News Round Up

Street Pastors hit the streets of Manchester

Churches in Manchester have launched a new scheme to combat inner-city problems - by simply engaging with people on the street.

It's called Manchester Street Pastors, and it was pioneered in London by the Rev Les Isaac, whose Street Pastors in London have now been running for a year.

Teams of Street Pastors patrol the London streets at night, from 10pm to 4am. "We are aiming at how can we prevent young men in particular picking up the gun, picking up the drugs, going into gangs. We are aiming at that, because we believe that these young men who find themselves in these areas ultimately not only become a danger to themselves but to their community and to society."

Chief Supt Neil Wain, of the Greater Manchester Police, has endorsed Street Pastors: "Real change occurs where the community mobilize themselves and get involved. I am very keen to support this initiative". He adds, "As a member of the Christian Police Association and a serving officer I not only believe this will assist the police in tackling this problem but will demonstrate real Christian concern and practical support for those people who find themselves involved in gangs and gun crime".

Chief Inspector John Graves, Greater Manchester Police, says: "We are obviously keen to support any initiative from the community, especially those initiatives that divert young people away from gun crime and gang related violence".

The training of the Manchester Street pastors will start this month (June) after which the first Street Pastors will hit the streets of Moss Side this summer. The training is multifaceted and concerns amongst other conflict resolution, drugs awareness, social historic development of the inner city and counselling skills.

Parts of the training will be given by GMP, Manchester University and Social Services.

Chief Inspector John Graves adds, "We are pleased to assist in making this a safe and productive training programme. We need to see positive role models on the streets, who have credibility".

Community leader Paul Keeble from CARISMA says, "Churches talk about 'Good News', about serving and caring for people. 'Street Pastors' is an opportunity to be that 'Good News'!"

Notes:

·                                 The launch of Street Pastors took place on Wednesday 28th April in Holy Trinity Platt, Platt Lane, Rusholme.

·                                 The initiative was set up by local churches with support from CARISMA and the Ascension Trust

·                                 A Street Pastor is a Church leader/minister or member of the congregation who shares a concern for society - particularly young people who have found themselves disenfranchised and/or marginalized from society - and who is willing to engage young people where they are at, in terms of their thinking (i.e. their perspective of life) and location (i.e. where they hang out – be it on the streets, in the pubs and clubs or at parties etc).

For more information see www.carisma.me.uk

Christian organisations have become 'more professional'

Christian organisations in the UK are increasingly making use of the latest technological developments, according to the new 2004/2005 edition of the UK Christian Handbook.

59% of agencies have a website (compared to 46% 2 years ago). 77% of agencies have an email address, compared with 67% 2 years ago. Hundreds have changed their email address and most now have an address related to the name of their organisation.
 
The Handbook, which was launched at The London Book Fair, shows that between 2001 and 2003 370 new agencies started, but 470 closed or merged. Interestingly the ones that close are most likely to have started between 20 and 40 years ago.
 
Although there are slightly fewer organisations, there is a higher percentage with full-time staff, up from 79% in 2001 to 81% in 2003. This means a higher number of employees, up 6% from 77,500 in 2001 to 82,100 in 2003 - an average of 19 people in agencies which employ at least one person.

More and more Christian organisations are registered with the Charity Commission. 20 years ago in 1982 only two-fifths, 41% were registered Charities, now it is three-fifths, 61%.

What is the Christian organisation market worth? According to the income or turnover of those listed, and extrapolating for the half who don't give this figure, then in 2003 it was £2.3 billion.

This figure is deceptive, however, as a very few organisations make up the bulk of it. Half of those in the Handbook have an income in five figures, that is, under £100,000, with a further fifth between £100,000 and £249,000 and another fifth between £250,000 and a million. Only 3.3% have a turnover over £2 million.

The total income increased at almost twice the rate of inflation between 2001 and 2003, with income up 8.8% against inflation of 4.6%. Something seems to be going right in the Christian scene!

If you have not yet bought a copy of the Handbook you can purchase one in several ways:

1.                               on the Christian Research website www.christian-research.org

2.                               by phone from Christian Research on 020 8294 1989

3.                               your local Christian bookshop should also be able to get it for you if they do not have it in stock

Church grows at 67,000 people a day

Around the world the church is growing – and at what seems the huge rate of 67,000 people every single day, reports Dr Peter Brierley of Christian Research. That's the estimate made by American researcher Dr David Barrett in a recent publication. That number is about the size of towns like Shrewsbury, Guildford, Harrogate or Weston-super-Mare. Almost half of this growth, 45%, is taking place across the continent of Africa.

