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Committee Members

Convener: Professor Malcolm Johnson Deputy Convener: Mrs Val Morrison Secretary: Revd Peter Brain

Revd Hazel Barkham, Mr Paul Franklin (Youth and Children’s Work committee), Revd David Fraser, Ms Janine Lawley, Mr George Morton, Revd Michael Powell, with Revd Justine Wyatt (National AIDS Adviser) to December 1998

1.1 With the theme of Jubilee uppermost in many minds, we are becoming almost too familiar with Luke 4, 18 - 19, with its reference to ‘the year of the Lord’s favour’ and the coming of Jesus ‘to announce good news to the poor, to proclaim release for prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to let the broken victims go free’. In John 10, 10 we find a similar manifesto, almost a soundbite: ‘I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly’. Not a bad basis for assessing our work throughout the church and certainly in Church and Society. Are we life-givers? Are we life-enhancers? From this annual report we hope it appears that our strategy is fairly sound and our style appropriate.

1.2 Of course our direct impact is small. Maybe a few thousand lives benefit directly from Commitment for Life sending funds to four overseas partner organisations, a few hundreds from our encouragement of teachers in last year’s Assembly resolution which was forwarded to the teachers’ organisations, a few dozen directly from the ministry around HIV and AIDS. This limited direct effect is inevitable and perhaps it is as well, since spiritually we are not driven by the pressure to quantify success and achievement by performance indicators. The Christian calling is to side with the Christ-like God in words and actions and to side with those whose side such a God takes. If people notice the good we do, let them ‘give praise to the Father in heaven’.

1.3.1 But the stronger, indirect impact of our work is also mission or it is nothing, as we seek to enable the church to think and speak and act on a wide range of issues across society. We take time in committee to reflect on how to live by faith in the world as it is, especially at our annual residential meeting. For instance, we had a serious discussion of how Christians should approach the issue of euthanasia, although we do not anticipate bringing a report in the next few years.

1.3.2 We do ask, by implication if not in so many words, when starting some new work, reviewing a continuing programme or joining in an ecumenical venture: ‘Is this life-enhancing?’ Our new main emphases, on the environment, on elderly people, on economics, should stand this scrutiny. All three programmes are intended to help church people and society in general to appreciate living in God’s world with deeper understanding and awareness, to repent and to make progress towards that Kingdom which is both God’s gift and our goal.

1.4 We pay tribute to our retiring Convener, Professor Malcolm Johnson, for six years of clear leadership, sensitive chairing and personal support of colleagues and staff. In this he was ably backed up by our Deputy Convener, Mrs Val Morrison, who also finishes this year. Neither would have been able to give the time to fulfil all the duties and expectations of a committee convener. But each did much more than half! So we have been privileged to have both.

2.1.1 The work on environmental issues is the subject of our main resolution. We were fortunate in being able to negotiate with Province and District for 50 working days a year during which David Pickering, a minister on Teesside, can deploy his scientific knowledge and experience to serve as our Environmental Issues Adviser. A mixed monitoring group of specialists and ‘ordinary people’ meets quarterly (not in London) to support this work. Our main aim is to raise awareness in local churches, hence the initiative reported in the resolution.

2.1.2 David has also been able to play an important role in conversations which we hope will lead to the establishment of a stronger body to represent the churches in this area. The current Environmental Issues Network of CCBI is by definition only a network, a sharing of information and ideas; it is not intended to be pro-active in making representations and submissions on behalf of the churches on these vital issues to government or industry or the media. The organisation Christian Ecology Link offers public comment and attracts support from local churches and individuals; but there is no acknowledged ecumenical instrument in this field.

2.1.3 On a related topic, we made a submission to the US government urging them not to allow Dr Seed (yes, that is his name) to start experiments in possible human cloning in Chicago. The danger is still there. In this, as on other scientific matters, we are dependent on the sound advice of the Society Religion and Technology project in Edinburgh and their Dr Donald Bruce who has become the acknowledged church spokesperson in this field.

