Celebrating 40 Years of Faith in the City

Tuesday 4th February 2025

Faith in the City is one of the most substantial documents on welfare provision and Urban Mission and Ministry in England, to have been published in the post-war period.

Issued by the Church of England in the autumn of 1985, it was highly critical of the negative effects its authors believed the economic and social policies being pursued by Mrs Thatcher’s Conservative government were having on the poorest members of British society. Robert Runcie (Archbishop of Canterbury from 1980 to 1991) had instituted the Commission on Urban Priority Areas in 1983, to undertake the review that resulted in its publication. This was partly out of a concern he had had that the government’s free market (deregulatory) economic and social policies, may have contributed to bringing about the inner-city riots that had broken out in some of Britain’s poorest areas in 1981/82.

Unemployment, in part the consequence of increased deindustrialisation that occurred under the Thatcher government’s first term, had reached a level not seen since the interwar depression, topping 3 million in January, 1982. This was putting a strain on the Welfare State, and causing significant financial hardship for those who had lost their jobs. Runcie was keen to know how the Church of England could best contribute to meeting some of the social challenges that the country now faced, as well as how to advise appropriate bodies on the most appropriate ways of tackling them. Accordingly, the Commission’s core terms of reference were: ‘To examine the strengths, insights, problems and needs of the Church’s life and mission in Urban Priority Areas and, as a result, to reflect on the challenge which God may be making to Church and Nation: and to make recommendations to appropriate bodies.’

The report that followed made a series of recommendations to the government and the Church of England about how they might improve matters. While it had only a limited impact on changing the direction of government policy, it did result in a new emphasis being placed within the Church of England on the importance of Urban Mission and Ministry.

Faith in the City was a report that resonated with many congregants in the Church of England, and is still regarded as being a landmark publication in post-war Church/State relations. In 2025, we celebrate the fortieth anniversary of its publication. There are a number of conferences that are in the process of being organised. One is being arranged by Churches Together (North West Bristol) to take place in Bristol. Another is being organised by the William Temple Foundation to take place at Ripon College, Cuddesdon, in Oxford. A third is being organised by the Urban Theology Union in Sheffield, to take place at UTU headquarters in Sheffield City Centre in July, 2025. For more information about these events and how to book a place, check out their websites. There is also a book coming out in July 2025, published by Sacristy Press, called Celebrating 40 years of Faith in the City, edited by Terry Drummond and Joseph Forde. It has chapters by several experts in the field, including one from the Revd Dr Alan Billings, who was a member of the Commission that produced Faith in the City. We hope it will add to the celebrations. More information about this book will be appearing shortly on the Sacristy Press website.

At a time when the Church of England is grappling with complex issues such as safeguarding, inclusivity and managing the implications stemming from the reduced levels of religious observance and affiliation that is has been witnessing, it is surely important for liberal Christians of whatever denomination, to remember and reflect on the positive role that it played in the 1980s when, in Faith in the City, it spoke truth to power, by challenging the government of the day to rethink its approach in policy areas it believed were adversely affecting urban communities in cities and towns up and down the country. This anniversary year should, therefore, be a time to celebrate all that is good about Urban Mission and Ministry in the Church of England today (and in other Churches, too), as well as to reflect on any lessons we can take from Faith in the City and the impact that it had, then and since, on shaping our understanding of Urban Mission and Ministry.