Bishop Peter commends new strategy on aid and urges grassroots action
Tuesday 19th June 2012
The Bishop of Bath & Wells, Peter Price has commended Partnership for Change - a new strategy paper from Christian Aid, launched at Lambeth Palace last week.
Following the launch, Bishop Peter said, "I hope that churches across Bath & Wells can harness this renewed energy around aid issues, as heralded in the paper, as an opportunity for grassroots action.”
The reception was hosted by the Archbishop of Canterbury who spoke of the importance for the Church of working in partnership with development agencies to tackle poverty, inequality and fight the stigma of disease.
Archbishop Rowan said, "‘What we’re seeking to do together is to hold up before our society that vision of a world given to us in trust for one another. That vision that turns the language of debt on its head and asks what do we owe to those that are most destitute most powerless, most struggling.
‘Because those are the ones to whom God himself behaves as if he owed a debt of love and respect because he holds nothing back from them. So can we respond in tune to that kind of generosity and that kind of vision?’
Christian Aid Director Loretta Minghella said churches had a unique ability to cross borders and be a force for global change.
‘We look to our churches for prayer for those in poverty and all those who struggle against it; we look to our churches to redouble their efforts to stimulate a deeper understanding of a gospel of justice, of commitment to love our neighbours near and far, of the challenge to be sacrificial and prophetic,’ she said.
‘Churches can play a key role in building a new kind of multilateralism for these critical times, reaching out across denominations and to other faiths in global community.
Further information
- Download the Partnership for Change summary or report in full.
- At the reception, common misconceptions about levels of aid were also challenged. Research shows that people think the Government is spending 17.9 per cent of it's entire budget on aid, but it is only spending 1.1 per cent. Overseas aid alone even lower than that, currently only 0.54 per cent with the Government promising to increase it to 0.7 per cent by 2013.
- Bishop Peter Price speaks on development and international affairs for the Church of England in the House of Lords andcontributed to Partnership for Change on behalf of the Aid agencies in Parliament.
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