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Reform Article

HIDDEN ASSETS

Assets for Life is an exciting new resource pack to help your church get involved within your neighbourhood as part of its mission and ministry. It is introduced here by researcher Jenny Rossiter.

Why should your church or community group get involved with improving the quality of life in the local neighbourhood?

The United Reformed Church hides many secrets within the walls of its Victorian and 1960's architecture and amongst its resourceful membership. I say this as someone who, until recently, had little knowledge of the URC.

The secrets? The sheer extent and nature of the community development work being carried out by the local churches. In ratio to its size the United Reformed Church touches the lives of a disproportionately large number of people through the neighbourhood services and facilities it provides - play groups, luncheon clubs, credit unions, skills training, youth clubs, advice centres, toy libraries, contact centres and support for residents' groups.
 

Most of the people who benefit are not church members but people living in the neighbourhood. The Church is acting as a beacon of hope for many rather than a bastion of faith for a few.
 

Through this work the Church is improving lives and neighbourhoods in the following five areas:

• Building and encouraging social relationships so that people make friends through groups and informal meetings. Just being with others experiencing a similar problem such as debt or bereavement can build confidence and trust between people. This process is sometimes referred to as building social assets.

• Improving people's skills, knowledge , health and education, referred to as building human assets.

• Improving financial opportunities, referred to as building financial assets.

• Improving or providing physical infrastructure like halls, transport and playing fields often referred to as building physical assets.

• Improving the environments, referred to as building environmental assets.

The motivation that encourages churches to engage in community development work comes from the social teaching of the Church and from a personal decision to love God and your neighbour. It's a process that could be described as using and building spiritual assets. Although normally not an intentional outcome, some of the community development work carried out by various churches has resulted in individuals finding a new spiritual dimension to their lives.
 

In other words the church is building assest to improve lives and hence the title - Assets for Life - for a new video and Action Pack published by the URC this month.
 

The video consists of inspirational conversations and stories from church and community groups. People talk about the vision and motivation behind the initiatives, the approaches they used, their successes and disappointments and the resources that sustain their projects. It's ideal as a discussion starter for your group as it considers how to demonstrate faith in action.
 

The Action Pack has more than 40 pages full of ideas, resources, funding opportunities and examples to encourage and enable your church or community gorup to get involved in the neighbourhood as part of its mission and ministry - or if you're already involved, how to be more effective. It includes a snapshot of a wide range of activities being carried out in England, Scotland and Wales. The pack is designed to give church groups an idea of what it is - and what can be - done.
 

From a picturesque Cotswold village to an outer city council estate near Glasgow you will find people with a formal or informal link to a church toiling with others in an attempt to create a better neighbourhood.
 

As the researcher for this Action Pack I am left with an enduring view of the United Reformed Church as being a truly inclusive church that punches above its size - but keeps much of what it does a secret from the outside world.

Jenny Rossiter works as a consultant carrying out research and project assessments and valuations. She has worked with the URC Ministries, Church & Society and Church Related Community Work (CRCW) Committees to produce these resources. We are also grateful to Toc H for their support of this project.