However this growth needs to put alongside the average increase in the world population every day, which is about 190,000 people. So those born into Christian families are only just over a third, 35%, of the total. There are still a lot of people who need to be reached with the good news that Jesus Christ came to save them.

A challenge to Britain's 'careless' church

"I am delighted the church is exploring fresh ways of expressing its life - and doing things differently." That was the message from Church Army's George Lings to the 20th National Christian Resources Exhibition (CRE) – in May, at Sandown Park, Esher.

Forty per cent of adults in England and Wales have left the church in their lifetime. Mr Lings, Director of Church Army's Sheffield Centre, calls this: "an extraordinary volume of water to lose out of the church bath. It looks distinctly careless. Yet half of this de-churched group is open to return, if we find them and get our act together." At CRE, Lings introduced the exhibition's major theme Future Church - a stream of lectures on radical new expressions of church .

The initiative comes hard on the heels of Mission-Shaped Church, a report presented to General Synod earlier this year, which asks searching questions about how the church relates to networks, local communities and diversities of cultures.

"Our call is to infiltrate a society moving away from - and out of touch with - church," says Mr Lings. He will show some new expressions of church - and how Christians can learn from them, however fragile and vulnerable they may be.

"With high mobility and multi-media communication, people's relationships and circles of community are built more around work, recreation, sport and interests, than the neighbourhood where they sleep," say Bob and Mary Hopkins, of Anglican Church Planting Initiatives. How we engage in mission in these contexts - and how we create fresh expressions of church to meet new needs - was the subject of the Hopkins' seminar.

'Church of Fools' launched at the CRE

The world's first 3D online church service took place on the opening day of the 20th National Christian Resources Exhibition in May (Tue 11 May).

Conceived by UK web magazine shipoffools.com, and built by hi-end web production company Specialmoves, the initiative aims to make Christian worship accessible to web surfers who may never darken the doors of their local church.

'While some websites help people meditate and pray, no-one has built an interactive 3D church environment before - complete with gothic arches and hard wooden pews,' explained Simon Jenkins, editor of shipoffools.com.

From a remote location, a real-life priest will log on and appear on screen as a cartoon character. Using a keyboard and connected via the internet, he or she will move around the church, welcome the congregation, lead the service from a lectern, introduce hymns, then preach from a pulpit to people sitting in rows of pews.

"In different parts of the world, the congregation, too, will log on and become cartoon characters - and see each other on-screen," said Simon Jenkins. "They'll choose a pew to sit in, introduce themselves to other worshippers through speech bubbles, 'sing' a hymn, listen to the sermon, chat to each other afterwards, perhaps pray together. They'll even be invited to put something in the collection plate - via SMS on mobile phones!"

Hundreds of invisible 'lurkers' will be able to watch the service as well - and participate in a chat room discussion afterwards.

The idea came out of the web magazine's successful internet game show, The Ark, during which 12 Bible heroes and villains were successively voted off Noah's famous floating zoo - Big Brother-style. More sailings are planned.

The church is being constructed by London-based Specialmoves who create cutting-edge interactive sites for the likes of Vivendi Universal and MTV.

"When Future Church was chosen as the main focus for this year's National CRE, we considered it an ideal place to unveil this pilot project," said Steve Goddard, co-editor of shipoffools.com. "It picks up the challenge of Archbishop Rowan Williams' 'mission-shaped' initiative - to create new church expressions for Generation X-Box."

Now established as one of the most popular religious sites on the web, shipoffools.com, the self-styled magazine of Christian unrest, attracts more than two million page requests each month from more than 80,000 people. It recently concluded a hugely-successful campaign with the Methodist Church encouraging 20 and 30-year-olds to offer suggestions for an 11th Commandment.

The online church runs as a pilot from May to July 2004.

"The full costs of creating the environment have still to be met," said Steve Goddard. "So the project's future depends on finding enthusiastic sponsors. Long term, we hope to work with the established church in creating a structure that reflects the type of person attracted to the environment."

