Beyond the Pews: How Local Churches Help Communities
England has tens of thousands of churches, with kind volunteers. And in a society where so many people need free or affordable help, our churches offer many ways to be of service, to be of any faith or none.
Churches run many free and affordable events (with CRB checks) including:
- Parent and toddler groups
- After-school clubs
- Youth clubs
- Coffee mornings
- Gentle exercise classes
Offering affordable church hall hire
Churches often have outbuildings and community halls, which they can rent out at far lower rates than say a corporate hotel. These are ideal for community groups, fitness classes or book clubs. This helps you and them.
Confidential pastoral care
If you need a bit of help with your mental health and can’t afford a private counsellor (and are not having much joy with your GP providing free counselling), most ministers will listen in confidence, if you just need a friendly ear. No matter what your beliefs.
This could be to do with grief, relationship problems, stress or family issues. Just having someone who won’t judge you provide an ear with a cuppa, can help people feel less alone.
The history of England’s chaplaincy teams
Chaplaincy teams may be more known for helping ‘drunk young ladies’ get home after a night out, but these volunteers (from local churches) also often offer first aid. And skilled listeners to people who are feeling suicidal (often installing emergency phone boxes near train stations etc).
The best-known team is at Beachy Head Lighthouse (Sussex), where skilled listeners take shifts to help anyone considering ending it all, at the nearby cliffs (one of England’s most notorious suicide spots).
If it weren’t for the chaplaincy team at Beachy Head, my wife would now be a widow. Thank you for being there are my lowest.
Sunday Service (how churches help homeless people)
There are presently around 380,000 homeless people in England (this includes rough sleepers, sofa-surfers and people living in temporary bed-and-breakfast accommodation).
Homeless people can claim benefits (usually Universal Credit), giving the address of a family member or friend, or a local hostel or job centre. Having this income helps pay for food (and pet food), interview clothes, and accommodation deposits.
People without a bank account can use the government’s Payment Exception Service to collect benefits from a local post office or PayPoint outlet.
If you see someone sleeping rough, send a report to StreetLink, whose local outreach teams visit rough sleepers at night, to alert them of support to find benefits and accommodation (if the person is under 18, call 999).
Also read our post on helping dogs that live with homeless people.
Salvation Army (Christians helping homeless people)
The Salvation Army is a Christian charity that has banks to donate clothing. Other ways to support it is to bank with Reliance Bank Ltd and choose SAGIC Insurance.
Donations are used to provide Nap Pads (emergency accommodation in small pods that are light & airy with a window, secure front door, bed, toilet, hand basin and storage area, plus connection to heat, running water and phone charging). They even have sensors (similar to that preventing crib death) to alert people, if someone stops breathing.
The Church of England owns billions of pounds worth of properties and an income of around £900 million a year. And the Catholic church (the other main religion) is one of the richest organisations in the world. Hello? Jesus Christ? Simple living?
The root causes of homelessness
Unlike politicians or the media, most church leaders are compassionate towards the main causes of homelessness, and know that often it’s not a cause of ‘roll up your sleeves, get on your bike and find work’. Most homelessness in modern society is due to:
- Lost jobs, low wages and rising bills
- Mental health challenges (depression, anxiety, addiction)
- Lack of affordable housing (rent outpaces incomes)
- Relationship breakdowns (family disputes or domestic abuse).
Green Pastures (investing in homeless people)
Green Pastures is a social enterprise run by Christians, where investors use money to buy properties that are then used to house homeless people. Investments are unsecured.
For instance, if you invested £30K over 3 years at 3% interest, you would earn £2700. A company that invested £500K over 1 year would earn £15K in interest, and provide homes for 17 people.
Hope into Action lets investors retain ownership of the house, who leases it for 5 years. This organisation then finds tenants to live in the house, and provides support and maintenance. This offers a 2% annual return on your investment, a method that has proven successful with tenants, churches and investors.
Church Homeless Charity is a tiny organisation that receives no funding from the Church of England (despite it having an income of over £900 million plus billions worth of property). So it asks churches to assist personal givers, to donate towards grants for homeless people.
Examples are new clothes for interviews, passports (so people can pass ID checks for jobs & homes), and furnishing/deposits on new homes.
