Equipping the Church to be the Church

One in five people in the UK today is living in poverty, and God is calling on churches to respond. This is the focus of a special Sunday service that hundreds of churches will host this autumn, in partnership with charity Christians Against Poverty (CAP).

One church who is responding is Beacon Church in Brixton, led by Pastor Owen Hylton. Owen talks with us here, describing how working with CAP to provide free, local debt help has not only impacted local people in Brixton, but also the life of his church.

What are the advantages of working alongside other churches?

Soon after we launched our debt help service, other churches in Brixton began to reach out and ask if they could get involved. I was delighted. Jesus said that the world would recognise that we are his followers by how we love another and our oneness that is our unity found in him; crossing the divides of denominations and working together to share the Gospel is a great step towards this. We formed the Beacon CAP partnership from which we collectively fund, resource and run CAP services across our community. It’s a wonderful collaboration of different types of churches, united for a common purpose.

people in sexually exploitative relationships and another charity housing homeless people during the winter. Most recently, we’ve connected with a local estate to provide CAP services in their community. These crosschurch prayer meetings expose those of us who attend them to a wider world, connecting us to projects and initiatives outside of our ordinary environment. It can be life-changing.

What would you say to other churches considering partnering with CAP?