Together with Founder, Rev Steve Chalke MBE, Rev Duncan announced that Faithworks would no longer be a movement led by 11 partner organisations, but that it now belonged to the “thousands of Christians, local churches and other groups that are working to see lives changed and communities transformed in the name of Christ.”

In his closing speech, Duncan outlined a four-point commitment from Faithworks to churches and Christian groups in the UK:

1. To continue to inspire and resource Christians as they reach their communities
2. To deliver change to local communities through churches and Christian projects
3. To advocate for Government policy change at a local, regional and national level
4. To promote a ‘Distinctive Faith’ approach when Government, statutory agencies and other faith groups work with churches and Christian projects

He added: “We are looking forward to forging new partnerships of purpose with volunteers, local churches and Christian projects up and down the country. These informal partnerships are the future of the Faithworks Movement. They may or may not include the name of ‘Faithworks’, but they will be centred around a shared vision of transformation.”

Rev Duncan’s comments came at the end of the 2005 Faithworks Conference, held in Eastbourne from November 4-6. The conference, believed to be the largest gathering of UK Christian community activists in recent years, saw over 900 delegates come together to hear internationally acclaimed speakers such as Steve Chalke, Tony Compolo, Jim Wallis, Tim Costello and Cardinal Cormac-Murphy O’Connor.

Under the theme of Intelligent Church in the 21st Century, delegates explored how local churches could be more relevant, accessible and focused on meeting the needs of the wider community. Through seminars and workshops, delegates were also able to examine some of the practicalities of setting up and running successful community projects.

The conference also saw the announcement of the winners of the 2005 Faithworks Awards. The three projects, chosen from over 200 applications from churches and Christian community projects across the country, were presented with Faithworks Award plaques and cheques of £5,000 on Saturday evening.

The 2005 Faithworks Community Resource Award, sponsored by Christian Resources Exhibitions (CRE), was awarded to Worthing Churches Homeless Project, which meets the needs of people sleeping rough on Worthing beach through the provision of a day centre and two homeless hostels.

The first of two 2005 Faithworks Community Innovation Awards, both sponsored by Spring Harvest, was awarded to ACCEPT, a project which helps churches raise awareness and challenge stigma about mental health and provides training for church volunteers to oversee ‘support groups’ for those suffering with mental health problems.

The second 2005 Faithworks Community Innovation Award was awarded to New Hope Mentoring Programme, which provides young offenders aged 18-25 in Birmingham with mentors from local churches, who help motivated them to give-up offending and drug use.

The Faithworks Lifetime Achievement Award was also presented to Bob Holman for his work on the Easter House Estate in Glasgow.

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