The Leader of the Faithworks Movement, Revd Malcolm Duncan, has just published his first book, Building a Better World (Continuum Press, £7.99, ISBN 0-8261-9152-9). In this, the second of a series of extracts and thoughts from the book, he considers how Christians need confidence in their own faith in order to work with others...

EXCERPT:
"Yet there is still a need for a better understanding of what Christian faith contributes to our communities and our world. It is not enough to read the words of pop stars and politicians - we need to know how Christian faith builds a better world. We need to understand some of the positive principles that underpin Christian faith if we are to understand what it can contribute to our lives and to the world... Christian faith must understand its own unique contribution to building a better world, but it must also understand how others can contribute to making the world a better place."
Page 49

Many followers of Christ can view everything about other faiths as wrong. We are often better known for the things that we oppose, rather than the things we actually believe in. I wonder if this might be because of a lack of confidence in our own faith, and in our own faith identity.

A key question is how do we work in partnerships with people of other faiths and people of none, without losing our own sense of identity?

Some would have us believe that the answer is to keep faith private. The Prime Minister, Tony Blair, delivered a speech for the Faithworks Movement in March 2005 in which he said that faith should always be seen as private.