ARVAC Bulletin 99

Having Faith in Civic Renewal

Background
Despite the Church’s centuries-old tradition of providing social care to local communities, the government has only recently officially recognised the potential contribution of faith communities and faith-based organisations to a number of public policy streams. These include public service delivery, civil renewal, community cohesion and neighbourhood regeneration. The establishment of the Faith Communities Unit within the Home Office to take a lead role in government’s engagement with faith communities demonstrates government’s desire to utilise the experience, skills and diversity of faith communities. The development of Faith Forums at regional level and the opening up of places on Local Strategic Partnerships to ‘faith representatives’ at district level has provided important opportunities for faith groups to play a greater part in the national process of civil renewal.

Whilst the government may have opened the door to faith communities, there is limited empirical evidence demonstrating the practical role and contribution of local churches to the twin agendas of public services delivery and civil renewal. Furthermore, there is limited understanding of the practical implications and challenges for churches which might consider becoming more involved in this agenda. With this in mind, the Centre for Voluntary Action Research worked with the Diocese of Birmingham Community Regeneration Department on a research study designed to develop and promote an understanding of the distinctive features and value of the contribution made by local parishes in the Diocese of Birmingham to civil renewal. Case studies were carried out in twelve parishes, gathering the views and perspectives of church leaders, members of church congregations, church volunteers and users of church-organised welfare activities.

Social capital and community cohesion
The research found that church-organised projects and activities run by other agencies are an important factor in developing links between worshippers themselves and the wider community as well as amongst community members and local agencies. The development of these informal links and relationships is highly valued by members of local communities and the activities taking place in the study parishes contribute to the development of supportive and caring communities. Many examples were given of friendships that had developed and mutual support that had been provided as a result of contacts initiated through the church and its social welfare activities. Examples were also given of people meeting and developing relationships with others in their area whom they might not otherwise have met, for example people living on parts of an estate with no other community facilities, or people attending a group where mothers and children of different races and faith backgrounds had the opportunity to mix. This suggests that local churches are playing an important but unobtrusive role in the development of social capital and more cohesive communities.

Much of the literature on social capital distinguishes between bonding social capital (for example amongst people from the same faith backgrounds or people with similar interests) and bridging social capital (for example across different ethnic groups). The study findings suggest that the work going on in parishes contributes more to the former than to the latter. There is, however, considerable evidence of the development of bridging social capital amongst, for example, families from different racial, ethnic and faith backgrounds attending activities. The data suggests that bridging social capital is more likely to develop amongst participants in family-oriented activities such as groups for parents of young children than amongst those involved in activities such as lunch clubs, where project users tend to be more homogenous. It appears, however, that the development of bridging social capital is mainly occurring at the local and individual level rather than at the strategic level, for example between leaders of different faiths.

Social inclusion
The projects in the study involved pre-school children, young people, older people, family groups, people with learning disabilities and many others in some of the most disadvantaged inner city areas and estates in Birmingham. While they were rarely working with individuals whose difficulties demanded highly specialist expertise (for example drug users or people with serious mental health problems) they were often providing services and facilitating social contacts for people who were not in touch with other agencies. In many areas there were few other community resources; in several places people expressed the importance of services being local and personalised to meet their needs. People who had felt excluded by other organisations often felt welcomed and accepted in church-organised projects. Although the ability to receive services and participate in organised activities does not in itself constitute social inclusion, the study’s findings do suggest that the links developed through such involvement did contribute to project users’ feelings of involvement and inclusion in their communities. This suggests that churches are making important contributions to reaching marginalised or stigmatised community members.

Responsiveness to local needs
Some parishes had developed their community activities following some form of community survey or needs assessment. In others the approach had been more ‘ad hoc’ and based on a perception of a gap in services rather than a clear evidence base. In parishes where services were provided mainly by volunteers rather than paid staff the decision about what services to provide may also have been based simply on an assessment of what could be done without too much further investment of human or financial resources, or on an awareness of what fitted with potential volunteers’ availability and interests.

In any case, there was in all parishes an expressed concern to meet local need and respond as far as possible to the concerns of community members. In many parishes this was seen as inextricably bound up with a sense of mission and service and a desire to express their faith. The ability to be relatively flexible with resources (both of buildings and people) appears to have made this easier for churches than it might be for statutory agencies or voluntary organisations operating on a more formal contract basis. In an increasingly formalised and contract-led welfare culture, this ability to be flexible and responsive is noteworthy, and is one of the distinctive features of these church-based projects.

Volunteer workforce and leadership
Discussions with individual church volunteers suggest that worshippers’ motivations for volunteering are often different from those of ‘secular’ volunteers, focusing on the desire to express their religious beliefs in a practical way. Church leaders often encourage people to get involved with volunteering and frequently know how to match volunteers to projects and activities. Moreover they are often the people who can address problems in relationships between individuals, and who can form links with other agencies and with diocesan structures. This leadership role was sometimes under-played by clergy themselves, but it was stressed by church volunteers and by lay church leaders.

Several of the study parishes possessed buildings that were used for projects to benefit the wider local community as well as their own worshippers. Indeed many parishes felt that it was incumbent upon them to use these resources for community benefit rather than leave large buildings empty for most of the week. These church buildings therefore represent a valuable resource to their local communities, and the variety of activities taking place in them could simply not have happened without this resource, since the absence of other community facilities meant there was no alternative space.

Conclusion
In addition to our findings about the distinctive features of the contribution made by Church of England parishes to their local communities, the study also raised concerns about the future and sustainability of these community activities. In particular, it highlighted the potential risks of formalisation to the current model of organisation within local churches. The summary report has been widely circulated and has formed the basis of a new capacity building programme for parish priests and lay leaders within the Diocese.

Faithful Regeneration: the role and contribution of local parishes in local communities in the Diocese of Birmingham’ (2005) can be downloaded for free from www.active-citizen.org.uk/research_news_details.asp?id=12005511122715&cat=9&parentid=2

Ben Cairns is Director of the Centre for Voluntary Action Research at Aston University.

Visit www.cvar.org.uk