THE General Synod has recommitted to ending poverty within the UK, after a debate during which members heard personal stories of those that felt “hopeless and abandoned by society — and perhaps even by God”.
The motion was moved by Mark Sheard (Archbishops’ Council), who reminded members that they were revisiting a debate at ran out of time at a gathering of the Synod last yr. It had been led by the Church Urban Fund to mark the fortieth anniversary of the Faith within the City report.
Mr Sheard urged the Synod “to be ambassadors of our Lord, who got here to bring excellent news to the poor”.
He said: “The awful truth is that there are 14 million people living in poverty in our nation, one in five of our population. . . Each has their story, their very own struggles, their very own reason to feel hopeless and abandoned by society — and perhaps even by God.”
The Revd Rachel Webbley (Canterbury) brought an amendment that may add a clause acknowledging how poverty affected people from ethnic minorities disproportionately. She urged the Synod to take heed to those that had lived experience of racial patterns of poverty. “It will not be about tokenism, it’s about truth — allowing those that live in poverty to shape our response to it,” she said.
The Revd Andrew Mumby (Southwark) also urged the Synod to take heed to those that had been systematically excluded. “Ending poverty requires us to confront its racialised nature,” he said.
Figures from the Runnymede Trust showed that Black-and minority-ethnic people were greater than twice as prone to experience poverty, he said. “White poverty is devastating, black poverty is devastating, but, if we’re to do an intensive job . . . we’ve to listen fastidiously to the various causes of such tragic poverty.”
Geoff Crawford/Church TimesThe Revd Andrew Mumby (Southwark) urges the Synod to take heed to those that have been systematically excluded
The Revd Alex Frost (Blackburn), nevertheless, spoke against the amendment. “Poverty is poverty,” he said. He emphasised that addressing poverty required motion not only discussion. Telling people’s personal stories and speaking truthfully could capture people’s imaginations, which, in turn, could encourage change, he said.
The amendment was carried.
Another amendment was brought by Emma Robarts (St Albans), which called for increases in national funding to supply for more clergy within the poorest parishes. This was defeated, nevertheless.
The Revd Chantal Noppen (Durham) then brought an amendment on behalf of the Revd Robert Thompson (London), who was recovering from surgery and will not be present. She emphasised the importance of foodbanks that served multi-faith communities: “When hardship deepens, neighbours help neighbours”. She said that, within the North East, where she was based, it was still “deeply fractured” by the lack of industries.
The Bishop of Leicester, the Rt Revd Martyn Snow, supported the amendment due to its emphasis on interfaith work.
The amendment was carried.
Despite wishing to support the general motion, the Revd James McCluskey (Chelmsford) opposed it, because he believed that the Synod couldn’t fulfil it properly. Unless there was agency in parishes, “the guarantees that we’re making, we’re offering a stone, when we’d like to supply bread,” he said.
William Leeming (Young Adult) concluded the controversy by supporting the motion and congratulating the achievement of the 1985 Faith within the City report, from which the Church was continuing to profit. He encouraged the Synod to be “brave” and perform their moral duty of well-being and support.
The motion was carried.
It read:
That this Synod:
a) recognise and have fun the enduring impact of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Commission on Urban Priority Areas’ ‘Faith within the City’ report on Christian social motion forty years after its publication, including through the work of Church Urban Fund.
b) affirm the worth and necessity of listening to people inside our congregations and in our wider communities who’re experiencing poverty, learning from these insights, and embedding these views and experiences within the forming of the body of Christ.
c) give thanks for the work undertaken by Christian communities across the country to witness to the love of God, serve and strengthen their communities, and construct partnerships towards a movement of affection, justice and mercy, together
d) affirm the importance of listening to individuals with lived experience of poverty, and recognise that poverty in England disproportionately affects some Black and minority ethnic communities, encouraging the Church to take account of those realities in its pastoral practice, mission, and public witness;
e) recommit to ending poverty in all its forms and manifestations, whilst asking questions of ourselves, our political, society and business leaders in regards to the unjust structures and decisions which cause and exacerbate poverty, according to the third and fourth marks of mission.
f) recognise that in lots of areas of high deprivation poverty is experienced inside multi-faith communities, and encourage the Church, where appropriate, to work ecumenically and in partnership with other faith groups in responding to poverty and supporting the wellbeing of local communities, while also encouraging using person-centred language when speaking about poverty—corresponding to ‘people living in poverty’ or ‘people experiencing poverty’— and discouraging using objectifying terms corresponding to ‘the poor’, in order that poverty is known as a condition affecting people inside our shared communities fairly than as a defining identity.
