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CARE
ANNUAL REVIEW 2019-20
‘THE STEADFAST LOVE OF THE LORD NEVER CEASES; HIS MERCIES NEVER COME TO AN END; THEY ARE NEW EVERY MORNING; GREAT IS YOUR FAITHFULNESS.’ L AMENTATIONS 3:22 , 23 (ESV)
IN THIS ISSUE
A NOTE FROM THE CEO
FAMILY ISSUES
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COMMUNICATING WITH SUPPORTERS
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EQUIPPING THE CHURCH
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PRAYER MINISTRY
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STORIES FROM OPEN
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LIFE ISSUES
JUSTICE ISSUES
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EVENT HIGHLIGHTS
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LEADERSHIP PROGRAMME
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THE FIGURES
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HEAR FROM OUR CHAIRMAN
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GOD’S GREAT FAITHFULNESS ‘The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.’ (Lamentations 3:22,23)
You may have noticed that CARE has had quite a ‘makeover’, with redesigned publications and a new website. We hope you’ll be inspired by our new focus on the ‘better story’ of what we long for in society — a Christian vision and goal of protecting life and speaking out His truth.
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his verse from Lamentations has been an enormous encouragement to us. We thank God for all His provision and your generosity and help: through praying, giving and practical action.
Alongside CARE’s emphasis of influencing policy makers and equipping the Church to engage with our issues with grace and truth, we’ve continued our involvement with wider initiatives — like the European Leadership Forum, the annual Westminster Parliamentary Prayer Breakfast and the project of bringing together key Evangelical leaders to share strategic conversations and pray together.
Our public affairs team worked incredibly hard and faced enormous challenges this year – particularly around the issue of abortion and how the law has been radically changed in Northern Ireland.
God is indeed faithful, and we’re deeply grateful for every demonstration of His goodness and for every expression of your support for CARE in these challenging days.
Parliamentarians continue to value the research, briefings and personal support and prayer CARE can offer. It’s a privilege to serve them. I’m sure you’ll be encouraged as you read about CARE’s many activities in this review, including the Leadership Programme, Open, our prayer resources, publications, press and the social media work of our communications team.
NOLA LEACH
Chief Executive
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FAMILY ONLINE SAFETY AND PORNOGRAPY
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frustratingly, they have consistently delayed in doing so.
ARE has worked closely with Baroness Howe of Idlicote for many years. Much of our work together in recent years has focused on introducing an age-verification system to help protect children from accessing explicit adult content online. Working hard with Baroness Howe and other parliamentarians, we were successful in seeing the Digital Economy Act 2017 amended to this end.
Following December’s General Election we again assisted Baroness Howe to draft and introduce further legislation to require the Government to set a definite date for putting an age-verification mechanism in place. Work continues on this front. In addition, CARE engaged in a project to establish a cost matrix to measure how much the negative impact of pornography on people’s relationships costs society, the economy and beyond.
Although the Government has the legislation in place to establish an age-verification system,
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TAXATION CARE is well regarded for our thorough and long-standing work highlighting the UK’s discriminatory measures within the tax system, especially towards families in which only one partner is a wage earner. Drawing on our consultants’ fiscal policy expertise and experience, we published the 2018 edition of ‘The Taxation of Families – International Comparisons’. Lord Farmer sponsored a briefing event presenting this in the House of Lords and several parliamentarians attended. This research was cited by a group of MPs who are pushing for the establishment of a new Ministry for Families to strengthen families and family life.
‘NO FAULT’ DIVORCE CARE’s Public Policy team worked closely with parliamentarians to prepare for the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Bill as it began its progress through Parliament. We highlighted concerns that the Bill’s proposals undermined marriage and, if put in place, would have negative outcomes for children. The Bill was hurried through Parliament and its Committee Stage was completed in just 47 minutes. After December’s General Election, the Bill was reintroduced in the Lords, and we provided support to Peers during its Second Reading and Committee Stages.
SCOTLAND’S NAMED PERSON SCHEME Although in September 2019 the Scottish Government scrapped its plan to appoint a ‘named person’ to safeguard the welfare of every child in the country, there are still discussions around the subject.
