The project
During the Covid pandemic a network of more than 1,000 churches came together to work alongside local and national government to support their communities through vaccination rollouts and food distribution. As the pandemic ended, it was clear that there was a huge need for churches to work together across denominations to support the most vulnerable in communities.
That’s how the ChurchWorks Commission was born. It was at a meeting of the ChurchWorks commissioners that the idea of the Warm Welcome campaign emerged, with church leaders and charities wanting to find a way to respond collaboratively to the cost-of-living and cost-of-energy crisis in 2022.
The ChurchWorks Commission, supported by Good Faith as its secretariat, brings together major UK Christian denominations to unite and promote action on urgent social issues in our local communities, with a particular focus on supporting the most vulnerable. Commissioners representing these denominations set and oversee a programme of work, inspired by work that is already being done within a significant segment of the local church around three specific Mission Areas – wellbeing and mental health, vulnerable children and families, tackling poverty. The project’s ‘theory of change’ sets out how ChurchWorks goes about this work:
- Helping churches and Christian organisations to collaborate with each other and the Government, so as to catalyse partnership working around our mission areas and break down silos
- Amplifying existing good and innovative practice within churches so churches can learn from each other and build their capacity and confidence
- Showcasing this work across the public sector so the government has a better understanding of and appreciation for the kind of work happening within churches. This means the church’s work can be translated into language understood within government
- Commissioning and producing research, so there is a credible evidence base for the breadth and depth of church involvement and impact in addressing key issues
- Representing the voice of the church in policy development, design and delivery so that effective partnerships between churches and government/public sector are more possible and more common
Impact
- Gathered more than 300 people in Westminster for the ChurchWorks Summit; a one-day conference that brought together senior leaders from across the government, church, charity sector and public sector to find ways to work together more effectively, celebrate the role of the local church in supporting communities, equip local church leaders with new skills to support their ministry and make the case powerfully that churches are a vital part of transforming our communities for the better
- Facilitated dialogue between key government ministers and commissioners during our Commission meetings – Commissioners have met more than half a dozen ministers and a range of political advisers and civil servants, including regular meetings with the Minister for Faith
- Engaged key government stakeholders on the role of the church within the broader Child Poverty Strategy, sharing research showing that around 1 million children have benefited from Christian anti-child poverty initiatives in the last year (25% of all children experiencing poverty)
- Made the case for the development of faith-based social prescribing to senior government representatives, securing significant support for investing in this work and influencing national policy to instate faith and spirituality as a ‘fifth pillar’ of wellbeing within social prescribing
- Completed research on behalf of Historic England demonstrating the significant social and economic value of historic places of worship
- Launched the ChurchWorks Family Hubs Toolkit to support churches and local authorities to develop meaningful partnerships. This resource has been viewed by around 1,000 users since it was launched
- Undertaken sustained advocacy for the continuation of government funding for Family Hubs, with £69 million in additional funding subsequently announced in the October 2024 Budget
“The team at ChurchWorks has helped us to maximise our community engagement and has encouraged us to become a church with a voice in the community. They have provided the tools that we needed to work closely with local authority partners such as the Family Hub to increase our impact.”
“ChurchWorks has been pivotal to convening inter-church conversations about mental health and isolation. ChurchWorks is a vital ecumenical partner of Churches Together in England and we remain committed to supporting the work it commissions.”
ChurchWorks is hosted by Good Faith Foundation, the charitable home for this project.