A call to action!

 

Churches are engaged in sterling work in so many ways to assist people that it is putting a strain on them both in terms of people and finance.   The situations  individuals find themselves in are the most difficult for many years.  Who would have thought twenty years ago that great numbers of the population have to rely on foodbanks and warm areas.  It would have been unthinkable then  to suggest  that the basics of food and appropriate shelter have  to be provided by the voluntary sector for so many.  The state is failing in its duty and that needs calling out in the strongest terms.

There will  be the need always  for voluntary organisations to assist people, but it should not have to be for the very basics of life.  I have witnessed a long slow deterioration in so many ways : poor roads, housing provision, homelessness, NHS creaking, utilities failing, poverty as bad as ever (and destitution much worse).  To my mind it is no wonder that people are turning away from the main political parties.  Brexit was a warning about the discontent of large sections of the population. Reform is giving that discontent an organised political voice.  

How is the position to be remedied, or are we past a point of no return?  I so hope not.  It's clear to me that we need systemic change, to change our priorities, to advance the claims of the  have-nots.  The Reform Party is not the answer.  Churches are on the ground and well-versed in the tensions in communities, of peoples' fears and aspirations.  They are well-placed to speak with authority on the issues and champion the cause of the poor, deprived and  marginalised.  The pillars of helping individuals and social justice are  biblical concepts in the Old and New Testaments.  But where in the churches is the dynamic to drive a campaign for change?   Sadly I do not see it.  I do so hope ++Sarah   will steer the Church of England towards an emphasis on pastoral care and the example of Jesus.

Peter Hobbs comments:  

John, I agree with much of what you’ve said. It is a source of shame that food, warmth and shelter — the basics of life — are now routinely being provided by churches and voluntary organisations. That should never have become normal. It represents a profound failure of the state.

Where I think the tension sits is here: the institutional church itself has become part of the stabilising machinery of government. It is protected, sanctioned, and relied upon precisely because it absorbs social strain without fundamentally challenging the system that produces it. That protection comes with limits.

As an institution, the church is not structurally free to drive systemic change. Those within it who try to do so — who name root causes, challenge policy, or threaten stability — tend to become liabilities. They are managed, marginalised, or pushed out. Not because they lack faith or compassion, but because institutions prioritise continuity and survival. In that sense, the absence of a dynamic for real change in the churches is not accidental. It is structural.

That doesn’t diminish the gospel. It clarifies the difference between the church as an institution and the body of Christ.

Biblically, justice, care for the poor, and truth-telling are non-negotiable. But historically, those movements have rarely been led by protected institutions. They have emerged from communities of believers acting beyond institutional control — people willing to risk security, status, and approval in order to follow Jesus faithfully.

So the question may not be “why aren’t the churches driving change?” but “where is the body of Christ willing to act without institutional cover?”

Real hope lies there. In organised communities of conscience. In believers who refuse to let charity replace justice. In people prepared to hold power to account even when it costs them position or protection.

That, to me, is what it means to follow Jesus now — not waiting for institutions to move, but becoming the church in action, aligned with the poor rather than with power.