The What and the Why

CUF’s stated aim is to tackle poverty and transform lives. It resources faith-based organisations to utilise the strengths within their communities and helps to build a cohesive, inclusive and resilient civil society. This at least is the aspiration, but it only describes in outline the ‘What?’ of CUF’s activity.  The ‘Why?’ is something different.

The ‘Why?’ for CUF is what makes it a distinctive contributor to the landscape of social justice in the UK. If the temptation for secular partners is to value CUF in a purely instrumental way – as a potential delivery vehicle for social policy – this simply will not do. The driver for our contribution, the Why behind the What, is vocational. It is based on living faith. It is theological.

 CUF’s theology should provide the ‘Why?’ for all that it does. It ought to define what we believe, who we serve, and how we aim to embody our vision and mission.  It should underpin our strategy, identity, culture, programmes, policies, theory of change, evaluation methodology, financial principles, and the language we use to communicate. And it should provide a benchmark against which to measure all of this for staff, trustees and supporters.

A Dynamic Approach

The normal way to approach the theology underpinning CUF’s work would be to produce a Theological Framework as the benchmark against which to test policies and programmes.

The concept of a ‘framework’, however, may be too static. CUF has long used storytelling to communicate and give a voice to truth. This is a dynamic approach, rooted in context.  It resonates with the sort of empowerment which doesn’t so much speak on behalf of done-to communities but allows or enables them to speak on their own behalf. It gives voice rather than takes it away.

Can we do the same with CUF’s theology? More specifically, can we find a more dynamic, less dogmatic approach to the theology at the heart of our work? Is it possible to lay down some principles but leave room for diverse expression? And can we do this in a way that is shallow enough to paddle in, yet deep enough to swim in?

This approach may be better conceived as a Forum rather than a Framework. A meeting place for the mutual exchange of shared ideas. Something that can be built on, added to, developed, critiqued over time. Where the theology is not set in stone but can flex according to context, audience, perspective, or critical moments. Something participatory, invitational, empowering. Dynamic and alive, challenging and open to challenge. Living Theology.

Despite some key contributions over the years, it is not as if there is a defined corpus of Anglican Social Theology. The Roman Catholics have a body of Catholic Social Teaching, but the Church of England is not blessed with the same clarity of expression when it comes to the theology underlying our engagement with society – in particular the flaws and fault-lines that run through our public life. Perhaps this leaves more room for manoeuvre, maybe it allows for greater flexibility.

Living Theology

The vision here is to see theology as the yeast that activates and animates the work and institutional identity of CUF. What follows is an initial contribution setting out some primary principles, but we will build on this with contributions invited or commissioned from diverse voices on a regular basis in the months and years to come.

It will no doubt be necessary to develop more granular aspects of this for specific situations, drawing out distinct theological strands to apply in particular contexts. Over time the CUF Living Theology Forum will build up a substantial library of lively ideas. Like any good story, it will have soft edges, invite deep reflection and welcome new interpretation. CUF will also appoint a trustee and member of staff to champion the application of this dynamic theology across the organisation and ensure that it lives.

It will never be possible to publish a definitive ‘CUF Theology’, but we can start a conversation, open a dialogue, and begin a discussion. I have tried to initiate this with quite a personal piece of my own theological reflection, based on over 30 years’ experience of church-based social action.  I have always been more of a practitioner than a theologian, so I have tried to write this in a way that is accessible rather than authoritative or academic. Far from being the final word, it is merely a personal beginning to which I invite others to contribute.

In what follows I try to lay out some of the core theological principles which inform CUF’s work. These principles are necessary but they will not be sufficient, and more will need to be said in time. But these are offered in a spirit of open exploration and enquiry, as we seek to articulate the essential theological principles which energise the work of CUF.

A Time Such As This

It feels an apt and appropriate moment for this initiative.  Partly this is because CUF is on the cusp of change as an organisation.  35 years on from the Faith In The City report which gave birth to CUF, the world and the church are very different. CUF is in the process of forging a new identity and re-imagining its purpose and its ways of working. As a Christian agency aligned closely with the Church of England, we need to explore and express the way our faith enlivens and energises all that we do.

But Covid-19 has changed the Game of Life for everyone, and if ever there was a moment for organisations to reassess their What and their Why, this is it. It feels as if a precious way of life has been de-constructed around us in a few short months, exposing fault-lines in the fabric of society which will require new ways of imagining what a flourishing future looks like. The impact of the pandemic challenges the ties that bind us together, and requires us to address crucial questions about how we will care for one another as the economy stutters and mutuality diminishes. An invisible virus can make our common humanity a threat rather than a promise, and in such circumstances the vulnerable – economically, socially, physically, politically – always pay a higher price.

 What can we draw on from our great theological traditions to strengthen the common bond of our humanity at a time such as this? CUF has a role to play, alongside many others, in helping to animate the distinctive values of those Christian traditions which are latent in British society. No doubt this will express itself in a much-needed activism, but behind and across and within our activity a soundtrack will be playing.  And this will be our Living Theology.