CIVIL PARTNERSHIPS CARE submitted evidence to the Government Consultation on Civil Partnerships, which was considering proposals to allow civil partnerships to be converted to marriages.
CARE continued to participate in the Scottish Government’s Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) Third Sector Working Group and worked with local councils to assist them in redrafting their approach to GIRFEC and information sharing.
We responded to Northern Ireland Office consultations on same-sex marriage and conversion entitlements from civil partnerships. Both have implications for church leaders and believers in Northern Ireland.
We joined with partner organisations in the important ongoing work of highlighting challenges and concerns regarding the GIRFEC/Named Person scheme and implications for human rights.
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RELATIONSHIPS AND SEX EDUCATION (RSE)
the duties and responsibilities of schools and headteachers to respect those rights.
CARE continued to work with parliamentarians to raise concerns about the way that the balance of power and decision-making, in regard to children and RSE, has shifted away from parents and towards schools and head teachers. We have also highlighted our concerns about the seemingly unworkable nature of the new RSE system.
In Scotland, we engaged in extensive conversation and consultation with officials about the Education Bill content concerning sexual health education and the need to use appropriate resources, with input from parents. The S c ot t i s h G ove r n m e nt s u b s e q u e n t ly withdrew this Bill. CARE also participated in discussions about the new RSE resources being developed by the Scottish Government, health boards and others.
CARE supported MPs and Peers as the Regulations and Guidance for RSE was considered by both Houses.
MARRIAGE WEEK
CARE commissioned a legal opinion regarding the Government’s Regulations and Guidance on Relationships Education (in Primary Schools) and Relationships and Sex Education (in Secondary schools), with particular concern about parents’ rights regarding RSE and
CARE celebrated Marriage Week 2019 within Parliament and promoted it to our supporters. We were involved with an excellent Westminster Hall debate which focused on marriage and mental health.
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ABORTION IN NORTHERN IRELAND law was replaced by one of the most liberal abortion laws in the world. To give effect to the new law, Regulations were laid down at Westminster which needed to be approved by MPs and Peers. Again, CARE worked behind the scenes with MPs and Peers to oppose the Regulations. Yet when the votes came, they were approved.
There was a time when Northern Ireland was the one part of the United Kingdom with lifeaffirming laws. While the 1967 Abortion Act has claimed more than 9 million lives since it came into force in Great Britain, NI’s law means that there are 100,000 people alive today who otherwise would not be. Sadly, however, abortion law in Northern Ireland has changed dramatically for he worse.
Abortion is now legally available in Northern Ireland on demand up to 12 weeks and on mental health grounds up to 24 weeks. In Great Britain, this has meant abortion on demand until 24 weeks. Abortion is also legal up to birth for ‘serious disabilities’ which, again, in GB has been interpreted to include Down’s syndrome and treatable disabilities such as a cleft lip.
Last year, an amendment was tabled to the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation) Bill to fundamentally alter abortion law in Northern Ireland. The amendment sought to make abortion widely available. A majority of MPs supported the amendment which the former Speaker of the House of Commons picked for debate, despite the fact the Bill was solely intended to extend the deadline for negotiations to get the Assembly back up and running. When the amended Bill went to the Lords, some Peers conspired to make the situation even worse, and a last-ditch attempt to reconvene the Assembly by October 22 to block the abortion law change failed.
The change in Northern Ireland’s law provoked considerable and understandable anger, with tens of thousands of people gathering in a silent protest outside Stormont. In God’s mercy, the Northern Ireland Assembly was restored in January 2020. Work is ongoing to develop legislation there to mitigate and overturn the abortion laws imposed by Westminster.
Suddenly, despite CARE’s determined and persistent efforts, the previous life-affirming
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ABORTION IN THE REST OF THE UK
EUTHANASIA CARE is keenly aware that proponents of physician assisted killing are determined to challenge the current law.
In the wake of pro-choice campaigners’ success in Northern Ireland, we faced new pressure for Scotland, England and Wales to adopt similar measures.
We worked with partner organisations to mount effective opposition when various medical professional bodies considered whether to change their position on assisted suicide. These included the Royal Colleges of Physicians and General Practitioners, and the British Medical Association.
