Big society?

Living in central London means that there are all sorts of things going on that one would not be able to get to otherwise. Faithworks runs occasional meetings under the title of the 'Charities Parliament' and last week I attended a session which looked at the 'Churches' Response to the Big Society'.
'Big Society' is our new Prime Minister's big idea for restructuring how public services, government (national and local) and local communities interact. There is much that is interesting in the idea and it would certainly seem to present increased opportunities for the Voluntary Sector. There is, however, a concern that it may be a way of saving public spending and putting pressure onto charities.
The main speaker was the Archbishop of Canterbury who gave a thoughtful consideration of what might be involved and how churches and Christian organisations might respond.
While much was said about social justice and the caring side of the gospel, the whole question of the need for spiritual change and the eternal perspective did not receive a mention. I recently came across a quote from another Christian leader with striking beard and hairstyle (William Booth) who warned:

"I consider that the chief dangers which confront the coming century will be religion without the Holy Ghost; Christianity without Christ; forgiveness without repentance; salvation without regeneration; politics without God; and heaven without Hell."

Growth.

Every morning the staff and volunteers get together for a time of prayer and sharing, as I was leading one of these times last week I was really excited to see how many people we had wanting to help. What was better still was the fact that several of them were people who had come to the Centre for help; had found Jesus and are now wanting to help others.
Sunday afternoon saw one of our Operation Sub-Committee meetings: looking at a summary of statistics made me realize that we are now getting twice as many visitors as we were a year ago. It is really encouraging to see more and more people benefiting  from the Centre. It certainly seems to be true that 'word of mouth' seems to be the most effective form of advertising.