Neighborhood Resilience as an Objective of Congregational Social Action

As the scope of state social welfare is reduced, churches and other faith-based organizations are invited into the public realm to help "plug the gap." This warrants a theological exploration and assessment of community focused diaconal ministries. Much church-based social action seeks to...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Political theology
Main Author: Bickley, Paul (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group [2019]
In: Political theology
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Great Britain / Welfare state / Church / Social engagement / Neighborhood / Resilience (Personality trait)
RelBib Classification:KBF British Isles
NCC Social ethics
RK Charity work
ZC Politics in general
Further subjects:B Social Action
B Church
B diakonía
B Spiritual Capital
B Welfare State
B Eschatology
B Resilience
Online Access: Volltext (Resolving-System)
Description
Summary:As the scope of state social welfare is reduced, churches and other faith-based organizations are invited into the public realm to help "plug the gap." This warrants a theological exploration and assessment of community focused diaconal ministries. Much church-based social action seeks to fill-in or fix a fragmenting welfare system, and therefore it often lacks a distinctively Christian theological grounding. The Church should seek a reintegration of its social ministries and spiritual life. This will necessitate a move away from public action that is symbiotic with the public welfare system and towards a mode that is semiotic, pointing to an eschatological horizon. Against dominant community franchising, service provision, or justice campaign approaches, congregational social action should seek to support neighborhood resilience through the building of what could be called "spiritual capital."
ISSN:1743-1719
Contains:Enthalten in: Political theology
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1080/1462317X.2019.1694281