A Diocese-wide network of clergy and lay people who minister on urban estates has been formed out of the recent Hope for the Estates initiative.
The Rt Revd Philip North, the Bishop of Burnley, and a passionate advocate for ministry among the poor, was the keynote speaker at the first ‘Hope for the Estates’ event held in Wakefield last month designed to strengthen and support ministry in some of our most deprived parishes.
It was attended by almost 60 people with the hope of sparking a network of estate ministers – made up of clergy who minister on social housing estates across the diocese. It is hoped that this will enable people to meet to share good practice, offer mutual support, organize workshops and share positive experiences of this challenging ministry.
As the Vicar of Mixenden and Illingworth in Halifax, the Revd Robb Sutherland, ministers with people living in one of the most deprived areas in the country.
He said: "Estate ministry is a peculiar thing. My first experiences of the Christian faith were at my father in law’s vicarage in inner city Leeds. This was my first experience of the Church of England and it was not what I had been expecting from the TV shows with leafy vicarages and village fetes.
“Several times a day there would be a knock on the door. There could be a rough sleeper on the doorstep needing a bite to eat and a hot drink, or someone asking for money to feed the electricity meter. But this is the community that taught me what it means to be a Christian. Everyone was so generous. I married the vicar’s daughter in that church and the community did the flowers and the catering. It was amazing.
“The big question is ‘what is the Good News on an estate’? What is the good news of God’s kingdom in an area of deprivation? When people are wondering where the next meal is coming from or how to heat the house tonight, what is God’s good news? How do we preach the good news in a community that is living with the very real consequences of austerity? And that is why it is important to come together and share the life changing experiences that ministering on an estate brings. This is the good news that inspires the work of the local church into transforming lives on a daily basis with a shoestring budget and volunteers with massive hearts.
“Bishop Philip says ‘we can’t give up on the poor’ and I agree. We need to be a church of the poor, and not just for the poor. Doing that raises the question of how we form Christian community on estates that has authenticity. We need to authentically be a church of the poor,” he said.