Blogs

George Carey has entered the fray on the Welfare Reform Bill and has had a go at his fellow bishops in the Daily Mail. The poor bishops who have worked hard to dent what some see as a wholesale withdrawal of benefits to the poorest - who could be against helping poor children? - are accused of acting immorally. The former archbishop seeks to shift the moral debate from one about welfare and benefits to one about the state of the national debt.  Now, all of us want to see a benefits system that rewards hard work and at the same time provides a safety net for those who have struck upon hard times. But what is a bishop for if not to stick up for those who have no voice? How can young children in poor families realistically speak up? At Church Urban Fund, we are in favour of reform but we also recognise from our relationships in local communities that there are real people, in this case children, who will suffer.

Thank you for taking the time to look at this blog. I am a relatively virgin blogger (can you be relatively virgin?) having written just a few blog posts over the last few months in my role as Chair of the Church Urban Fund. In that role I have spent the last year or two travelling all over the country meeting people from poor communities, both those who live there and the professionals who work with them. I have also done a fair amount of reading and thinking on why things are as they are, how they came about, and what the prospects are for changing them.

I have to make clear from the beginning that, as I travel around the country, things look bad to me.  In fact, as I have spoken to groups of people about the issues I am going to blog about I constantly have the feeling that I need to apologise for being a bit of a Jeremiah. From where I stand, we are in a perfect storm. There is no part of our society that is not in some way in crisis: our economy, our politics - the relationship between the citizen and the state - and more generally, the wider relationships with each other in society. It is becoming problematic for people to answer the question “What do I owe to my neighbour?” 

I do not speak for the poor or on their behalf; when they get a chance they can speak rather eloquently and vocally for themselves. I speak as a Christian who believes we have a responsibility to engage with issues of social wellbeing. There is a Christian imperative, which can best be summed up in the statement “that there are no spare people.” God made lots of human beings and they can be very different to each other; they can have some very strange views (as we shall see when we look at the world of economics!) and they can be, on the whole, better or worse in their behaviour towards their neighbour. But none of them are ‘spare’, not least those who are financially, socially and in some cases psychologically disadvantaged in their encounter with others in society. There is a responsibility on us as Christian people to speak and act in ways that reflect the idea of an inclusive society. This has clearly got lost in our society.

So my blogging comes from four places: Church Urban Fund and its ethos of loving, relational action; from a desire to tell some of the stories I hear about the reality of poverty in this country; from on going relationships with people on the ground trying to make the world a better place and then, last but not least, from years of reflecting theologically and biblically on what it is to be a human being in society. I want a society where people are treated with kindness and respect and where there is a sense of human dignity. At Church Urban Fund, this is what our 'Together' campaign is about recognising: the responsibility we all share for each other and that all of us are made whole through our relationships with others.

This is a key moment, because the current economic climate has given us a place to ask some fundamental questions about the state of our society. For some, this is simply a blip in the economic cycle; at the other end of the scale there are those who want to see an end to capitalism. We are somewhere in the middle. We want a fairer society; we want human beings to be considered with dignity, and we want some sense of virtue and morality in the way people relate to each other. We are made to be better together!  

Have a look at the materials for our 2012 Lent course.  It is we ask the question ‘Are we washing our hands of England’s poor?’.  We’ve asked this question because when people read the tabloids, they can easily be left with the impression that there is no real poverty in this country.  Those who claim they are poor are condemned as scroungers and benefit cheats; lazy freeloaders taking advantage of our generous welfare state.

We're really pleased to welcome Matt Page as a guest blogger. Matt is Church Urban Fund's Church Relationships Manager for Central England; he is also contributes to the re:jesus website, and writes the Bible Films blog.

It's not often that a TV comedy is confident enough in what it is about to not force jokes when something more significant can be touched upon instead.  Last night's Rev. (8 December) was a good example: it was probably the most moving and poignant episode of the series so far, even if it lacked the bigger laughs of previous shows.

One of the things that has been significant about Rev. is the way it tackles the issue of homelessness. Adam Smallbone may be a vicar, but essentially he's just like many of us. He's not a community hero who has devoted his life to the poor and marginalised (despite episode 1), but an ordinary man moved with compassion at the situation of those around him. He knows he should do something, but utterly confused about quite what his own response should be. Whilst his vocation brings him into contact with the homeless than most jobs, it's only a part of his role that he has to balance with caretaking the church, managing difficult staff and, in this episode, balancing the accounts.