CARE engaged with several consultations and inquiries, including the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) on their new draft guidance on the termination of pregnancy. We worked continuously on many fronts to oppose every effort to decriminalise and further liberalise abortion. This included working with parliamentarians to oppose pro-abortion amendments to emergency Coronavirus legislation. We supported MPs and Peers lobbying those responsible for the prelegislative scrutiny of the Domestic Abuse Bill against pro-abortion amendments being proposed.
CARE briefed Peers on Baroness Finlay’s Access to Palliative Care Bill. We also saw pro-assisted suicide groups’ efforts to initiate a review of the law on assisted suicide thwarted and supported MPs opposed to this idea in a debate in Westminster. We continued working within the Care Not Killing Alliance to counter efforts to permit assisted suicide in England and Wales, both in Parliament and through the courts.
In Scotland, CARE provided briefings and helped to organise meetings with MSPs, officials, organisations and individuals, to uphold the life of the unborn and protect women.
On the Isle of Man, a House of Keys motion sought approval to bring forward legislation to allow assisted suicide. CARE’s Policy Team, with others, supported IOM politicians opposing this. We were pleased that the thrust of this motion was ultimately rejected.
We responded to the Joint Committee on Human Rights Inquiry at Westminster considering Freedom of Religion and Belief (FoRB) implications of imposing exclusion zones around abortion clinics and hospitals.
In Scotland, CARE monitored the Cross-Party Group on End of Life Assistance and participated extensively in a public discussion on whether assisted suicide should be promoted. Care Not Killing Alliance in Scotland, chaired and coordinated by CARE, worked to promote care at the end of life and to resist attempts to change the law. Helpful conversations were held with other end-of-life care networks from across Europe. We responded to the Scottish Government’s consultation reviewing the Adults with Incapacity Act, raising concerns that advanced directives could be used to further a pro-assisted suicide agenda.
OTHER We monitored the Scottish Government’s activity regarding its review of the Gender Recognition Act. CARE continued to pursue work on robotics, AI and new technologies with parliamentarians and academics; assessing the challenges and opportunities this presents. 9
JUSTICE DEFENDING IMPORTANT FREEDOMS recommendation that any new legislation must include a clear conscience clause protecting freedom of speech and religious liberty was included in the Review Report.
The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights affirms everyone’s right to ”freedom of opinion and expression…to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”
The Scottish Government’s ‘Review on Freedom of Speech and Religious Liberty’.
The UK today faces real threats to true freedom of speech, with the possibility of people being prosecuted for ‘hate crime’ if their opinions offend prevailing political correctness on certain issues.
The Equalities and Human Rights Committee’s inquiry into Human Rights and the Scottish Parliament. Meetings of the Reference Group, part of Scotland’s First Minister’s Advisory Group on Human Rights Leadership.
CARE submitted evidence to and engaged with several consultations and inquiries on this issue:
Judge Desmond Marrinan’s review of hate crime legislation in Northern Ireland; implications for the future of religious freedom.
Commission on Countering Extremism report on hateful extremism.
A review of the Government’s antiradicalisation strategy, ‘Prevent’, ensuring its important aims are achieved without risking other freedoms.
Lord Bracadale’s ‘Independent Review of Hate Crime Legislation’ in Scotland. CARE’s
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GAMBLING Bill, to require a report on gambling and for a compulsory debate on it in Parliament.
CARE campaigns to improve protection and care for problem gamblers, vulnerable to financial loss, mental health issues and relationship breakdown.
CARE NI became the secretariat for the new All-Party Group on Reducing Harm Related to Gambling at Stormont.
CARE became a member of the Gambling Health Alliance, which was launched this year and operates under the auspices of the Royal Society for Public Health.
We supported local councillors, to see motions passed by Belfast City, Fermanagh and Omagh Councils calling for law reform on gambling and support for problem gamblers.
We responded to the Gambling Commission consultations regarding changes to gambling companies’ licence conditions and codes of practice in relation to improving customer interaction and suggest alternative dispute resolution, and to an evidence review about effects of credit card gambling online.
