On Thursday 19 September I was one of over 100 people who made their way to St Martin-in-the-Fields in Trafalgar Square, where we were attending the Children’s society 2013 Edward Rudolf Lecture: ‘What’s theology got to do with children’s welfare?’
The speaker was Canon Dr Angus Ritchie who is the director of The Contextual Theology Centre in East London. The Contextual Theology Centre works with local churches to encourage and equip them to be active in their communities, to care for their neighbours and to work towards social justice.
The lecture was based on a series of essays which the Children’s Society published with the Contextual Theology Centre called Theology and ‘The Heart of the Kingdom’.
The essays challenge us on how to practically, prayerfully and theologically understand the issue of child poverty in the UK.
We all are aware that the recession has made money tighter and some of us can tell stories of children and young people we work with who are from families who are struggling financially. The lecture asked us how many of us have actually gone and talked to these young people about their lives and asked how we, as children’s and youth workers can support them in a helpful, non-patronising way.
Richie began reading from some of the ‘Heart of the Kingdom’s’ stories from children and young people in their own words. Some of them are heart wrenching to read and do put in perspective how the recession has had an effect on some of the families in our communities.
The second part of the lecture was theological reflection during which Ritchie expanded on his own essay in the report. He explored how love and charity used to be interchangeable and how, if you look at the King James Bible, the Book of Common Prayer, and in some hymns, you will see examples of this. He went on to say that we need to bring back the love, and that charity should be understood to provide mutual care and responsibility.
My final reflection was Richie’s point that economic exclusion and social exclusion are connected. This is something that until last night I had not thought about in great detail. I could have told you about children I have come across playing in parks with older siblings looking after them while parents are working; but until last night I had never thought of the impact parents working long hours had on their children. It challenged me to think how I can better support these children.
Finally Ritchie challenged us to think about how churches can make a difference or to quote him: how can we make sure we ‘don’t short change children’. Ritchie finished by telling us of St Peter’s Bethnal Green, a church that is really trying to make a difference to children and young people lives that live below the poverty line. Their essay is the last essay in the ‘The Heart of the Kingdom’. The key point he drew from the essay was that they were listening, acting and engaging with children, Helping them feel they have a home within the church.
This was written by Hannah Phillips.