2.2.1 The work on ageing and work with older people is also the subject of a resolution, brought by the joint group formed by ourselves and the Discipleship, Stewardship and Witness Committee, reflecting the complementary interests of the two committees in this field. In 1997 we commissioned Nigel Appleton, a consultant with relevant experience and a United Reformed Church Elder, to produce a report setting out the background and offering suggestions of what we might do as a church, especially in the UN International Year of Older Persons 1999. Copies of his full report are available on request.

2.2.2 Church and Society is particularly interested in the Millennium Debate of the Age (MDA) and we convened an ecumenical group to liaise with it. This is a major initiative from Age Concern that has rapidly evolved into a free-standing and very ambitious programme of public consultation, aiming to elicit responses from over half the population. This whole project ties in with our own and other enquiries into values for the next century. It is much more than a survey of how older people think and feel. Now it is up to the members and friends of all our churches to ensure that our views are fed into the MDA, that our Christian vision of wholeness and community, with none excluded on grounds of age, race, gender, disability or whatever, is shared. MDA could be truly life-enhancing. Every possible communication channel will be used by the MDA, so let’s not be backward in coming forward. One modest opportunity to contribute is planned for Assembly, when the MDA mobile display should be on site for a day.

2.3.1 The work on economics will be our most expensive programme but we trust will produce a video and complementary materials of a high standard. Our aim is to liberate people from their inhibitions about making the connections between money and faith. We are not going to produce another report on why Christians should or should not love the market system. As we signalled last year, the aim of this programme is to challenge the widespread but misguided belief that economics is somehow autonomous, with laws as precise as those of the natural sciences, when it is in fact a human science, akin to psychology or politics. The statement ‘you cannot buck the market’ is not a truth like ‘2 + 2 = 4’ but more akin to ‘profit-conscious businesses seek to cut costs’ which is true, but relative.

2.3.2 A monitoring group, with financial and theological expertise, meets regularly (also in the north of England). We are working with Pathway Productions, the audio-visual unit of the Church of Scotland, and The William Temple Foundation. We have appointed a writer who has listened in on the conversations of two very contrasting groups, convened by members of the monitoring group, and whose task is to script a 40 minute drama drawing out the human dilemmas and underlying issues. Once the video is made and the study / action guide written, we plan to have a training programme for would-be users of the materials in early 1999 since we do not intend simply to produce this pack and let it gather dust on the shelves of URC House!

3.1.1 Support: It is good to be able to report a clear growth in the number of churches actively participating in the programme, up by over 100 in 12 months to 450. These are spread across the denomination from 67 in Southern Province to 11 in Wales.

3.1.2 During the year we have been in touch with many local churches whose first instinct and practice is to support Christian Aid, to remind them of what the then Director of Christian Aid said at Assembly in 1996, that Commitment for Life is the way for URCs to support Christian Aid. It is a partnership. We depend on Christian Aid for several aspects of the programme as the principal ecumenical agency, notably to do with links to the overseas partners. But both Christian Aid and Church and Society still urge local churches to change and join Commitment for Life.

3.2.1 Advocacy: The energy and dedication of the national Co-ordinator of Commitment for Life, Anne Martin, has kept our nationwide team of advocates above 40 and ensured that they are backed up with regular newsletters and other information. Advocates are encouraged to attend the annual ecumenical Swanwick consultation in May; otherwise Anne can meet them in Provincial groups for briefing and training.

3.2.2 Each participating church receives three mailings a year, with news of their partner and campaign updates. The advocates visit participating and interested churches - and would be pleased to visit you!

3.3.1 Campaigning: The primary campaigning issues for Commitment for Life during the year has been Jubilee 2000, which gets a section of the report to itself, below. We welcomed the positive approach taken by the new Government and the appointment of a Cabinet - level Secretary of State in a new Department for International Development. What was so refreshing in the White Paper, the first on the subject for decades, was the recognition that concern over aid, which is still crucial, needs to be integrated with concern over related policies such as world trade and debt, which can prevent those same poor people from re-establishing themselves within the total human community. The more holistic language of Clare Short needs to be supported by churches and other bodies, to consolidate the grassroots backing for her Department which is already strong according to the opinion polls.