CARE NI helped Northern Ireland parliamentarians championing multi-operator self-exclusion schemes, calling for a mandatory levy on gambling firms, and raising the issue of advertising and sport. We made submissions to the Northern Ireland Department of Communities’ Consultation on regulating gambling.
We worked with parliamentarians to amend the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation)
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FREEDOM OF RELIGIOUS BELIEF (FORB)
PROTECTING CHURCHES CARE partnered with parliamentarians and others to produce a report examining Christians’ experience in the UK today.
CARE’s Religion in Public Life Officer has worked behind the scenes with the rest of the team, providing research and briefings for Christian European MPs who wanted the Council of Europe to consider the importance of providing reasonable accommodation for FoRB rights in the workplace.
We worked on proposals to fund security arrangements for Scottish places of worship, like the scheme in England and Wales. In Northern Ireland, CARE published freedom of information data recording 455 attacks on places of worship over the past three years, which attracted considerable media coverage. CARE then engaged with MLAs, the policing board and relevant charities across the political spectrum calling for a Places of Worship Security Scheme for Northern Ireland.
In January, the Council of Europe did pass such a resolution, calling upon member states to affirm FoRB in the workplace, allowing someone’s employment and living out their faith to co-exist. The Council cannot make member states change their laws, but CARE sees this as a significant step forward.
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VICTIMS OF MODERN SLAVERY
We assisted parliamentarians; successfully amending the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation) Bill, to require a report on human trafficking to be produced and making it compulsory for Parliament to debate this.
CARE continued assisting Lord McColl of Dulwich with his Modern Slavery (Victim Support) Bill before and following December’s General Election. Its latest version addresses specific support for child trafficking victims.
We are part of Scotland’s Action of Churches Together Anti-Trafficking Working Group, and the Scottish Government’s Human Trafficking Stakeholder Group.
CARE coordinates the Free for Good campaign (freeforgood.org) in support of this Bill – bringing together 30 NGOs and business groups.
PROSTITUTION
During the passage of emergency coronavirus legislation, we worked alongside MPs on an amendment requiring formal guidance to be given to public authorities about continuing the identification of and support for victims of trafficking.
CARE submitted written evidence to the Women and Equalities Committee Inquiry on prostitution, and the Independent Modern Slavery Act Review Panel consultation about the link between demand for sexual services and trafficking. CARE NI is a member of the Department of Justice’s Engagement group on Human Trafficking at Stormont. Since the Assembly has been restored, we’ve engaged with Executive Ministers, MLAs, the police and the charitable sector to push for more effective implementation of the Human Trafficking and Exploitation Act 2015. We continue to participate in the Cross-Party Group on Commercial Sexual Exploitation at the Scottish Parliament and support any developments for legislation to tackle demand for prostitution by criminalising the purchase of sex. CARE sponsored a fringe meeting at the Scottish Liberal Democrats’ party conference, highlighting this issue and featuring the testimony of a survivor of prostitution.
ORGAN DONATION We sent briefings to all MSPs highlighting our concerns about the Scottish Government’s Bill to introduce presumed consent for organ donation and made a written submission to the Health and Sport Committee. As a result, CARE was invited to give oral evidence to a Committee session.
ELECTIONS CARE’s resources in the run up to the General Election included detailed briefings, an MP voting database, guides on holding hustings and prayers.
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ENGAGING WITH THE MEDIA
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ARE is continuing to achieve great coverage in the media. We are a respected voice with increasing opportunities to speak out on issues relating to human dignity. Our media work is vital in encouraging and persuading elected representatives across the UK to protect the most vulnerable in society. We’ve been able to speak out for Christian values on BBC local and regional radio, and we’ve also appeared on BBC News, STV, and BBC Sunday Morning Live. Our spokespeople have provided comments in most of the UK’s national newspapers. Our relationship with Christian press continues to thrive as we maintain a constant presence by engaging with Premier Radio, UCB, and Christian Today, to name just a few. Our Chief Executive Nola Leach writes for a variety of websites and our Chairman Lyndon Bowring has continued to contribute regularly in both Direction and Sorted magazines.
