This sentiment was shared by the committed Christian Stephen Timms, MP for East Ham, who told the Faithworks conference during Thursday's opening sessions that Government and the church were experiencing a change for the better in their relationship.
"The impact (of Christians) on Britain has been immense and there is today in Government and among politicians a new recognition of the value of faith in society," he said, pointing to the fact that 80 per cent of the activists who joined in the Jubilee Campaign and Make Poverty History were from the churches.
"We need people of faith taking advantage of that new recognition, working in their communities and formulating the answers just as Christians did so effectively in the past," he continued, reminding Christians of the massive change that William Wilberforce made 200 years ago when the slave trade was abolished across the British Empire.
"Believers don't need to hide. In today's Britain believers can speak up and contribute in confidence that the value of what we have to say is widely understood despite what I hear some writers say."
He went on to praise those Christians who become involved in social action: "They bring invaluable qualities in that service and they are qualities that modern Britain urgently needs a great deal more of."
Later on Friday, Fran Beckett reminded Christians of the need to retain their distinctively Christian identity while carrying out their compassionate works
"In the midst of it all we need to be distinctive. There are many people out there who don't know the name of Jesus and who are engaged in community development.
"We need to be a bunch of people who individually and corporately pursue intimacy with God and let that intimacy colour our engagement with the world around us.
"It's so easy to be activists. It's so hard to remember why we are doing what we are doing and to come back to the God who is the source and inspiration of it all."
The Faithworks conference opened on Thursday night with a call to Christians to transform their communities by sharing the same love with others that they themselves have received from God.
The Bishop of Liverpool and long-time supporter of Faithworks, the Rt Rev James Jones, called on Christians to show compassion to those in need.
"You and I are called by God to be agents of Him - the one who believes in them - because one day we discovered he believes in us. And because we know that He believes in us, we can dare to believe that He also believes in them."
The three-day conference has been put together by Faithworks to inspire and encourage Christians as they work to socially and spiritually transform their communities, and is being hosted by Faithworks leaders Malcolm Duncan and Steve Chalke.
Other speakers at the conference include the General Director of the Evangelical Alliance the Rev Joel Edwards, Dr Patrick Dixon, Brian Souter, and Bishop Joe Aldred.
