Understanding Faith as a Community Asset - Networks

What is grown within is what is shared beyond

Networks are vital parts of community development. On Wirral we have explored the Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) methodology for near on 15 years and it expresses the importance of networks in 4 ways:

• Social capital: The web of trust, relationships and reciprocity between neighbours that enables mutual support and collective action.

• Connectors: Individuals who act as the glue within a community, effortlessly bridging gaps between different groups, clubs and organisations

• Shared Knowledge: Peer-to-Peer networks that allow local businesses, charities and residents to share resources, skills and effective problem solving strategies

• Physical and Digital Assets: These include physical community spaces, and digital community networks.

Belief & Connection

A common misconception about faith groups is that their shared purpose and connection to their denomination restricts their diversity. In fact, faith spaces provide one of the most eclectic groupings within the VCFSE sector. When looking at Christian churches specifically, Christian congregations can be extremely varied by age, socio-economic group, ethnicity, and even nationality. As highlighted in my last blog on buildings, this demonstrates bonding capital in one sense (i.e. faith) can facilitate bridging capital according to others (e.g. age, ethnicity or socio-economic background). It is also necessary to note that this diversity is organic, it is not manufactured or purposely attempted but rather developed through a sense of belonging and comfort within that specific environment.

That range of diversity paired with that sense of belonging creates meaningful and genuine relationships that bridge those social divisions. Through their spiritual life they become a community that worship together, socialise together, learn together and often volunteer together. They develop that web of trust eluded to in ABCD, ‘Mutual support and collective action’. The external benefit of that is that this bleeds through into the civil sector when volunteers from a range of places congregate for their communities. You may be thinking that this is idealistic but there are many examples of this on Wirral already. 

Community Support

Gateway Church Wirral shares its building with the Wirral Chinese church often joining their services and youth provision, Young adults at Maitland collaborate to support Wirral’s homeless with support packages, St Lukes Methodist in Hoylake has been a drop in for local asylum seekers and refugees since their arrival at the Holiday Inn hotel. St. John’s in Meols in partnership with St Chad’s in Leasowe has for years provided a children’s clothing bank on the Leasowe estate supporting new parents with one less financial burden. These are just a few examples of where those bridging opportunities move from internal relationship to external bridging opportunity. 

We talked about the benefit of physical assets in communities in the previous blog on Buildings and discussed the range of community uses they afford as places to gather. What we didn’t touch on was the opportunity that presents to community networks. In the Wirral faith social action audit it was identified that of the 97 organisations that responded the average social action undertaken was 6 activities per faith group with and average of 4 paid staff members and 31 volunteer positions. These activities are predominantly community based, direct interventions against loneliness or isolation. Activities like Coffee mornings, lunch clubs, mums and tots groups create welcoming spaces for local to build relationships when there are limited alternatives. The responding faith groups reported 58,277 beneficiary interactions through there social action every year. Faith based social action demonstrates that second expression of ABCD being connectors for their local communities, building relationships where there are gaps. 

Community Impact

And what about shared knowledge? Well, 54 organisations where already working with at least one other secular organisations with 74 respondents saying that they would like closer relationships with other organisations. These are organisations who are primed and ready for peer-peer relationships with others and often hold the key to hard to reach communities but are also prepared to engage beyond their formal structures and physical assets. One of the striking things that came from the audit was the number of chaplains providing pastoral care across Wirral and further afield in some cases. Working within hospitals, schools, sports clubs, prisons and universities to provide support and guidance to Wirral residents and representing a further spoke to the network faith organisations work in.

In the last few years we have seen the interest in faith organisations social action creeping upward. COVID-19 played a large part in that process as faith organisations continued to provide vital services when others couldn’t, but the appeal of working alongside faith groups should not be limited to good works. These are organisations that are plugged into many facets of community, building relationships in the gaps of modern society.