Eberly, Os Guinness, Mark Rodgers, Nina Shea, Jim Woolsey, Joe Califano, and more. Chuck Stetson is a Managing Director of PEI Funds, a private eq-uity firm based in New York. He is a graduate of Yale University and Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business and has written articles for the Harvard Business Review, Pratt’s Guide to Venture Capital, and The Journal of Corporate Strategy. He created the Doubleday Pocket Bible Guide and his book The British Abolitionists and Their Influence is due to be released in early 2008. Mr. Stetson is also the Chairman of the Bible Literacy Project and co-author of the acclaimed public school textbook, The Bible and Its Influence.

CREATING THE BETTER HOUR: Lessons from William Wilberforce

Edited by Chuck Stetson
Foreword by Rick Warren

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"Now a new book and television documentary aspire to use the example of Wilberforce and his Clapham Circle to ignite a new generation of social activism." Publishers Weekly, Jan. 2, 2008
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A collection of scholarly reflections on Wilberforce, the Clapham Circle, the unfinished business of slavery, and the transformation of culture. 360-page book with group discussion questions.

Contributors include Os Guinness, Chuck Colson, Baroness Caroline Cox, Joe Califano, and Kevin Belmonte. Great for small groups!

Not your ordinary study book, Creating the Better Hour: Lessons from William Wilberforce demands a great deal of the reader. Not only do the words of the book’s contributors give an overview of the life of this great Christian Parliamentarian and abolitionist, they also shows how Wilberforce is a model for engaging culture today.

Beginning with the life and the great persuasive techniques of Wilberforce and his Clapham Circle colleagues, the book then turns to the unfinished business of human oppression and slavery to show that much work still needs to be done. Finally, the book shows how people today are emulating Wilberforce to bring about cultural change.

Chapters in the book have an Extended Observation that entices the individual reader or the groups using the book into transforming reflections and conversations. The gatherings are specifically designed to help them become a force for good in today’s culture and to commit to a life on behalf of others.

This book shows much more than a Wilberforce who two hundred years ago worked to stop the transatlantic slave trade. It shows a spirit alive and active in all people whose faith compels their tireless efforts to create the better hour.

What others are saying…

• Wilberforce’s commitment to the transformation of culture was accomplished by his steadfast determination. He was able in an extraordinary way to connect his position as a politician with the ethical principles that derived from his deep faith. This book outlines a way that we can all use our time and talents to the same end.
  – Jean Bethke Elshtain, Laura Spelman Rockefeller Professor of Social and Political Ethics, University of Chicago Divinity School
   

• This book will be of great benefit to your church community. It builds on the legacy of William Wilberforce, whose character, faith, courage and leadership are a wonderfully relevant example for today’s world. It provides no ordinary Bible study. Instead, it makes an irresistible call to action for building a better world.
  – Geoff Tunnicliffe, International Director of the World Evangelical Alliance
   

• It is my sincere hope that our next generation will be able to build on the example of William Wilberforce in this book as they work to right wrong and build better communities.
  – Floyd Flake, President of Wilberforce University, former Congressman and Senior Pastor, Greater Allen Cathedral, New York
   

• William Wilberforce led the great moral struggle against the slave trade with passion born of conviction. Today, as in Wilberforce's time, we are faced with the need for social reform and moral renewal.
  – Robert P. George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and Director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions, Princeton University
   

• Leadership and character are essential for engaging the culture and making a better world. William Wilberforce and his Clapham colleagues show the way, engaging and working with others, but never compromising principle.
  – J. Stanley Oakes, President, The King’s College, New York