The programme goes to great lengths to give depth to the complex and inter-related issues of homelessness and addiction. There are two regular characters who are seemingly living at the margins of society. Firstly, there's Colin, who is perhaps even Rev. Smallbone's best friend. It's not entirely clear where Colin lives - in the past he has occasionally slept at the church or on Adam's sofa - and any work is transient at best. He also dabbles in drugs and he has a drink problem, which this week leads him to Alcoholics Anonymous. At the same time he's a very easy to like character, both faithful and loyal. Both series have really fleshed out Colin's character without demonising, patronising or romanticising him and all those who are in some way like him. Sometimes he makes bad choices, is fickle or says unpleasant things; sometimes he exhibits piercing wisdom or unbridled compassion.

The other such character is Mick, who had previously only appeared as a walk-on character, employed primarily to signify the chaos and blurred boundaries of Adam's home-life. But in last night's episode he suddenly emerged as a fully-fledged, three-dimensional character. After a long term problem with crack addiction he finally seems to have left it behind. He appeals to Adam for money and is rebuffed - Adam has been burned this way too many times before. But then Adam realises Mick's turnaround is perhaps genuine. Mick attends an AA meeting and is clearly beginning to change. Wracked with guilt over his previous reaction Adam determines to help him. He finds Mick some hostel accommodation which he'll be able to get to in two days time. Seeing the chance to atone for his previous indifference Adam offers Mick the chance to stay at the vicarage, much to the dismay of Adam's put-upon wife Alex.

But as the episode draws to a close it's tragedy, rather than comedy, which begins to set in. Mick's hostel has its funding withdrawn and is no longer able to offer him a room. And Adam, deeply conflicted by his desire to help Mick and his duty to be fair to Alex, does not allow Mick to stay on. In a heartbreaking final scene a re-intoxicated Mick appears once more at Adam's door step offering a feebly transparent excuse in an attempt to get money to buy more crack. It's perhaps no coincidence that Adam prays more in this episode than almost any other.

That final scene is all the more poignant because of the way it contrasts with the scene immediately before it. Marcus, an investment banker has also been part of the St Saviour's AA group. He is almost cartoonishly unlikeable. He's arrogant, makes disparaging remarks about Colin / Mick due to their poverty, and gets thrown out of strip clubs. Even his last act of seeming compassion reveals the ruthless streak that has driven him to the top of his profession. During the programme Marcus also has a relapse, getting horribly drunk and taking drugs and it begins to look like he will never again try to recover. But somehow Marcus does recover, and ultimately reclaims his cool, calm and charismatic demeanour.

Tragically, the contrast between Mick and Marcus is all too true to life. More often than not, those who are financially secure and have a good relational network around them manage to weather the storms that come their way. In contrast those who are struggling financially, have low self esteem, or a poverty of relationships rarely seem to come through. Rev. is brave in exposing the cruel world in which we live, particularly with the subtlety it displayed last night. Hopefully Adam's struggle to determine the best way to help will inspire those who feel similarly to continue to seek ways to help those on the margins of our society.

Rev. - BBC2 Thursday, 9 pm.

Listen to a bunch of activists discussing big issues in their community and more often than not the same general concerns will usually crop up. So, over the last few weeks it's been startling to hear clear contrasts voiced between those working in the north (in Newcastle and Wakefield Anglican church diocese), and those down south (across South London, Kent and West Sussex, in Southwark diocese).

For the clergy, church leaders, community and youth workers meeting in Newcastle there was a sense of urgency tapered by exhaustion.

• “We’ve families with children growing up and parents not identifying any work, or opportunities…
• “You do demeaning tasks, with no contract, it’s £6.50 an hour…”
• “The erosion of industry and the impact of long-term unemployment is unrelenting.”

Despite the rhetoric about private sector jobs and manufacturing, the reality of Rio Tinto Alcan announcing closure of their Lynemouth factory in Northumberland with 500 redundancies highlighted anxiety about the lack of jobs.

• “There are lots of people who do want to work. But there aren’t any jobs. Those that do want to work have had their confidence knocked…”
• “Lack of opportunities with the decline of public sector and the service industry – even people who are very motivated and capable are struggling.”

