CARE NI Vision Booklet

CARE: Our Vision

‘So God created human beings in His own image. In the image of God He created them; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.”’

Genesis 1:27-28

Welcome from our CEO, Ross Hendry

Do you long to see our country transformed? Have you been praying that the United Kingdom might start to look more like God’s kingdom? Do you want to see Christians making a difference for Jesus in politics?

At CARE, our vision is simple: we want to see politics renewed and lives transformed. Some people have already lost faith in politics: our leaders let us down and our politicians break their promises.

Politics, like everything else, is tainted by our sin and selfishness.

But at its best, politics can be a force for good. In Romans 13, we read that God appoints governments and gives them the responsibilities. Yes, good government is God’s idea!

And when politics is working well, and our leaders promote good and restrain evil, we begin to see a society where everyone flourishes as God intends them to, where injustice is challenged and where the powerless are protected.

For over 40 years, CARE has sought to bring truth and grace into politics. We believe Christians have a better story to tell, revealed in the Bible and modelled

by Jesus. But we also believe in speak-

ing with grace and humility, acknowledging our flaws and recognising the innate dignity of those who oppose us.

And we’ve seen God at work. We’ve seen the Church inspired and mobilised to shape policy on key social issues.

We’ve seen God raise up faithful politicians who have spoken bravely into debates. And we’ve seen Him use our policy expertise to influence legislation on everything from abortion to modern slavery.

But this is not a solo effort. CARE’s mission is sustained by the incredible partnership we enjoy with tens of thousands of Christians and churches. I dearly long to deepen those partnerships and to forge new ones.

I hope this booklet will give you a flavour of who we are, what we do and how you can partner with us as we work for God’s kingdom, and try to transform lives for the better.

ROSS HENDRY CEO of CARE

Why We Exist The Commission We all know about the Great Commission: Jesus sending us into the world to make disciples of all nations. But sometimes we forget God’s first commission to us, ‘the Cultural Mandate’ He gave to everyone in Genesis 1 to fill the earth and subdue it.

God has given humans responsibility to exercise dominion over the world and everything in it as His stewards and image-bearers.

The Kingdom We sometimes divide up evangelism and social action, but that which God has joined together, we cannot separate: when Jesus began His ministry, He proclaimed that the ‘Kingdom of God has come near’.

He wasn’t only talking about forgiveness of sins (although this was central!), but about putting right everything which has gone wrong. Bringing the Kingdom also meant healing the sick,

reaching out to the marginalised and challenging injustice.

He told His disciples that they were the ‘light of the world’, bringing hope to a world in darkness. He said they were the ‘salt of the earth’, flavouring the world with the values of the Kingdom. Sometimes it feels like the world doesn’t want to listen. But as Christians, we are called to be faithful in seeking to influence the world, not to turn our backs on it.

The Call Although Christians are ambassadors for the Kingdom in every area of life, we feel our call is to focus on politics and the work of government, in recognition of their influence on our nation. Politicians shape our laws, our economy and our society.

By speaking God’s better story into public life, we want to follow in Jesus’ footsteps. We want to persuade the world of His vision for society and human flourishing, and we pray that, speaking with truth and grace, we might see politics being renewed and in turn, lives being transformed.

Our History Our story began back in the 1960s; it was a time of social upheaval, of secularisation and liberalisation. But evangelicals had largely been silent.

Many evangelicals felt compelled not to remain on the sidelines, and in 1971 tens of thousands of Christians came together to make a stand in Trafalgar Square, London at the Nationwide Festival of Light: it was the largest gathering of Christians in UK history, with 45,000 people proclaiming that Jesus is Lord.

Afterwards, the hunger to impact culture for Christ remained, and a trust was set up. In 1981, Rev Lyndon Bowring became its chairman, and in 1983, it was renamed CARE: Christian Action, Research and Education.

We now employ more than 30 staff across our Church Engagement, Policy and Leadership Programme teams, work with some of the finest theologians, policy experts and cultural commentators out there, and have offices across the UK: CARE for Scotland began in 1985, and CARE Northern Ireland in 1987.

