Photo by Taufiq Klinkenborg on Pexels.com Earlier this week, I participated in a conference organised by Westminster City Council at Bloomsbury Baptist Church which focused on the growing problem of people from Eastern Europe sleeping rough in London. It is one of the most pressing issues in homelessness at the moment as almost all day centres… Continue reading In the eye of the storm: churches are still at the forefront of addressing homelessness
Category: Homelessness
Why acceptance isn’t enough – a reflection on the nativity and homelessness
Photo by Phuc Tran on Pexels.com Christmas is an important time for homeless projects and every year I speak briefly at a handful of concerts and services. This is (roughly) what I said at the beginning of the second half of Divertimento choir's wonderful fundraising concert for us. "Yesterday I was at the Salvation Army… Continue reading Why acceptance isn’t enough – a reflection on the nativity and homelessness
Helping the homeless become addicts?
Photo by Nataliya Vaitkevich on Pexels.com Every day I work to support people who are homeless or have addictions. I sometimes hear this described as ‘helping people integrate back into mainstream (or ‘normal’) society. At this point I am torn – enabling people to participate in families and stable work or friendship circles is an… Continue reading Helping the homeless become addicts?
Charter for Christian Homeless Agencies
Over the last three months I have been working with many others within the Housing Justice network and the Christian Homeless Forum to develop a 'Charter for Christian Homeless Organisations'. A common challenge For many Christian agencies working with homeless and vulnerable people there is a challenge about how the Christian basis of our work… Continue reading Charter for Christian Homeless Agencies
The best speaker at Greenbelt 2011
The Greenbelt festival got off to a bad start for me as I rather unwisely told my two boys (Danny, 8 and Tom, 6) to 'go and explore the site' while we put up the tent. Three hours later I began to be a bit worried about where they had got to. I was relieved and very… Continue reading The best speaker at Greenbelt 2011
10 second poll: Do you give money to people who are begging?
I am at the Greenbelt festival this weekend and I am speaking in a debate on the following motion: 'This house believes that giving money to people begging does more harm than good'. I'll let you guess whether I am speaking for or against the motion (for clues see this article) but to help could you… Continue reading 10 second poll: Do you give money to people who are begging?
Cash for prayers: how Morris Cerullo profits from the poor
Yesterday a homeless man that I have got to know through my work showed me a letter that he had just received from Morris Cerullo, the infamous TV evangelist. It was titled 8 Weeks - 8 Blessings of Superabundance To Meet 8 Specific Needs in Your Life. In the 6-page letter, Cerullo asks the recipients to complete an… Continue reading Cash for prayers: how Morris Cerullo profits from the poor
When helping the homeless doesn’t help
Third Way magazine have published an article I have written about the complexities of Christian action with homeless people (it is an abridged version of the longer Grace and Truth article) Church-based activists seeking to serve the homeless have been criticised as naive do-gooders by their state-funded counterparts. JON KUHRT argues that the complex realities of… Continue reading When helping the homeless doesn’t help
Time to change the script from doling out soup
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com The Church Times have published a revised version of my article on soup runs. A threat to ban soup runs for homeless people in Westminster has led to acrimony. Better co-ordination is required, says Jon Kuhrt. Passionate debates about how best to help homeless people are nothing new. People sleeping… Continue reading Time to change the script from doling out soup
Grace + Truth 