Concerns were voiced about lack of work generating inertia…

• “At one time the area had 30,000 employees…Copper smith, riveter – craftsmen – doing what they trained, what they wanted to do… They don’t want to stack shelves…”
• “The ambition has gone with the closure of the pits and the docks and the shipbuilding.”
• “People are feeling stuck. There is a loss of ambition. Expectations are very low.”

And the impact at school and home.

• “The high school is disproportionally deprived. Kids lack aspirations… People need to aspire to more, to think about what they’re good at…”
• “It’s the hopelessness – it going to get worse for the poorer people… the safety net is being withdrawn.”
• “There is a resilience – people have got their issues, but they will also shrug their shoulders and get on… We didn’t riot.”
• “Volunteers are bringing all their social problems – redundancies, people with benefits withdrawn.”
• “The word chav seems to have been accepted and people who are being referred to seem to accept… We need to remember that there are people behind the description… we need to do the work to tell the story.”

Here was a group expressing deep concerns about the palpable sense of decline being felt across their communities, with dangerous consequences.

• “You hear racist comments – asylum seekers ‘come to sponge of the country…”
• “They’re sick of political parties. Mainstream parties withdraw from the debate about race.”
• “Round where we are, people are now thinking of going to BNP. People who would never have dreamt of voting that way are doing so…“ 

In Wakefield there was an equivalent sense of desperation.

• “It was a matter of days between announcement of cuts and actual cuts in services on the ground.”
• “Very easy for despondency to ensue, when the town centre is full of empty shops – there’s nothing in the town for a little light relief.”
• “The people who have moved out have had the initiative to move out.“
• “It’s very easy to get away with second best – it fits the aspirations of the town…”
• “People absorb the cuts – in some areas though this is stoicism rather than apathy…”

 This was about a further shift provoked by a combination of cuts and established manufacturing decline.

• “Destitution is on the increase – not just asylum seekers – previously middle-class ‘ordinary’ people are suffering…” 
• “People’s benefits are stopping and communication very poor – people don’t know when benefits are changed.  People find themselves suddenly without money and then find themselves getting into debt.”
• “There are people aching to get back to prison, for some stability.”
• “Cuts to EMA have been an enormous problem – its now harder for kids to choose to go into the 6th form – travel costs around here are huge.”

 In Southwark diocese, an area stretching across Kent, South London, Surrey and West Sussex, the concern was less about the immediate impact of cuts, but that the cuts were coming, there full blown impact imminent, but not a reality yet.

• “Destitution is there for a few. The largest employer is the council and the hospital…”
• “The public sector is in retreat – a school will close…
• “New people are moving into the area. Two or three thousand wealthy people in the area, using the station.” 
• “People are subletting – overcrowding is a huge problem.”
• “It’s the fear of unemployment. The fear of the cutbacks…”

I'm not saying grinding poverty of the sort relayed by community workers in the northeast isn’t significantly present in the southeast, across areas like Southwark diocese. Or that community activists in Southwark aren't swamped by need.

I'm noting that some anecdotal findings from grassroots activist indicate the combination of long term industrial decline, loss of manufacturing and now aggressive cuts in the public sector is widening and deepening poverty across large areas of the north.

The impact of the first round of cuts has been immediate, entrenching long-term problems associated with poverty. Meanwhile the shock wave is travelling south, yet to have quite the devastating impact in the southeast as reported up north. However, for the group in Southwark its very clear - the wave is coming, and the full impact of the cuts will be severe.

Today saw the launch of Near Neighbours at St John’s Bethnal Green.

Of course, many people already know about Near Neighbours.  At Church Urban Fund we have been working with our partners for over a year to develop the idea, share that idea with others and then secure the resources needed to turn it into action.  Over 100 people, many of who have an active role to play in the delivery of the programme gathered to ‘introduce to the public for the first time’ Near Neighbours.  And it felt good.

Often these events can be - and there is no easy way to say this - dull.  But today everyone in the room shared an infectious enthusiasm for a programme which will bring real change to four areas of England.

(Quick description - Near Neighbours aims to bring people together in diverse communities to help them to build relationships and collaborate to improve the community in which they live. Social action combining with social interaction).

Baroness Margaret Eaton, Chair of the Near Neighbours charity, set the tone with her contagious enthusiasm, before the Bishop of London described how Near Neighbours "will provide important evidence" of the contribution faith makes to the common good.  This clearly resonated with Ramesh Pattni who talked about the Hindu ethos of the ‘Universal Family’ of Man as people relate with friendship, trust and respect.  

