Soft Hearts in Hard Places

Written for the FIEC Website. 

20schemes is a ministry of Niddrie Community Church in Edinburgh which has a vision to see gospel churches planted in 20 of Scotland’s most deprived housing schemes (estates). Andy Hunter gives his reflections on attending one of their weekend conferences.

The 20Schemes Weekender is a window into what gospel ministry at the sharp end of ‘broken Britain’ looks like. These twice-yearly gatherings bring together gospel workers from some of the toughest and most deprived areas of the UK and beyond.

Of course, the heart problem is the same in all communities – alienation from God – but in the schemes where there isn’t the money or middle-class trickery to cover over problems the consequences can be especially blatant and destructive. Places where mental health problems, substance abuse, violence and extreme poverty are not rare pastoral exceptions but everyday ministry.

You might think that to survive in those situations you would either need to be extremely hard-bitten or super-spiritual. The refreshing and humbling reality was that the 100+ attendees were neither. Here was a group of ordinary Christians, fully aware of their weaknesses, but united with a deep desire to reach some of our most unreached communities.

Looking at Family

The major theme of the Weekender was Family Issues in Council Estate Ministry and we heard from those with first-hand experience of challenges in this area.

Mez McConnell spoke of the messiness of families where multiple relationships are the norm, and of having to make the best of undesirable situations in order to prevent further harm. Ian Williamson, spoke movingly of his childhood world ‘falling apart’ when his father left his family. He outlined his life following dysfunctional male role models in which power and independence were paramount before coming to faith aged 28. His plea was for Christian men to become fathers for ‘fatherless’ children – e.g. to get involved in Sunday School and youth ministries and be role models of Christ-like manhood.

Sharon Dickens spoke of the pressures of being a single mum – financial, emotional, spiritual and often compounded by the insensitivity of other Christians. However, like all the sessions this wasn’t about self-pity but on the need to ‘play the long game’ – that is, trusting yourself and your children to God’s promises.

Andy and Debbie Constable gave us an insight into the pressures and joys of your home being a centre of scheme ministry – last minute lodgers, unexpected guests for dinner, the doorbell ringing on your ‘date night’. In a culture where many of us see home as the place to escape ministry it was a reminder that our homes are actually a vital place to do ministry.

Andy Prime outlined his experiences of helping to lead children and youth ministries in schemes. “Be prepared to have your house egged and be called a paedo” – such can be the suspicion to anyone showing an interest in young people. Positively he also showed how with patience, firmness and care, trust can be built-up and such ministries can open doors to the heart of communities.

There was even a talk on Church Polity from Pete Stewart – reminding us that church structures are not bureaucratic niceties but are essential, for both leaders and church attendees, if a church is to maintain good Biblical pastoral care and accountability.

Making much of Christ

In all the sessions the difficulties were presented honestly along with the struggles of dealing with them at both personal and ministry levels. But more importantly it was a reminder of the wonder of the gospel, the goodness of God and the urgency of making Christ known.

As Andy Constable noted in his introduction the aim was that attendees would “leave totally underwhelmed by our little church but absolutely overwhelmed by the glorious gospel of Jesus.”

The great news is that “the glorious gospel of Jesus” is working and changing lives in ‘hard places’. Churches are being planted, relationships formed and people are coming to faith. 20Schemes are currently providing support and training for six church plants in Scotland (two of which Barlanark Glasgow & Bingham Edinburgh are also linked to FIEC) – many more are needed!

Leaving the Weekender I was left with two major impressions. First, the hardness of gospel work in the schemes, but secondly the softness of the workers’ hearts. Big men with beards and tattoos got tearful, and women who had been ‘though the mill’ humbly talking about the goodness of God.

This was a window into gospel love in action – self-giving and Jesus-centred.

Pray for gospel work across Great Britain on housing estates; pray for many more gospel churches to be established in those areas; pray particularly for 20schemes as it seeks to raise finances, as well as train and support church planters and their families.

Beyond the Veil (the basis for a just society)

I’ve always been fascinated by the philosopher John Rawls’ ‘veil of ignorance’ theory as a way to determine a just society. Rawls asks us to imagine that we have yet to be born and have no idea what kind of life situation awaits us. Collectively we gather together behind a ‘veil of ignorance’ about our future selves. We might be born healthy or disabled or sick, we might be born into wealth or into poverty, we might be born white or black or brown, we might be born with great intellectual abilities or be intellectually impaired, we might be born into a secure loving family or we might be dumped on the street, and so forth.  The point is we don’t know - anything is possible.

So the question is raised among us – what kind of society would we want to await us (bearing in mind that none of us know what our personal life situation will be)? Rawls’ point is that we would surely all hope for a society that was fair, compassionate, tolerant, and which gave help and protection to its weakest members. It brings home the moral folly of thinking our greatest advantages are self-earned. It also humbles us into caring for those without those advantages.

That said, its appeal is essentially to selfishness rather than altruism (i.e. 'hedging your bets') - and doubtless some, even behind a veil of ignorance, would be prepared just to ‘roll the dice’ in the hope of coming out on top. Nonetheless, as a concept for the desirability of a just society it possesses a huge amount of force.

And in a world that rejects other sources of moral guidance it’s worth exploring its implications in specific areas of life.

The right to life itself: so there we are gathered together discussing life beyond the veil. We agree that the world should give everyone the chance for the best possible outcomes in whatever life they find themselves in. But would we then consider it fair that 25% of us will have our lives prematurely terminated by the people who have had the great advantage of getting beyond the veil? Surely the exercise of such draconian power by the strong over the weak would be the mark of a horribly unjust society.

Childhood: but what about our hopes beyond just entering the world itself – our hopes for our childhood and upbringing? Is there anyone behind the veil anyone who wouldn’t hope to be brought up in a loving secure home by their biological parents? Now of course, that’s not always possible and individual mums, dads, carers and adoptive parents provide impeccable loving care for children. So this is about the ideal not what may be the next best in a fallen world. Indeed those ‘next bests’ for children are all the more to be praised and commended because they often require greater effort and sacrifice than the ideal.

However, we increasingly live in a world where the ideal is being withheld not through misfortune but deliberately and selfishly. The sentiment of one ‘polyamarous’ woman is rapidly becoming our culture’s received wisdom, "It is really outdated to think a child needs one mother and one father”. Outdated for adults perhaps! That is, those with power over children – but not for children themselves – either emotionally or in terms of life outcomes (as testified to by the overwhelming testimony of social studies). So increasingly those behind the veil are being made to serve the interests of those who will hold power over them on the other side.

The ‘veil of ignorance’ is a powerful concept in the pursuit of a just world – but it also highlights the deep partiality and deep self-interest of our contemporary liberal culture despite its claims to want fairness and equality.

Only in Jesus 

Ultimately the ‘veil’ relies on a set of moral principles outwith itself – e.g. the belief that it’s better to suffer loss than to cause loss or that we should treat other people the way we ourselves would want to be treated. In that regard it relies on an under-pinning Biblical morality – a morality that has objectivity and transcendence because it emanates from a Creator God.

Try as we might only in Jesus Christ has humanity been presented with absolute self-giving that puts the deepest interests of others before self – and thus only in following Him is there the hope for a truly just world beyond ‘the veil’.