3.3.2 At the same time, we have been protesting to MPs and the Department for Trade and Industry, which at the time of writing has the support of the Prime Minister in pressing for the Multilateral Agreement on Investment. Our campaigning partner, World Development Movement, has waged a fierce struggle against this MAI which it regards as the final triumph of multi-national businesses over vulnerable governments.

3.4 Partners: Around two-thirds of participating churches have chosen an overseas partner and the Commitment for Life materials are all based on these links. Partnership of this kind helps a church identify with those working for development in a very different context without (we hope) relapsing into a patronising attitude towards them, which sadly characterises some twinning schemes. In 1998 we shall sever our direct connection with the Deccan Development Society in India, who were one of the original partners. We shall keep the link with Olodum, in Salvador, Brazil, with Silveira House, Zimbabwe, and with PARC, the Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committee. And we shall take on a new partner, the Christian Commission on Development, Bangladesh, marking this new link with a visit from a FURY group in September.

3.5 Materials: 1998 is the year when we publish completely fresh leaflets and posters, based on the work of the four partner organisations and the lives of some people who work with them. It is planned to have these ready in June, so there should be a good display at Assembly. This will sustain us until 2000 when we are due to debate Commitment for Life again at Assembly and consider any more serious changes to the programme.

3.6 Funds: 1997 income for Commitment for Life came to around £310k, a significant increase on £285k in 1996. A breakdown of how this money was disbursed was sent to participating churches in January and is readily available. We kept the WDM grant at 10% of the income and were able to find £5k for Jubilee 2000 as well as nearly £9k for One World Week. This is all life-giving and life-enhancing, especially the funding of campaigning and educational bodies; that way we can be ‘tough on the causes of poverty’ as well as direct in our help to a few needy communities.

4.1.1 The momentum of the Jubilee 2000 Coalition accelerates month by month. Church and Society has been active in backing the campaign and is a founder member of the Coalition. At the time of writing plans are being finalised for the lobby of the G8 summit in Birmingham on May 16 when we hope for a good URC turnout among the tens of thousands expected. The commitment of the UK government was exemplified by a gathering hosted by Chancellor Gordon Brown for religious leaders, including our own General Secretary. The task now is to convince other world leaders to take the point, that it makes economic as well as moral sense to write off the unpayable debts of some of the poorest countries, albeit with care to prevent recurrence of the problem and with no blind eye turned to possible corruption.

4.1.2 This is a global movement for justice, with spontaneous support in many countries. People simply do not accept that the children of Zaire should repay the money diverted by former President Mobutu to his own ends or that the children of the Philippines should in effect pay for Mrs Marcos’ shoes! Jubilee 2000 seems to have caught the imagination of people everywhere - and certainly attracts those in our own country who feel it is a better symbol of a fresh start at the millennium than a Greenwich dome or a commemorative bus shelter in their village (assuming there is still a bus).

4.2.1 Staff responsibility for work on international affairs is split between the Secretaries for International Relations and Church and Society, who alternate at the principal ecumenical forum, the CCBI-sponsored Liaison Group. Puckish, we put a girdle round the earth in rather more than forty minutes, with an ever-changing pattern of primary concerns, too many to list here at all usefully.

4.2.2 The Middle East continues to cause acute concern. At the time of writing the world was breathing a sigh of relief at the deal negotiated by Kofi Annan and the Iraqi government. But no deal which ignores the broader issues of regional power structures, the prospects for democracy and human rights, American inconsistency over Israel and the West’s coming to terms with Islam will be more than temporary: a welcome cease-fire certainly, but not peace.

4.2.3 The start of the UK Presidency of the European Union was marked by meetings between church representatives and government officials; this led to a meeting between church leaders and the Foreign Secretary at which he expressed an interest in repeating the meeting after the Presidency for ‘mutual invigilation’ (his phrase). This could mark a new pattern of contacts (though we take the remark with just a pinch of salt); we hope that the British Presidency improves after the first difficult month.

