Working with churches – advice for potential partners

Advice for other organisations

Why work with churches?

Churches want to work with partners. Many churches are looking for the best way to help their community, so they may be eager to work with you.

It’s worked really well. There are all sorts of examples of success stories from partnerships between churches and other organisations Check out our case studies for examples.

They may be able to meet a need that you can’t meet. One of the reasons that churches are great partners is that they can offer something that you can’t. Is there a group that you’re not currently able to help? Is there a service that you’re not providing?

Arawak Walton housing association works with the Christian charity Boaz Trust to support refugees because Boaz were able to provide support in a more effective way than Arawak Walton, as they don’t also handle rent – a ‘good cop, bad cop’ approach.

Redbridge Council works with Ilford Salvation Army to provide housing for people with no recourse to public funds. It would be impossible for the council to provide this service alone due to restrictions on local government finances. Find out more in our case study.

The church could have unrestricted funds to bring to the table. The church may be able to bring funds to the table. However, this varies dramatically, and many churches are struggling financially. Nonetheless, Ilford Salvation Army, for example, brought £1.7 million to fund Malachi Place. Find out more in our case study.

Churches offer a package of services. Churches do all sorts. By working with them, you may be able to refer your clients to them for help in areas outside the strict confines of your partnership. They’ll also often be flexible in helping you. Your relationship may develop further: if it’s worked well, you may want to work with them on another project. Those who have worked with churches have said they can be the perfect partner.

St Silas, Blackburn offered Nightsafe, a local homelessness charity, their old church hall for accommodating 16-25 year olds. Alongside providing the building, they have also put on a thanksgiving service celebrating the residents and knitted hats and gloves for them. The church aims to work in partnership with the project through mentoring, teaching residents life skills such as cooking, and setting up other joint projects such as a gardening project.

Churches are connected to the community. Working with churches is a great way to build trust in and enthusiasm for the work you’re doing. Their involvement can spread the word and show that a scheme isn’t being imposed on the community, and their reputation in the community can have a positive effect on your own. In the case of housing developments, this also means that the scheme is less likely to face opposition from the local community.

Trafford Housing Trust explained that a joint project with St Bride’s, Trafford provided a ‘useful outsider’ who could defend work because they were respected in their local area. Find out more in our case study.

Advice

Don’t assume you know what the church’s priorities are. All churches are different, and most do a lot more than a service on a Sunday morning. Let them tell you about their aims and requirements from a project – financially, procedurally and socially. From the size of a manse to timings of decisions, churches are unlike any other organisation, and unlike one another. This is a blessing, but it requires understanding.

A church is more than a minister. Few churches are led purely by their minister, and some may not even have one. Be respectful to all church members, and learn where the decision-making lies. Get used to the fact your main contact may be with someone who’s involved with the church in a voluntary capacity. Also understand that a church is not homogeneous – there may be internal opposition.

Don’t be surprised by caution. Churches can be cautious, especially if they have been approached out of the blue. They’ve got to protect their heritage, finances and reputation. They may not have ‘been through it before’, so the risk may seem bigger than your typical partners. This is especially the case when working with a powerful organisation – there’s still some suspicion of church mixing with business or politics. Work to build trust, and be understanding.

Show that you care about the community as well. While working with churches can be a great way to reach the community, don’t use this as an excuse to be distant yourself.

St Bride’s were impressed by Trafford Housing Trust’s dedication to the local community, putting on a Christmas festival for the local people and emphasising co-production in their design of a new community centre. This helped them to trust their intention to help the local community. Find out more in our case study.

Churches can be slow. The combination of bureaucracy and the congregation being volunteers can mean that churches go slowly. Be sensitive to this. Your work may be taking up the majority of their time, so pushing them to be faster may not be met with the best response – they have other areas of mission as well.

Try to involve them in as much as possible. You may or may not be equal partners, but respect what the church brings to the table. If they feel unconsulted, you may not get the most out of them.

Be clear about roles. Many projects will require multiple partners – say a housing association, a developer, an architect and a church. Being clear of, for example, who is project managing can prevent tensions and reduce stress for everybody involved.

The church can help with consulting. As well as helping you to reach out, use the church as a means through which to consult with the community. Their involvement will help you not to miss local factors.

Trafford Housing Trust found that hired consultants would often mirror what the church had already told them about the needs of the area.

Understand why you’re going into partnership. Are you trying to use it to make money or improve your reputation, or are you doing it purely as a good thing to do? Neither is bad, but if you begin the relationship to do a good thing and gradually change your approach, this could undermine trust.

Show that you’re serious. Churches may be risking a lot of their limited time, money or property to work with you. By showing  effort, you can build trust to risk this.

Partick Housing Association bought a piece of land adjacent to the Methodist Church they were hoping to redevelop. This helped the congregation know that they were committed, so they put more time and thought into the partnership themselves.

Don’t duplicate structures. If you trust a church or Christian charity enough to work with them, you should trust their accountability.

Arawak Walton housing association emphasised that partners shouldn’t be ‘overbearing’ – check that a partner has safeguarding systems, and if they do, don’t duplicate them.

Acknowledge people’s emotions. People are very attached to their church – as an institution, as a community, and as a building. Be sensitive to this – churches will not purely be thinking in monetary or operational terms.

Churches aren’t out to convert everyone. While churches may offer to pray for people if they want this, they shouldn’t force this or any other form of evangelism on people if they don’t want it. They offer their services unconditionally. Some churches may be willing to keep overtly Christian content out of one area of their mission, but if it’s appropriate, don’t restrict them unnecessarily.

Maintain interest. While the whole congregation may not be intimately involved in your partnership, to ensure that the work continues once initial relationships disappear, it’s important to work hard to keep the whole church community updated.

Development

Church property often has covenants on it. The church may not be aware of this, so guide them through this process if necessary.

Help them be a church. For example, if possible, if you are demolishing their current building and building another, ensure that the new one is built before the old one is demolished. This will build trust, and also provide you with a place to do outreach to the community in the short term. If this is really not possible, help them find suitable accommodation in the meantime.

Approach the local church first. You may find that land or buildings aren’t owned locally, but instead by a regional or national church body. However, it can seem discourteous if you approach those higher up – the legal ownership may not reflect the decision-making powers, and regardless the local church are the ones who will be affected.

All of the advice and guidance provided in these resources is based on conversations with churches and organisations that are directly involved in responding to housing need in their local area. The advice in this sheet is thanks to:

Anniesland Methodist Church and Sanctuary Housing
Boaz Trust and Arawak Walton
Fiona Mayne, Pioneer at Haywood Village, Weston-super-Mare
Greater London Authority
Ilford Salvation Army
Leeds Methodist Mission in the City Centre
One Roof Leicester
Partick Methodist Church
Rev Penny Marsh, Pioneer Minister, South Eastern Baptist Association
St Bride’s, Trafford and Trafford Housing Trust
St Silas, Blackburn and Nightsafe
Sue Steer, Pioneer Community Worker, New Lubbesthorpe