Faithworks Northampton

Links to Sites of Interest

Churches Together in Northampton

Faithworks’ National Website

Abington Avenue URC (findachurch.co.uk listing)

Broadmead Baptist Church

Diocese of Peterborough

The Manna House

Mount Pleasant Baptist Church

New Pastures Church

Northamptonshire Association of Youth Clubs

Northampton YMCA

St. Giles Church

Storehouse Church

Northampton Research Survey

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Faithworks in Northampton - Results of Research

The research results are now avalable in a report that you can download for free here. The document is in rich text format, so ought to be accessible to most users. (more…)

The Faithworks Charter

Principles for Churches and local Christian agencies committed to excellence in community work and service provision in the UK
Motivated by our Christian faith we commit ourselves to serve others by aspiring to the following standards in all our community work.We will provide an inclusive service to our community by:

1. Serving and respecting all people regardless of their gender, marital status, race, ethnic origin, religion, age, sexual orientation or physical and mental capability.

2. Acknowledging the freedom of people of all faiths or none both to hold and express their beliefs and convictions respectfully and freely, within the limits of the UK law.

3. Never imposing our Christian faith or belief on others.

4. Developing partnerships with other churches, voluntary groups, statutory agencies and local government wherever appropriate in order to create an effective, integrated service for our clients, avoiding unnecessary duplication of resources.

5. Providing and publicising regular consultation and reporting forums to client groups and the wider community regarding the effective development and delivery of our work and our responsiveness to their actual needs.

We will value all individuals in a way that is consistent with our distinctive Christian ethos by:

1. Creating an environment where clients, volunteers and employees are encouraged and enabled to realise their potential.

2. Assisting our clients, volunteers and employees to take responsibility for their own learning and development, both through formal and informal training opportunities and ongoing assessment.

3. Developing an organisational structure in which individuals learn from any mistakes and where excellence and innovation and encouraged and rewarded.

4.Promoting the value of a balanced, holistic lifestyle as part of each individual’s overall personal development.

5. Abiding by the requirements of employment law in the uk and implementing best employment practices and procedures designed to maintain our distinctive ethos and values.

We will develop a professional approach to management, practice and funding by:

1. Implementing a mangement structure, which fosters and encourages participation by staff at all levels in order to facilitate the fulfilment of the project’s goals and visions.

2. Setting and reviewing measurable and timed outcomes annually, and regularly to evaluate and monitor our management structure and output, recognising the need for ongoing organisational flexibility, development and good stewardship of resources.

3. Doing all we can to ensure that we are not over-dependent on any one source of funding.

4. Implementing best practice procedures in terms of Health and Safety and Child Protection in order to protect our staff, volunteers and clients.

5. Handling our funding in a transparent and accountable way and to give relevant people from outside our organisation/project reasonable access to our accounts.

Next Step - Moving towards a local network

If you are in agreement with the recommendations that we applaude, encourage and resource existing partnerships, and that we form Faithworks Northampton, a local network aligned to the national Faithworks movement, then please complete this simple form in order that we can begin forming such a network. Individuals and organisations who complete this form will be invited to the “Next Steps” meeting to establish the workings of Faithworks Northampton.

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Faithworks Northampton Launch

A number of events marked this special day for the Church in Northampton.
headshot.jpgAt lunchtime there was a special event for Ministers and Leaders of Christian Organisations at King’s Park Conference Centre. Steve Chalke had been invited to speak on the subject “Working with differing viewpoints for the common good”. This was an inspiring time where Steve explored how Christians from varying backgrounds and traditions needed to unite in working together to bless the local communities they find themselves in.Following lunch there was an opportunity for leaders of churches and Christian organisations to meet with staff from the National Faithworks movement. Here they were able to ask questions in order to hear more about the benefits to their local community and their organisations that would come by signing up to Faithworks.In the evening, we were pleased to host Steve Chalke as part of the Building TRUST tour. This took place at the newly refurbished New Testament Church of God in Northampton (formerly College Street Baptist Chapel)At this event, part of a national campaign from the Christian movement Faithworks, Steve Chalke spoke of how people who belong to local churches can rebuild trust by playing an active role in the community, and increasing the number and scale of the community projects they are involved in such as playgroups, drop-in centres, debt relief schemes and work with refugees and asylum seekers.With the issue of ‘trust’ set to be one of the main discussion points in the build-up to the General Election, Steve was encouraging churches in Northampton to demonstrate that they can be trusted to provide high-quality services for the community.

Churches were again encouraged to sign the Faithworks Charter, a set of standards for any Church or Christian project to adhere to as it serves the local area, and to join Faithworks Northampton. The Faithworks Charter includes principles such as “serving all people unconditionally” and “never imposing our Christian faith on others.”

The evening ended with by people making a response and signing up to Faithworks Northampton as either individuals or organisations. Steve then prayed for all the responses made, and the start of Faithworks Northampton.

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