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POVERTY TODAY
ADVOCACY
SOCIAL ENTERPRISE
CARING
CHRISTIAN RESPONSES TO POVERTY
Advocacy responses
A third approach highlighted in our church leader interviews revolved around advocacy , which was most common amongst church leaders from large denominations with ties to the state ( e . g . Church of England Bishops in the House of Lords and church leaders challenging the UK government on the roll-out of the controversial Universal Credit in 2018 and 2021 ). 8
Enterprise and self-help responses
A fourth ‘ enterprise ’ approach , that is common within evangelical and Pentecostal churches , focuses on providing start-up loans and encouraging people to establish social enterprises or small businesses as a route out of poverty . A related fifth approach is the self-help response . We encountered this individualistic approach , which emphasises education and individual empowerment as a route out of poverty , most widely in evangelical and Pentecostal churches .
Amidst the horrors of Nazism , Dietrich Bonhoeffer asked , ‘ Is the Church simply to bind up the wounds of victims beneath the wheels of injustice or to drive a spoke into the wheel itself ?’ 9 The church has been in the vanguard of responses to poverty
CAMPAIGNING
SELF-HELP
during the Age of Austerity . However , our research raises uncomfortable questions about the church ’ s willingness to ‘ transform structural injustice ’ in a prophetic and sustained manner . Is the church brave enough to ram a spoke into the wheel of austerity-age injustice or is it satisfied with bandaging up the broken ?
Transforming structural injustice
Life on the Breadline arose from a shared commitment to using research to build social justice . Ours was the first project by academic theologians to analyse Christian responses to poverty during the Age of Austerity . 10 My hope is that the work we have developed can help the church to reflect God ’ s preferential option for the poor and enact a shared commitment to transform structural injustice in the months and years to come . Preachers and local church leaders may find our Lent Course helpful , our detailed report for church leaders can help to stimulate broader conversations about poverty and Christian mission , and the Anti- Poverty Charter provides the perfect resource for local congregations who want to challenge poverty at a local , regional and national level .
As preachers , theologians and church leaders we stand at a Kairos moment . As the cost of living crisis and the fallout from Covid-19 have built on the misery caused by a decade of austerity , we face a moment of judgement and opportunity . Are we ready to engage in critical depth with the specifics of austerity-age poverty in a sustained and intersectional manner ? How far is the church in the UK able to translate its invaluable pastoral care for people living in poverty into consistent and prophetic initiatives intended to ‘ transform structural injustice ’? Answers to these questions cannot wait because poverty is destroying communities here and now . The time to act has come .
7 . Runnymede Trust , Austerity . ( London : Runnymede Trust , 2018 ), 2 .
9 . Dietrich Bonhoeffer in Eberhard Bethge [ ed .] Ethics ( New York : Simon & Schuster , 1995 ), 316-317 .
10 . Details about Life on the Breadline , which was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council , can be found at
https :// breadlineresearch . coventry . ac . uk /. The project included 800 + participants , 6 case studies , 10 focus groups , 60 interviews with Christian activists , 18 national church leader interviews and a survey of 104 regional church leaders from across the UK .
Chris Shannahan
Chris is an Associate Professor at Coventry University where he specialises in Political Theology at the Centre for Trust , Peace and Social Relations . His teaching and research focus on the relationship between faith and politics , theology and issues of social justice . Previously , Chris was a Circuit Minister for the Methodist Church in inner city London and Birmingham and out of that experience , about 14 years ago , made the move into teaching . Twitter
@ ChrisShannahan . You can listen to an interview with Chris about Life on the Breadline Lent resources on the Preach Magazine YouTube channel .