Category Archives: Homelessness

In the eye of the storm: churches are still at the forefront of addressing homelessness

Posted on March 15, 2012 by

Earlier this week, I participated in a conference organised by Westminster City Council at Bloomsbury Baptist Church which focused on the growing problem of people from Eastern Europe sleeping rough in London.  It is one of the most pressing issues in … Continue reading →

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Why acceptance isn’t enough – a reflection on the nativity and homelessness

Posted on December 21, 2011 by

Christmas is an important time for homeless projects and every year I speak briefly at a handful of concerts and services. This is (roughly) what I said at the beginning of the second half of Divertimento choir’s wonderful fundraising concert … Continue reading →

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Helping the homeless become addicts?

Posted on November 28, 2011 by

Every day I work to support people who are homeless or have addictions. I sometimes hear this described as ‘helping people integrate back into mainstream (or ‘normal’) society. At this point I am torn – enabling people to participate in … Continue reading →

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Charter for Christian Homeless Agencies

Posted on November 1, 2011 by

Over the last three months I have been working with many others within the Housing Justice network and the Christian Homeless Forum to develop a ‘Charter for Christian Homeless Organisations’.   A common challenge For many Christian agencies working with homeless … Continue reading →

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The best speaker at Greenbelt 2011

Posted on August 30, 2011 by

The Greenbelt festival got off to a bad start for me as I rather unwisely told my two boys (Danny, 8 and Tom, 6) to ‘go and explore the site’ while we put up the tent.  Three hours later I began … Continue reading →

Posted in Homelessness | Tagged | 5 Comments

10 second poll: Do you give money to people who are begging?

Posted on August 24, 2011 by

I am at the Greenbelt festival this weekend and I am speaking in a debate on the following motion: ‘This house believes that giving money to people begging does more harm than good’. I’ll let you guess whether I am speaking … Continue reading →

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Cash for prayers: how Morris Cerullo profits from the poor

Posted on June 29, 2011 by

Yesterday a homeless man that I have got to know through my work showed me a letter that he had just received from Morris Cerullo, the infamous TV evangelist.  It was entitled 8 Weeks - 8 Blessings of Superabundance To Meet 8 Specific … Continue reading →

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When helping the homeless doesn’t help

Posted on May 19, 2011 by

Third Way magazine have published an article I have written about the complexities of Christian action with homeless people (it is an abridged version of the longer Grace and Truth article) Church-based activists seeking to serve the homeless have been criticised … Continue reading →

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Time to change the script from doling out soup

Posted on May 6, 2011 by

The Church Times have published a revised version of my article on soup runs. A threat to ban soup runs for homeless people in Westminster has led to acrimony. Better co-ordination is required, says Jon Kuhrt. Passionate debates about how … Continue reading →

Posted in Homelessness | 2 Comments