COMMUNICAT
If you would like to receive any of the communication mentio
DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS
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e’ve invested in digital communications over the last year. We believe our website, email updates, and social media platforms are crucial tools in connecting our work to our supporters and encouraging Christians to take political action. In January, after months of planning, we launched a brand-new website. This was a major investment and our new site is already proving a huge hit. Its clean, contemporary, and easy-to-use design means it is an increasingly popular resource for supporters and the general public. With more than 165,000 users and more than 370,000 pageviews, our online reach has grown since last year. Over the last year we’ve seen more people sign up for Impact Direct, our weekly email update. We’ve also seen growth on our social media channels: across our Facebook pages, we now have 13,000+ subscribers and 11,000+ on Twitter. Our aim is to continue to grow our online presence and communicate our values to more and more people.
FACEBOOK.COM/CAREORGUK @CAREORGUK @CAREORGUK YOUTUBE.COM/CAREORGUK CARE.ORG.UK
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TIONS
oned here, or if we can answer any questions you might have, please contact us on mail@care.org.uk.
PRINTED RESOURCES
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World: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow. Nigel retells the stories of a few heroes of the faith and shares his interviews with a number of contemporary Christian leaders to encourage individual Christians in their faith.
ARE publications reflect inwardly and outwardly ‘who we are and what we do’. We love to inspire and inform our readers, equipping them to pray and to take action on key issues through a variety of resources. In January 2020, CARE rebranded with a new logo, website, and design format. This gave us a unique opportunity to review our existing publications and decisions were made on which items were to be redesigned, which were to be archived, and to plan towards new publications.
We celebrated our 100th edition of the quarterly Prayer Diary in January 2019. This proves to be ever popular and we are so encouraged about the value of this resource. Nola and Lyndon wrote to our supporters on numerous occasions over the year updating them on our work relating to Abortion, Assisted Suicide, Millennials, and Coronavirus. All of these letters can be found on our website at care.org.uk/about/our-publications.
Highlights over the last year include the introduction of CARE’s Ten Ways to Pray series designed to equip our supporters to pray through our causes from Life, to Freedom of Speech, to Coronavirus. Ahead of the 2019 December General Election, we launched the EngaGE19 postcard campaign to promote the campaign website. With this, we produced and shared a further prayer leaflet focusing on equipping our supporters to pray for the election. And, finally, we worked alongside Prof. Nigel Cameron to produce a new book called Heroes for the Kingdom – Serving God and His
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EQUIPPING CHRISTIANS TO PRAY
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As well as the Prayer Diary, our ‘Ten Ways to Pray’ series provides clear, targeted prayers on a variety of important topics:
he CARE Team prays together regularly, fervently believing in the necessity and power of prayer. Celia Bowring writes the quarterly Prayer Diary as well as creating prayer resources in response to specific situations throughout the year.
•Ten Ways to Pray for Life •Ten Ways to Pray about End of Life Issues •Ten Ways to Pray about Freedom of Speech
The Prayer Diary is a unique intercessory tool that covers a range of topics and consists of prayers, scriptures and relevant information. It is available in booklet form, on the website, by email, or on the PrayerMate app.
•Ten Ways to Pray about Coronavirus •Ten Ways to Pray about Life After Lockdown •Ten Ways to Pray for Schools These are freely available on our website, or if you prefer hard copies, please call or email the office.
This year, we celebrated the 100th edition of the Prayer Diary, in which we took the opportunity to interview Celia on her efforts and inspiration over the years.
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I LOVE THE IDEA THAT I’M JOINING TOGETHER WITH LOTS OF OTHER CHRISTIANS PRAYING ON THE SAME DAY FOR THE SAME THING.”
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IT’S OFTEN BEEN VERY MOVING TO SEE THE RELEVANCE OF NATIONAL ISSUES ON THE VERY WEEK WE’RE PRAYING FOR A PARTICULAR SUBJECT.”
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We have a steady stream of inquiries for our Welsh and English prayer bookmarks, and many download the online resources we produce for events promoted throughout the school year: Back to School with God, Pray Day, Love our Schools, and Thy Kingdom Come. PFS has 603 Twitter followers and 1400 on Facebook. We welcome you to join them and to visit our website!
