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Hold the Government to account

In the lead up to the election Steve Chalke spoke with David Cameron, Gordon Brown and Nick Clegg.

You can still watch Steve's interviews with them on the Faithworks website.

See for yourself what is said about how the Government will engage the church in public life and join Faithworks as we hold the Government to account with our faithworks declaration.

www.faithworks.info

Faithworks

How would Jesus have voted? Reflections on the 2010 Election

10 Downing StreetIn the most interesting and closely fought contest I think I can remember, we saw the three main parties engaging the church in an intentional way we’ve not seen before. Perhaps this heightened awareness of ‘the power of the religious vote’ in the election was inevitable.

As the first ever televised UK election debates were held and all parties sought to learn as much as they could from the Obama presidential campaign (and the Bush one before that), the impact of the religious vote in the United States would not have gone unnoticed by Messrs Cameron, Clegg and Brown.

But while some relished the opportunity to rally the ‘Christian vote’ in the UK, I was left wondering if there was more to ‘voting with conscience’ than protecting embryos, the sanctity of marriage and protecting the freedom to express Christian beliefs. What does my conscience say to me about education, health care, economics, welfare, nuclear deterrents, poverty, international development, debt..?

I was reminded that Jesus chose service, never power, as a means of change.

3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross!

Philippians 2:3-8

I’m still not sure if this passage in Philippians (or others in the Bible for that matter!) tells me how Jesus would have voted in the general election, but what is clear is that to be followers of Jesus is to play the role of servant.

The task of the church is always to serve – to be agents of change and ambassadors for hope in local communities by giving our skills, our time, ourselves. And to do so working with which ever party is in power because it’s Jesus not the politicians, who calls us into service.

Joy Madeiros, Oasis Group CEO

Faithworks Declaration

We will be delivering the Faithworks Declaration (below) to No.10 soon. There is still time for you and your and church to sign it on the Faithworks website.

Our faith is our engine - its content and character directly affects both the quality and character of the care we give.

We are calling on the incoming Prime Minister to:

1. Recognise the important contribution that local churches and Christian charities have made historically, and can make in the coming years in providing services within local communities across the UK.

2. Acknowledge the indispensible role that faith in Christ plays in the motivation and effectiveness of welfare programs developed by churches and Christian charities.

3. Encourage and promote further initiatives and deeper partnership underpinned by legislation, which assess services based on best value and contribution to the whole community, without
discriminating against the faith that is vital to the success of the work of churches and faithbased
organisations.