Churches Together in Britain and Ireland

church and public issues

poverty, debt and the
financial crisis

Concerns for tackling poverty and social justice are at the heart of the Gospel. There is a rich biblical tradition from the Old Testament prophets and throughout the Gospels and the rest of the New Testament. This has been carried forward in differing ways through the majority of Christian traditions to the current day. 

Choose an option below to see what the churches are doing and saying:

• Poverty
• Debt

 Poverty 

Close the Gap campaign
Church Action on Poverty's three-year campaign to Close the Gap is calling for four key changes aimed at making a real difference to build a society that will be fairer, happier, healthier and safer:

• Fair taxes
• Fair pay
• Fair prices
• A fair say

For more information, see Church Action on Poverty .

Poverty and Homelessness Action Week 
28 January - 5 February 2012
Aimed at helping Churches and community projects break down barriers to challenge prejudice, enable excluded people to live full lives, and build a fairer world. Free resources to download.

Just Church 
A programme of action/reflection, developed by Church Action on Poverty in partnership with other churches/agencies, aiming to help local churches to integrate concerns for poverty and social justice into the lives and faith journeys of congregations and individual Christians. 

Micah Challenge UK is a coalition of Christian organisations and churches in Britain united in their concern to fight global poverty, set up after world leaders signed up in 2000 to the Millennium Development Goals to halve global poverty by 2015. Micah Sunday  is 19 October.

Scottish Churches Parliamentary Office briefing paper:
Poverty - Who Cares? SCPO briefing paper (PDF)

The Joint Public Issues Team of the Baptist, Methodist and United Reformed Churches has produced a leaflet on child poverty .

The End Child Poverty campaign is a widely supported coalition whose members include the Church of England and many Christian organisations.

Debt

Churches and Christian organisations have been concerned for years about growing levels of personal debt and the disproportional effect this has on the poor in various ways.

Matter of Life and Debt
A Church of England campaign originally launched in early 2008, kept up to date with a variety of resources both practical and spiritual responding to the credit crunch.
Church of England website 

Debt on Our Doorstep
A campaign of Church Action on Poverty which aims to end extortionate lending and ensure universal access to affordable credit and other financial services.
Church Action on Poverty website 

Stewardship
A Christian financial support services charity.
Stewardship website

Life Beyond Debt
The Evangelical Alliance's response to the current economic crisis.
Life Beyond Debt website

Credit Action
A national money education charity.
Credit Action website

Christian Council for Monetary Justice
An open forum which seeks to make people more aware of the pertinence of faith to the economic order.
Christian Council for Monetary Justice website