None of this would be possible without the prayers and support of those who have partnered with us over so many years, or without God’s blessing and generous provision throughout that time.

For more than 40 years now, we have been working to bring a Christian voice into political life.

We’ve worked with churches and given birth to some extraordinary initiatives, from Care for the Family to remand fostering services and postabortion healing retreats.

We’ve supported dozens of MPs and Lords, pioneered cutting-edge research with our policy team, and secured real change on behalf of the most vulnerable in society.

And through our Leadership Programme, we’ve helped shape the careers of more than 350 young leaders who have gone on to influence the public square as Christians.

What we believe At its heart, CARE is about presenting biblical truth with grace into the public square.

We love the Bible and believe that God has revealed a better story for human life in it. This story explains why things are the way they are, provides wisdom for how to live, and offers hope for the future.

We believe in:

Creation God’s design for humanity and the world, as revealed in Genesis, is good and helps us flourish.

Every human is created in the ‘image of God’ and has innate value and dignity, and has been given responsibility to steward the earth.

Kingdom In time, God sent His Son, Jesus Christ: He proclaimed that the Kingdom of God had come near.

He brought the restoration of all that was good.

Disease was undone, demons were driven out and freedom and forgiveness were preached to all, and He sent His disciples to do the same. He Himself modelled the perfect life.

Salvation When Jesus died, He dealt with the ultimate thing which was wrong, taking the sin of the world upon Himself and making a way to heal our relationship with God. And when He rose, death was defeated and a new world began.

Mission and Social Action When Jesus ascended, He sent the Church into the world, empowered by the Holy Spirit, to continue working for the kingdom in both word and deed.

Even with our best efforts, it can only ever come in part.

Fall As a result of human sin, all our relationships (with God, with one another, and with the earth) have broken down. We see the consequences of the Fall around us: injustices against the marginalised, exploitation of the vulnerable and the destruction of human life.

Revelation God revealed Himself, first to Israel, and gave them wisdom and the law, setting out how to live well in their world. He sent His prophets to speak out against injustice, and He promised that He would one day send a deliverer.

New Creation One day, God has promised that He will make all things new. There will be comfort from sorrow, justice for the afflicted, and freedom for the captives, as everything evil will have passed away.

We pray that through our work, the Kingdom might come on earth, as it is in heaven, and we cry out, ‘Come, Lord Jesus.’

How we work You might think this all sounds great, but you’ve seen Christians engage in politics in ways which are unhelpful. How we operate really matters to us. Here are three key principles we have:

We are for truth and grace We think the ‘how’ is just as important as the ‘what’. Jesus was Himself ‘full of grace and truth’. Again and again, we’ve heard people thank us for the tone we adopt.

We want to model speaking with humility, civility, and generosity of spirit.

We want to see the tone of public debate improved, and to recognise that those we disagree with are ‘made in the image of God’, just as we are.

And we want to thoughtfully persuade others about our Biblical convictions rather than to shout at them, winning them over so our laws increasingly reflect God’s heart.

We are for people At CARE, the debates we engage in are not just theoretical, but affect real people’s lives.

We care more about people than playing politics. We don’t support any political party, but care about good government and good legislation, regardless of who it is from.

We care more about people than we do about winning arguments. After all. what’s the point in winning a debate if we don’t effect real change?

And we particularly care about speaking up on behalf of the vulnerable and the voiceless, who God has a special heart for.

We believe in a society where no one is left behind.

We are for hope-filled solutions We don’t want to just be known by what we are against, but by what we are for.

Because we have a better story to tell, we want to put forward alternative hope-filled solutions and support practical initiatives, rather than just offering criticism from the sidelines.

We want to provide people with hope and life, and ultimately, we want to see everyone truly flourish as God intends them to.

What we do If our vision is to see politics renewed and lives transformed and if our mission is to speak God’s better story into public life, the question is:

How do we do that?

