Compassionate communities
In response to the pandemic, churches across the country have served their neighbourhoods in remarkable and innovative ways. But what comes next, and what does it mean to support the most vulnerable beyond crisis provision? Annie Ellis, Senior Project Manager at Love Your Neighbour finds out how Network churches are rebuilding their communities.
As Love Your Neighbour continues to grow, many churches are shifting their focus to help not only with urgent crisis needs but also to provide debt advice, employment training and the wrap-around support of a community. Let’s see a glimpse of what they’re up to…
Rebuilding lives
In Manchester last year, !Audacious Church met Clara*, who was struggling to find work due to Covid-19, and her language barriers. She completed the Re-work course online and then joined a language school at !Audacious. Clara found friendship through these programmes and at Christmas she came daily to pack Love Christmas boxes. Finally, at the beginning of 2021, she received a job offer as a Vaccination Support Officer, and since then she has continued volunteering, assisting on the Re-work programme and helping others on a similar journey toward employment. As Tim Keller writes ‘a real encounter with grace will make us just’, and as each of us offer that hand of grace to others, we see a ripple effect of grace and justice flowing out from others too.
“8,800 people supported with Debt advice.“
Re-building communities
Everyone has a valuable part to play in re-building communities – which is churches up and down the country are joining together in Love Christmas 2021 to deliver a million Bags of Kindness. Last Christmas, 38,000 volunteers from across the country got involved in packing and delivering gifts to their communities. Many of those volunteers were already part of the church, but many others were invited to join in and play their part, by Christian neighbours or colleagues.
In Crawley, Love Your Neighbour activities have been a close collaboration between Anglican churches, Pentecostal churches, New Frontiers, the local council and the YMCA amongst others: their ongoing investment in the people of Crawley has just been recognised as a remarkable contribution by the Crawley Community Awards 2021.
Many churches have been involving local businesses in their Love Your Neighbour activity, and when Soul Church Norwich wanted to include fresh poultry in some food packs they were preparing, they approached a local butcher, who unexpectedly offered 800 fresh, whole chickens to be included in their packs - for free!
Everyone playing their part means individuals and communities joining together, from across the breadth of the church and from outside the church, in partnership with businesses, charities, and Government.
“We’re partnering with over 38,000 volunteers from across the country to pack and deliver gifts to their communities.”
Love Your Neighbour is an alliance of churches and other organisations joined together on a mission to support those most in need in our communities and to play our part in the transformation of society. Find out more about what we do.
