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General Assembly 2008: 'Transform poorer communities', says the Church

The General Assembly (15 – 21 May), will hear about the recent work of the Ministries Council's Priority Areas Committee, which works to support the Kirk’s mission and ministry in the less prosperous party of Scotland.

"Over the last year the Ministries Council has commissioned Big Hearted Communities - a series of short videos and a small booklet which tell some of the stories of priority area congregations. These resources...give an insight into life and faith in Scotland's most vulnerable communities". However, "they are not stories about poverty. They are stories about true wealth - the richness of faith and the wonderful resilience of communities to bring about life-transforming change". (Section 10.1.6)

The Assembly will also hear that the Ministries Council is continuing to work closely with the Poverty Alliance (www.povertyalliance.org.uk) in the development of a range of different anti-poverty initiatives. This includes a 'Living Wage Campaign' - where the Council will be seeking to put pressure on public, private and voluntary sector employers (including the Church) to ensure that the wages people are paid does not mean that they remain in poverty despite work. (Section 10.2.2) Co-operation with the Church & Society Council and the Poverty Alliance, along with other groups, has led to the publication of 'Just Church' "a major new programme for churches - perhaps relevant particularly in more affluent communities to explore the issues of poverty and how we can respond more effectively to them". (Section 10.2.4)

In the Glasgow area, the Priority Areas Committee is committed to enabling local churches to tackle poverty in their local area on a practical level – through the inter faith organisation 'Faith in Community (Scotland)' (www.faithincommunityscotland.org) and its initiative-support arm, the Transformation Team. It is hoped that the focus of these organisations will widen to include work across more of the country, and roll out to Dundee is currently being actively considered. (Section 10.3)

The General Assembly will hear that 'Faith in Community (Scotland)' has attracted an increasing amount of media and political interest over the last year. In December representatives of the Board, along with the Moderator, the Rt Rev Sheilagh Kesting, met the First Minister to discuss ways of developing joint working and this was followed by a range of meetings with senior civil servants and the Deputy First Minister. (Section 10.3)

Ends.

Note to Editors:

A full copy of the report is available on our General Assembly pages online here.

GANR/27/04/2008

Tuesday 13, May 2008

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