Government must carry out further research on child poverty

A parliamentary committee has called for further research on child poverty after hearing evidence from Christian charity CARE.
 
Fiscal consultants to CARE drew attention to the fact that the tax credit system discriminated against children living in two-parent families. Children living in two-parent families were left in poverty whereas children living in comparable lone-parent families were lifted out of poverty.

Expert witnesses accepted that CARE's analysis was correct, leading the committee to accept that the issue was not 'straightforward' and to call on the Government to undertake further research over the next two years.

A spokesman for CARE explained: "CARE is not against lone parent families but the statistical evidence presented to the Committee did show that tax credits are harsh on couples. The Government has said that support should be based on family need not family structure – this is not what is happening."

He added, "The Committee in their report has drawn attention to a Government statement in 1998 that marriage provides the most reliable framework for raising children.  If this were true, one would expect the Government to support marriage, or at least not discriminate against two-parent families. The figures show that some couples would be better off living apart than living together - even when savings associated with sharing housing costs are taken into account."

The bias against two-parent families arises because the tax-credit system gives the same amount of money to a lone-parent as to a two-parent family even though they have more mouths to feed.

Nots: CARE is a registered Christian charity which seeks to combine practical caring initiatives with public policy on social and ethical issues. CARE's vision is the transformation of society and it carries this out by caring, campaigning and communicating.

'Pavement project' for street children

A pioneering project has been launched to bring hope to some of the estimated 150 million street children worldwide.

'Pavement Project' is the result of four years' research by Scripture Gift Mission into the psychology of traumatized children living on the street. Christian street workers used findings to develop a 'Big Green Bag' containing pictures, activities and Bible stories that summon a sense of value and self-worth among even the most troubled children.

PP has already been tested in 6 countries and works with established street ministries and organizations to train workers how to take a child through the pack's therapeutic process. Resources are used one-on-one with children in day centres, shelters and out on the streets and have been written in seven languages so far.

Said one child who used it, "It's as if a thorn was removed from me. I'm like the lost sheep, searched for and cared for again."

Best investment results for four years

CHURCH COMMISSIONERS: ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2003

In 2003 the Church Commissioners achieved their best investment results for the last four years, reflecting the recovery in stock markets since last spring, and another good year for property.

There were positive returns in all asset classes and the fund saw a total return of 17.0% (-9.3% in 2002). Assets were worth £3.9 billion (£3.5 billion) at the end of the year. This return was in line with that recorded by the WM All Funds Universe.

Over the last 10 years the Commissioners have achieved an average annual total return of 10.2% against an average of 6.4% for comparable funds, and 5.2% compared with an average 1.9% over the last five years – an outperformance of more than three percentage points each year over both periods. 

"Over five-year and ten-year periods the Commissioners' fund has outperformed the WM All Funds Universe average by 3% p.a.", said First Church Estates Commissioner, Andreas Whittam Smith.  "These results show the long-term benefit of investing in a broad range of asset classes as well as of exploiting opportunities within them.  The Commissioners' property holdings have been a big contributor to this result." 

Supporting the Church's ministry

The Commissioners continue to provide significant support for the Church's ministry, especially in areas of need and, over the last two years, the parish mission fund has given dioceses extra resources for parish ministry: £3.5 million in 2003.  The Commissioners' total expenditure in 2003 was £164.0 million (£165.6 million).  Transitional help with the cost of clergy pension contributions continued to taper off as planned, and administrative/restructuring costs have also been reduced, but spending increased in all other areas.  It included:

·                                 £100.2 million (£97.7 million) for clergy pensions

·                                 £3.7 million (£8.1 million) transitional help for dioceses and parishes with the cost of clergy pension contributions

·                                 £26.4 million (£25.5 million) for parish ministry, mainly payments to dioceses for clergy stipends

·                                 £17.8 million (£17.2 million) for bishops' stipends, office and working costs, and housing

·                                 £6.1 million (£6.0 million) for stipends of cathedral clergy and grants to cathedrals, mainly for staff salaries

·                                 £9.8 million (£11.1 million) for administration and restructuring costs, support for other Church bodies and church buildings

Looking ahead

* The triennial actuarial review found that, thanks to their recent investment performance, the Commissioners can modestly increase spending in real terms in 2005-07 as well as meeting their pension obligations. This will enable them to provide a steady pattern of support over the coming years.

