What does it mean to be a poor church, for the poor?

What does it mean to be a Church for – or even of – the poor? This is a question which Church Action on Poverty has wrestled with for more than 30 years, but one which we are now pursuing with renewed vigour through our  ‘Church on the margins’ programme launched in summer 2016.

Our core mission is to help build a powerful movement within the churches based on genuine solidarity with people struggling to make ends meet. Our programmes and campaigns all work towards this goal.

But beyond this, what would it truly mean for the church to become, in the words of Pope Francis, “a poor Church, for the poor”? Pope Francis has certainly sought to model this in his own life, and his attempts to inspire the Roman Catholic Church to think and act differently. But the challenge applies equally to churches of all denominations.

• Call to action: our report Church of the Poor? has responses to Pope Francis' challenge from thinkers and leaders of all denominations
• Reflections and questions: we regularly explore the questions and challenges on our blog
• Survey: we supported a national survey exploring what churches are doing in their communities in relation to this vision
• Help build a 'church of the poor': Make a donation today to help churches stand in solidarity with people in poverty.

This project is supported by a generous grant from the MB Reckitt Trust.