At a press conference hosted by the Minister for Pensions, Stephen Timms MP yesterday, leaders of Faithworks and representatives of the Christian community gathered together to address specifically the many false assumptions and widespread misunderstandings about the nature of individual faith held by the society in the UK.
“Whether it’s faith schools or the mix of religion and politics, too many people believe that a faith-based approach means unfair discrimination and further community division,” said the Rev. Steve Chalke MBE, the founder of Faithworks. “But the reality is often the opposite. When leaders get stuck in, the benefits tend to be greater community cohesion.”
The press briefing, chaired by the Bishop of Leicester, the Rt. Rev. Tim Stevens, coincides with the House of Lords report on the Equality Bill, which aims to create a single Commission for Equality and Human Rights (ECHR), to cover disability, race, gender and, for the first time, religion and belief.
The speakers at the conference also highlighted the impact that fear and confusion about faith has had on the work of faith-based groups, with many of their initiatives and projects treated with suspicion by local authorities, despite a proven track record of success.
Faithworks Director, Joy Madeiros, said: “We need to move beyond fearful, knee-jerk reactions to faith and develop an understanding of what it means to be motivated by faith and how active faith can actually benefit society.
“We have come a long way to understand issues of identity, such as race and gender. It is time we did the same for faith.”
At the briefing, Faithworks presented a six-point plan with the aim of a greater understanding of faith in society, outlining measures to help Government, statutory agencies and voluntary groups understand groups and individuals operating from a faith motivation, rather than simply a religious affiliation.
The proposals include the development of ‘faith awareness’ programmes to educate within schools and the public sector on the motivational nature of faith as opposed to simply different religious creeds.
Other measures include the establishment of a framework for ‘Distinctive Faith’, which goes beyond ‘interfaith’ as the unique characteristics of each faith are acknowledged while still allowing for common dialogue and joint community initiatives.
“Faithworks believes that community cohesion only begins to be possible when each faith has the opportunity to be itself. Nothing is a greater threat to good community relations than misconstruing people’s identities or homogenising different faith identities as one,” read a Faithworks press release.
The speakers at the conference also urged the local government to recognise the commitment of faith-based groups to diversity and equality “where their track record clearly indicates it”.
Rev Chalke stressed, “Our faith does work. Genuine faith leads to service,” quoting statistics that show people from the faith community are three times more likely to serve the community beyond issues of their own interest than members of the non-faith public.
The conference also featured presentations by members of the Christian community on their work at the local level in which they highlighted ways in which the suspicion of local government and funders had hindered their service to the community.
A press release read: “The assumption is often that a faith identity naturally rules out commitment to diversity. Funders may also be cautious about funding faith-based works in case they offend people of a different faith or of no faith at all.”
The Rev. Steve Chalke will address the issue again in a debate later in November, where he will go head-to-head with Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee and the director of the National Secular Society, Keith Porteous Wood, on the question “Is public faith good for Britain?”
Maria Mackay
Christian Today Correspondent