Christians at Work to close at the end of the year

We are very sorry to learn of the closure of Christians at Work after 75 years of faithfully supporting the people of God in the UK workplace. Here is the press release just received:

CLOSURE OF CHRISTIANS AT WORK

Christians at Work, which for the past 75 years has been encouraging Christian fellowship and witness in places of work, will cease to exist at the end of 2017.

The decision to end the work was taken by the members, on the recommendation of the governing Council, at the Annual Conference on 30 September 2017.

In recent years, Christians at Work’s core strategy of forming Christian groups of employees as a base for a witness to their colleagues, has become increasingly difficult to sustain, owing to equality legislation, the politically-correct tendencies of managements and the more evident marginalisation of the Christian faith in the public mind.

A typical example of the present-day attitude of some managements is reflected in a letter which Christians at Work received from a major financial services company: “Within our office we do not encourage the promotion of any religious or politically driven groups on the grounds that as an equal opportunities employer this could be seen as creating areas where bias may be an issue.”

Another factor in the decision to close has been a dwindling support base, which has left the work without the resources to develop a new strategy, if one could be identified, or to continue in any form without financial risk.

The nature and circumstances of Britain’s work environments, and the degree of management flexibility over non-compulsory “equality” and related issues does still vary greatly. In workplaces with managements well-disposed towards Christian fellowships, existing groups will continue independently following the closure.    

Christians at Work was founded as the War-Time Christian Union in 1942 by Miss Daisy Wright, a banker’s daughter from Woking. After the War it became the Workers’ Christian Fellowship, and changed its name to Christians at Work in 1985.

At its recent Conference, members took time to give thanks to God for all that had been accomplished during the 75 years the work had existed. There were contributions from various significant members, including Terry Smith, who has been chairman of the work for the past 20 years; Rod Badams, who was General Secretary from 1979-1998; and Daniel Donzel, whom Christians at Work helped to form Groupes Bibliques d’Entreprises in France in 1981. Bible ministry appropriate to the occasion was given by the Rev Maurice Roberts, a minister of the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) from Inverness.

It is hoped that in the future God will prompt a younger Christian, who has grown up in the present workplace culture, to re-start from scratch a work focused on encouraging an effective Christian testimony, in a variety of relevant and appropriate ways, in the working world of Britain.

Issued by Rod Badams on 10 October 2017 on behalf of Terry Smith, chairman of Christians at Work’s governing Council (terrysmith27@btinternet.com)