4.2.4 As in previous years the Secretary for International Relations organised a visit to the European Parliament and Council of Europe in Strasbourg for the leaders of the URC, Methodist and Baptist churches in conjunction with Gordon Adam MEP (a URC member) and the Strasbourg office of EECCS (European Ecumenical Commission for Church and Society). In the course of the year EECCS have produced useful discussion papers on enlargement of the European Union and Economic and Monetary Union. Both of these are available from the International Relations office and we would commend them to anyone wishing to explore the major issues facing Europe at this time. As reported by the Ecumenical Committee, our trusted partner EECCS has finally become the Church and Society Commission of the Conference of European Churches to the mutual advantage of both bodies. We are giving support through Commitment for Life to the North-South group of EECCS which is convening an important conference on the Lomé renegotiations involving developing countries in the autumn.

4.2.5 The concern expressed at last year’s Assembly over the situations in Kenya and Myanmar (Burma) has been followed up ecumenically with our partners here, with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and with our partner churches in both countries. In February the Secretary for International Relations and Aubrey Curry visited Myanmar and learnt about the situation there at first hand.

4.3.1 The work around HIV and AIDS, though no longer a ‘special category ministry’ after 10 years, continues into 1998. Justine Wyatt was asked by the Committee to act as a consultant for perhaps 50 days a year. The Committee restated our appreciation to Justine for her ministry during the past 3 years.

4.3.2 It is important that a new reference group has been established, to be chaired by Welsh Moderator John Humphreys, with a range of people from different agencies with firsthand experience of HIV and AIDS. It is this group which will keep before the attention of the church the continuing agenda of caring and campaigning.

4.3.3 There remains the annual focus of World AIDS Day, December 1 (marked in churches on an adjacent Sunday) when the global dimension of the epidemic is remembered. The 1998 theme will focus on AIDS and young people and we hope there will be several services and events around the country to mark it.

4.4.1 We will not report at length this year on the continuing work done by specialist ecumenical bodies to which Church and Society sends representatives. This is in addition to the ecumenical bodies and groups which are attended by staff.

Please enquire from our office or from the people mentioned if you want to know what they have been doing. Churches Peace Forum (Malcolm Compston); Churches Human Rights Forum (Alan Hart); Free Churches Council Education Committee (Graham Hanscomb); Sponsoring Group for ‘Unemployment and the Future of Work’ (Ruth Clarke); Churches Commission for Racial Justice (Sandra Ackroyd); Christian Aid board (Sandra Dears). The Committee receives a report each year from these loyal and effective colleagues.

4.4.2 One item mentioned by the Secretary in his annual review of his work done apart from the agenda of the Committee was the reaction of the Campaign for Freedom of Information to the White Paper in January as ‘going further than we (the Campaign) had thought any British government would be willing to go’. Pressure will be needed to ensure that these welcome proposals are not diluted in a Bill.

4.5.1 We have not much fresh to report on some ‘old favourites’ reported more fully in past years:

4.5.2 The baby-milk manufacturers are proving difficult to get round a table, even with the independent research group run by UNICEF (which published ‘Cracking the Code’ in 1996) and still less with their outright opponents, Baby Milk Action. We have stated that if a protocol for inspection of alleged violations can be agreed (which says nothing about whether there are violations or not) that would be sufficient progress for various organisations including the United Reformed Church to lift any boycotts of the companies. But there is sadly no progress as yet. If we seek life for the vulnerable babies and infants we must continue to protest.

4.5.3 Some easing of restrictions and a shift in approach is discernible in the new government’s policy on refugees and asylum seekers. Two families on whose behalf the URC had campaigned, the Ogunwobis and the Okolos, were allowed to stay which was a cause for rejoicing. But there are still 700+ would-be refugees detained in British prisons or detention centres (which are sometimes worse than prisons), plus as many as 50,000+ awaiting determination of their appeals. The policy of detention really must be ended; some abuse of the system cannot justify wholesale criminalisation of often desperate people.

