The best reason for keeping Christian distinctiveness

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I bet everyone reading this knows a charity or community project which was started by the church, but which over time lost its connection with the faith which birthed it.

When you dig into the history of so many charities, whether related to children, youth work, older people, food poverty, debt advice or people with disabilities, the Christian faith has so often been the original driving inspiration. The homeless sector, in which I have worked for 30 years, is full of charities which were started by churches.

But frequently, the overt aspects of faith gradually become sidelined, minimised, neglected and eventually lost. This means that many charities frequently end up becoming disconnected from the beliefs which started the work in the first place. The fruits become detached from their roots.

Secular drift

Maintaining a Christian ethos has been a key theme of my work in the various charities I have worked for over the last 20 years. It is a complex issue which involves many different factors and questions that need to be faced with courage and sensitivity:

• Theological conviction: do we believe in the importance of being distinctive?
• Professionalism: is faith compatible with running a high quality service?
• Inclusivity: are ‘exclusive’ commitments compatible with inclusive practices?
• Funding: will our funders allow us to be overt about faith?
• Human Resources Law: are we allowed to recruit & manage on a faith basis?
• Practical: can prayer & other practices be incorporated alongside our work?

My experiences, in both large and small charities and working for the government, tell me that positive answers can be found to all these questions.

But upholding a Christian distinctiveness requires conviction and courage because the tide runs in a secular direction. If we are not committed to keeping our distinctiveness, then it will be lost.

And whilst the issues of governance, management, law and funding are all relevant, there is one factor that is more important than any other: believing in the relevance of the Christian faith to the people we are seeking to help.

Critical

In 2013 the social research agency Lemos & Crane published the report Lost & Found which interviewed homeless people about their views on faith and spirituality. It was the first time that independent evidence was produced about how people who were homeless viewed faith.

The report’s author, Carwyn Gravell, was an atheist, so this could not be dismissed as religious propaganda. But despite his own beliefs, Gravell was critical of the ‘secular orthodoxy’ in the homeless sector:

‘Faith and spirituality is a dimension of life that is largely ignored within the philosophy of mainstream service provision, regarded as irrelevant, or as a private matter best avoided, and even perceived by some in the sector with suspicion and outright hostility.’ (p.20)

And the report contrasted this with what they found about the benefits of faith:

‘For homeless people, religious belief, practice and doctrine can help them come to terms with a past that is often characterised by profound emotional and material loss, enhance and give structure to the present where time hangs heavy for many, and create a purposeful future built on hope, fellowship and a sense of purpose.’ (p.5)

Hope. Fellowship. Purpose. What better things are there to help someone find?

Integrated

And this is what most excites me about working for Hope into Action. More than ever, I believe that faith and spirituality are complementary to the steps of recovery away from homelessness and associated issues of addiction, offending or trauma.

We now have 129 homes for people who have been homeless in our network and each is partnered with a local church who offer friendship and support to our tenants. This offer of local community is very different to just professional support alone. It’s what makes our approach different.

Susie’s story

Of course, the best way to describe this is to hear from someone directly affected. Susie is someone who has experienced domestic violence, drug addiction, street homelessness and prison.

Please watch this 3 minute film about how the local church have helped her in her recovery journey:

• For more about Hope into Action
• Christian distinctiveness is one theme of this longer article about the future of Christian social action: Challenging Power, Changing Practice & Deepening Spirituality