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Building Faith in Our Future (Church of England, 2004)hot!
- 20.05.2006
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Churches and other places of worship have been integral to this country’s history and development. They play a central part in today’s community. We aim: 1) to celebrate church buildings and the achievements of volunteers who maintain them; 2) to awaken greater understanding of how church buildings contribute to the community; 3) to seek partnership to sustain those achievements for the future. And we invite support from Government Departments, Regional Development Agencies and local authorities And all our partners – English Heritage, the Heritage Lottery Fund, national amenity societies, and many others involved in cultural, community or educational work of all kinds. Church buildings are often the oldest in a settlement that are still in continual use. Even in industrial or twentieth-century settlements, they are a focus. Many churches – and cathedrals particularly – are the largest, most architecturally complex, most archaeologically sensitive, and most visited buildings in their village, town or city. But the historic environment is not a collection of grand set pieces, with no relevance to the lives of ordinary people. A good local environment enables creativity, self-worth, and a deeper quality of life.
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Churches Community Value Toolkit for C of E parisheshot!
- 23.05.2006
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Commission on Urban Life and Faith website at 18 May 2006hot!
- 18.05.2006
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Terms of reference for the Commission on Urban Life and Faith issued by the Urban Bishops’ Panel: 1) to examine and evaluate progress made by both Church and Nation in improving the life of those living in urban areas; 2) to identify and articulate the significant changes in urban communities that have resulted from deindustrialisation, population movements and the impact of globalization; 3) To reflect on the challenge which God may be making to the Church and Nation; 4) to offer a vision of urban society, and the church’s presence and witness in it, at the beginning of the twenty-first century; 5) to make recommendation to the appropriate bodies. The Purpose was described as ‘to promote a vision of urban life which analyses and addresses the realities of its glories, injustices and needs’. The Aims were defined as 1) to discern and promote a positive vision of urban society, and the churches’ presence and witness within it; 2) to identify and celebrate strategies and approaches that churches and other faith communities have developed since Faith in the City that have made a positive contribution to communities and which are models of good practice; 3) to listen to and work with the stories of those in marginal situations across faith, generations, culture and ethnicity in order to make a positive impact on the future of urban life and faith; 4) to make recommendations about active citizenship in relation to the flourishing of civil society and the future development of our cities; 5) to identify the consequences of taking urban ministry seriously, especially in areas of poverty, in order to make recommendations to the churches and others.
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Faith in the City. A call for action by Church and Nation (1985)hot!
- 20.05.2006
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In the autumn of 1985 the report, Faith in the City. A Call to Action by Church and Nation, was published by the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Commission on Urban Priority Areas. The report came in the wake of much concern about what was happening in British inner city and outer council housing estate communities. Faith in the City was crucial in sparking new awareness of the emerging gaps in society, gaps which had become painfully apparent in the riots of the summers of 1981 and 1985.
Historically the Commission met during what was the first half of Margaret Thatcher’s second term of office as Prime Minister. There had been little explicit policy change during her first term in office regarding urban regeneration. What the report designated as ‘Urban Priority Areas’ did however feel the harsh end of other policies as unemployment increased, public spending and taxation were reduced and a change in approach to the welfare state initiated. The policies which put the market to the fore were beginning to take effect, it was claimed that the ‘slump years’ were over as inflation reduced and privatisation caught the public imagination. Many of the problems highlighted stemmed from changes in society which could be associated with the demise of traditional industry. Other factors identified included estate design; institutional racism; poor quality housing; and lack of investment in educational and social services.
Duncan Forrester saw a vital connection between the vision of the report for the nation and its thinking concerning the Church: ‘Only when the Church is serious about setting its own house in order can it call on the state to do justly and love mercy’. Faith in the City put some vital markers on the Church of England’s agenda. Concern was expressed at the level of church attendance, the failure of congregations to play a leading role in community life, the cultural gap emerging between perceived Church life and UPA people and the failure of theological education to prepare ministers for the needs and dynamics of UPA parishes. The report carried recommendations about the training and selection of UPA people for ministry and a UPA input in all theological training, the establishment of a mechanism for the promotion of Black Anglican Concerns, and the review of policies concerning education, building use and social responsibility. Faith in the City lead to the establishment of the Church Urban Fund to ‘strengthen the Church’s presence and promote the Christian witness in urban priority areas’.
In the nearly twenty years since the report’s publication the many of the problems faced by inner city and outer estate communities have failed to disappear. At the same time changes in industry, employment, migration, local government and programmes from central government, have lead to a very different scene in which the churches now engage. In 2003 the Commission on Urban Life and faith was established to report on the twentieth anniversary of Faith in the City on the new contexts and challenges that exist in our towns and cities.
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Faithful Cities. A Call for celebration... Report of the Commission on Urban Life and Faith 2006hot!
- 23.05.2006
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Faithful Cities endeavours to look at what is happening to and in our town and cities. In 1985 the report Faith in the City threw down a challenge to the church and nation to understand what was happening in poor communities across England, and the need for the church to engage fully with the lives of those communities and congregations. Twenty years later much has changed, the new report offers an opportunity to take stock of those changes and ‘to discern and promote a positive vision of urban society, and the churches’ presence and witness within it’. Faithful Cities , the report of the Commission on Urban Life and Faith, is published to help churches, community groups, planners, politicians and all who are concerned about our towns and cities begin to talk together about our urban future.
But I don’t live in a big city…
Faithful Cities is about the places we live and the way our lives are changing. Thinking about cities, towns and other urban communities has involved us in thinking about citizenship, about politics and the challenges God’s open future poses us as disciples.
The research for the report took place across a wide range of communities: from former mining villages and seaside towns to the large metropolises we usually think about when we hear the word ‘urban’. Vital concerns of the commission were the issues of human flourishing and how do people live together, what makes a good place to live? ‘Regeneration’ covers a broad range of activities (economic, social, cultural, housing, inclusion etc) across communities whether they are rural, urban, former industrial villages or seaside communities. Issues of urban growth are critical in some parts of the UK – if we don’t get things right the knock on effect for the smaller towns and villages, as well as the ecology of those regions will be disastrous. - Hits: 581