In a new William Temple Foundation Urban Tract, Hilary Russell, reflecting on over forty years in community work, offers her personal perspective on church activity, evaluating urban regeneration programmes, voluntary organisations, diocesan and national review bodies, and Christian social campaigning.
We’re called to be like Jesus, not like each other – so why are most Western churches predominantly middle class? Could it be that we’re reaching out to people in poverty, but struggling to connect them into church life?
Natalie Williams and Paul Brown know all too well that those saved from working-class backgrounds often find themselves discipled effectively – but into middle classism rather than authentic Christianity. Drawing on their own experiences, and mixing theory with practical application, they explore the invisible divides that prevent churches from becoming places of true inclusion and keep poor and working-class people on the edges of faith.
This is a superb tool for visualising and mapping the 2021 census data on religion, ethnicity, deprivation, age and much else at national and local level down to your own micro neighbourhood