UK Grants Over £1.3m for Evangelical-Sponsored Youth Work

A recent report from the Government shows that the UK has granted over £1.3m to support the youth work of evangelical Christian groups. The grant, from the Government's National Voluntary Youth Organisation funding scheme, is £21m in total. However, when compared to the other non-evangelical Christian, Muslim or secular ethnic minority groups, evangelical Christians groups appeared to be in a more privileged position with regards to receiving funds, according to the London Independent.

Figures show the evangelical group, Youth for Christ, which supports abstinence programmes for young people and whose aim is "taking good news relevantly to every young person in Britain" received £235,461 to support its work in young offenders institutions, the London Independent said.

Other major organisations such as the Baptist Union of Great Britain received £317,866 and the African & Caribbean Evangelical Alliance received £150,000. Message Trust based in the Greater Manchester region gained £168,201 for a joint venture with Project Caleb, which works with young people released from prison and gives them opportunities to accept Christ. Many of the groups that received the cash are affiliated with the influential Evangelical Alliance UK (EAUK).

The London Independent said that Muslim groups have received a far smaller share of the funding from the Government - with the exception of the Muslim youth helpline which received £150,000.

Simon Woolley of Operation Black Vote told the newspaper that "youth groups working with disaffected young people in rundown black areas have not been supported."

As the figures reveal, Black leaders and Muslim groups raised the question regarding the disproportion of the Government's funding. Additionally, some even claimed that the evangelical Christian groups are allegedly proselytising when they are carrying out the youth work.

This is in fact a prevalent stereotype on Christians by some non-Christian groups since the Christian humanitarian groups began delivering aid to the tsunami-hit areas in Asia - which arose as a number of victims have become Christian since the disaster. Many said that these evangelicals have "alternative agendas" besides delivering the aid.

In response to the misunderstanding, Joel Edwards, general director of the EAUK denied that the youth work carried out by evangelical organisations was designed to convert, even though they offer the opportunity for people to know Christianity. He urged "secularists...to calm down a bit and become less cynical".

"We understand the concern but it is not borne out of any sort of fact. Churches do this work out of a world view influenced by the scriptures. We will talk about coming together through Christ but they also have to give us credit for non-evangelistic activities for the rejuvenation of society," he said to the London Independent. "We are not preying on vulnerability."