Corsham Debt Advice Centre - run by Priory Street Baptist ChurchThe Christian impact on the Economy.
A survey ignored by the media.
Faith communities (Christian, Moslem and Jewish) in UK contribute over £2bn to the national economy each year. Many faith communities are working in areas of emerging need such as employment training, alcohol and drug awareness, and debt counselling. Projects tackling these problems are particularly needed in many urban areas now suffering high levels of deprivation.
Many faith communities provide accommodation for the wider community. In Wales alone, (where the survey was conducted by carried out by Christian group Gweini, working in partnership with the Wales Council for Voluntary Action) , over 600 operate purpose-built community centres; 1,800 rent out rooms to outside groups and 1,100 supply accommodation free of charge. 98% of this work is done by Christian churches, whose congregations in UK are contributing something of the order of 1.6 million hours of voluntary work on behalf of the wider community every week. This is the equivalent of 40,000 full-time workers provided by the church for free.
None of this survey was taken up or reported on by the mainstream media. Indeed public commentators are fond of asking all too frequently whether religion is good for society, and equally often giving a negative response. So, to those who say ‘Christianity is fine, as long as you keep it private’ my response would be, ‘Do you really want that £2 bn taken out of the economy, or all that voluntary work removed?’
Faith communities (Christian, Moslem and Jewish) in UK contribute over £2bn to the national economy each year. Many faith communities are working in areas of emerging need such as employment training, alcohol and drug awareness, and debt counselling. Projects tackling these problems are particularly needed in many urban areas now suffering high levels of deprivation.
Many faith communities provide accommodation for the wider community. In Wales alone, (where the survey was conducted by carried out by Christian group Gweini, working in partnership with the Wales Council for Voluntary Action) , over 600 operate purpose-built community centres; 1,800 rent out rooms to outside groups and 1,100 supply accommodation free of charge. 98% of this work is done by Christian churches, whose congregations in UK are contributing something of the order of 1.6 million hours of voluntary work on behalf of the wider community every week. This is the equivalent of 40,000 full-time workers provided by the church for free.
None of this survey was taken up or reported on by the mainstream media. Indeed public commentators are fond of asking all too frequently whether religion is good for society, and equally often giving a negative response. So, to those who say ‘Christianity is fine, as long as you keep it private’ my response would be, ‘Do you really want that £2 bn taken out of the economy, or all that voluntary work removed?’
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