1985 was a year of historic firsts: Super Mario Bros was launched, the first mobile phone call was made, and the first Live Aid concerts were staged in London and Philadelphia. But it was also the year a groundbreaking report from the Church of England—Faith in the City—confronted a challenging reality: growing urban poverty and systemic neglect in Britain.
The report examined the profound effects of the government’s economic and social policies on communities already facing hardship. Faith in the City didn’t just highlight urban deprivation; it challenged prevailing narratives, rejecting the idea that poverty stemmed from individual moral failure. Instead, it exposed the structural roots—poor housing, rising unemployment, and the decline of public services.
“Faith in the City didn’t just highlight urban deprivation; it challenged prevailing narratives, rejecting the idea that poverty stemmed from individual moral failure. Instead, it exposed the structural roots.”
It called on the Church to move beyond being a passive spiritual presence and become a public voice for justice. This meant investing in local leadership, supporting churches in deprived areas, and standing alongside the poor not just through social action, but through speaking out too.
The report had little effect on altering Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative government policy, in fact an unnamed Cabinet Member dismissed it as “pure marxist theology”! However the report did have a huge impact on the Church of England, and lead to the birth of the Church Urban Fund (CUF). Jose Santos from the CUF told me the fund was initially a direct source of financial support and small grants, to help inner city churches and whilst their mission has evolved, “even today, Faith in the City reminds churches that they exist for their whole community, not just those who attend services.”
The Church of England Lead Bishop for Estates Evangelism is Rt Revd Lynne Cullens. She reflects on the importance of the report, written long before she came into formal ministry:
“The Faith in the City report opened up a debate, and a contentious one at the time, about our priorities, not only as a Church but as a country. … Forty years on, it is good to have such communities – and estates in particular – sitting at the heart of the Church of England’s agenda.”
“The Faith in the City report opened up a debate, and a contentious one at the time.”
Canon Dr Phil Rawlings lived in areas of multiple deprivation for over 35 years and described the report as “really sobering and an important critique.” The report wasn’t perfect, as Phil said, “it was social projects that it put its emphasis on, as it needed to do, but it didn’t directly sponsor evangelism or church growth…if there are no churches then there can be no social projects!” He’s pleased to see a move in the last 10 years to church growth and planting churches.
Jenny Sinclair also has questions about the focus of the report. She is the founder of Together for the Common Good, a Christian charity dedicated to spiritual and civic renewal. She is also the daughter of the then Bishop of Liverpool and one of the authors of Faith in the City, David Sheppard. “I really respect my father’s vocation,” she told me, “but I do see differently the way he regarded the relationship between the church and poor communities. He and others relied too much on the state as the solution to poverty.”
She argues that the church found it difficult to shake the idea of the church as the “great benefactor”, as it had been in Victorian times. At the time of the report the UK was just a few years into political Neoliberalism, the political and economical ideology that pushes for free markets, limiting the power of the state and a growth of globalisation.
At the time the report was written Neoliberalism was a fairly new project. 40 years on we are seeing the consequences of an economy that requires low wages and freedom of movement. Jenny argues this is why huge areas of our country, particularly coastal towns and post-industrial heartlands, are now “abandoned”:
“and I chose that word deliberately… if you’re a young person in an abandoned place, what is your future? To work in an Amazon warehouse or to move hundreds of miles away from your family. This is meant to be freedom, but it creates communities of left behind people.”
“If you’re a young person in an abandoned place, what is your future?”
In many ways the political landscape has changed in the UK, but the divides the report observed in UK society have not been healed. “I don’t want to critique the report,” Jenny says, “it shone a really important light on the problems of poverty, but the solutions were welfarist, rather than seeing people as protagonists.” Indeed the report’s introduction itself says “Poverty is at the root of powerlessness…poor people lack the means and opportunity of making choices in their lives.” Through modern eyes this can look patronising and disempowering, rather than seeing people as gifted, experienced and with agency.
Jenny argues that we need to take a different approach in 2025, “The position of the church now needs to be in solidarity with those communities, calling for decent jobs and investment. We need a restoration of those communities, not just lip service. Some nice local infrastructure won’t help and it needs to go further than food pantries, we need to help people find agency again.”
“The position of the church now needs to be in solidarity with those communities, calling for decent jobs and investment. We need a restoration of those communities, not just lip service.”
Bishop Lynne Cullens also wants to see people, whatever their background, taking action, “We sense God moving powerfully in many of our urban contexts….Prayer is vital, but seeing how we might each – within the agency we have – be an answer to the prayers of the urban Church, is vital too.”
Too often the perceived solution to poverty is outside help, but as Jenny argues, people tempted to help without lived experience need to think before acting:
“Really seriously consider your relationship with people who are trapped in poverty, is it one of being a service provider, or are you neighbour and a friend? We need to shift from service and charity to solidarity and friendship.”
“Really seriously consider your relationship with people who are trapped in poverty, is it one of being a service provider, or are you neighbour and a friend?”
Listening to local communities is an approach that the Church Urban Fund has also embraced, they understand the importance of local knowledge. “We don’t tell organisations such as churches what their community needs” says Jose from CUF “instead, we give them tools, resources, and case studies, so they can determine for themselves the exact needs of their community, and the assets they can bring to bear for ending poverty.”
Statistics, passion, listening and concern are not enough though. The national church also still needs to send resources into lower income areas, as recommended in the original report. As Bishop Lynne comments, “I pray that this anniversary might stir hearts, minds and denominational budgets in the direction of the urban Church.”
And one final challenge from Jenny, “We know that God is at work in our neighbourhoods, and we need to listen and discern how to join in. Listen at the bus stop, the local shop, really be attentive to what people are saying to you. This is more important than getting funding and starting a project. We are trying to reweave the relationships that have been broken, and this is what God does.”
Forty years after Faith in the City called out the structural injustices facing Britain’s poorest communities, its core message still resonates: the Church must stand not above people in poverty, but be living and serving in and with our most deprived communities. The report may not have been perfect, but it marked a critical shift in the Church of England’s self-understanding and approach to tackling poverty: from distant observer to active participant in the struggle for justice.
The work of rebuilding trust, co-creating change, and sharing Jesus in forgotten places is sacred. The question is whether in 2025 we will once again, across all denominations, have the courage to step up to the challenge again.
There are a number of events this year to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Faith in the City.
Upcoming Events – Faith in the City @ 40
Seminar: “Faith in the City” at The Proximity Conference
Date: 16th May 2025
Speaker: Bishop Rob Wickham
About: Rob Wickham shares his passion for urban mission, rooted in experiences of injustice and unemployment while serving in a Tyneside council estate.
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Roundtable: “Faith in the City 40 Years On” at Ripon College Cuddesdon
Dates: 15–16 May 2025
Location: Ripon College, Cuddesdon
About: A 24-hour roundtable bringing together theologians, historians, and activists—both from the 1980s and today. This event will critically reflect on the original report and its continuing relevance.
Hosted by: William Temple Foundation
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Day Conference: Faith in the City @ 40 (North) – Sheffield
Date: Saturday 12 July 2025
Location: Victoria Hall, Sheffield
About: An open conference organized by the Urban Theology Union. Includes input from original contributors and today’s urban ministry leaders, including Sarah Small from Eden, exploring past and current responses to urban poverty.
Hosted by: Urban Theology Union
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