Commission Meeting: 21st September 2022

On the 21^st of September, ChurchWorks Commissioners from across our 15 denominations met in Central London to discuss progression and plans for the months ahead in the Commission’s three target areas: (i) cost-of-living, (ii) wellbeing, and (iii) family hubs.

The session started with an exciting announcement that ChurchWorks would be partnering with St Mellitus College to host a series of evenings, entitled “What’s Going On”, on the relationship of the Church & Government. The first evening will be hosted on the 19^th of October.

Cost-of-living

Updates on the Commission’s work on tackling the cost-of-living crisis were introduced by Commissioner David Hardman, with a powerful reminder that the Energy Price Guarantee is not enough to cover energy bills for those on the lowest income, and many will still be unable to put on the heating this winter.

Encouragingly, the Commission’s response to the crisis, the Warm Welcome Campaign, is showing real promise. David Barclay from the Secretariat informed us that since launching, over 1000 organisations have pledged to open their doors to those who can’t afford to stay warm this winter including churches, community organisations and businesses.

The official launch of the Campaign will be on the 28^th of September, after which registration will open for Spaces to then be added on the warmwelcome.uk map and gain access to our Warm Welcome Resources.

Wellbeing

In terms of wellbeing, plans are moving forwards to host a ‘Wellbeing Day’ in March 2023, with items on the program including:

• Wellbeing and the church: vision and theology
• Ted-style talks from wellbeing 
• Taster sessions
• Guidance on how to get involved in social prescribing, and more!

‍Family Hubs

In terms of Family Hubs, the Commissioners were reminded that ChurchWorks will be co-hosting a webinar on churches and Family Hubs with the Gather Movement on Thursday 22nd September and that the National Centre for Family Hubs will be organising a faith sector co-design group. 

The meeting ended with an overview of Year 2, including the appointment of Jack Palmer-White, former Anglican Communion Representative to the United Nations as ChurchWorks director. Commissioners committed anew to the vision and programme of the Commission and are excited to see what can be achieved by uniting together during this exceptionally difficult winter, and over the coming year.