For most people in England, ‘the Church’ is the Church of England. It is still the only church which covers most of the country, and in many villages, to this day, it is at the centre of village life in so far as events such as the summer fete are concerned. So, by the time this goes up, I shall be making enemies for life by judging the cake-making contest (we have, in a very Anglican compromise, managed to contrive a situation in which there are many types of winner), whilst my fiance will be grilling the burgers and barbecuing all types of meat (what is this man and meat and fire thing? Clearly very primeval). The Church fete, as it is known by all and sundry, goes back to a time when the church really was the central point of village life: it was where people were married, babies baptised and people buried, and usually where the village school was situated. The State has taken on many of these things, and in some ways, and in some places, the church is really almost a survival of a bygone era. As the State has taken on all the roles just mentioned (and increased taxes to pay for same), it has pushed the church out of the way; whether, in this age of greater austerity and cuts in public services, it will be able to continue to do so, is an interesting subject for conjecture.
Already, with the advent of foodbanks, we have seen the Church make a come-back. The State is quite unable to manage to provide emergency aid for people whom its bureaucratic procedures cannot deal with swiftly enough to ensure that they have enough to eat between becoming unemployed and receiving benefits. The vast clientage who have lived on State benefits forever know how to use the system, those newly unemployed don’t, and it is so complex and slow that people can risk going hungry. So here, as in so many other places, the churches have worked together to provide foodbanks, where individuals can come and get help; here we also provide links to other sources of advice. None of this requires anyone to go near a church for religious purposes, but it reminds us all of what St James says, which is that true religion is feeding the widows and the orphans. Goodness knows, if you look around you, there is more than enough of that to be done, and as I said to my fiance the other evening, it is all very well arguing abstruse points of theology, but we do risk missing this central message of Jesus – which is that when you feed the hunger and clothe the naked, you are doing these things to Him, as well as for Him.
The early Christians were famous for the way they took care of each other; in a society which preached and practised devil take the hindmost, Christians stood out for their care for those on the margins of society. As the tide of State influence recedes – and I do not see it coming back – the churches are being offered a chance to practice what they preach. The more of that we do, the more people will wonder what it is which makes this group of people act in a way which others won’t. That is our best witness, and I hope we shall seize it. Now, for those cakes …
All Along the Watchtower 
Our country too (at least my region of it) has marginalized the church touting America’s famed separation of church and state. Like you though I am seeing an opportunity for the church to step into a gap created by the world’s floundering economy. Interesting though the church’s charity seems automatically to call people to a different way of thinking.
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Jess, I do wonder in Western European countries and the U.S. that we might merely be patting ourselves on the back by doing primarily symbolic actions that stroke our desire to be caring and loving Christians. If your part of the world is anything like the US, most of our ‘poor’ have cars, telephones, internet, air conditioning and a roof over their heads. In addition, unless they are mentally unstable, they are able to understand the benefits offered to them by the State to assuage any difficulties: government housing, food stamps or EBT cards that prevent them from going hungry, not to mention the free healthcare that is available to our citizens (and non-citizens for that matter).
All of these programs within our Churches looks and sounds good on paper yet my wife deals with ‘professional’ beggars who come to the Church to gain, what amounts to an extra benefit that is above and beyond their perceived ‘entitlement’ to services and goods. They play one church against another for money to pay their electric bills and gas bills while they use their government money to buy drugs and booze.
For my part, I would think our money and time might be best spent teaching the poor in third world countries how to farm orby educating them in some field that would help not only themselves but their country and the overall economy of their societies. Sadly, this is not easy, for most of these countries are corrupt and our desires to help are usually undone or met with great suspicion – as if it is and intrusion by those who are delving into affairs that are none of their business.
No wonder Christ told us that the poor would always be with us. So I guess we just try to do the best we can and vet those we help so that our money is actually being given to the needy and not to the greedy.
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I struggle with the same concerns you mention. Having returned from Africa a bit ago it is difficult to apply the term poverty here. I suppose wisdom will be justified by all her children.
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Indeed. We should try to help our neighbors but the difference is so stark.
It used to be that if you lost your job and couldn’t find employment, it wouldn’t be long before you lost your home and were living on the street without money for the necessities of life. But no more; at least in our countries. I have watched people pay for a cartload of groceries with an EBT card and then push their carts out to their new SUV and fill it up. It makes a sham of true poverty.
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I don’t think we really get to say that there are ‘deserving’ and ‘undeserving’ poor; for me it is the thought that God has forgiven us, and loved us, despite our sins, which operates here. If people say they are in need, it isn’t my place to investigate, but to help. I daresay some people abuse the system, some always do, but I’d rather risk that than someone falling through the net, I guess. I’m an old softie 🙂
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Well I don’t fault you for being a softie – only that you will be taken in more often than those who either know the people and their circumstances personally (who should be their first line of help) or those who actually look into the situations. Maybe it isn’t as big a problem in the UK but, as I say, this has gotten so bad here that all our local parishes have pooled our money into a professional group that handles these individuals and verifies their circumstances. Even then, some of them will continue to beg for more money from the churches and at times refuse to leave – which makes for some scary scenarios. We have had to call the police on several of them.
As a cab driver in Boston, I used to pick up pimps and drug dealers and drive them to pick up their welfare checks and wait for them to take them home which was usually a large sum of money for the taxi.
As we say in the US, fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. 🙂
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Very observant to see an opportunity returning as quickly as it once passed; it is true here as well. The choices we make now will speak clearly who we are, no doubt. Superb word today Jess.
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Thanks Mike 🙂 x
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the church is much more than four walls and a steeple.
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Yes, I’ve seen all of those as well, and have much the same reaction. But there is also this, usually people on benefits are neither the wisest nor most provident in our societies, and it is entirely possible to be hungry because of that new SUV. I have also seen at least one study that says many people have no clue how to cook and sincerely believe fast food is cheaper. If you combine that with dearth of the lower priced stores (Wal-Mart, and others) which have mostly been proscribed by the upper classes from downtown in the older cities, perhaps in some measure we are criticising something where we have given few good options.
In any case, I think there is much room for us to work in this niche, and done carefully it will lead to more interest in why we do so. It’s not a panacea, of course, there are none. And we would be well advised to take some precautions, but I would rather subsidize some level of fraud (in true charity) than turn away some who are hurting. It’s tough to draw that line.
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The poor ye will have always.
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Something just hit me. Say, good sister Jess, did I hear you say that good brother Chalcedon is your brother in law? or maybe im hearing things again. LSD flashback
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No, you’re right 🙂 x
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Is one of his sons your ex husband?
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No. He’s married to me step-sister.
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Ah, Ok. Glad to hear it. Your step sister is in fine company.
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Thank you, Bosco xx 🙂
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