Dear John
CALL ON THE CHURCHES TO LISTEN TO THE CRY OF THE POOR - ADD YOUR NAME NOW AT
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In the coming decade, it will be vital that the UK's churches take action
against poverty - and for the people who are trapped by it.
We are calling on the UK's churches, locally and nationally, to make a fresh
commitment: to speak truth to power about poverty; and to ensure that the church
is always on the side of people who have been swept to the margins.
Please join us in a collective act of witness: sending a clear message to all
the UK's Christian denominations. We invite all church leaders to add their
names to this open letter to the UK's churches:
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OUR MESSAGE TO THE UK'S CHURCHES
There is a pressing need to bring the deepening crisis of poverty, afflicting
many of our families and communities, to the centre of our life together as a
nation.
Brexit debates and the recent General Election have revealed and exacerbated
painful divisions in society. Far too many feel left behind, ignored and
marginalised. As local churches, we bear witness to these realities in
communities the length and breadth of the UK, and to the powerful currents that
continue to sweep so many into debt and destitution.
The Church cannot remain silent for as long as this situation continues to
exist. For us, this is a matter of faith: It is about responding to the gospel
priority to put the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable first.
As churches, we must redouble our efforts not just to alleviate the symptoms of
poverty, but to call out the root causes, systems and structures which ensare so
many in poverty today.
At local level, we commit to becoming genuinely part of a 'church at the
margins' where those on the margins of society feel welcomed, where their
God-given dignity is recognised, and where their talents, hopes and visions for
the future are celebrated and affirmed.
At national level, we call on our church institutions to commit to the task of
becoming a true church at the margins and to properly resource this, as a
genuine expression of the gospel priority for the poorest and most vulnerable.
Above all, as Churches we are compelled to speak truth to power, with and
alongside those whose voices are consistently ignored by those in power in
corporate, media and public life. Poverty and gross inequality are not acts of
God but structural defects that can be corrected. Speaking truth to power is a
task for the whole Church, and one given greater urgency now, amid political
debates that continue to expose the divisions within society.
As the Lord heard the cry of his people in exile in the Old Testament and
intervened, let churches hear the cry of the poor in our neighbourhoods, and
work with them to realise a vision of a society in which all can enjoy life in
all its fullness.
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If you are a minister, or have a leadership role in a Christian community,
please add your name by following the link below. If you aren't a leader
yourself, please forward this message to your local church leader(s) and ask
them to sign.
The message will be published on Church Action on Poverty Sunday
[[link removed]], 23 February. If appropriate, please read out the letter in church on that
day, and make your commitment public.
Sign the letter now at [[link removed]]
Best wishes
Liam Purcell
Church Action on Poverty
--
28 Sandpiper Court, Water's Edge Business Park, Modwen Road, Salford M5 3EZ
0161 872 9294
Registered charity number 1079986. Company limited by guarantee, registered in
England and Wales, number 3780243.
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