Discover Church at the Margins

Vision: To nurture and build new Christian communities amongst economically marginalised people.

Definition of a Church at the Margins:

Church: A gathered community of people being transformed by the gospel, learning to be like Jesus, making disciples of Christ.

At: People at the margins, on the margins, of the margins – not to or for the margins. We are not taking God to the margins: God is present with and in all people, in all circumstances, and waits to be discovered. Our task is to listen, recognise and be transformed by God at the margins.

Margins: People can be marginalised in many, often interconnected ways related, for example, to ethnicity, gender, sexuality, physical impairment or illness, mental ill health, and poverty. Marginalisation caused by economic poverty can have a devastating impact on the lives of individuals and communities. We will focus on people who are economically impoverished or vulnerable to economic poverty due to their circumstances (eg insecure housing, lack of access to employment, or health issues), whilst also experiencing marginalisation. We recognise the inadequacy of language around marginalisation/poverty, including that a community of people may not ‘own’ this language for themselves. Local contexts will need to reflect carefully on the most helpful language within their communities. The pandemic has highlighted the pre-existing inequalities and extent of economic poverty across the UK.

Some questions for reflection and discussion:

If you wish to have a conversation about Church at the Margins, please email attwoode@methodistchurch.org.uk