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2014
Jubilee A5 booklet 2014:Layout 1 22/09/2014 17:36 Page 1
Welcome to Jubilee+ Hello! I am so grateful for your interest in the work of Jubilee+. This booklet is designedto give you an overview of what we do and how we do it. I hope you find it informativeand motivational.
Jubilee+ has been on an exciting journey since its inception at the start of 2011. Wewere originally launched by Newfrontiers to help UK churches increase their capacity toengage with social action. We started our work at a critical time: in the aftermath of thefinancial crisis of 2008 and the major economic and social challenges that faced ournation at that time – and are still very much with us.
We quickly formed a national core team that has worked very hard since then to providetraining, consultancy, resources and networking opportunities for local churches acrossthe country. As time has gone on we’ve developed our vision to encompass three keyareas of church activity: social action, social justice and social enterprise. As a result, wehave developed conferences and training to facilitate the development of individualsand churches in these three areas. By the end of 2014, we will have hosted more than2,000 delegates at our conferences and the training events we have run in numerouslocations across the UK.
Recently we have been able to advocate effectively withpoliticians on issues relating to the work of churches.
We have also been forging strong relationshipswith Christian social action charities and various
church networks and denominations.Alongside this, we have developed a teamspecialising in researching the outcomes ofchurch-based social action and publishingreports on its findings. Finally, we havepublished our first book, entitled The Myth of
the Undeserving Poor.
As you read this booklet, I hope you enjoyfinding out more about Jubilee+.
Yours,
Martin Charlesworth
Jubilee+ team leader
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3Jubilee+ 2014
Sue Lyndon
Sue, married to Pete, is ourhighly experiencedconference administrator.Sue and Pete arerelocating fromManchester to Bristol.
Pete Lyndon
Pete's working life hascombined churchleadership roles withsocial work. He co-ordinates our partnershipswith Christianorganisations and adviseslocal churches on socialaction-related issues.
Geoff Knott
Geoff is based in Dorkingand combines looking afterour website and doingresearch with providingadvice to churches andother partners on businessplanning and socialenterprise development.
Natalie Williams
Natalie lives in Hastings,where she works for alocal church. She is ourcommunications co-ordinator, looking afterour social media andcommunications strategy.
Martin Charlesworth
Martin is based inShrewsbury and workspart-time as a churchleader and part-time forJubilee+. He focusesparticularly on speaking,writing and advocacy.
Andy Biggs
Andy lives in Durhamand runs his ownbusiness alongsideworking with varioussocial businesses andcharities. Andy heads upour Impact Researchteam.
Our dedicated team is drawn from all over the country and brings a wide range of skillswith which to fulfil our mandate. We’d like to tell you a little bit about the team and whatthey do for Jubilee+ – from left to right:
Meet the Jubilee+ core team
Jubilee A5 booklet 2014:Layout 1 22/09/2014 17:36 Page 3
Impact ResearchChurches engaging with
their communities in social
action projects often
conduct research on one
level – by keeping records
of the number of volunteers
involved and the number of
people they actively work
with. However, they often
lack the resources and skills
to answer the key question:
"What is the impact of the
work we are doing?"
This question is vitally
important because when
churches understand the
outcomes of their projects,
they not only hold more
credibility with local
communities and external
agencies, but they also
enable Christians and
churches to engage
effectively with local and
national government
agendas. At a time when
services are under strain
from spending cuts, public
sector agencies are
increasingly looking for
partnership with the
voluntary sector, using the
language of 'impact' and
'outcomes'.
Although academic and
think-tank outcome
research is often extremely
valuable and insightful, it
very rarely focuses on the
unique contribution of
impact that the Church
makes through social action.
Therefore, it is often difficult
for the local church and
individual Christian
charities to apply the
academic language and 'big
picture' trends that this
research generates.
For this reason, Jubilee+ has
set up an impact research
group to develop a robust,
simple and consistent
approach to discovering the
impact of and outcomes
from social action projects.
Working alongside national
networks and with
individual churches, we have
undertaken research
projects into the impact of
debt advice and early years /
pre-school groups. This is in
addition the broader
national survey and report
work that is published on
the Jubilee+ website.
The core impact research
team, led by Andy Biggs, is
now seeking to broaden its
reach through further
academic and Christian
network partnerships,
continuing to undertake
primary research projects
and seeking to connect with
existing research initiatives.
If you would like to be
involved with these projects
through offering your time,
skills, connections or helping
us with funding, please get
in touch with us.
You can find more
information on our
research projects at:
jubilee-plus.org/research.