4.5.4 There are still rumblings over the National Lottery and not merely over the unsavoury record of one of the Camelot consortium, G-Tech. We joined the Methodist-led protest over the introduction of an instant game (‘Pronto!’) to be run in public houses which is likely to impact on the most vulnerable gamblers and were pleased when restrictions were imposed by the government. The returns from the Lottery are still huge with a turnover of £4,723m in 1996/7 (£5,217m in 1995/6), of which the good causes together received £1,531m including unclaimed prizes (£1,453m in 1996) with £287m allocated to charities (£283m in 1996) - and the Treasury taking £567m (£626m in 1996). Perhaps the coming economic downturn will further dampen those figures next year.

4.5.5 The increase in gambling by children is another critical issue which needs firm regulation. But one underlying trend which we anticipated back in when the notion of a Lottery was first discussed is becoming ever more marked, namely that it is becoming an integrated sector of government spending, run by Ministers who are glad to make (and take credit for) savings in more traditional budgets by substituting Lottery funds. There is no joy in saying ‘we told you so’; for some projects there is increasingly no alternative to Lottery funding. Lastly, everything to do with the Millennium Commission (for example, its church floodlighting scheme or the Greenwich Dome) is totally funded this way. This is far from life-enhancing, to put it mildly, but the Lottery is not going away.

1 The need for Christians to treat the natural order with more care and reverence has been growing in recent decades. The subtle position of homo sapiens among the various species, at the same time superior to and yet part of nature, is bringing about a fresh appreciation of creation as God’s gift and our responsibility. In ecumenical circles this position has been linked to the affirmation of Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Creation (JPIC) and the use of that formula by the World Council of Churches and others in a number of programmes.

2 JPIC has long been a logical and theological framework for the approach of Church and Society. It encourages us to emphasise concern for the created order, but never at the expense of human justice and world peace. Thus we have been developing a holistic approach which seeks to base our Christian environmental concerns in scripture and the Christian tradition while welcoming the discoveries and heeding the warnings of contemporary science.

3 The pack Roots and Branches will be introduced at Assembly and become available over the summer. This pack will be different from others currently available in being much more user-friendly, designed round the needs and experiences of different groups or interests within a local congregation. Thus there will be material for children and young people, for worship leaders, for fabric officers or committees, for house groups, for caterers, etc. - the ‘branches’ hopefully bearing fruit. Complementing these will be material exploring the ‘roots’, with some basic statistics, case-studies from churches, Bible studies, glossary of technical terms, passages from distinguished Christian writers past and present, resource lists, etc.

4 The plan is for a Church Meeting this autumn to commit itself to working out some policies to ‘green the church’ over the next two years and to report back to itself and to us in 2000 AD on how the ideas have caught on and are affecting various aspects of church life.

5 One particular environmental concern is global warming with its serious impact of rising sea levels and climate change. Global warming is a consequence of the release of certain gases into the atmosphere, the main contribution coming from the burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas). For what is often a modest capital outlay, significant savings can be made in church fuel bills, while reducing our contribution to global warming. The Church of Scotland has run a ‘Better Heating’ scheme for 20 years whereby local churches obtain professional advice for improvements to their plant. They claim that in an average church savings of 20% are possible and that their denomination could save £1/2m a year. This is undoubtedly an attractive option and the resolution invites Church and Society to see how a group might be established to explore it.

6 ‘Greening the church’ is not some extraneous or ‘new age’ notion but a return to fundamental beliefs about God and the creation and our stewardship as human beings. We believe that using this pack will unify different parts and organisations of a church around a common theme (while being useful and relevant in smaller churches) and will do a lot for the perception of the relevance of the church in the community.

1 In December the 50th Anniversary of the UN Declaration on Human Rights will be marked all around the world. As a visionary statement, drawn up in the aftermath of the Second World War, it has served the world well, exposing abuses of human rights in every corner of the globe. Its strength is that it speaks up for people, against the abuse of power by governments and others who wield considerable power over the rest of humanity. Of itself, it has not surprisingly not prevented such abuses. However, it has had the effect of exposing them to public scrutiny, international comment and censure.

2.1 The resolution welcomes this witness and the work that goes alongside it. We then call upon Her Majesty’s Government to ratify two protocols which go alongside the Declaration on Human Rights.

