Tony Blair on Faithworks 29/03/01

06 January 2009

Tony Blair signalled today (Thursday 29th March) that his Government has heard the concerns of thousands of churches, expressed through The Faithworks Campaign when he spoke of the need for local and national Government to work more closely with churches and Christian organisations. Speaking at the Christian Socialist Movement Conference at Westminster Central Hall at an event sponsored by the Faithworks Campaign, World Vision and the Shaftesbury Society, the Prime Minister said to faith groups of the work they do: “You do this because of your faith, not in isolation from it, a point that government – central and local – must always appreciate. My message today is therefore simple. Your role in the voluntary sector, working in partnership with central and local government, is legitimate and important. And where you have the desire and ability to play a greater role, with the support of your communities, we want to see you do so…We want you as partners not substitutes.”

The Prime Minister announced that a successor to the inter-faith Lambeth group, set up to prepare for the Millennium, will now look at how Government consults and interfaces with faith communities across the range of their shared interests and he also signalled an intention to pilot projects with local regeneration partnerships to see how obstacles to faith community involvement can be overcome in practice.

The Faithworks Campaign is a nation-wide campaign launched by the Oasis Trust on behalf of churches and Christian charities throughout the UK. The Campaign highlights the positive and transforming nature of faith in local communities throughout the UK, and calls on the incoming Government to end the present ‘postcode lottery’ and take policy measures to ensure faith-based groups are actively supported in their community welfare on a uniform basis across the UK, rather than treated with suspicion or even outright discrimination.

The Campaign is supported by thousands of churches and senior Christian leaders, including Richard Chartres, the Bishop of London, James Jones, the Bishop of Liverpool and Archbishop Cormac Murphy O’Connor as well as representatives from other faiths, including Chief Rabbi Dr Jonathan Sachs, Dr Zaki Badawi from the Muslim Council and Vipin Aery from the National Council of Hindu Temples. The number of churches and individuals across the country supporting Faithworks is growing by the day. People can get involved by signing the Declaration, keeping their local media informed about Faithworks and what the churches are doing in their local community in the run-up to the Election as well as running hustings meetings with their local MP and prospective parliamentary candidates.
In summary, the Faithworks Declaration calls on the incoming Government to:

Establish objective funding criteria for government and local authority grants to local welfare projects based on best practice and value to the community which do not discriminate against the faith which is vital to the success of the Church’s work.
Establish a central government mechanism to ensure the fair and uniform regional delivery of agreed policies.
Establish appropriate forums for ongoing consultation between churches and government both at national and local levels.

Faithworks Founder Steve Chalke, who was asked to speak at the conference in response to the Prime Minister’s comments said, “It’s really encouraging to hear Tony Blair’s warm words, especially on the Government’s intention to run pilot projects with local regeneration partnerships and to set up a successor to the Lambeth Group. However, the biggest question still remains unanswered. How will central Government actually ensure that a fair and even-handed approach is taken in dealing with faith-based initiatives around the country? That’s why we are calling for a central mechanism to ensure delivery on agreed policies.”

A web-site and campaign book is also available, providing a comprehensive campaign guide and discussion of the ways in which faith is integral to local community success. The book, ‘Faithworks – actions speak louder than words’, is written by Steve Chalke with a foreword by the Bishop of Liverpool, James Jones. The Faithworks Campaign will also include a major debate at the Christian Resources Exhibition on 15th May 2001.