* The year also saw a review of the Commissioners' spending pattern jointly with the Archbishops' Council. Synod debated the issues in February this year and the work will continue in specific areas.

New research shows 42% say that Churches should be funded by the State

Four out of ten Britons ( 42%) think that local churches should receive funding from the State through central taxation, says an Opinion Research Bureau (ORB) survey.

A smaller proportion, one in four, (24%) believes that the Church already receives such funding from central Government.  One in six (16%) also believe that local taxes ought to contribute to the Church's costs, meaning that over half believe that taxation of some kind ought to bear some of the Church's costs.  Young adults as well as older ones, Christians, those of other faiths and no faith all feel similarly.

Unlike some of our European neighbours (e.g. France, where maintenance of historic churches built before 1904 is carried out by the state, or Germany where church taxes are charged), the Government does not provide automatic funding for churches in use.

Certainly some help is available, and that which is received is welcome. Charitable tax relief is available on donations and listed places of worship can now claim a rebate for  the full cost of their VAT on repairs carried out after 1 April this year, through  the much-valued Listed Places of Worship Grants Scheme. The equally valuable grants scheme for repairs to listed places of worship, operated by English Heritage and the Heritage Lottery Fund is limited in its annual budget and demand consistently exceeds the funds available. In addition, English Heritage provide not only the infrastructure to deliver the grant system, but also considerable technical and professional expertise. This may be supplemented by (generally smaller) grants from voluntary trusts. New works to churches for community purposes may attract other sources of grant, but the task of funding, fundraising and making applications for the Church falls largely upon the regular congregation, and mainly from the donations of regular worshippers who make up the bulk of regular givers.

Yet the survey also confirms that churches are used and valued far more widely than by their regular worshipping congregations alone.

The research asked a sample of adults about the reasons why they went into a church (or place of worship) in the previous year. Nearly nine out of ten adults in Great Britain have been to a church or place of worship  once in the previous year. Reasons for their visits include finding quiet space, for weddings, baptisms and funerals and for community purposes, as well as for regular services of worship.

Six in ten adults have attended a funeral in a church building. Three in ten adults have attended memorial services.

Five in ten adults have attended a wedding in church (or a place of worship), and four in ten have attended a baptism, the same number as attended a service of worship at Christmas. Only slightly fewer, three in ten adults, said they had attended a service of worship at other times of year. Two in ten adults have visited a church or place of worship seeking a quiet space and this rises to four in ten in inner city areas or city centres.  In fact, nearly three-quarters of adults see churches and chapels as quiet places or sanctuaries in the community.

The number of people who have attended a community event in a church (or place of worship) is two in ten in rural areas and one in six nationally. These include concerts and theatrical events. Nearly one in five (17%) had been to such an event, and over one in five in rural areas.

The survey will help churches to understand how best to serve the needs of these different visitors. For example, inner city churches choosing how and when to open can maximise their availability to people looking for a quiet space. Many will hope that some who visit for one reason will also discover other reasons for visiting church. The Church can also direct its effort at meeting the needs of those who attend for the broad range of reasons, for example by supporting clergy in their ministry to those attending funerals and other rites of passage. The churches need to find ways of being there for those who are "walking past churches and felt the need to go in," as over one in ten in the survey said  - and more than two in ten of those of non-Christian faith and people living in city centres.

The survey also confirms the strong place which the church buildings play in the community, especially perhaps in rural and inner city areas. Rural communities were seen as strong foci for cultural events: city centre churches for social meeting places.

Notes

This survey is about the use of churches in Great Britain, across all the denominations. The number of regular Christian worshippers across all denominations in Great Britain is believed to be around 6 million.

The Church of England's churches and cathedrals provided more than 443,200 rites of passage in 2002 including 158,100 baptisms and thanksgivings, 60,800 marriages and blessings of civil marriages and 224,300 funerals. Attendance levels at marriages and funerals are not recorded.

Opinion Research Business interviewed a sample of 1,004 adults aged over 18 in a survey undertaken for the Church of England and English Heritage. Interviews were conducted by telephone between 15 and 19 October 2003 across the country, and the results have been weighted to be representative of all adults.

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