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Adam Simmonds welcomes a white paper which is trying to engage the Christian church. Finally, a White Paper that actually sets about trying to engage with the part of the Christian Church in the UK that is not constantly in the headlines for obsessing about homosexuality and women bishops. The evangelical wing of the church in the UK, vast numbers of whom meet each Sunday in makeshift assemblies in sports halls and school gyms, is all over the place, actively seeking to improve the neighbourhoods and communities they are a part of. The White Paper references good practice, where Christians are working with local councils to clean up the streets, and work with bored teens and broken people. I'm excited by the opportunity to access funds to support the work that has been done, but I'm worried that, despite the good intentions of communities secretary Hazel Blears, councils will still fail to grasp the incredible potential of faith groups, particularly Christian ones, to add value to local community plans and local area agreements. It would be interesting to know whether any public service board has a seat around the table set aside for a faith group, or whether such representation was ever considered. My church in Leicester has a charity called Open House. The charity has a number of projects, such as ‘the store house', which puts together hampers of food for individuals or families who need help. The church congregation simply donates food regularly, and through contacts, the food and hampers are distributed. Another project is ‘the act of kindness foundation', which operates via recommendation through single moments of intervention: a mobile phone for a victim of domestic violence, a night in a hotel for a carer, or a beauty pack and care products for a prostitute who requires a gesture of real love and attention that doesn't require anything in return. Faith-based initiatives are taking place throughout the country, but local councils fail to engage properly or seek to exclude rather then involve. Christian evangelical churches are quite often well resourced and able to generate the people and money, to carry out tasks. But why are they not seen as part of the solution to streetscene clear ups, counselling teenage pregnancy projects and rehab mentoring? The White Paper exhorts us to empower people and communities to vote and take part in the political process. But it also challenges local government to find ways to empower those already engaged to work with us in putting our communities back together. I once asked a council's head of sustainable communities what involvement Christians had in her draft strategy for cohesion. She said that a particular individual had been on a focus group panel representing ‘the church'. I was disappointed. No involvement with local churches, and no example of what is already being carried out by faith groups to build cohesion and diverse communities. Again, in Leicester, 30% of the congregation at my church is non-white. It sits in a street alongside a synagogue and a mosque. The challenge from this White Paper is to consider what is currently going on and look to see how you, as a local government transformational leader, could add value and help develop what is already going on. Please help real people to exercise not power but real influence . Adam Simmonds is head of strategy and business administration at Northamptonshire CC

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WHITEHALL

Having faith in white paper

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