Church for the poor - 'poor focused' activities

This is the first of 3 blogs about the results seen from the recent survey on 'Church for the Poor' which attracted 384 responses from churches of all denominations.

As part of the survey, respondents were asked to identify the deprivation level of the postcode location of their church. The deprivation measure combines information from the seven domains e.g. income, education, health. As this is a recognised measure, it would be good to use this to answer the question, 'What do we mean by 'poor'?'. The location would indicate that people are experiencing poverty although people in other locations could also be. We also recognise that other dimensions of poverty exist which may not be location specific e.g. relational, spiritual.

It is acknowledged that the Church is for everyone - rich and poor alike. The key here is to become a church that breaks down every wall of separation. This speaks to me of inclusion rather than exclusiveness. Allied to this is the danger of doing things TO people experiencing poverty (which makes us feel good) as opposed to involving them as equals as we do things with and for them.

Church location is no barrier to connection to people experiencing poverty. In this mobile society, churches draw their congregations from a wide area. Although the building may be located in an area of ‘least deprivation’, they will have pockets of deprivation locally and often also be fairly close to areas of higher deprivation.  Churches need to have a mix of strategies to reach all. However, travel for those experiencing poverty could be a barrier and, based on a survey in July 2016 by the CofE, Hope and the EA, English practising Christians tend to be middle class (81% have a university degree compared with 44% of the population). The hidden rules and norms of the middle class can be barriers in themselves - see a previous blog here.

Could there be some insights into being ‘a church for the poor’ by looking at the social action activities of churches in least deprived areas versus those in most deprived?
Let’s take a look.

Here are answers to the question, ‘Thinking of organised activities of your Church in the local community in the last 12 months, what external ministry areas have you been involved in by practical action?'  analysed by the level of deprivation in the postcode where the church who responded is sited. Only social activities being offered by at least 12% of the churches in the sample at those locations are listed: 

 

It is interesting that foodbanks feature as the top social initiative regardless of the level of deprivation in the area. This is probably because the foodbank in a town or borough is often run in co-operation by several churches.

However, from the above, it appears that churches in the least deprived areas focus on a reduced set of social initiatives but churches in the most deprived areas are more socially active and diverse. Is this because of the increased needs in those areas?

What are churches in most deprived areas doing more of? (measuring the absolute difference in % most/least deprived areas for each social activity and showing at least a 5% difference):
 

   
 
 Let’s call these ‘poor-focused’ activities.
 
 What are they doing less of?
 

 

From the above you can see that churches in the most deprived areas, as well as running more social activities, are focusing on the needs of the population around them. Looking at these initiatives, you can see that these require some specialist knowledge e.g. housing, addiction and a great degree of empathy with those in need.

One of the key driving forces of people experiencing poverty is survival.  Many of these initiatives help this – food, shelter, skills, etc.

There is a pronounced tail-off in ’poor-focused’ activities as we move from churches in most deprived areas to more deprived, to average deprivation, to less deprived and to least deprived. Or put another way, the more deprived the area, the more that churches run ‘poor-focused’ initiatives.

So if one really wants to be a church for people experiencing poverty, it would seem obvious that you should review your social initiatives and refocus some or start some which meet the real needs of people experiencing poverty.

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— Word on the Streets (@wotsnet) 9 November 2016