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Jesus in the City
The 2nd UK Urban Mission Congress
"Community Conflict and Celebration"
Belfast, 26-30 September 1998
Christian Action Networking.
As we approach the end of the nineties there is more widespread sensitivity to social concern than in the previous decade
In the church too there is greater awareness of our biblical responsibility in our communities. No longer do we have a widespread debate about if we should be involved, the debate has moved on to churches asking how?
I believe that we already have many of the answers to the how the church plays a more relevant role in communities. Around the country' pockets of individuals, Christian orgainsations and churches are developing coherent thinking and creative approaches within their projects. This is often at a very local level; thus the caring is contained. For instance there are people who could virtually fill in grant application forms in their sleep. They have worked through all the questions about values. Compromise and effectiveness. On the other hand you have projects struggling because of a basic lack of knowledge about where to start. This would also be true about promoting the work and getting churches on board.
Christian action networking into this scenario provides a simple but extremely effective response to the needs. At the Evangelical Alliance we have sought to develop a strategy whereby we support local groups of churches, individuals and projects to form Christian Action Networks. There arc some 16 CANs now operating around the country.
There are a number of basic principles that under gird Christian Action Networking. I will outline three for this summary.
- Networking needs a purpose.
It is easy to get cynical about the concept of networking. A friend described his definition as, "What you can do for me". Networking is not an end in itself. Particularly in the context of Christian action, as those involved in this field, have the development of local communities as their priorities. For me the purpose of our networking as to increase the quantity and quality of Christian action in the locality, regionally or nationally - whatever the scope of the network.
- Don't reinvent the wheel
This is a concept that most of us aspire to, but in truth don't always succeed in. There arc very pragmatic reasons why wheels are reinvented. When faced with a problem or opportunity and often a need for speedy response, we simply make use of the resources, knowledge and contacts that are to hand.
In order then, not to reinvent the wheel we have to look strategically at the issues we are seeking to tackle. We should ask. "who is out there seeking to tackle the same issues' and "what are our relative strengths and weaknesses". Now comes the hard bit. Armed with this information (which will of course grow as we meet more people) we seek to build relationships of trust with those who may make good allies. In this case we would be free to concentrate on our strengths and those we have come into partnership with will concentrate on theirs. We would have a vested interest in the success of those in our network. so the energies we would otherwise spend on spreading ourselves thinly, can be spent enhancing good relationships to advance our mutual goals.
- Don't make enemies out of Allies.
There is sometimes a gap between local churches and so called activists. Local churches are viewed as inactive and unsupportive, whilst the activists are viewed as pushy and unreasonable. My time is spent virtually 50/50 with both groups and I have discovered that we are both on the same side. What
activists require of the wider church is often less treating and demanding than it might appear. For instance recognition and prayer support can be a lifeline to many a struggling project. Also the key players in churches that are less active are often very well thought through. It is extremely rare in my experience for inactivity to be rooted in a lack of concern. Rather, these leaders have weighed up the cost of starting certain projects and don't feel able to move forward They are often caught in a 'guilt powerlessness' trap. They feel guilty because they know they should be doing more. As they weigh up the pros and cons they feel disillusioned over Christian powerlessness in the face of pressing social need. Whilst all this is playing out they have still not acted, so feel guilty..., and so on.
All this I think calls for a radical rethink about how we as Christians approach social needs. Unless we tackle our capacity to deliver. we will only ever provide part responses, which though admirable, do not represent the full potential of the church to be a force for change in our society. We should network across historic divides and build effective partnerships across local churches. Denominations, the active and the inactive. What I wonder would be the potential of more strategic partnership between full time Christian worker & and Christians working in other forms of community and public life? You'll guess by know that I fully endorse Christian action networking as a way forward for church and community life in the UK.
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