Saturday 22nd May 2026

“What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?…Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” 

Reflection 

When we speak without acting, we risk our words being empty. And so our listening, learning, praying, and speaking must be followed through in our actions. 

When I arrive to volunteer at my church’s after-school group, the perennial first thought is: where’s the key holder?! As necessary as it is, it seems ironic that churches that should be all about openness and welcome have to worry about security and who can be allowed access.  

These practical concerns can spill into our visioning of what Church is, and who it is for.  In worrying about the ‘internals’ of church life, from finances to buildings to compliance, we run the risk of sacrificing ‘external’ outreach and mission. We must take care not to let this diminish our outward-facing calling and must, instead, be like the early Church in spreading good news far and wide.  

In the way the apostles used their rootlessness, we can use our rootedness in our communities to do mission, community, justice and civic work as one.  JPIT’s Constituency Action Network (CAN) is building a network of churches with positive and purposeful relationships with their MPs. This leads to important advocacy work, and emphasises the community-focused nature of the local church, who throws its doors open to so many.  

Churches have rich insight into the needs of their communities – local, national and global – and are well placed to mutually enhance the relationship of community and MP via the church as meeting space. Social action and social justice are not just ‘one more task’. A deep working relationship with a local MP can centre a church as a civic partner, bridging divides, voicing concerns and sharing life together with our communities in the day to day. 

How well is your church managing to balance the ‘internals’ and the ‘externals’ of its mission? 

Prayer 

God of everywhere and everyone, 
throw open the doors of our hearts and our churches. 
Let us heed your calling to action, 
to respite and to connection. 
May our churches and their MPs 
deepen their understanding of the local area, 
so communities feel voiced and confident 
in their lived experience, 
with care and compassion for all. 
Bless the work of our CAN congregations; 
grow us in the same boldness as the early Church. Amen