But the real buzz in the room came as Bethnal Green resident Fulma Begum was interviewed by London Co-ordinator Tim Clapton on the difference Near Neighbours is making on her estate - local people taking the initiative to build and deepen relationships across faiths.

We then heard from Eric Pickles, who metaphorically rolled Near Neighbours down into the water saying ‘we are celebrating the next chapter of the same centuries-old, proud and unbroken tradition of people of faith giving back to their local communities’

So why did our launch event feel good?  Well it in itself it was just another programme launch.  But, I think the difference with Near Neighbours is that today a group of people met that are animated about what they do, motivated by their faith and feeling that they at the start of something that will be very important indeed for this country.

Why I send my Christmas Cards in November!

I got a Twitter message last week that said ‘Got my first Christmas Card today - from @timbissett and the nice people at CUF-seems caring for poor & disorganisation not always together!’

I’m pleased that caring for poor and disorganisation are not synonymous because caring for the poorest people in England is too important not to take very seriously indeed.

Why did I send my Christmas Cards out in November?  There are many reasons - but particularly I wanted to send a card with a message that churches can act upon before Christmas and to say ‘thank you’ at the same time. (This Christmas card went to every member of the Anglican clergy in England).  

My message is simple.  The church needs to act together if it is going to tackle poverty in England.  The news headline’s are shocking - unemployment, homelessness, riots - but at Church Urban Fund we remain committed to the firm belief that one day, through working together, every church in every community will join us to tackle poverty.

So - if you are still thinking about carol, crib or christmas services, check out www.cuf.org.uk/resources-churches to download prayers, reflections and other materials that might be just be useful.

Now, if I’d told you about this the week before Christmas - you’d have had no time to get organised.  Hence by Christmas Card in November!

We ought to be very proud about what is happening on the steps of St Paul’s Cathedral at the moment. It’s the politics of the people and if we are lucky it will be the shape of things to come. Vested interest, money, tense argumentative gatherings, principled objections and resignations are all what real politics are about. The impact has been positive in raising the issues. What needs to be demonstrated now is how those issues can be safely (and safely is important here) negotiated to some sort of positive and empowering conclusion.

Over the last thirty years, we have lost the art of politics. We have found ourselves imprisoned in a consensus that says markets know best, that the only response is simply that our future is determined by the playing out of market forces. Despite some of the brightest minds in the Church and beyond developing highly insightful critique there has not even been the slightest dent in the consensus. What has happened to us all is that we have slowly lost the art of doing politics – not the manipulative position-taking of Westminster – but the principled negotiation about how we live together peacefully and create relationships that let us all flourish.  

It’s good – even though it probably doesn’t feel like it to those involved – that the Chapter of St Paul’s has had such a public disagreement. Thank God there is at least one example where people can hold different views without violence or the false compromise of most of the stuff that passes for politics in our ‘democratic’ institutions. This is a real sign of hope in the changes we are seeing around us at present in the economy and wider society.

We live now in what can best be described as a market state in which the economy and our systems of government have merged into one. We see signs of this everywhere - in care homes and hospitals in the NHS, where quality of care is secondary to price, in the way the benefits of the very poorest are cut to bail out banks, in the way even very basic freedoms have to give way to financial considerations. On one level, of course, there is nothing wrong with markets - they give us what we need to get on with our lives and they appear the least oppressive way to distribute goods and resources. The flaw in the thinking is to believe that they can do everything.  If all of us are to flourish, markets must always be subject to the wider control of politics - here understood as the will of the people. This is a difficult thing to do - to be brave enough to ask difficult questions about what sort of world we want to live in and then see them though – and at St Paul's we have seen just that.

The real issue here, though, is the recognition that the Market State is focused around the single-minded pursuit of wealth. The ferocity of this pursuit of wealth has left us exhausted but it has also deprived us of the trust, the generosity and the compassion that really do underpin well-being in a good society. The whole structure of what we have at present in our society is aimed at keeping itself going and maintaining things much as they are. Most people are wary, pessimistic and cynical about where we are headed but still they wait in the hope that something or someone will come along to save them.  The way things gets challenged is through good quality politics - the negotiation of difference, the challenging of vested interests, the living our of principles and the recognition that it's values rather than money that makes us flourish – in fact just the sort of debate that has been going on in the Chapter at St Paul’s.