2.2 The first Optional Protocol would allow individuals to petition the UN Committee on Human Rights concerning the violation of rights contained in the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. It should be noted that not all the rights in this Covenant are covered by the European Convention on Human Rights, which is to be incorporated in British Law under the Human Rights Bill.

2.3 The second Optional Protocol commits signatories to a complete and permanent ban on capital punishment. The important issue here is that it would commit the UK representatives at the UN General Assembly and Human Rights Commission to vote in favour of the international banning of the death penalty, rather than abstaining as they have done in the past.

3 We broadly welcome the move of Her Majesty’s Government to incorporate the European Convention on Human Rights into UK legislation. The attempts by some churches to secure exemptions from some provisions of the Convention has drawn critical comment and produced intended reassurances from the Lord Chancellor. We cannot comment further as the legislation is still before Parliament at the time of writing.

4.1 The resolution finally draws attention to the work of InterAction Council, chaired by former German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt and including 24 former heads of state or government. Their proposed ‘Universal Declaration of Human Responsibilities’ has been the subject of wide consultation, though not all are agreed on the need for such a Declaration to stand, as it were, alongside the Declaration of Human Rights.

4.2 In the preamble to this new Declaration they note: the exclusive insistence on rights can result in conflict, division and endless dispute; and the neglect of human responsibilities can lead to lawlessness and chaos ... all people, to the best of their knowledge and ability, have a responsibility to foster better social order. Then, in the first draft article, it is stated: Every person, regardless of gender, ethnic origin, social status, political opinion, language, age, nationality, or religion, has a responsibility to treat all people in a humane way. Fifty years on from the Universal Declaration on Human Rights it seems appropriate to be addressing the complementary matter of overall human responsibilities.

1.1 In the Spring of 1997 the joint group commissioned a short term piece of research and development work in the area of Ageing and related topics from Nigel Appleton. This report to Assembly contains the skeleton of the 24 page report entitled Respecting the gift of years which can be obtained from Church and Society. This initiative arose from a long-standing concern that the Church should develop a strategic response to the issues of ageing, not least in preparation for the International Year of Older Persons 1999.

1.2 This report sought to provide:

2 The circumstances of older people in the United Kingdom

BUT

It is possible to paint too dark a picture. For the first time in our history the majority of our fellow citizens may look forward to completing a full life span into old age. For the majority there is the prospect of twenty and more years after they finish paid employment. Whilst some experience frailty, poverty, ill health, bad housing and limited access to transport this is not the experience of the majority for most of those years of their old age. For many there will be the opportunity to go on growing, learning and extending themselves.

a) The participation of people of all ages within its life has been the traditional aspiration of the Christian Church. Inclusiveness has been a particular emphasis of the United Reformed Church. Whilst some respect continues to be given to the experience of age many older people have felt redundant and marginalised in a congregation in which they may form a majority.

b) The church adopts and reinforces the negative stereo-types of old age to be found in wider society. There is little emphasis on the celebration of a long life as a gift of God: a gift to the individual and to their community. In the worship of the church old age features most commonly in intercession for those who are ‘old, frail and sick’. Little acknowledgement is sometimes given to the positive gifts enjoyed by many through much of their old age.

c) In its worship, its life and its witness the Church should be challenging the prevailing negative images. To do so effectively it must begin with a re-examination of its theology. Our faith provides also the ability to set our negative feelings about ageing into context. It is important that as people living before God we give expression to our fears and anxieties about getting older. For older people the quest for meaning is as strong at the end of life as it is for younger people as their lives begin. The concerns are perhaps given greater urgency by the sense of finiteness many feel as they move through old age.

a) In 1990 the Board for Social Responsibility of the General Synod of the Church of England published the Report of its Social Policy Committee on Ageing, chaired by Raymond Clarke. The Report brought together factual material, distinctively Christian perspectives on ageing and an account of many of the issues.

b) A resolution to the 1997 Assembly of the Baptist Union drew attention to this matter.

c) The Methodist Church, through Methodist Homes, has been engaged in work on spirituality in old age. The outputs from this work will be launched and developed through a series of events planned for 1998.

