Recession care
Building hope in troubled times
Every day we hear yet more about the impact of the current economic climate on our communities. But what can we do as the church to offer support?
Whilst we need to focus on those that have lost their jobs, we must not forget those around them that also feel the impact. Their families and friends whose relationships are changed, and particularly those left behind in the work place, with increased workloads and future insecurity. Along side this there are many feeling the strain of reduced benefits and pensions, with many facing more years of work than they ever imagined.
Debt
The key message church leaders need to convey on debt is that people in debt can be helped; debts can be organised, and agreements made with creditors including credit card companies to manage debts. They need to give hope and show a way forward.
Free help is available from Credit Action and Christians Against Poverty who both help people to manage money and debt.
Whether you are in the early stages of looking at how your church can help people with debt and money worries, or already offer services, Credit Action can help. They train local church people and many others to help people manage their money themselves. It is primarily focussed on education and they provide a range of resources, from downloadable resources, training and courses, to online forums and events.
However they do recognise that many contacting them will be in trouble already, so work in partnership with the major debt counselling charity the Consumer Credit Counselling Service (Registered Charity No. 1016630). They provide all debt counselling and management services totally free, and whilst not a Christian organisation have a very strong track record. The monthly statistics on debt they publish make for illuminating if sobering reading.
It’s also worth remembering the students of the parish too. Student debt/ finance is a significant issue, and it could be worth giving everyone going to university a copy of the student manual.
Christians Against Poverty run centres in partnership with local churches and cover specific areas of the Diocese (currently the Bath and Yeovil areas) but can’t provide a service to anyone too far from a centre. More centres are needed and they have an aim of 500 centres by 2015. They provide home visits and direct support by a volunteer /centre manager. The information gathered is sent to Head Office in Bradford and there a budget is prepared, and advisors employed by CAP negotiate with creditors.
And finally, the Stewardship Red2Black campaign helps churches take biblically based and practical action in helping members of their community facing debt, with a wealth of resources available. Their budgeting forms in particular are very useful:
One attendee at a recent CMD Day was Revd Lydia Avery, Priest in Charge of Winscombe and Sandford Benefice. There they have set up a regular service of prayer for those affected by the financial climate in their working lives, and also a discussion/prayer/action group called 'Papers, (hot) potatoes and prayer'. There they look at newspapers, discuss issues, and work out what a Christian response might be, taking action if they can.
As always, please do share your experiences with us, particularly where others can learn from them. We would like to continue to add resources to these pages at this time of great need, which, crucially, is going to get significantly worse before getting better.
This short film of Angela Overton-Benge, Chaplain to Economic Life in Swindon, is a useful resource for further thinking and experiences in this area.
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