We serve a God of justice – this resource can help us all to use our voices and our votes to help make tackling poverty a priority.
Revd Gill Newton, President of the Methodist Conference 2023-2024
Lent Course for 2024
A new resource for small groups, for use in Lent or later in 2024
Poverty hurts. It blights the lives of people in the UK and around the world.
But poverty is not inevitable. Choices that are made, and that we make, force people into poverty and trap them there. This means we can make a difference. By using our voices and our votes, by using our heads and our hearts and by deepening our understanding of God’s love for all God has made.
With a General Election on the horizon, we believe that this is the time to speak out as a Church and show our political leaders that another reality can exist where poverty doesn’t hold anyone down, and that together we can get there.
For Christians, the next General Election will be an opportunity to place the needs of the poorest in society, those who most bear the brunt on inequality, at the centre of our concern. This new resource offers an excellent – though challenging – perspective on poverty and the Biblical vision of the kingdom of God and I commend it warmly.
Rt Rev Dr Pete Wilcox, Bishop of Sheffield
That’s why JPIT is working with Christian Aid, Church Action on Poverty, The Trussell Trust, and other partners to create resources which will help you and your church gain a deeper understanding of experiences of poverty, and enable you to act in the run up to the election.
The ‘Act on Poverty’ course, for use in Lent or later in 2024, includes resource packs for six sessions. Each pack contains:
- Guidance for a short Bible study
- Audio recordings of conversations featuring anti-poverty practitioners and activists, many with lived experience of poverty in the UK and worldwide
- Questions and prompts for small group discussion
- Inspiring videos from churches taking practical action on poverty
- A guide to simple steps your church can take to advocate for change
You can also use each pack as a standalone session to explore the issues most relevant for you. There is more information about the themes of each pack here.
