Religion, and the rise of social capitalism: the faith communities in community development and urban regeneration in England

Abstract

At the dawn of a new century and millennium many people, community development practitioners included, tend to take stock of their past and articulate their hopes and fears for the future. If the moment is invested with a degree of spiritual significance as it has been by Christian believers and others alike, it is appropriate to review the interaction of faith, values and community work. In this paper based on research commissioned by the UK government, and carried out through a Christian charity the Shaftesbury Society, I aim to describe some of the faith based community work that is currently being undertaken in urban areas in England, and to identify some of the key themes and conflicts which make such work distinctive.