Resources
Here's a number of resources you may find helpful as together our churches inspire and equip communities to thrive.
If you come across or use resources you find helpful, then let us know and we will help spread the word to other projects.
The TLT Prayer
Ever-loving God of compassion, justice and peace. Thank you for Transforming Lives Together in the Diocese of Chester. In developing partnerships with Churches, charities and local authorities, bless their work and conversations as they offer support and encouragement to people who want to make a difference and those who are struggling in poverty. May there be a commitment to act justly, love mercy and together walk humbly with God. We recognise the pain and anguish experienced by those we support and we pray for all those seeking to tackle suffering caused by injustice, isolation and social inequality. We pray for a developing vision to confront poverty and seek ways to build inclusive, welcoming and caring communities where the love of Jesus is known, experienced and shared.
Amen
New: 'Stand in the Gap' Prayer Resource
Jubilee+ together with some other organisations have complied a great prayer resource, which can be accessed here: https://jubilee-plus.org/blog/1336/new-stand-in-the-gap-prayer-resource/
Growing Good Toolkit
The FREE Growing Good Toolkit has been developed by the Church Urban Fund and is a free six-session course helping churches explore the connection between social action, discipleship and growth. Click here to read more...
REPORTS
The GRA:CE Report - Growing Good: Growth, Social Action and Discipleship in the Church of England by Hannah Rich
The culmination of three years of extensive qualitative and quantitative research commissioned by the Church Urban Fund and carried out by Theos Think Tank, including 350 interviews in over 60 parish communities across England and new analysis of existing parish data. This report explores the relationship between social action, church growth, and discipleship in the Church of England. It finds that social action can be a route to church growth in both numerical and spiritual terms.
Visible Discipleship - Re-imagining Social Responsibility for Today’s World by David Primrose
A discussion paper produced by the Social Responsibility Network, Church of England and Church in Wales, highlighting the vital need to connect parish-based social action with diocesan and national vision. The paper explores how social responsibility both impacts the transformative mission of the church and grows and encourages Christians in their faith.
Truth and Lies about Poverty - ending comfortable myths about poverty.
A report from the Baptist Union of Great Britain, the Methodist Church, the Church of Scotland and the United Reformed Church, produced by the Church in Wales and Oxfam Cymru. This coalition of major British Churches, wanted to create a new story; one grounded in truth, compassion and hope. Part of our calling as Christians is to seek after truth, and that means facing up to our own blindness as well as calling others to account. Collectively we have come to believe things about poverty in the UK which are not grounded in fact. We need to develop an understanding of the depth and breadth of UK poverty that is compatible with the
evidence available, matching the language of public debate with the reality of people’s lives
Faith in Society - A report by Dame Julia Unwin commissioned by Church Urban Fund
In this report, Dame Julia Unwin (DBE, FAcSS) is a former Chief Executive of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust, emphasises the importance of faith-based action in society, and examines what the shape of contemporary social action for the next decade should look like.
BOOKS
Evangelicals and Social Action by Ian J. Shaw and Mark Greene
(IVP, 2021) Through historical perspective and research, Ian Shaw explores in detail the responses by evangelicals to key social issues. Many - including poverty, racial inequality, addiction, children 'at risk', slavery, and unemployment - have strong contemporary resonance. The wide-ranging evidence supports the contention that evangelism and social action have been intimately connected throughout the history of the church. The conclusion considers the implications for evangelicals in the twenty-first century.
Ordinary Miracles: Mess, Meals and Meeting Jesus in Unexpected Places by Chris Lane
(Instant Apostle, 2017) Chris Lane has spent almost 20 years in inner-city Langworthy, working with a community of Christians to see their Salford estate transformed. It is an inspiring account of mess, meals and miracles, that is encouraging for anyone seeking to see the Kingdom of God in unexpected places.
The Gospel Comes with a House Key by Rosaria Butterfield
(Crossway Books, 2018) This is a beautiful book about radically ordinary hospitality in our post-Christian world. It is both practical and theological as it calls the reader to love our neighbours with sacrificial hospitality.
The Spirit Level: Why Equality is Better for Everyone by Kate Pickett.
(Penguin, New Edition, 2010) How almost everything - from life expectancy to mental illness, violence to illiteracy - is affected not by how wealthy a society is, but how equal it is. That societies with a bigger gap between rich and poor are bad for everyone in them - including the well-off. How we can find positive solutions and move towards a happier, fairer future.
Blessed are the Poor? Urban Poverty and the Church by Laurie Green
(SCM Press, 2015) Laurie Green considers a number of key biblical texts as well as recent research on poverty in the UK and asks what the Church’s ministry among the poor would need to look like in order to be true to the gospel. The book includes practical outcomes for pavement-level ministry.
Mission With - Something Out of the Ordinary by Paul Keeble
(Instant Apostle, 2017) In this provocative and engaging book, Paul Keeble shares his story of living long term in a deprived, inner-city community, not as a flag-waving missionary but as a resident and neighbour, who happens to be a follower of Jesus. During more than 30 years of listening and learning, building relationships across cultures and religions, and addressing shared concerns, God has evolved Paul's thinking from 'mission-to' and 'mission-for' towards what he calls 'mission-with'.
Invisible Divides: Class, culture and barriers to belonging in the Church by by Natalie Williams & Paul Brown
(SPCK Publishing, 2022) The authors examine issues of class, culture and barriers to belonging in the church. It is a refreshing read which maintains that if we want to see people from all walks of life getting to know Christ and finding family in our churches, we need to unravel class values from Biblical values.
Living His Story: Revealing the extraordinary love of God in ordinary ways: The Archbishop of Canterbury's Lent Book 2021
(SPCK Publishing, 2020) The Archbishop of Canterbury's Lent Book 2021 is an assessment of the theology of the emerging church movement. Alister McGrath refers to it as 'an essential starting point for all reflecting on how to relate the Christian faith and the Christian church to the shifting complexities of postmodern British culture'.
WEBSITES
Jubilee+
Jubilee+ (Jubilee Plus) equips UK churches to change the lives of those in poverty in their communities. We empower Christians and churches to be at the forefront of social action and social justice, bringing the mercy and justice of God to those in need around them. Click here...
SERVICE RESOURCES
A Light has Dawned
Resources for Christmas from Transforming Lives Together
‘A Light has Dawned’ is a set of resources focusing on the birth of Christ and God’s grace, linking these to the Gospel call to challenge and respond to injustice and inequality. “The people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.” Matthew 4 vs 16. The Christmas story tells of a Saviour born to enable a different future and to change the structure of society so that fairness and equality prosper. At these times of increasing unemployment and rising utility prices, families are being forced to choose between food and heating their home and more than ever need to experience Christ’s light in their darkness. Click here to download the resources.
