Faith(s) in the City
2025 marked the 40th anniversary of the publication of the Church of England’s influential report on urban poverty called the Faith in the City. This historic report, first published in 1985, was released four years after Lord Scarman’s report on the Brixton disorders, and at a time of continuing urban unrest. Faith in the City asked what future is there for our inner cities and housing estates, and considered how should the Church of England and other bodies including government, respond. The report made recommendations to the Church about its place and responsibilities in the urban priority areas. Important recommendations were also made about public policy issues: unemployment, housing, social and community work, education, policing, and urban policy. In its call for action, the Commission argued that Church and State must have faith in the city. One of the consultants in the production of the Report along with a great many others listed in the opening pages of the report, was Rev Canon John Atherton who represented the Foundation. 40 years on, the Foundation honoured John’s memory and the role of the Foundation in the production of Faith in the City, by supporting a series of public gatherings during 2025, in partnership with Ripon College Cuddesdon, the Urban Theology Union (based in Sheffield) and the Church Urban Fund. Records of these gatherings from across 2025 are curated here, along with further work that it has seeded.
Other Faith Traditions in the Faith in the City Report: Historical Analysis and Contemporary Reflection
In this new Urban Tract, Professor Paul Weller reflects on the legacy of Faith in the City forty years after its publication, focusing on one of the report’s key concerns: the implications of growing religious diversity for the Church and wider society. Drawing on a paper first presented at Ripon College Cuddesdon at the conference Faith in the City 40 Years On, he revisits the report’s analysis in light of contemporary debates about race, religion, identity and belonging. Exploring themes including discrimination, church buildings, education and Christian witness in a plural society, Weller asks what it means for the Church to respond faithfully to social changes that continue to reshape Britain. In doing so, he argues that the questions raised by Faith in the City remain both relevant and pressing today. To access the Tract, head over to our Urban Tract’s here
Celebrating 40 Years of Faith in the City on the William Temple Foundation Podcast
To mark the anniversary of Faith in the City, Dr Matthew Barber-Rowell, Temple Research Fellow and host of the William Temple Foundation Podcast, welcomed Dr Joseph Forde, one of two editors of the collection Celebrating 40 Years of Faith in the City, to discuss the book. Dr Forde from the Urban Theology Union in Sheffield who compiled the edited collection with Dr Terry Drummond, generously explored the chapters which had been provided by a breadth of scholars, faith leaders and participants who had either led or taken part in Faith in the City in the 1980s. The pivotal questions in the dialogue were, where might one find hope within the accounts, and what might it mean for new generations engaging in urban theology and policy making today? Listen to the full episode, here:
Urban Tracts
Our Urban Tracts are a series of papers on urban mission and ministry commissioned in the lead up to the 40th anniversary of the Faith in the City report. The Brixton disturbances of April 1981 prompted, among other things, Archbishop Robert Runcie to set up the Archbishop’s Commission on Urban Priority Areas. This led to the publication of the Faith in the City report in December 1985 with its recommendations for church and nation, which proved a great stimulus for urban ministry across the whole UK church. In our present context, the issues of social inequality, racial justice, and the failure of the Church to flourish and grow in urban settings have not gone away.
To mark the 40 Year Anniversary, the William Temple Foundation commissioned and published this new Temple Tract series on urban mission and ministry. The tracts are aimed at practitioners and church leaders, offering reflection and experience from authors who have been involved in urban mission and ministry. The Series, edited by Senior Research Fellow Greg Smith, aimed to highlight resources and lessons that are relevant for Christians in urban areas today and renew the challenge to the churches.
Faiths in the City: Engaging Faith in Planning – How do we build sustainable communities?
In late 2025, our third gathering took place – a panel discussion was curated at St Paul’s Cathedral, in partnership with the Church Urban Fund and the William Temple Foundation, to consider how to build sustainable communities of the future. The panel, chaired by Rev Dr Paula Gooder, explored the key themes from Faith in the City and interrogated the strategic policy implications for groups of different faiths and their contributions to the public square today. The gathering included a response from Bishop Rob Wickham who is CEO of Church Urban Fund, and saw the launch of the report “Faith and Belief perspectives on housing and community planning: A policy analysis” authored by Professor Chris Baker on behalf of the Faith and Belief Collective, of which he is founding member. The full panel discussion can be watched back on the St Paul’s Cathedral YouTube Channel – Engaging Faith in Planning: How do we build sustainable communities? – and the full report can be downloaded, below.
Faith in the City @ 40 (North) – A day conference at Victoria Hall Sheffield
Our second gathering took place on Saturday 12th July 2025. The gathering was curated with the Urban Theology Union (UTU) who are led in this project by UTU Trustee and Foundation Senior Research Fellow Greg Smith. Greg describes the gathering in the following terms,
“This gathering is an open conference which also marks the 40th Anniversary of the publication of the influential report of Archbishop Runcie’s Commission on Urban Priority Areas. While the Thatcher government rejected Faith in the City as “naive Marxism”, and largely ignored its recommendations to the nation, it was followed by more than a decade of extensive initiatives in urban mission in the Church of England and other denominations. Much has changed over 40 years, but issues of urban poverty and injustice have not disappeared, and there are few signs that Churches and other Christian activity are flourishing in such places. Indeed there are signs that neither government nor church are making them a priority for action and investment, and that people living there are increasingly feeling left behind. This conference, one of a series of events across the country, is a chance to reflect on the theology and practice of urban mission, then and now. There will be input from leading practitioners who were involved in the 1980s, and those who are leading mission and church activities today. It will be of interest to anyone who lives and works in the inner city, or on social housing estates. We hope it will encourage and inform, and be a catalyst for a renewed movement to develop Faith in the City and hope in urban churches and communities“.
Faith in the City 40 years on – a roundtable at Ripon College, Cuddesdon.
Our first gathering was in May 2025. On the 15th and 16th May, a 24 hour roundtable was curated at Ripon College Cuddesdon, bringing together historians, theologians and activists who were working in the 1980’s – as bodily present or as part of their research – to explore Faith in the City (FITC), its relevance and impact in its own context. Alongside, we convened dialogues with contemporary theologians and activists to question the usefulness of the approach of, content and theology of the report for our context today. We asked the following critical questions: What today would be different contextually? Would our concerns and questions be the same? Would it have the same public reception and response? Proceedings were recorded and published within our FITC Temple Book edited by our former Director of Research Professor Chris Baker and Lecturer of Theology at Ripon College Cuddesdon, Dr Victoria Turner.
Contributors include: Joe Forde. Victoria Turner. Mark Chapman. Stephen Spencer. Stephen Burns. Robert Pope. Chris Baker. Paul Weller. Luke Warner. Tim Norwood. Tim Middleton. Abby Day. Alison Webster. Howard Worsley. Anthony Reddie. Richard Davis.