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Over the last couple of years we have had an increasing sense that we needed to start
writing. We felt we wanted to write something more substantial than our weekly blog
posts (which you can find at jubilee-plus.org/blog). Topics that kept cropping up in our
team meetings included perceptions of poverty in Britain and a pervasive media
narrative that some of the poorest people in our communities don’t deserve our help.
We have been concerned that such narratives are creeping into the church and
possibly influencing us more than what the Bible says about the poor!
Our desire to tackle this issue and help Christians respond to
poverty in our nation has led to two of the team taking some
time over 2014 to write the first Jubilee+ book, The Myth of the
Undeserving Poor. Within the 100 or so pages of the book, we
outline the rich heritage of Christian engagement with British
poverty and the biblical framework for how we should
respond, as well as highlighting how the media handle
the issue of poverty and the extent to which
Christians are shaped by this. On the back of
this, we explore how Christians should
respond – in both attitude and action.
Find out more at
mythoftheundeservingpoor.co.uk
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We’re delighted to be holding our second Faith +Justice conference in 2015 to help Christiansengage with the most important issues of theday. In the run up to the General Election, theaim of this event is to offer Christianperspectives on immigration, welfare andbenefits, the economy, and life issues, with afurther seminar on Christians in politics.
Our keynote speakers are Dr Dave Landrumfrom the Evangelical Alliance, Care’s Nola Leachand our own Martin Charlesworth. The EA, Careand Tearfund are partnering with us in thisevent, which will be held in Milton Keynes onSaturday 7 February. Other organisations suchas Theos think-tank and the Christian groupsaffiliated to the three main political parties willbe running stands at the conference.
If you want to be equipped and inspiredto engage with the issues facing Britaintoday, book in for Faith + Justice 2015 orfind out more here: jubilee-plus.org/events
Faith + Justice
conference
“Excellent! Thank you so much! I feel encouraged that politics isrelevant and I have a responsibilityto get involved.”
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7Jubilee+ 2014
Equipping ordinary Christians to make
an extraordinary difference
How can I support Jubilee+?We are often asked this question – so thank you for considering supporting us.
A few words of explanation might help to start with. Jubilee+ started out as an informal teambut was constituted as a company in 2013 and is governed by a board of directors. It has a smalloperational base and most of our team members give their time voluntarily. We are largelydependent on financial donations. We run a Partner Church scheme for churches desiring toestablish an ongoing partnership with us. There are several ways you (as an individual or achurch) can keep in touch with us or support us on a regular basis:• Receive our regular email newsletter;• Become a financial donor through standing order or one-off gift;• Become a Partner Church.
Please contact us for further details: [email protected]
“The benefit of such
conferences is not simply
drawing on the experience of
the main and seminar
speakers, but also having the
opportunity to hear the
stories of those from other
churches, sharing together
our concerns, needs and local
experiences.”
Richard Wilson, Hastings
“To me this is the heart of what Jubilee+ is about– sharing ideas, inspiring each other, helping eachother, building the Kingdom... I left excited againabout what God might do in the UK.”
Tom Bray, Durham
“I came looking for refreshing and inspiration from God and speakers. I found both... As always after a Jubilee+event, my head and heart were full of so much as we left.” Gavin Bateman, Nassington
“The benefit of such
conferences is not simply
drawing on the
experience of the main
and seminar speakers,
but also having the
opportunity to hear the
stories of those from
other churches, sharing
together our concerns,
needs and local
experiences.”
Richard Wilson, Hastings
“A precious time... It was very worthwhile andcertainly worth the long journey...” Bonnie Lyne, Bexhill
We put on conferences with a rich variety of ingredients: worship, Bible teaching, keynotespeakers, wide-ranging seminars, networking opportunities, partner organisation stands,resources… and much more. Many hundreds of people have been at our conferences in recentyears. We aim to inspire, equip and encourage existing and new initiatives in church-based socialaction. We hope to connect with social entrepreneurs. We want to support those called toadvocacy and public policy engagement.
Jubilee A5 booklet 2014:Layout 1 22/09/2014 17:37 Page 7
jubilee-plus.org
twitter.com/jubileeplus
facebook.com/jubileeplus
Vision
To increase social inclusion andthe relief of poverty throughchurches engaging with socialaction, social justice and socialenterprise.
Social action – the Church expressing the gospel throughaction that improves the lives of those in the surroundingcommunities who are in material, physical, emotional andeducational need.
Social justice – equipping individuals to engage positively on behalf ofthe poor and socially excluded. Through research and biblical teaching,Jubilee+ seeks to help people to work for the common good in our society.
Social enterprise – advising and encouraging enterprises establishedeither to produce goods and services beneficial to the disadvantaged, or to provide them with employment opportunities and skills training.
© Jubilee+ 2014
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