Church report not attacking Government, say authors

A new report due out on Monday on the role of the Church of England and other faith communities in welfare is not intended to be an attack on the Government, say its authors.

The Von Hugel Institute' 'Moral, but no compass' report was commissioned by the Church of England's bishop for urban affairs, the Rt Rev Stephen Lowe, and supposed to be embargoed until Monday. It was over the weekend construed by some media reports as an attack on the Labour Government for failing society.

The institute's Francis Davis, who co-authored the report, said on BBC Radio 4's 'Sunday' programme that people should not quote "selectively" from the report after its release on Monday but instead "carefully read and study" it.

Fellow author, Dr Andrew Bradstock, criticised journalists for spinning the report into an attack on government, according to thinktank Ekklesia.

"The purpose of this document is to resource an ongoing conversation, not to leap to conclusions or start apportioning general blame", he told the thinktank on Sunday.

The report, he added, highlights the little awareness of the work of the Church at the grassroots level, but is not intended to suggest a lack of moral purpose in any quarter, according to Ekklesia.

The report's aim is rather "to look at how debates and decisions about the issue of faith communities in relation to service provision can be strengthened on all sides", he told the thinktank.

The report points to the need of the Church "to recover a principled approach to public service reform grounded in gift, covenant, advocacy and justice".

"Such an approach also demands a richer appreciation of the 'civic value' added to the life, identity and health of the nation by Christian institutions in partnership with the whole realm of civil society."

It also issues a challenge to the Church, saying that it "must adapt to the changing times, overcoming its (mistaken) perception that it is well understood by society".

"If the crisis of evidence and conversation can be repaired, the Church is in a position, should it so wish, to engage in even more extensive social entrepreneurship, community activism and public advocacy," it states.

The report will be launched in full at a press conference in London on Monday, when a statement in response is expected from the Archbishops of Canterbury and York.