Church in Society RIP Again.

I have written to the Bishop of Tonbridge and the Archdeacon for Tonbridge as follows:

Dear Bishop Brian and Archdeacon

Below is a piece I put on my blog a few weeks ago:


‘The imminent demise of Church in Society (an independent charity underwritten by the Church of England Canterbury and Rochester Dioceses) is a sad development. It calls into question the commitment of the Church of England to tackle social responsibility issues at a strategic level. In the 1980s the Church of England published Faith in the City and Faith in the Countryside which were devastating critiques of the failure of government to tackle problems of social exclusion.

At a time when a draconian cut in public expenditure over a long period is inevitable it will be the voluntary sector (including faith organisations) which will have to pick up the pieces. The disappearance of an infrastructure organisation which could (a) support front-line work by churches, (b) campaign for policy changes, and (c) represent the Church on strategic partnerships in Kent, is an absolute disgrace.

The two dioceses have shunted social responsibility in to a siding. So far nothing has appeared in the public domain about how the two dioceses will ensure the continuation of the work of Church in Society. My guess is that the work will be farmed out, be fragmented and ineffectual.’

I spent the best part of fourteen years as either secretary, chairman or project developer for Tunbridge Wells Churches Social Responsibility Group and during all that time the organisation received support from CIS, in particular David Grimwood, Jane Winter and John Cunningham. To whom will TWCSRG (soon to be part of Tunbridge Wells Churches Together) turn for support, and in particular support that is authoritative and experienced in social responsibility matters?

The Group achieved a great deal in recent years including:

· A leading role in the development of Tunbridge Wells Community Plan
· A significant role in Tunbridge Wells becoming a Fairtrade town
· Worked hard to develop a credit union. The fruit of that work has been the very recent formation of Kent Savers Credit Union
· Helped establish the Good Neighbour Project in Tunbridge Wells
· Brought together churches of different denominations to work together on social responsibility issues
· Has supported Number One Community Trust, Sherwood Peoples Action, Tunbridge Wells Mental Health Resource, the Bridge Trust and Tunbridge Wells Street Teams.
· Played a leading role in the West Kent Community Legal Services Partnership


Had it not been for the support of CIS much of what has been achieved would not have happened.

I am appalled at the behaviour of the Rochester Diocese towards Tony Cross.

Currently I work in the voluntary sector and the sector has adapted to meet the challenges of reduced statutory funding. My feeling is that CIS should have been given the opportunity to produce a new business model to ensure its continuation.

Last September I was sounded out as to my availability to become a director of CIS. I assented to my name going forward, but heard no more. I have many years experience in the voluntary sector, including being chair of Voluntary Action West Kent, Vice-Chair of the Bridge Trust, Chair of Crossroads Carers, Chair of Number One Community Trust, Chair Allsorts Edenbridge Holiday Club, Chair Panda pre-School Playgroup and much more besides.

What I find objectionable is that no consultation has taken place with organisations or individuals who could have come up with a workable model.