Liberal Democrat Christian Forum

Snow has fallen

Written by Martin Turner
Monday, 30 April 2007
Chair of LDCF, Martin Turner, explains the transition of the Forum... I looked out of my window one February morning to see a world transformed. "The snow has been delivered" I said (actually out loud). The non-descript world of Stechford had been covered in crisp, creamywhiteness. If you haven't been watching carefully, LDCF has been through a change just as complete but - we hope - rather more permanent. When I was elected Chair in 2001, I wrote down three goals for the Forum: 1) To have a paid organiser, 2) To have a budget of £20,000 a year, and 3) To have 400 members. I didn't tell anyone else about these goals. They seemed so far-fetched. As it turned out, I should have had more faith. Three years ago we were essentially conference- and newsletter- driven. There were six things we did each year: organise events at the two Federal Conferences, and issue four newsletters. We had no address, and we were essentially unknown outside our membership. Our annual budget was £1700, and our membership was 150. Today our budget (though not yet our income) is £17,000, and the membership is almost 300. Our list of activities would take longer than this article to list, we are regularly in the Christian press, and we have a paid organiser. From a distance the 'snow' may seem to have fallen almost overnight, but the transformation of LDCF has been a hectic programme of constant change. We are now in what we hope is the final phase of that transformation. Until now, we have been working on the Forum's structure, finances and activities. The results are very encouraging. However, it is now time to look to our role in the wider world. In the Party's eyes, we are generally more 'hard-edged' about our faith in the context of politics than most party-members who are Christians but not currently LDCF members. We know there are many church-goers in the party who haven't considered it a priority to join us. On the other hand, compared with Christians interested in politics outside the Lib Dems, we are more 'soft-edged' - to the extent that some dismiss us as too liberal and woolly-minded to be any good. To some extent this is an issue of perception. But there is a reality, which we share with a number of other Lib Dem associate organisations. It is a natural consequence of straddling two worlds, but it is also an issue we must solve if we are to attract new members from within the party, and influence Christians in the wider world. This is the principal task for the Executive team in 2007. As yet we only see our way to part of the answer. Nonetheless, we must find an answer; not because we need more members (although we do), but because this is the pressing need of the hour. The recent Sexual Orientation Regulations controversy put mainstream denominations on a collision course with the political process. The actual details of the issue are less important than the fact that, whatever their (and our) intentions, Christians have come across poorly in the media. We have given the impression that we are concerned largely with defending our own rights and organisations, against the will of Parliament, and even against the rule of law. As LDCF, we need to engage actively with the many Christians who are concerned about society and politics, but don't know how to articulate their concerns effectively. Equally, we need to better reach the councillors, campaigners and party activists across the country for whose lives the Christian faith is central, but who have not yet found a way to integrate it with their political convictions. It is only when we can bring these two groups together that we will have fulfilled our mission of being the voice of Christian faith in the party, and the voice of Liberal Democracy in the church.

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