Life Beyond Debt

Churches ideally placed to help people struggling with debt

The church is ideally placed to help people in local communities who are struggling with debt. That was the message from church leaders and anti-debt campaigners at the Evangelical Alliance’s Life Beyond Debt conference in London.

The event brought together Christians working in the area of debt relief with church leaders and members of para-church organisations.

Keith Tondeur, president of Credit Action said, "The church is ideally placed to help people who are in total despair. We can give practical help where they see none. We can weep with those who weep and we can offer not only practical help, but also eternal hope."

He said that people were not looking to own more, but to find a way out of debt and a new lifestyle, which the church could offer.

John Preston, national stewardship advisor for the Church of England, echoed his words. He said, "Having people who can hold people’s hands as they get proper financial advice is a huge opportunity for reaching out into our communities.

"That doesn’t require every church to have its own debt centre, but does require us to be open, listening and sensitive."

He admitted that the Church of England had failed to teach its 16,000 congregations about money effectively in the past.

Steve Pierce of Stewardship stressed the importance of a right attitude to money. “the bible is not negative about money as such.  Mistakes have been made but we cannot simply blame others. Greed is not just huge bonus payments. It is our acclimatisation to a culture of affluence. Money becomes mammon when we lose the reference points of gratitude, restraint, contentment, a sense of giftedness, of resting in and enjoying what we have and, perhaps most critical of all, when we lose generosity. Our vision at stewardship is for a generous church in a generous society"

Matt Barlow, chief executive of Christians Against Poverty said that people suffering debt felt ‘powerless’ to change their situation. But he said the power lay within the national network of churches to help people face the emotional and practical problems of indebtedness.

"We the local church can ensure that people’s emotional needs and their practical needs are helped, more than probably any other group in society."

He said that 77 per cent of those seeking help from CAP were suffering from stress because of debt. Thirty seven per cent had either tried to commit suicide or had contemplated taking their own lives.

At the event, held at the International Salvation Army headquarters, the Alliance launched its public statement on debt in the UK. It called on churches to offer ‘practical, pastoral support to congregations and local communities,’ ‘to challenge attitudes towards wealth and possessions’ and to bring a biblical perspective to the debate on debt.

The event’s organiser, Daniel Webster, said, "We are calling on every church to address this issue, providing help for their congregation and the local community.

"Helping those who are vulnerable lies at the heart of the Christian message and calling. By doing this, churches are living out their Christian faith in their communities."

The Alliance’s public statement, which was presented to Hazel Blears MP, Secretary of State, Communities and Local Government, blamed the banks for the current economic crisis. It condemned what it called ‘irresponsible lending practices…at the root of the current crisis’ calling them ‘morally unjustifiable and socially harmful.’ 

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