At Church Urban Fund we have realized that the only way this will come about is when people recognise that the future is in their hands. The idea that all we can do is wait for things to change is a recipe for more of the same. It's as people wrestle control back, and take seriously that it's only by their own agency that things will change, that we will begin to shape a better future. The issue is simple. We lack control: we need to take it back. We are up for this: come and join us.

Here are the notes that I used for a presentation that I gave to the Places of Worship Alliance yesterday.  I

Today I have been asked the question - how places of worship should be engaging as the Big Society idea is being translated into policy.

At the end of this talk I hope to have shown that our energies need to go into hospitality and transforming lives and building bodies of people committed to work for change.  That here we find we will find the building blocks of the big society.

I. Attention:

One of my favourite pastimes has been collecting the words of government ministers, Bishops, journalist and other commentators as they attempt to describe what is the Big Society.

Stephen Bubb CEO of National Association of the Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations said

The idea of the Big Society is a bit like the idea of the Holy Trinity: even when it's explained to you, you still don't really get it.

Toby Blume, CEO of Urban Forum said of the Big Society Policy that it was an attempt to marry State and Community.  He said it is ‘something old, something new and something borrowed and something …. Blue’

Lord Wei - The government first Big Society czar said, 

"The Big Society policies are about nurturing an ecosystem. I describe this as the Big Society coral reef ... it combines the seabed, which is the bedrock of our public services - to protect the vulnerable - and then the coral, which is represented by the many current and future providers of those services. Last but not least is the fish that feed in these waters, the local citizen groups that can extend, vivify and shape this landscape in ambitious, as well as humble, ways. No single part of this landscape can or should dominate, but by working together it comes to form a whole that is more than the sum of its parts."

Rt Revd Bishop John Pritchard, Bishop of Oxford

“Christians have always had a vision of Big Society, but we’ve called it the Kingdom of God”

“What is being missed is the recognition that what Cameron wants, the Church already does. He is walking on our territory without realising we have been there for years. It is what we do.” Rt Revd Nick Baines, Bishop of Bradford

Luke Bretherton, Theologian and adviser on the Big Society

“Whether they like it or not, in the eyes of the coalition government, [churches] are already enacting the big society policy agenda.”

II. Need:

So are we as churches doing the Big Society whether we like it or not?

Have Church and State come together in a timely marriage of shared understanding and a unification of the policy agenda?

It was the faith groups churches that started the first hospitals, schools, social welfare charities, hospices, homeless shelters and so on. ...  But can they do it today?  

...At a primary level this Big Society stuff is not a problem.   Visiting the housebound and elderly, engaging with young people, setting up networks of "flu friends" - all that is business as usual. ...  There are credit unions and food banks, street pastors and night shelters all over the country, run by the churches and other faith groups. 

...CUF has been supporting Big Society projects for 25 years.

We have over 5,000 examples of Church based Big Society projects…..

Narthex in St Johns the Evangelist, Birmingham – it has a weekly older people’s lunch club, parent and toddler group and homework club in the church hall as well as running a refugee advice drop-in and also a refugee foodbank in the church itself (using a shipping container on church grounds as storage facility).  www.narthex.org.uk

St Peters in Walworth, London – The crypt houses a community café, an IT suite and training facilities – it does significant work with young people and knife crime, afterschool clubs and homework clubs, parenting courses, food and gardening project - http://www.in-spire.org.uk/ 

Camborne Parish Church, Cornwall http://www.cambornechurch.org.uk/ Has set up Drop In and Share – a daily drop-in for homeless/addicts in local area (as a response to people hanging round in church yard) – police have reported a drop in petty crime whilst this is operating – it has also enabled them to renovate an outlying building (old school building/scout hut) into a training facility for ex-homeless.

 These are areas where the church is at it’s most effective.    We bodies of people -  churches - who are in relationship with one another extending their network of relationships out into the wider community.    Some call this kindness, some call it social action – others, dare I say, mission.    But it is all gospel work - sharing good news especially to the poor.

It's at tertiary level where things become more complex because a more sophisticated professionalism is needed and we run into problems of regulation and irregular funding.   However, in the Church, we have respected organisations working in counselling, adoption, homelessness, mental health, the empowerment of women and lots more.

But does this add up to what David Cameron envisages by Big Society? 

It depends on the nature of the contract he wants to make with the faith communities.   If there's a desire for partnership and funding support, then there's a wealth of experience and good will to tap into. 

