Earlier this year I was left wondering what I'd done to anger God. The reason? Several of the institutions about which I care most seemed to be in crisis.
It was around the time of the Primates meeting in the Anglican Communion – with conservative bishops threatening to walk out and the prospect of a split in the Church of England looking ever more likely.
Around the same time my beloved football team, Bolton Wanderers, were hurtling towards relegation after a terrible season – on top of that the club's finances were in disarray. It's reported we came within two minutes of administration.
It would take quite something to outdo the chaotic scenes at my football club. But the Labour Party rose to the occasion...
Under the leadership of Archbishop Justin Welby, the Church of England is holding together and even showing signs of growth. Bolton Wanderers have started this season with six games unbeaten and seem to be solvent. But Labour? That's a different story.
After two successive General Election defeats and in the wake of the UK's vote to leave the EU, the Party's MPs launched an attempt to oust leader Jeremy Corbyn – who hadn't even been in post for a year. What has followed has been several months of dispiriting internecine conflict with no end in sight – even as the contest for leader between Corbyn and Owen Smith heads into its final straight.
Last night, the two candidates met and debated in front of an audience of Christians, Jews, Sikhs and Muslims at an event organised by the Good Faith Partnership. This should be natural territory for a Labour leader. Before the main event, we were treated to a series of speeches from members of each faith community about the indispensible contribution they provide to civil society. Food banks, work with refugees, language classes, child care and numerous other examples were given of the way in which the fabric of our country would fall apart, were it not for the contribution of faith groups – and especially churches.
Quite apart from this obvious contribution to the common good, the leadership contenders should have been on home turf because the Labour Party was founded by Christians. Evangelicals and non-conformists formed the backbone of the Party, alongside Anglicans and Catholics, as it came into being at the dawn of the 20th Century.
And yet. And yet...
With a friendly audience in front of them, the candidates gave a good case for the Christian contribution to the history of Labour and the services currently provided by faith groups. This met a basic requirement of acknowledging the role of faith in politics (something hardcore secularists would reject). However, where both men came up short was their lack of acknowledgement that faith is about more than the provision of services.
Certainly, we were treated to a variety of nice thoughts about faith groups. "Our party has to have a strong and effective relationship with all faith communities – it cannot just be photo opportunities," said Corbyn. Smith told the packed audience, "We need to rely upon faith... we need a deeper understanding of how we can build a deeper connection in our communities."
These are laudable sentiments. Yet neither candidate gave the impression that he has any real grasp of the significance of faith to the people in the room, or the contribution of faith to the Labour Movement. Beyond platitudes, I'm not sure either candidate really 'gets' faith.
Their surface-level appreciation of Christian and other faith contribution to the Labour movement was highlighted, firstly by Corbyn lauding an American campaign for the Living Wage, rather than noting that the Living Wage is a Christian idea, that in the UK was first fought for by churches in east London. Smith fared little better, describing industrial reformer Robert Owen as a Christian Socialist. Owen was a pioneering activist, but a Christian he was not.
Nice words about the history of the Party and vague promises to honour faith groups now are too little, too late for many. We were told that only eight per cent of Jewish people currently support Labour. Come the next election, I dread to think what the corresponding number will be for Christians.
A year ago, during the last leadership campaign, I wrote that Christian Socialism has been a vital ingrediant missing from the Labour Party in recent years. I could have written exactly the same piece during this year's contest. Both the right and left of the party seem implacably wedded to purely materialist descriptions and statist solutions to the nation's ills.
Yes, the housing crisis requires we build more houses. Yes, the absurd cost to customers and taxpayers of the current rail network needs to be addressed by a form of public ownership. Yes, the economy needs investment rather than perpetual austerity. But is that it? Is that the sum total of what Labour is for? This anaemic vision isn't enough.
Catholic MP Jon Cruddas, writing about Labour's greatest Prime Minister Clement Attlee and legendary Christian Socialist George Lansbury, says that Labour has been about far more than transactional politics. "Instead it created a unique blend of domestic socialism... 'the realisation of Heaven in this life by the establishment of a society founded on justice and love to thy neighbour' and to 'honour the good, be courteous to all, bow down to none'."
Labour cannot win back power and it cannot win back its reputation without understanding Cruddas' assessment of Labour at its best. "Its politics ethical, not materialistic," he argues, "romantic and utopian built around the dignity of the human being and our fundamental equality."
This isn't just a strategy to win back power, it is a fundamental change of heart that's needed in the Labour Party. Both Blairism and the crypto-Marxism of the left fail to understand that materialistic answers will only ever be part of the solution that the British people are seeking. UKIP is making inroads into traditional Labour communities because people feel forgotten by Westminster. A new health centre or school will only ever address part of this need.
As I write, I am sitting in a Wetherspoons pub. I arrived at around 9.30am and before I'd ordered my breakfast, there were men dotted around with pints of beer. Loneliness seems endemic in a place like this – and this is a story that could be told around the country, especially in places forgotten by the global economy. The Conservatives, while they remain in hock to the City of London, have no hope to offer these communities outside of empty promises to reduce immigration.
A Labour Party which looked beyond the technocratic and towards truly embracing the Common Good would not only be an electoral force, but it would change this country for the better. The resources of Catholic social teaching could be put to use to provide the dignity of good jobs for all, decent wages, a true welcome for refugees, a re-emphasising of solidarity in the face of family and community breakdown and a focus on responsibilities as well as rights.
Christianity (and other faiths too) tell us that material things are not all that there is. If politics only focuses on economics and material outcomes, we are lost. It isn't that new schools and hospitals aren't important but the religious input into Left politics has told us that not only is personal transformation important, but that loyalty, community, fideltity, commitment and co-operation are vital. Labour forgets this at its peril.
Labour has always been a coalition of different groups. While the social democrats and the socialists, the trade unionists and the co-operatives all still have their place, many Christians are wondering where their voice has gone. Neither leader has offered assurances that he can be that voice. But it isn't too late. We Christian socialists remain committed to the Party and to the movement, especially via Christians on the Left. We have led campaigns on tax justice, Sunday Trading hours, refugees and many other areas. It's time for the leader to go beyond platitudes and embrace our ideas, passion and commitment. We'll be praying for him – he'll need it.
Follow Andy Walton on Twitter @waltonandy
