|
The government has been making a play for what it calls
faith communities, in order to get us involved in its neighbourhood renewal
agenda. In an increasingly secularised
society this might be a golden opportunity for churches to re-establish
themselves as significant agents for change within the inner city. On the other hand it might be an attempt to
co-opt gullible churches into an agenda which will only damage their long-term
credibility. Is neighbourhood renewal a
golden opportunity or a gilded cage?
This paper will explore some theological questions about regeneration
and neighbourhood renewal -- no answers are proposed but we hope you find the
questions stimulating!
§ Does
involvement in neighbourhood renewal undermine Christian values?
§ Is
the cost of involvement in neighbourhood renewal too great a price to pay?
§ Is
neighbourhood renewal going to bring about any real change?
Involvement in neighbourhood renewal and Christian values
...
Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the royal rations
of food and wine ... at the end of ten
days it was observed that they appeared better and fatter than all the young
men who had been eating the royal rations.
Daniel 1:8-15
Daniel was involved in the Babylonian system. There was no way he could get out of it but
his religion made him want to make some space within it. He didn't want to be dependent upon the rich
food of the king's table so he negotiated an exemption, not by confronting the
king directly but through striking a bargain with one of the king's
administrators. Much to the surprise of
everyone (except Daniel) he thrived on his restricted diet of vegetables, outshining
his contemporaries. This courage to be
different put Daniel into a position to have a significant impact on the
Babylonian court in future years. It
both gave him confidence and made him stand out from the crowd.
Does this story suggest then, that eating at the table of
neighbourhood renewal is a defilement and that we will be more healthy if we
avoid it? It is more complex than this,
for Daniel recognises that he is part of the system and that you can't just opt
out of it. What he does do is negotiate
a distinctive role within the system. He
needs to do this because defilement is not inevitable but it is possible. This seems to me a good description of the
situation we are in when getting involved with neighbourhood renewal. It is not just a beano we can get involved
with without discrimination but a challenge to our identity and sense of
values.
The major challenge, I believe, is to our sense of
truth. Regeneration is very
image-conscious, it depends on changing people's perception of an area and this
leads it to create visions of what it hopes for rather than what actually
is. Now that neighbourhood renewal is
seeking to involve 'faith communities'within the regeneration process there is
a tendency for churches to talk up the role they can play in regeneration. This can be seen at the local level when
churches described the work they do and make funding applications and at the
level of national policy documents.
Rarely are the problems with church community action discussed -- all
problems tend to be associated with the government schemes themselves and their
agents. Those of us involved with
grassroots church based community action know that we have many problems which
are often of our own making... but to be open about these would hardly improve
our credibility with an already sceptical regeneration constituency. And it is not only problems which we are
careful about sharing; the holistic vision of social change which includes
spiritual regeneration can often be downplayed.
Social change through evangelical conversion or sacramental
transformation isn't something that fits neatly into a world of inputs, outputs
and prescribed outcomes. Nonetheless it
is exactly this which many of us to really believe in -- how can we with
honesty, truthfulness and sensitivity put this onto the neighbourhood renewal
smorgasbord? The temptation is to speak
one language to neighbourhood renewal officers and another to our
congregations. But this, I believe, is a
recipe for defilement. We, like Daniel,
need to find a way of negotiating with authority so that we can be honestly who
we are -- without that we will have no real role to play.
The cost of involvement
For which of you, intending to build a
tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has
enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able
to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, saying, "This fellow began to build and
was not able to finish."
Luke 14:28-30
The easy thing for Daniel to have done would have been to
avoid the court entirely. He could have
much more easily have lived a pure and spiritual life outside its labyrinthine
complexities, but he chose to follow the path of serious discipleship and
engage with the authorities of his day.
This challenge is still before us -- but have we got what it takes? There is no doubt that there is the cost to
being involved with neighbourhood renewal -- the time commitments can be
colossal and the frustration intense.
There will be those around who are much more narrowly focused on
discipleship expressed through the church rather than in engagement with
political authority. Will a ministry
which gets involved with neighbourhood renewal be able to look back over the
years and know that it is worthwhile or will the minister come to look back and
say "I began to build and was not able to finish"?
Modern Christianity seems largely committed to a "can
do" attitude which places highest value on the ability to get on and be
successful. Discipleship just needs
commitment and faith in order to succeed and this seems to fit well with the
government belief in social entrepreneurs and making things happen. But what if it is not possible to
succeed? What if you to take on more
than you can handle? Certainly enough
ministers in the East End have gone burnt out
for us to know that this can happen.
Discipleship in the area of neighbourhood renewal is a large undertaking
which should not be engaged in without serious thought.