But if we're being asked to fill the gap because the government has run out of money then it's likely to be no deal.

Churches can offer stable, committed volunteers all over the country. ...  In there DNA is a drive to engage others in what they do.

But they can't pretend to be the NHS or a social work department, nor must they. 

...So - We do the Big Society pretty well.

But should we collude with the Government agenda - the latest political fad?    I think that faith groups represent a movement that is far bigger than authors of the big society policies ever imagined.

Working with the Church of England and Church Urban Fund has developed a programme called Near Neighbours.

In a nutshell the idea is to bring people together who are near neighbours in communities that are diverse, so they can get to know each other better, build relationships as people and collaborate together on initiatives that improve the local community they live in.

...Social interaction - to develop positive relationships in multi-faith areas i.e. to help people from different faiths get to know and understand each other better.

Social action - to encourage people of different faiths, or no faith, to come together for initiatives that improve their local neighbourhood.  

What is key to the programme is that we are absolutely resolute to be distinctive in what and who we are.

Baroness Warsi ...‘Through the Government's £5m investment in the Church Urban Fund's Near Neighbours programme, we are putting our money where our mouth is - not through a top-down intervention but by using the existing infrastructure of the Church of England to build productive local relationships between people of different faiths in four key geographical target areas.   People of any religious background will be able to bid for that fund through their local Anglican parish, to run projects that improve their local neighbourhoods with people from all faiths working alongside each other.   The programme is an excellent example of partnership working.’

...But what of our buildings - our Places of Worship.    How do we use our assets to engage?

Well I offer two words through which we should filter our engagement… radical hospitality

...Our Places of Worship are exactly that – Places of Worship.    They are designed for that purpose – although many can do other things – either simultaneously or separately.  

Churches have a vital role to play today.  ...  We have other things – expertise, ideas, creative thinking, even (sometimes) money.

The key question is how we use them….   And particularly today how to we use our buildings.

We claim churches are rooted in the community, but how welcoming are we to the needs of the people we purport to serve?

I believe the lens we show use when looking to how we use our buildings is through this notion radical hospitality.

Hospitality, in every sense, generous and freely given, should be the key to how we envisage our buildings.   We want to be radical in demonstrating that the root of all we seek to be, and do, is found in the love of God.   The God whom we worship is alive and well in every human person.   God who knows no boundaries; He is present everywhere and is made known in the gift of loving wherever love is seen. 

Let’s be bold and imaginative in the ways we use our buildings – what can be done to create a network of welcome centres – centres for the arts, media, welfare, community, play – whatever we can turn our hand to.

...Are our places of worship welcoming and hospitable?    I guess some are and some aren’t.  

We are entering, I believe, a new season for the church and for all Places of Worship.    Through policies like the Big Society the government are knocking at our door.

The world is experienced by many as a place for strangers, where dislocation, fragmentation and even hostility are found all around.   But many long for a place where life can be lived without fear and where friendship is available with an open hand.

Radical hospitality means throwing open the door of our churches and saying – ‘you are welcome’.

Radical is "getting to the root" or "arising from the source." ...  One who is radically committed to something goes beyond the norm, exceeding ordinary expectations.    A practitioner of radical hospitality might go the extra mile, to "take welcoming the stranger to the max."

Hospitality has to do with the physical and with space.    Physical space as well as psychological and spiritual space.    The physical space is often more important than we give credit for.    When we enter a Place of Worship or a home or any public space we read the signals and signs that that space presents. ...  In the words of the Clash do we say to people entering a place of worship  - ‘Should I stay or should I go now?’

They key to reviving our buildings is to focus on the people who use them.  

...They are resources to be used for the transformation of live, community and to build that thing we call the Big Society.

Our buildings are where stories are made.    I want to see more Blue Plaques on our Places of Worship that tell the stories of those who use them and have used them.  

...So my call – as we bulid this Big Society – is that we are generous in offering our resources for all to use and are flexible in our view of ‘what’s right or wrong for a church building’.  

Who can use the building?    Classical music good, rock music bad, ceilidh good, rave bad, children's parties good, teenage parties well ..... of course not....

Are all welcome?

So – the Big Society, yes let’s do the Big Society and see it as an opportunity to be radially hospitable and build relationships in our needy world.    Our Places of Worship place us in a uniquely privileged position to welcome people and to be there for them.