“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.”

Proverbs 31:8-9

Engaging the Church

The Church is God’s action-plan for changing the world.

Equipping Politicians

Our leaders need to be presented with wisdom from God’s Word and rigorous research.

Empowering Future Leaders

We want to impact tomorrow, not just today.

Engaging the Church We love the Church! It’s right at the heart of God’s plans and purposes as Jesus’ ‘hands and feet’ and the ‘manifold wisdom of God’ on display to the world.

Representing the Church We act on the Church’s behalf and provide a Christian perspective to politicians, and we report back to the Church, bringing the news from politics to the pew, and helping you think through what is going on in the world through a Christian lens.

Teaching the Church We have a fantastic church engagement team based across the UK! All of them can provide a range of sermons and seminars to suit your needs: we would love to serve you at a Sunday service, a midweek study or a teaching weekend.

Resourcing the Church We have a wide range of resources which you can use in your services and small groups, including prayer resources, topic primers for preachers, online courses and cultural commentary.

We firmly believe that an active church, rooted in the Word and empowered by the Spirit, can make a real difference in the life of our nation; partly because we’ve seen it happen before!

We’re looking for a dynamic partnership with local churches from different denominations, all across the UK.

Our church engagement team is available and would love to meet should you want to connect over a coffee.

For Northern Ireland: ian.bingham@care.org.uk T: 07534911037 For England and Wales: peter.killingley@care.org.uk T: 07384 117 491 For Scotland: stuart.weir@care.org.uk T:07583294787

Equipping Politicians

Making an impact in politics requires patience and perseverance. Legislation can take years to pass through parliament, and there are often setbacks.

But by God’s grace, we have seen successes in just about every area on which we have campaigned.

Within the last ten years alone, we have: Drafted modern slavery legislation, now in force across Northern Ireland

Working with politicians is our bread and butter. We’ve built up relationships with politicians within all the parliaments and assemblies of the UK across decades.

We deeply respect the courage of Christians who serve in politics, and it’s a privilege to support them. But we also work with politicians of all faiths and none if they share our goals on particular legislation. We also work with civil servants, advisors and NGOs. •

We work hard to produce highquality research, briefings and even speeches that equip politicians to reflect God’s attitude and thoughts on key social and political issues.

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We encourage them to uphold human dignity, respect God’s design for humanity and safeguard the vulnerable so that everyone can flourish.

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We even have the ability to draft legislation ourselves; yes, some laws in the UK have words which originated in the CARE office!

Given evidence which persuaded Members of the Legislative Assembly in Northern Ireland to introduce long-term victim support Helped stop multiple assisted suicide bills being passed, including in Scotland.

Contributed in the campaign towards palliative care becoming a legal right for patients across England Produced tax reports that culminated in the reintroduction of the marriage tax allowance in 2015 Secured age verification on all online pornography via successful amendments to the Online Safety Bill And much more…

Empowering future leaders The idea behind the CARE Leadership Programme was simple: train Christian graduates for a year and empower them to go into politics and serve Jesus with integrity.

Since the programme began in 1993, more than 350 have passed through it. Some have gone on to serve as frontline politicians, others work in the civil service, the media, NGOs, the Church and many other places.

Every Friday, graduates participate in an intensive study programme that includes theology and leadership training, with teaching provided by world-leading theologians and thinkers.

For four days a week, graduates are placed with a Parliamentarian or in an NGO, helping with speech-writing, research, constituency work, advocacy and public relations.

We consider it a success if by the end of their time with us, graduates love Jesus more, think more like how Jesus thought, and live more like how Jesus lived.

“My year as a CARE intern gave me invaluable insights into the life of an MP; the whole experience established my resolve to seek a career in Parliament. I will always value the training and relationships that were formed during this exhilarating year working in Westminster – even if one of the MPs I worked for lost his seat!”

- Former Cabinet Minister

Our Resources We love creating resources that will help Christians to live out their calling to be the salt and light in our world. You can find a full list of resources on our website.