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ray for Schools’ vision is for every school in the UK to become a ‘prayed for’ school. Our database has over 850 individuals and prayer groups registered, covering around 2500 schools in England and Wales, so there’s still a long way to go. Scripture Union Scotland operates PFS north of the border. We’ve yet to establish PFS in Northern Ireland. As well as growing the numbers praying for their local schools, we’re constantly working on inspiring ideas to help individuals, groups, and churches pray even more creatively and effectively. PFS connects with an everexpanding network of Christian ministries and organisations that pray and work with chaplains, youth workers, teachers, church schools, and education bodies. Our seven core partners (see below) share the same desire to make sure that their activities are rooted in prayer.
EVENTS
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ARE events are, for us, one of the highlights of the year! We love the opportunity to meet our wonderful supporters face to face. Not only is it an opportunity for fellowship, prayer and worship together, it’s also a time of hearing the latest updates on the work of CARE. Many of our supporters also choose to invite friends and family along so that they too can learn about CARE, and have the opportunity to support us through financial giving and signing up to the CARE mailing list. The events truly are a special time for us as a team, and we always look forward to being out on the road!
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THANK YOU ALL FOR SUCH AN INSPIRATIONAL AND UPLIFTING MEETING THAT WE EXPERIENCED.” - A CARE SUPPORTER
EVANGELICAL LEADERS GATHERING
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aul exhorts the church in Ephesus to “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace”. This year marked the tenth anniversary of the Evangelical Leaders Gathering that is hosted by CARE, along with some close friends. The vision is to bring together leaders from the various tribes of the evangelical community in the UK, enabling them to pray and worship together, build important new relationships, and address some of the differences that may have separated us in the past. After a tenth successful gathering, we are now looking to replicate these events with younger leaders, looking ahead to the future and passing on the importance of intentionally working to bring unity within the Church.
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THERE ISN’T ANOTHER FORUM I KNOW THAT IS DELIVERING ANYTHING LIKE THIS FOR THE BUILDING OF ORTHODOX RELATIONSHIPS ACROSS LONG-HELD DIVIDES.” - ELG ATTENDEE
PROM PRAISE
SUPPORTER EVENTS
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ver the past year we had the privilege of being joined by two very dear friends of CARE, Dr. RT Kendall and Graham Kendrick! Graham, along with his musicians, has led our events with heartfelt worship and RT has helped us to fix our eyes and minds on Jesus through his Bible teaching. The CARE team has been blessed by meeting such a large number of our supporters and we’ve been thrilled to be able to share updates on CARE’s work over the previous months.
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rom Praise is an amazing annual Christian musical event originally conceived by the former rector of All Souls Langham Place, Bishop Michael Baughen. Held at the Royal Albert Hall, this is a truly special evening of fellowship, prayer and of course a wide array of worship and music. We were honoured in 2019 to be present along with a number of key supporters and friends of CARE.
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I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO LUCKY TO RECEIVE SUCH ANOINTED WORSHIP AND TEACHING” - A CARE SUPPORTER
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ARE’s Leadership Programme offers an exceptional opportunity for young Christian graduates with a vision to live out their faith in the workplace and aspire to positions of leadership in public life. It provides a unique insight into influencing our society for Christ at a political level, combining outstanding professional experience, biblically-based study, and a supportive Christian community. The Programme includes a ten-month internship with Parliamentarians or policy shaping NGOs. This ensures that participants find themselves placed in positions of real responsibility at the beginning of their career. Alongside the internship, graduates take part in a weekly study programme, helping them
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think through what it means to be a leader and a Christian in the political sphere. The Programme started in 1993 and now has over 300 alumni, amongst whom are Parliamentarians, senior Civil Servants, and charity executives. CARE keeps in close contact with many of these people, drawing from their own experience and insight as we plan for the future. Pictured on the next page, are the six members of our 2019-20 Leadership Programme. A further twelve have been recruited for the 2020-21 year and will be placed across the main political parties in the UK Parliaments.
I’VE ENJOYED WRESTLING WITH DEEP THEOLOGICAL ISSUES AND PHILOSOPHY, AND ENJOYED THE ROBUST DEBATES WE HAVE HAD AMONGST OURSELVES, DEMONSTRATING THAT THERE IS SPACE FOR DIFFERING OPINIONS IN THE CHRISTIAN FAITH, AND THAT UNITY IN CHRIST HELPS TO HAVE THOSE DIFFICULT CONVERSATIONS.” - CARE LEADERSHIP PROGRAMME ALUMNI
LEADERSHIP PROGRAMME PROGRAMME LEADERSHIP 20
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THE LEADERSHIP PROGRAMME HAS BEEN A YEAR WHICH HAS CHALLENGED AND STRETCHED EVERYTHING I THOUGHT I KNEW ABOUT HOW WE AS CHRISTIANS ARE TO ENGAGE WITH THE WORLD AROUND US.” - CARE LEADERSHIP PROGRAMME ALUMNI
We are accepting applications for the 2021-22 Programme until 20 November 2020. For more information on the programme, and steps on how to apply, please visit care.org.uk/about/leadershipprogramme.
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can respond better to issues of depression, suicide, eating disorders, and many other mental health issues.
ARE plays a vital role of investing time and resources to encourage church leaders and individual Christians to engage in society.
EUROPEAN LEADERSHIP FORUM
ENGAGING WITH CHRISTIANS Nola Leach has been a leading organiser of this unique gathering of Christian Leaders across Europe. It encourages evangelism, political engagement, and social action. This year, accompanied by our Chief Operating Officer Roxana Stanciu and our Senior Policy Officer Chris Buttenshaw, she was a keynote speaker, mentor, and led the Politics and Society Network.
CARE’s Church Development Team continued to connect with UK leaders and congregations, bringing a biblical overview of political engagement to help Christians to be increasingly effective light and salt in society. Stuart Weir, Director of CARE for Scotland, produced an excellent film entitled ‘Introduction to Biblical Politics’ which has been strategic. Alongside this, Stuart produced a new resource called IN[FORM] to deepen Christian understanding and engagement on the issues CARE works on.
AFTERWORKNET Now in its third year, this initiative has helped a growing number of Christians in their actively retired years to live as effective followers of Jesus. The project involves a comprehensive website, weekly blog posts, and an active Facebook group. In this last year, AfterWorkNet has also taken part in seminars at festivals and at local churches.
In April 2019, we welcomed our Northern Ireland Development Consultant to the team who has been intrinsic to our abortion campaign. And, in September 2019, we gathered over 180 church leaders and pastoral workers for training on mental health and how the Church
EQUIPPING THE CHURCH 22
Providing a Compassionate Response
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PEN exists to equip churches to gain an understanding of the pastoral issues surrounding unintended pregnancy, abortion, and other baby loss.
and events such as ‘Loved’ which focus on miscarriage. These events serve as a wonderful time of healing for the courageous women who attend.
This past year has seen an increasing variety of doors opening, enabling OPEN to engage with churches and to offer support to those affected by the pain of abortion, miscarriage, and other baby loss. We’ve received invitations to speak in churches, to lead training days for church leaders and pastoral workers, and to deliver seminars at Christian conferences.
There has been an international flavour to OPEN this year, with training being delivered in the Ukraine, and speaking events, training days, and miscarriage healing days taking place in Finland and the USA.
Over this last year, we’ve served women across the UK through post-abortion retreats,
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We’ve continued to build relationships with others involved in this work; with pregnancy counselling centres and other organisations who seek to bring change in society and to preserve a high respect for human life.
Carole’s Story
arole had an abortion over 40 years ago. She was 17 and too frightened to tell her mother that she was pregnant. She told no-one about the abortion, and almost immediately began to develop mental health problems, which she has lived with for most of her adult life. When Carole arrived at the OPEN Healing Retreat in February this year, she almost turned away but told God she would go in if He held her hand. He did, and she found healing! She later wrote: ‘I cannot put into words how much that retreat has meant and done in my life. What a blessing it took place before lockdown!’ To read more of Carole’s story, visit weareopen.org.uk
DONATIONS AND LEGACIES - 99% OTHER INCOME - 1%
TOTAL INCOME
£2,050,018
TOTAL EXPENDITURE
EDUCATING PUBLIC OPINION - 42%
£2,095,480
INFLUENCING PUBLIC POLICY - 35% DEVELOPING YOUNG LEADERS - 11% RAISING FUNDS - 12%
DONATE
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e’re so grateful for everyone who generously gives to CARE to make our work possible.
You can give a regular gift or a single donation online at care.org.uk/donate or you can call the office using the details overleaf. If you prefer to give by cheque, please make this payable to CARE.
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Alternatively, if you’d like to discuss other giving options, including legacies and charity vouchers, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We only ask you to support our ministry after you’ve considered the needs of your family and local church.
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e deeply appreciate the ongoing generosity of individuals, churches and grant-making Trusts that enables CARE to develop and grow. We have continued to engage with policy makers and with tens of thousands of Christians, encouraging them to speak out, to be practically involved and to pray. CARE faces the future with faith and confidence; we want to meet the challenges ahead by strengthening our supporter base and developing fresh ways to engage with all our stakeholders.”
ONLINE GIVING Please use the following details to add CARE as a payee, using your name and postcode as the reference:
JOHN O’BRIEN
Chair of Trustees
Sort Code: 30-99-50 Account Number: 07181688 24
MEET THE TEAM
CELIA
ANGELA
STUART
CHRIS
ROXANA
DAN
JAMES
JOEL
JONATHAN
MARK
BEN
MARY
MABEL
DAN
EWELINA
LYNDON
PHILIPPA
NOLA
HANNAH
TIM
MICHELLE
NAOMI
SARAH
STUART
If you’d like more information on anything touched on in this year’s Review, we’re all available to answer any queries and provide information on any of our causes or services. You can get in touch using the contact details below. mail@care.org.uk 53 Romney St, London, SW1P 3RF 020 7233 0455
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CARE’s DNA hasn’t changed since we began 36 years ago. We’re still totally committed to protecting human life at every stage, to speaking out on behalf of the most vulnerable in society and standing for truth and freedom, with a grace-filled attitude.
e’re deeply grateful for your financial, practical and prayer support and hope this Review has informed and inspired you. The unexpected challenges of COVID-19 gave us a great opportunity to reflect on just what it is we’re here to do and how CARE can continue forging ahead with the vision and mandate we believe is God-given.
We thank God for our fantastic team! The day of the Millennials is here, and we’re thrilled to see young leaders rising up within CARE with a passion to serve the Lord and be effective light and salt in their generation – ‘to tell a better story’.
When God told King David that his son Solomon would be the one to build the Temple, David set himself the task of amassing everything that would be needed. He invested his wealth and energy purchasing the very best timber, precious stones, metals, and fabrics ready to accomplish this immense task. As CARE’s cofounder, along with other senior staff, I’m 100 per cent committed to doing something similar to facilitate and encourage the generation following us. We want to see them take up positions of influence within CARE and have a godly impact in our Parliaments and Assemblies, churches, and communities.
And we thank God for you! Without your support CARE could not continue.
REV LYNDON BOWRING
CARE Chairman
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TAKE ACTION
TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE SHAPING OUR CULTURE AND SOCIETY… PRAY
CONNECT
GIVE
Please join us in praying for our nation. We have a variety of resources to help you to pray with us. Please visit our website to find out more, or contact us on mail@care.org.uk
Be equipped to stand with us to be effective salt and light in our nation. We can inform you on a range of causes Christians care about through our regular emails and on social media.
We’re so grateful to every financial gift which makes our work possible. To find out more about how to give, please visit care.org. uk/donate
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@CAREORGUK
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OUR MISSION IS TO BRING A UNIQUELY CHRISTIAN INSIGHT TO THE POLICIES AND LAWS THAT AFFECT OUR LIVES.
WHAT WE DO Equip individuals and the local church for prayer and action Impact the political world Provide research briefings for parliamentarians Train Christian graduates through the CARE Leadership Programme Support the vulnerable through advocacy
CARE (Christian Action Research & Education) Chief Executive Nola Leach | Chairman Rev Lyndon Bowring 53 Romney St, London, SW1P 3RF | 020 7233 0455 mail@care.org.uk | PrayerMate: praynow4.org/care Charity No: 1066963 | Scottish Charity No: SC038911 This product is recyclable
