Surviving the credit squeeze

National and diocesan initiatives are guiding parishes and parishioners through the recession

When the Matter of Life and Debt section of the Church of England website made national headlines in the first week of January 2008, it was only one of thousands of news items chronicling how the credit crunch was escalating into a full-scale recession.

By the time the UK was declared to be officially in recession in January of this year, hundreds of churches across England were already ministering to parishioners on money and debt – many using the teaching materials and prayers made available at www.cofe.anglican.org/debt. The homepage alone has been viewed over 17,000 times.

Online resources

Mostly authored by Dr John Preston, Resources and Stewardship Officer, Matter of Life and Debt is updated regularly with new resources, most recently a downloadable leaflet called Stewards in a Slump, available alongside accompanying notes on teaching on the leaflet, focusing on budgeting, counting your blessings, giving, generosity and learning about contentment.

“Stewards in a Slump was produced as a quick response to the economic crisis, helping church members reflect on the engagement of our faith with the issues thrown up by the credit crunch,” John says.

“The response has been amazing, with a third reprint of the hard copy under way, and use by other parts of the Anglican Communion, including translation into Spanish and Korean.”

Support in the dioceses

Having helped to feed parishes with useful resources, Matter of Life and Debt also features a growing guide to the dioceses and churches offering help, advice and ministry in the current financial situation. It details how 17 Church of England churches are hosting a Christians Against Poverty debt counselling centre, serving their own parishes and reaching out further afield into others.

One is hosted at St Bartholomew’s Church in Blackburn, where the Revd Richard Marshall is pleased to be able to minister to people in his area through this difficult period.

“Our centre has been up and running for three years. It’s staffed by one paid part-time debt counsellor and trained support workers, who provide long-term support on a personal and family basis for up to 25 to 30 families at a time,” Richard explains.

“They visit families to give advice in their own homes, and there is such a need for the service in Blackburn there is a two-month waiting list for an initial appointment.”

To allow dioceses to exchange ideas, the online guide also lists some of the best diocesan initiatives: for example Chichester held a How Churches Can Help Parishioners in Money Difficulties evening, Manchester has allotted small grants of up to £500 to parishes carrying out new work to respond to the current economic climate and the Bishop of Worcester handed out prayers and advice outside a Job Centre in Redditch.

Holding on to hope

Recognising that many of the visitors to Matter of Life and Debt are individuals not churches, the section has been augmented to include the page Finding Hope When Struggling with Debt; compiled by Mission Theological Adviser Dr Anne Richards, it blends paragraphs on remembering there is more to life than money and jobs with passages of Scripture, such as Psalm 42: “As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God.”

“When things get difficult,” Anne says, “horizons can seem to close in, problems magnify, and anxiety about the future feels all-consuming.

“That’s why we all need hope: not so we can go off and live in cloud-cuckoo land, but keep some real perspective.

“By ministering hope we remind people through the Christian faith that things can and do get better.”

Intercession for the recession

These words of hope complement special prayers on struggling with debt, budgeting and facing redundancy, composed by the Archbishops’ Council’s Worship Development Officer the Revd Peter Moger.

They and the other website pages will be added to throughout the year, so that parishes can continue to be refreshed with resources as they teach and minister on everything to do with money matters.

www.cofe.anglican.org/debt

www.cofe.anglican.org/prayers

www.cap.org.uk

Three simple ways to serve your parish

1. Just being open during the day provides a place for people to find some peace and quiet in a space dedicated to worshipping God.
2. Put up a poster or card with the telephone number of the Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS). For details visit www.ccc.co.uk.
3. Organise events where the local community can come together for a cup of tea and chat and, of course, they can pick up debt resources. Useful leaflets with practical advice and prayers can be downloaded at www.cofe.anglican.org/debt/whatchurchescando.

Four suggestions for tackling money matters

1. Teach regularly about money and giving – The Money Revolution by Dr John Preston also contains a wealth of useful information and teaching material.
2. Continue to link generosity and giving to the ministry and mission outcomes they facilitate in your sermons and parish magazines.
3. Thank people for giving once a year – January or April are good times.
4. It is good practice to encourage households to review their giving once a year.