d) Roman Catholic agencies are principally concerned with the issues of service by and to older people. Older people make up a high proportion of the 18,000 members who deliver care and support through the Society of St Vincent de Paul but also a high proportion of those who receive such service. Inter-generational issues have also been a focus of concern within the Roman Catholic Church.

e) Resources and experience from the United States of America are listed in the full report.

f) The Christian Council on Ageing is a national ecumenical Voluntary Organisation founded in 1982. Its work is developed from the premise that retired and older people are a resource, in churches and in the community, and not simply recipients of care. The organisation sets itself these aims:

• To explore the Christian potential and vocation in later years, and to nurture the continuing development of personal faith and growth.

• To affirm the contribution of local people to their local church and community and to encourage wider understanding across the generations.

• To improve the pastoral care of, and opportunities for worship and fellowship for frail elderly people.

• To improve pastoral support and fellowship for those who care for elderly people.

• To co-operate with other agencies concerned with ageing, including those of other faiths.

• To encourage an educated response to ageism in the churches.

In addition to its quarterly journal the CCOA has produced a variety of publications which deserve to be more widely known within the churches. The life of the United Reformed Church would be enriched by a more structured relationship with the Christian Council on Ageing.

2 Help the Aged, has taken a number of initiatives to establish links with the churches and to promote a range of activities. Help the Aged have an officer appointed to develop their work with the churches and have promoted a ‘National Sunday for Elderly People’ and distributed resource material for this and for other occasions of worship. The ‘Church Friend’ scheme, developed by Help the Aged, aims to have a representative in every congregation.

3 Counsel and Care is a national voluntary organisation providing advice and practical help to older people and their carers. Whilst its primary focus is upon people in residential care and nursing homes it maintains a broad concern for the problems which face older people.

4 The Centre for Policy on Ageing is a major resource for those concerned with the issues which affect older people. The Centre initiates and publishes research and has within its concerns issues of spirituality in old age. From an initial focus upon spiritual life in residential settings work is being developed to consider broader issues of spiritual life and affiliation in old age.

5 Initiated by Age Concern England the Millennium Debate of the Age is seeking to stimulate discussion about the radical changes facing a society undergoing a dramatic shift in its age profile. This is not only a debate about older people, their needs and aspirations and the impact of these upon younger people. Those leading the Debate rightly emphasise that the repercussions of an ageing society will be felt by all members of the community and will impact upon every area of economic, political and social life. Five study groups are already preparing ‘Millennium Papers’ to provide resources for the debate:

• Paying for Age: The costs of an ageing society.

• Ageing and the future of Health and Social Care.

• The future of the Built Environment as society ages.

• Work and Lifestyles.

• Attitudes and values in an ageing society.

The Debate will take place across the United Kingdom in different ways. Among the reasons for mounting the Debate its promoters identify the need to address ‘a range of moral and ethical dilemmas related to the ageing of society, looking to the family, relationships, spirituality, life planning and end of life issues.’ Clearly the churches ought to be exercising leadership in this area of the Debate.

1 Church and Society will consult with ecumenical partners and with the Christian Council on Ageing to establish a framework for on-going study and action in relation to the place of older people within the church and within society.

2 Church and Society will consult with ecumenical partners with a view to engaging in - and encouraging the involvement of local churches in - the Millennium Debate of the Age, across the full range of issues which it is raising, as part of a programme to build contact, mutual understanding and solidarity between the generations in a major contribution to the UN Year in 1999.

3 Discipleship, Stewardship and Witness will bring together a group to prepare material for worship which will reflect the concerns and celebrate the blessings of old age.

4 Discipleship, Stewardship and Witness will prepare guidelines for churches to encourage the active participation of older people in sharing their experiences and insights within the church.

5 The joint working group will consider how an awareness of old age and its concerns may be reflected upon theologically across the church, giving particular attention to issues connected with the end of life.

6 FURY Council will be invited to consider these issues and offer to the church ideas and proposals for action which will give expression to solidarity between the generations in the church and in communities.

7 The joint working group will promote increased access to ideas and relevant information: