church • community • action

There are times when it feels like we’re not doing very much. We listen, we offer a cup of tea or a word of reassurance maybe, but it doesn’t seem like much. 234

And yet we hear from people later that this was just enough to trigger a decision to make some changes, to turn a corner, to think again about how they see life. Often it’s the small things that can make a big difference.

So when we talk about church-community-action we’re not necessarily talking about huge and dramatic events. We will, of course, do the big things when we can, like trying to sort out someone’s housing or benefits problems, or getting first aid on the street at night, or supporting a young person suffering from bullying. But equally we’ll simply notice people, give them time to be heard, or make space for them to find their balance again after a tough patch.

We think that’s important.

We think it’s important because we think that’s how Jesus treated people. And we’re trying hard to follow in his footsteps so that people can catch a glimpse of Jesus through the things we do. There’s always hope and it’s humbling and exciting to see people begin to find it. If people come back to us and tell us our involvement has helped, we’re glad to have pointed the way and to have the opportunity to say more if they want to know.

There’s information in these pages about how we aim to fulfil our church-community-action aspirations. In many small ways as well as in some bigger ways, we know we’re making a difference because people tell us so.

 David Ley manager