But to give you a flavour, here’s some highlights…

The Big Story and the Better Story A week is a long time in politics, and we are bombarded by news. But do you ever get the chance to sit down and think about the headlines from a Christian point of view?

Our thought-provoking and carefully-considered opinion pieces will take you back to the Bible and examine the news through the lens of God’s better story.

Prayer resources Our quarterly Prayer Diary is used by literally thousands of Christians (contact us to request a printed copy) and covers a wide range of political issues.

If you want to pray in depth about a particular issue, check out our ‘Ten Ways to Pray’ series, which covers all our causes.

You can also find short update-videos detailing what you can pray for currently in politics on our YouTube channel, perfect for playing in a church service.

Discover more at care.org.uk

Topic primers Looking to preach on a topic and unsure where to start? It’s difficult to find the time to research things in depth, so we’ve developed topic primers for a wide range of key political and ethical questions which do the work for you!

Each primer provides you with the key up-to-date facts, figures and theology behind any given topic, as well as the best recommendations for further reading. A fantastic starting point for developing your knowledge on a specific issue.

Foundations for a Christian Worldview Everyone has a worldview: a framework of beliefs about the world, which shapes what we value and how we believe we should act. This special video course covers the basic building blocks of the Christian worldview.

Perfect for using in a small group setting, our short videos cover a wide range of key biblical doctrines, from God’s character, to a doctrine of humanity, ethics, eschatology and more.

Content Hub We want to give you access to the best resources we can, so we’ve been partnering with some of the best theologians and thinkers out there!

Whether you’re after a theological deepdive, cutting cultural analysis or the testimonies of real lives being changed, we’ve got something for everyone.

Partnering with CARE

Pray Prayer is absolutely mission-critical for us. We know that we do not wrestle against earthly powers, but against spiritual forces, far beyond us. But we also know that God listens to our prayers and that prayer is powerful.

Do check out our prayer resources on our website and sign up to receive a copy of the quarterly prayer diary.

At CARE, we’re supported by tens of thousands of Christians from across the UK and beyond. We are deeply grateful to every single supporter we have. We cannot do what we do without your sacrificial generosity.

If you’d like to get involved, here are three great things you can do.

Connect The best way to connect with us is to sign up for our emails. Our weekly, UKwide newsletter, Impact Direct contains commentary on the biggest issue of the week, a round-up of important news stories, and other opportunities to connect.

Give

God of grace and truth, thank You for Your faithful guidance and provision throughout the years. Please grant CARE wisdom, courage and favour to effectively engage the Church, equip politicians and empower future leaders, sharing Your better story with our broken world and bringing hope to those who are vulnerable. May CARE continue to serve Your kingdom, as it strives to see politics renewed and many lives transformed. Through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen

We’re so thankful to God for the generosity of our supporters. All we do is funded by the kindness of Christians like you who are willing to generously give to support our work, whether it be funding salaries, research or new resources.

To give just one example, the Leadership Programme can cost up to £200,000/ year to run. That’s because we provide an educational bursary to every graduate and bring in the finest thinkers and leaders to teach them.. Your money has helped fund the training of young Christians who have gone onto become MPs, diplomats, CEOs, journalists and policy experts.

Every year, we prepare a budget based on our predicted giving: it helps us when supporters give by direct debit, so we can plan with confidence, but we are so grateful for every gift and legacy, no matter how small.

From time to time, we’ll encourage Christians to respond to calls to action.

This is where we’ve become aware of an opportunity to engage with your MP on a particular cause. The more people we have on our mailing lists, the more persuasive our lobbying becomes.

CARE (Christian Action Research and Education) Chief Executive Ross Hendry | Co-Founder Rev Lyndon Bowring 53 Romney St, London, SW1P 3RF 020 7233 0455 | mail@care.org.uk

care.org.uk

careorguk

CARE is a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales at 53 Romney Street, London, SW1P 3RF Company No: 3481417 | Charity No: 1066963 | Scottish Charity No: SC038911