Part 10. Social Responsibility: Theology and Engagement.

in 1996 I was elected to my local borough council. The council appointed me as its representative to the local Churches' Social Responsibility Group, an ecumenical body and a registered charity independent of any organisation.

Thus began my interest and involvement in social responsibility issues in a faith context.  In time I became secretary, then chairman and finally a part-time paid project developer. 

Underpinning my engagement was the belief that Christians are commanded to love our neighbour. How does this relate to social responsibility? What is the theology? What does it mean in terms of action?

My starting point was a Church of England report published in 1985 entitled Faith in the City. Sadly the disturbing evidence it presented of life for many in major cities has not changed significantly in the years that followed. Injustice, poverty, bad housing, poor education, inadequate medical facilities et al still feature in areas of deprivation and are not limited to cities. Pockets of deprivation exist in many urban and rural areas.

Other influences on my opinions have been the works of the economist JK Galbraith, the work of The Salvation Army and the impact of Liberation Theology on the Roman Catholic Church.

When I read Faith in the City one paragraph (3.7) reflected my own experience then and now.

Yet while many members of the Church of England have generally found it more congenial to express their discipleship by helping individual victims of misfortune or oppression, fewer are willing to rectify injustices in the structures of society. There is a number of reasons for this preference for 'ambulance work'. No-one minds being cast in the role of protector and helper of the weak and powerless: there is no threat here to one's superior position of free decision. But to be a protagonist of social change may involve challenging those in power and risking the loss of one's own power. Helping a victim or sufferer seldom involves conflict; working for structural change can hardly avoid it. Direct personal assistance to an individual may seem relatively straightforward, uncontroversial and rewarding, involvement in social issues implies choosing between complicated alternatives and accepting compromises which seem remote from any moral position. We have little tradition of initiating conflict and coping with it creatively. We are not at home in the tough  secular milieu of social and political activism.

Before considering this passage it is my plan to consider other influences on me. In the next part: The Salvation Army.

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