An earlier age was more aware, it seems, of the challenges
of discipleship. Joseph Rance was the
first Baptist minister in Hackney but it took him a long-time to accept the
call from the small group of nonconformists who had gathered in Shore Place. He was doubtful of his abilities to take on
pastoral work and whether he had the financial resources. Eventually he did accept the call and had a
modest but successful ministry before he died still in harness. Rance's work paved the way for the
spectacularly successful ministry of Dr Cox which saw Mare Street Baptist
church grow into a substantial institution and go on to plant further Hackney
churches. But he remained humble, not
wanting to have the words reverend put upon his tombstone. He remained aware of the cost of discipleship
to the end of his days and his humility and obscurity formed a strong basis for
Baptist churches in Hackney.
There is a real need for Christian discipleship in the area
of neighbourhood renewal -- there is an opportunity to engage of others in the
issues which weaken and destroy our community.
But what is the cost for those who spearhead the churches
involvement? Would it be possible for
the Christian community to recognise this can provide support for these
individuals? If not what will the cost
of involvement be -- and who is going to pay it?
Neighbourhood renewal and change
He said to me, `This is the word of
the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the
Lord of hosts.
Zechariah 4:6
Zerubbabel was the golden boy. He was the one that everyone expected to
rebuild Jerusalem
and re-establish the glory days of David. Zechariah and Haggai praised him to
the skies. He had royal blood and a
great reputation for wisdom (see 1 Esdras where he has some very interesting
things to say about women!), but as the story unfolds in Ezra he completely
disappears from the picture and Ezra and Nehemiah are the names that have gone
down in history. Nehemiah, in fact, has
become the archetypal biblical model for urban regeneration.
It is unclear why Zerubbabel vanishes from the
accounts. Some believe that the Persians
removed him because as a descendant of the last king he might have fomented an
independence movement. Others believe that
he was outmanoeuvred by the priestly faction represented by Jeshua and Ezra. But for all we know he may have died, got
burnt out or decided on a career change!
He remains one of the almost men of Scripture.
Zerubbabel promised the regeneration of Jerusalem but was not able to deliver. He must have been a great disappointment to
Zechariah and Haggai, and probably something of an embarrassment given what
they prophesied about him. And yet
despite Zerubbabel's failure he was an important part of the jigsaw which led
to the reestablishment of the exiled Jewish state. He is recorded as laying the foundation stone
for the temple thus re-establishing the spiritual core of the community. He is not one of the high-profile characters
of Scripture but he remains an important, if slightly mysterious and obscure
pioneer who played his transitory role in the story of salvation.
Zerubbabel therefore, provides us with two different
perspectives on regeneration and its success.
Firstly he reminds us that the golden boys who everyone
expects to make a difference are not necessarily going to be successful. The plans which have the resources and the
backing of government do not necessarily have what it takes to succeed in the
real world of inner London. For as the quote from Zechariah says it is
not by might or power but by the spirit of God, and the spirit of God is one
which blows where it wills not according to the dictates of a delivery
plan. As we can see most powerfully in
Jesus himself real fundamental change comes not from kings and princes and
people with power but from the little people working at the grassroots. The restoration of Ezra and Nehemiah
ultimately got bogged down in legalism and the quest for racial purity, it
needed Jesus to place compassion not purity of the heart of faith and truly
bring into being the new Israel.
Secondly Zerubbabel reminds us that change is not dependent
upon one person (after all where would Jesus of got to without his
disciples!?), but upon many people doing their own little thing. And Zerubbabel's contribution is significant
-- what he did in the end was build a church, something which gave the people a
spiritual centre. In all the great hopes
of neighbourhood renewal and regeneration we should not forget that
spirituality is at the heart of any regeneration. I did not believe this means that everyone
needs to get converted and become Christians in order for any change to happen
but it does mean that spiritual values of compassion and justice and the
recovery of the sense of individual and community self-worth is the most
powerful agent for neighbourhood renewal.
I don't know if neighbourhood renewal is going to bring real change but
I believe it is an environment in which change can happen and that is an
opportunity to lay some spiritual foundations.
For if we can't all be Nehemiahs we might perhaps have the chance of
being Zerubbabels -- at least it's better than being Tattenais (see Ezra 5)!
Further resources
The Regeneration Maze Revisited. Teresa Edmans & Grisel Tarifa. London
Regeneration Network/Kings Fund 2001.
(020 7700 8105)
Regeneration and Renewal: a Comprehensive Guide for Small
Community Groups. Pan London Community
Regeneration Consortium. 2001 (a CD-ROM
Presentation) (020 7700 8105)
A New Commitment to Neighbourhood Renewal. Social Exclusion Unit. 2001.
(The basic government policy document on Neighbourhood Renewal) (020
7944 8383)
Faiths Hope and Participation. New Economics Foundation/Church Urban Fund
2001 (020 7898 1654)
Community Regeneration of Neighbourhood Renewal -- Towards a
Baptist Response. Phil Jump. Baptist Union 2001. (01235 517700)
London
Regeneration Network. http://www.lvsc.org.uk/lrn/. E-mail
grisel@lvsc.org.uk 020 7700 8105.
Regen Net.
Information network for regeneration partnerships www.regen.net.
|