To order your copy please visit https://www.christiansocialaction.net”
“Christian Social Action”, my recently published book, is designed to help teams to serve the poor and advance the cause of justice as part of their mission. It is written for activists and leaders with responsibility for projects or programmes, who understand local needs and recognise the need to place the work they are doing on a sustainable footing.
I would like to thank the willing volunteers at JCC who gave their time to suggesting content and reading the text pre-publication. (Any mistakes are entirely mine!)
The book was published earlier this month and has attracted some great reviews. David Maskell is an elder at Grace Church Salisbury & Amesbury, with 20 years’ experience of church leadership where he has been involved in starting and running many social action projects. David writes:
“What a helpful book this is for people in many different charitable roles wanting to make a difference in their community. John helpfully gives us the tools to evaluate the start up or expansion of social action projects. He helps us look at the impact of poverty and why it is worthwhile making a difference. There is a guide on how to find help with funding, and some examples of recent projects to inspire you. I thoroughly recommend anyone contemplating starting a social action project to start with this book before you begin.”
Dave and Ann Rowsell, previously in eldership here at JCC, have commented: “As people that are already convinced of the important place of social action within the local church, we welcome this book as a provocation to get up and make a difference in our local communities.”
The Rt Hon Stephen Timms MP, who is Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Faith and Society wrote: “As hopeful as it is sobering, John Evans’ infectious vision, set out in his guide to outreach in the context of Christian fellowship, provides a stirring call to action. Here is a practical approach, post-pandemic, to help churches tackle the injustice around them. It draws on inspiration from history, but is clear-sighted about the emerging realities of poverty in Britain today, and the barriers faith groups face in addressing them. And it lays out clear steps for trustees and leaders to establish their vision, agree on a plan and convince others of the value of their work.”
These reviews have been particularly encouraging not least because what I set out to do was to write a wide-ranging manifesto that would also serve as a practical U.K. handbook for Christian social action. Those two ambitions don’t easily sit together!
The book combines research-based descriptions of today’s growing need in household debt, food, child and housing poverty with inspiring historical and up-to-date examples of Christian action. Dr Gordon Wilkinson has been a member of St. John’s Felbridge for over 35 years and, with his wife Brenda, has travelled to many Tearfund church-based community development and disaster relief projects overseas. Gordon writes:
“Having witnessed community transformation in several of the world’s poorest countries through the work of Tearfund, it’s clear that churches in the U.K. increasingly need to work with local communities to identify and respond to social needs together. Community outreach can be a powerful tool in evangelism.
The question is: “where do you start?”
John Evans provides a wonderfully well-researched and up-to-date perspective on key social problems affecting families in the UK – loneliness and mental health, food poverty, unemployment and household debt. He takes the reader through a step-by-step approach to creating a social action team within their church to identify and address local needs, develop an action plan, secure funding, and monitor and communicate the impact.
Every church leader should buy a copy of this book and consider how their church might better involve itself with the community it serves.”
For more details and to order your copy please visit https://www.christiansocialaction.net“
