Evangelical Alliance welcomes Governments commitment to people of faith

The Evangelical Alliance has welcomed assurances from Baroness Warsi that the Government “does God” and is “comfortable” with faith.

The Government minister made the comments to Church of England bishops last week, adding that the church was “at the heart of society” and that the Labour Government had failed to “create policies to unleash the positive power of faith in our society”.

The Evangelical Alliance’s head of public affairs, Dr Don Horrocks, said her comments were “welcome” and “timely”.

“Previously Christians felt viewed with suspicion and even fear by their political leaders,” he said.

He pointed to the work of Christian charities like Redeeming our Communities in Manchester, whose volunteers have been credited with helping to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour.

General Director of the Evangelical Alliance, Steve Clifford, said that Christians were "already at the heart of serving their communities" but should grasp the opportunity to get even more involved by being a part of the Government’s Big Society initiative.

It added that the Pope’s visit had paved the way for Christians to play a greater role in supporting Britain’s poor by speaking out against the marginalisation of Christians and praising the work of churches in defending vulnerable people.

Acknowledging the concerns of some that the Big Society is simply a Government ploy to hide painful cuts, the Alliance cautioned that Christians should be careful not to “pick up the slack” in areas where the Government should be spending.