The country needs solutions The general election has opened the door for churches We are called for such a time as this... Are we ready?
Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg have told Steve Chalke and Faithworks about their plans for seeing faith groups take a more active role in the public arena in a series of exclusive interviews.
Show the video to your church or small group. (If you don't have internet access at the venue you are using then click here to download the video - The file will open on the 4Shared website, simply click the blue download button to save the file to your desktop)
Pray for the issues affecting your community.
Take an active role in democratic process.
Proactively engage with your local authority - show them that as churches and faith based projects are up to challenge.
Sign the Faithworks 2010 (at the bottom of this page)
How does faith inspire Christians to engage in social action and political debate? Click here to listen to Steve Chalke speaking to Radio 4's the World Tonight
The landscape has changed.
Ten years ago, even five years ago, as we led up to the General Election there was widespread ignorance regarding the work of churches within their communities. Government lacked the vernacular to speak of the role of faith, there was no level playing field and explicit faith ethos’ widely equated to discrimination against the organization.
The landscape has changed.
The Faithworks Charter has opened doors for Christian organizations who want to hold on to their distinctive Christian identity and still work in meaningful partnership with local and national government to deliver services to communities. The Campaign the Faithworks Movement was birthed with, providing a 75,000 strong voice from faith communities calling on government to recognise their work and create a level playing field has done its work. The landscape has changed.
I am confident that there is an open door ahead of us. The country may be in crisis, but all 3 Party leaders have indicated their intention to partner with local churches and Christian projects in the work towards recovery. Our audience with Nick Clegg, David Cameron and Gordon Brown has galvanized my observations, that now, as never before, politicians have a richer understanding of the contribution of faith groups , and the fear of engaging with faith groups to deliver services has diminished. In this I draw hope.
We invite you to use the video: show it to your church, your small group, your friends; use it as a trigger to plan how you will work with your local government in the next political term; put together proposals and prepare to present your strategies to the incoming local and national political leaders. We have also put together resources on how to use the video, questions to spark discussion and ideas for how to pray for this opportunity to be realized.
Finally, we are delighted that all three Party Leaders have committed to the principles underpinning the Faithworks 2010 Declaration. This is ground we must build upon. Therefore in conjunction with using this film, we remind you to get the message out regarding the Faithworks Declaration. Sign it, get others to sign it. Together we can strengthen the incoming governments awareness of the contribution we make to serving local communities.
Nancy Doyle Faithworks Team Leader
“We have a duty as government to see that more faith-based services are provided,” said Gordon Brown.
Nick Clegg said that “churches and the community groups that work out of them will have an even bigger role” in the future. “Whitehall shouldn’t do everything.”
“The church should be active in the community,” said David Cameron.
Post Election Faithworks will be running a number of post election events bringing together local authorities, churches and faith based organisations as together we hold the government to account for these promises.
Related Resources
Ethos, effectiveness & excellence This resource will help Christian projects and organisations consider who they are, what they do, and how they can become even better at doing it. Ethos and Effectiveness - Stories of Christian Community Work Case studies about how Christian projects and organisations deliver services. These are stories of how and why faith matters, presented in an easy-to-read format to inspire and motivate you.
Our faith is our engine – its content and character directly affects both the quality and character of the care we give.
We are calling on the incoming Prime Minister to:
Recognise the important contribution that local churches and Christian charities have made historically, and can make in the coming years in providing services within local communities across the UK.
Acknowledge the indispensible role that faith in Christ plays in the motivation and effectiveness of welfare programs developed by churches and Christian charities.
Encourage and promote further initiatives and deeper partnership underpinned by legislation, which assess services based on best value and contribution to the whole community, without discriminating against the faith that is vital to the success of the work of churches and faith-based organisations.
Stand with us by adding your name in support of the Faithworks 2010 Declaration:
