By Terry Drummond and Joseph Forde
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 in the autumn of 1985, it was highly critical of the negative effects its authors believed the policies being pursued by Mrs Thatcher’s Conservative government were having on the poorest members of British society.
Robert Runcie’s Commission on Urban Priority Areas began the review in 1983. The concern was that the government’s deregulatory economic policies, may have contributed to bringing about the inner-city riots that had broken out in some of Britain’s poorest areas in 1981.
Unemployment, in part the consequence of increased deindustrialisation had reached a level not seen since the interwar depression, topping three million in January1982. 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 on how it could intervene to improve matters in policy areas such as unemployment, housing, education and urban regeneration. It also made a number of recommendations on how the Church of England could contribute to bringing about improvements in the lives of those living in urban contexts. One of its strengths was the methodological approach used by the commissioners, which added credibility to the conclusions that it reached. The time they spent meeting with representatives of residents in urban parishes, alongside taking evidence in person and in written submissions from organisations working in urban communities, meant that they built up an accurate picture of the impact that government economic and social policy was having on their lives, and particularly the poorest
members of these communities. Local parish ministry rightly places the parish community at the centre of mission and addresses both the individual and corporate needs of the community. While some urban congregations may be small, they are often at the centre of local social action initiatives, diligently serving their communities. In addition, they reflect a tradition of social ministry that has much to commend it, so it would be a mistake if the Church of England were to pay insufficient attention to it.
It is for reasons such as these, that the contribution that Faith in the City made to our understanding of what was happening in inner cities across England at that time painting a disturbing picture of rising social and economic levels of deprivation in the inner cities. And this merits revisiting, at a time when we are seeing high levels of social and economic deprivation in parts of several towns and cities in England today.
While the report had only a limited impact on changing the direction of government economic and social policy, it did result in a new emphasis being placed within the Church of England on the importance of urban mission and ministry. It specifically highlighted the vital role that pastoral care and practical action can play in helping to improve the living conditions of those experiencing high levels of social and economic deprivation, so contributing to bringing about a more just society.
In this regard, one of its most important recommendations was a need for the creation of the Church Urban Fund. In the period since, in its support of a range of poverty alleviation initiatives and mentoring schemes for urban clergy, the Church Urban Fund has made an important contribution to. supporting urban mission and ministry across the Church of England, and it continues to perform that role today.
Sadly, however, in 2025, high levels of economic and social inequality, deprivation and sometimes even mental despair, are still being experienced by many in our towns and cities, raising the question of how far we have come since 1985.
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 it has been witnessing, we are of the view that, in its fortieth anniversary year, there is a need for us 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.
It did that 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 other Churches, too), as well as to reflect on any lessons we can take from Faith in the City.
We are of the view that a recovery of the report’s radical challenge rooted in incarnational theology and the strong links between Church, Faith and Society is the best way of ensuring that the Church of England remains connected to urban communities and encourages a new commitment to urban mission and ministry.
Let us use this anniversary year to develop and promote a theological analysis that contributes to public debates on how to alleviate poverty and inequality.
Celebrating Forty Years of Faith in the City, edited by Terry Drummond and Joseph Forde is available from Sacristy Press. Terry Drummond was commissioned as a Church Army evangelist in 1972. Joseph Forde is Honorary Research Fellow in Historical Theologyat theUrban Theology Union, Sheffield.
(Pictured: Archbishop of Canterbury Robert Runcie and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher)
