February
24
Author
Natalie Williams
Jubilee Plus - Partner Programme

ChristCentral has had the privilege of being involved in supporting the work of Jubilee+ since it’s early days as a charity. It’s been a real joy to see how the work that they are doing has grown in stature and developed in the intervening years. 

We’d love to encourage you to partner more specifically with Jubilee+ and enable them to increase their reach and impact in the future. Here is Natalie Williams (Jubilee+ CEO) answering some questions about the scheme, which they've recently re-launched.

Q: Why have you relaunched the Partner Church Scheme?

A: Over the past year we've thought hard about how we can better equip local churches to change the lives of those in poverty. We know leaders and social action teams have been tirelessly working through the pandemic, and that the demands of church life are now greater than ever. With this in mind, we've redesigned our Partner Church Scheme to be more of a two-way exchange, whereby we can offer you a little more in terms of support.

Q. What do you ask for from a Partner Church?

A: We ask our partner churches to engage with our resources, whether book-based, online or conferencing, to pray for us as we seek to equip the church at both a national and local level. We also ask you to give (for most this will be a monthly, financial gift, but there are also ways to give in kind too). Finally, when you inform us about what's out there - what's working well and what's not - those stats and stories help direct our efforts to serve you better.

Q. What support can you now offer?

A: We're already planning our first in-person partner church day. This is a great opportunity for you to bring a few of your leadership or social action team members to be inspired, challenged and empowered for all that God is calling you to do in the areas of mercy and justice. Also new are our development forums. Coaching and leadership development sessions on Zoom three times per year for your social action teams. Our J+ online network is also on its way - this will provide a means for sharing best practice and encouragement. Finally, our annual health check will mean a chance to catch up about how your social action and justice ministries are going, so that we can share the best of what you’re doing, and offer pointers or partners to help your work become more and more effective. Oh, and partner church discounts, early access to events, publications, courses and research, as well as options to pilot J+ materials!

Q. What's the next step to exploring partnership further?

A: Why not direct your church leader to this webpage to find out more, or they can hear me explain it in three minutes below (and on this blog post)!




More about Jubilee Plus:
The Jubilee+ vision is to see the Church in the UK be a champion of the poor and a means to healthy communities across the nation.

This is a big vision. It’s based on the fact that we believe we serve a big God whose heart is (and has always been) especially inclined towards the poor. We also believe that His Church has a responsibility not only to care for and empower those in need, but also to speak up on behalf of the voiceless.

Our vision goes beyond seeing individual lives transformed – as important as that is – to seeing entire neighbourhoods and communities strengthened so that our society as a whole is healthier. Our conviction is that when churches are at the heart of social action, social justice and social enterprise, society flourishes.

Jubilee+ was formed in 2011 and we have been on quite an exciting adventure since then. Since our inception we have run many national conferences, spoken at numerous events around the country, delivered training to churches across the UK, held roadshows, lobbied politicians and other key decision-makers. We've published three books – The Myth of the Undeserving Poor, A Church For The Poor, A Call To Act and coming soon Invisible Divides. Jubilee+ has also conducted insightful research into the difference churches are making in their localities, gained charitable status, and had regular contact with a wide range of churches of various denominations in the UK.