ADVENT is a reminder of how the Church supports people “in times of darkness and difficulty”, the Prime Minister said at a gathering in Downing Street last week.
Speaking at an Advent reception on Wednesday, Sir Keir Starmer told church leaders and representatives that he was “struck that the Christian latest yr doesn’t begin with the enjoyment of Christmas Day, but with this darker season of waiting and hoping.
“It jogs my memory that the Church will not be only there in moments of celebration, but for a lot of in times of darkness and difficulty as well,” he said. He spoke of the support that he and his family had received when his mother, an everyday churchgoer, was dying.
Sir Keir said that he knew “how powerful Christian faith will be, and its potential to be an agent of transformation”. While not a Christian himself, he told those attending that he wanted the Government to “support that work you’re already doing, partner with you, and learn out of your experience on the bottom, each day”.
He spoke of the response of churches to the summer’s riots, saying that the work they did in communities was “often unrecognised and unnoticed, but absolutely essential”. Sir Keir also cited mental health support as an area wherein churches were doing invaluable work.
Sir Keir is the primary self-professed atheist to function Prime Minister, but he has been outspoken in his admiration for faith groups, stating an intention to have interaction constructively with them (News, 27 September).
A big proportion of his front bench are outspoken about their Christian faith (News, 12 July; Comment, 19 July.
Those attending Wednesday’s reception included the Bishop of Willesden, the Rt Red Lusa Nsenga-Ngoy, and a former Bishop of Edmonton, now head of the Church Urban Fund, the Rt Revd Rob Wickham.
The chief executive of the Christian development organisation World Vision, Andrew Morley, was also in attendance, together with the chairman of the National Churches Trust, Sir Philip Rutnam.
