As we begin 2014 by wishing friends a Happy and Prosperous New Year, we are all too aware that many people in Lancashire will continue to face anxiety and struggle, poverty and insecurity. The rising demand on food banks, the continued high levels of unemployment and low pay, the shortage of affordable housing, the reduced budgets for local authorities and the impact of welfare reform and benefits sanctions have had an impact in many congregations and in the community work that is linked to churches. Together Lancashire is committed to helping churches and local communities improve people's lives through activities aimed at Tackling Poverty Together. We value your prayers, interest and support in our work this year.
Every year many churches and projects have marked the final week of January as Poverty and Homelessness Action Week.
This year at Together Lancashire we are hoping that every church in the county will mark the week in some way. At the very least we hope you will be able to offer some special prayers for local people who are facing poverty, have no fixed abode or are at risk of homelessness.
There are many other suggestions for activities and resources such as written prayers and sermon outlines that can be downloaded from the Action Week website... http://www.actionweek.org.uk/home.html
Here are a few more ideas:
You could show a short video clip in your Sunday Services or midweek groups. The Together Lancashire video is available online at http://www.cuf.org.uk/together-lancashire or on a DVD disk from our office. There is another excellent video from our colleagues at Together Middlesbrough here http://www.cuf.org.uk/together-middlesbrough
You could explore, in sermons or through a study course, what the bible says about poverty and the challenge for Christians to respond by prayer, by giving or sharing their resources, and by speaking up against injustice. There is a huge range of resources available, and we'd be happy to point out specific things that may be of use.
If you are not already in contact with them, you could contact your local food-bank, homelessness project, work club, money advice centre, or community centre to see how you can support them through prayer, donations or offering volunteering time. Together Lancashire has a wide network of local contacts with such organisations and would be happy to put you in touch with appropriate people.
You could find out more about some of the Christian organisations that specialise in work on poverty and homelessness from their websites. Some of the key ones that we work with are
Church Urban Fund (our mother ship!) www.cuf.org.uk
Church Action on Poverty ..
who educate and campaign on poverty in the UK www.church-poverty.org.uk/
Christians Against Poverty
who run debt advice centres, money courses and job clubs for unemployed people
Housing Justice who educate and campaign on homelessness and housing issues http://www.housingjustice.org.uk/
Please contact us at Together-Lancashire if you need ideas, support or a speaker at anything you plan during the week, or later in the year. And do let us know about any activities or outcomes from them so we can keep in touch with what Christians across the county are doing.
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