F
TURE
Bringing hope to the unemployed
Eddie Stride: CEO of City Gateway
Evangelicals think helping the unemployed is important, but few churches are doing anything about it. Chine Mbubaegbu explores the work of Christian organisations helping people into work and encourages more churches to do the same… Evangelical Christians love work. According to the Alliance’s latest 21st Century Evangelicals report Working faithfully? we are fulfilled in our jobs, with 93 per cent of our respondents saying they are interested in their work. A further 84 per cent said they feel valued for the work they do.
country, the Church is not addressing the specific needs of the unemployed. Just 13 per cent of respondents said they were in a church that runs a specific project to help those out of work and the same percentage were in churches offering voluntary work placements to the unemployed.
Bravo to us. But, there’s a problem. Our survey revealed that while many evangelicals – many of whom earn significantly above the UK average – say they care about the unemployed, not many churches are doing anything about it.
And worryingly, of the Christians who said they had ever become unemployed, 31 per cent felt they received no support from their church.
And that’s a shame given evangelicals’ strong historical track record of helping people into work. The Salvation Army – an Alliance member – for example, opened the nation’s first ever Labour Exchange in 1890. Some 40 per cent of our respondents said their church offers practical support to unemployed people in the community. This is good news. But in this context of continuing economic difficulties across the IDEA MAGAZINE / 18
Do the statistics reflect a view that evangelical Christians believe the unemployed are ‘shirkers and scroungers’? Are we doing little to help the unemployed because we are against the so-called ‘benefits culture’? In short, no. Some 80 per cent of our respondents reject this idea. One respondent said: “I don’t agree with the general witch hunt of the unemployed as there are a lot of genuine people unable to work or unable to get jobs.” We are also a group that is passionate about justice in employment, with three quarters in favour of the living wage.
Clearly the will is there, but so too is the need for the Church to be reminded of the importance of providing practical help. In March this year, I attended the launch of Christians Against Poverty’s (CAP) Job Clubs initiative in parliament. The job clubs are for anyone who wants to find work, but needs some help in overcoming some barriers. At the weekly clubs, participants work with trained coaches who support them throughout the eight-week programme. CAP now has more than 50 job clubs around the country and there is evidence it is working: one in seven people who attend a club find work. A member in Hereford said of the initiative: “I used to go into interviews and ramble, but the skills you have taught me have changed my life. I would never have got my new job without the help I received at a CAP job club.” Commenting on the Alliance’s research, CAP founder John Kirkby said: “We are really pleased that this report shows that churches