Impact report
Annual Review 2011-2012 From the general director Thank you. Thank you for partnering with us on our journey over the past year. Thank you for your time. Thank you for your friendship, your words of encouragement and your financial support. Thank you for walking with us as we work for a united Church which is confident in voice and inspired for mission. Quite simply, we wouldn’t have been able to do any of the amazing things we have done this year without you. It’s because of your support that we have continued to build unity, not for unity’s sake, but for a purpose – for the spiritual, physical and social transformation of the society in which we live. Nowhere better was this demonstrated this year than during the riots which rocked our towns and cities in the summer of 2011. While our streets burned with rioters and looters, we encouraged the Church across the country to come together and take part in riot clean-ups. We also featured in the media, telling the stories of how the Church responded. We poignantly celebrated the Church being good news to society during our Inspire Awards ceremony in the Jubilee Room at the House of Commons in which we, in partnership with Inspire magazine, awarded Christians doing great work in their communities – from housing the homeless to working with vulnerable women. Thanks to your support, our advocacy team were able to work with Christians in Parliament to hold the Clearing the Ground inquiry into whether or not Christians are being marginalised in our society. This followed a number of instances in which Christians were reported as being hindered from expressing their faith in the workplace and in public life, resulting in a number of court cases. “we wouldn’t Our national offices in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales also continued their have been able great work in engaging with politics and encouraging the Church to do the same. to do any of the Some highlights have included work in Scotland on the protection of marriage, the amazing things continued brilliant work of the Cymru Institute for Contemporary Christianity in we have done this Wales and the Churches Public Policy Network in Northern Ireland.
year without you” This year, we continued to equip church leaders with knowledge of the beliefs, habits and practices of evangelical Christians, through our quarterly surveys looking at a range of topics including the family, public engagement and communication. This was part of our 21st Century Evangelicals series, which we believe will be a vital tool to help leaders plan for mission in the future. Our role as a unifying voice was demonstrated this year in the instrumental part we played in bringing together organisations and individuals as part of the Coalition for Marriage campaign, which was backed by more than 580,000 opposed to the redefinition of marriage.
And who can forget Biblefresh? With your support we led this coalition of more than 120 Christian organisations dedicated to re-igniting a love of the Bible in the 400th year of the King James Version. These snapshots tell just a small portion of the great work that we have been able to do in the knowledge that we are speaking on your behalf. But alongside these are the day-to-day tasks, the nitty gritty work that our staff plug away at each day. We’re about unity. We’re about bringing the body of Christ together and impacting our community. We’re in it for the long-haul and grateful that you are fully behind us, cheering us on. So thank you, for all that you do and for the encouragement that you give us.
Steve Clifford General Director