growing the church through social action
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GROWING CHURCH THROUGH SOCIAL ACTION
General Synod Fringe Lunch
8th February 2012
Tim BissettCEO
Church Urban Fund
Film – St. Andrew’s Clubmoor
Church Urban Fund’s Mission
• To transform the lives of the poorest and most marginalised in England
• We do this through Christians called to work in local communities
The Vision
Church Urban Fund wants:
• To see every church, in every community tackling poverty together
• So that all Christians in England are giving:
- time and money
- action and prayer
When a church looks outward – actively loving and serving its neighbours, especially the ‘least of these’
– then will the church be healthier and grow?
We interviewed 8 church leaders
& surveyed 900 Anglican clergy
93% of churches agree that engaging with the poor and marginalised is a vital activity for a healthy church…
… but only 44% say that that tackling poverty is a fundamental part of the strategy of their church
Many churches are addressing needs in their community, but there are significant unmet needs...
What it takes
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Churches that do the most to tackle poverty are healthier…
Attractive church
“You don’t do the projects in order to grow the church.
You do the projects in order to love people.
If you’re doing that, the Holy Spirit is at work.
Is God not active out there?”
You can download the full report or two executive summaries from:
http://www.cuf.org.uk/research/church-growth
TogetherWe can love our neighbours
We can transform the lives of the poorest and most marginalised in England
w: cuf.org.uk/research
f: facebook.com/churchurbanfund
t: @churchurbanfund