'Focus on Local' in Council Elections

Tuesday March 21 2017

With council elections taking place in Scotland on May 4, the Scottish Churches Parliamentary Office (SCPO) is urging churches to ‘focus on the local’.

The SCPO, with the Joint Public Issues Team (JPIT) has produced a resource to help congregations engage with the elections and explore the issues that have a direct impact on local people.

Before elections and referenda in recent years, the SCPO has encouraged churches to host hustings events in which candidates make their pitches to the community. The latest resource, ‘Explore’, takes a different approach: bringing the community together to hear from some of those in greatest need, enabling them to share their stories and allowing the candidates to respond directly.

The resource notes: “As Christians we are called to play our part in building God’s kingdom. One way we can do this is to encourage open and respectful debate on the decision that voters will be facing in May 2017. Churches are often seen as a neutral space, and so can provide an impartial opportunity for political debate. Christians are citizens too, and many will have views which have been shaped by their faith on current issues...

“In particular the Church has a unique role in providing a space to enable individuals and groups who are often on the margins of society but are most directly impacted by political decisions to have their voices heard. This resource seeks to encourage this by equipping congregations to host a hustings with a difference, a hustings where these individuals share their stories and we and our political representatives listen.

“The event would provide an opportunity for local council candidates to respond to these stories. And for voters and politicians to reflect on some of the issues within each ward. It is our belief that through the process of hearing, seeing and engaging with people’s stories, we can all work to care for those in need and in doing so show our care and love for God.”

The proposed meeting format involves local people briefly sharing their story before posing a question for the candidates, who will each be given three minutes to respond each time.

The Scottish Churches Parliamentary Office was set up in 1999 to help the churches engage with the new Scottish Parliament. Its main focus is on resourcing the churches through monthly updates and briefings, ensuring that the churches’ contributions to public debates – whether from local churches, individual denominations or shared ecumenical responses – are timely and well-informed.

The Joint Public Issues Team was formed in 2006 as a partnership of the Baptist, Methodist and United Reformed Churches. The Church of Scotland joined in 2015. The team aims to enable the Churches to work together in living out the gospel of Christ in the Church and in wider society, helping to formulate joint responses to issues and representing the churches to governments and the media and helping local congregations understand and become involved.

Post Tags: scottish churches parliamentary office, elections, joint public issues team

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