CHRISTIANS aim to show God’s love by tackling poverty across south-east Hampshire.

Jackie Harper, Tony Scurr, Mark James, Beryl Lawrence, Barbara Scurr and Pam Dilloway all aim to help people with debts and money worries

Churchgoers want to ease people’s money worries by lifting them out of crippling debt and helping them to manage their finances.

Worshippers will offer debt counselling for those struggling with money issues, and run courses to help people learn how to balance our budgets. They’ve joined forces with the national charity Christians Against Poverty (CAP) to offer hope to thousands who struggle to cope.

It’s a two-pronged approach. Some churchgoers offer one-to-one counselling for those mired in the worst debt, helping them to negotiate easier ways to pay what they owe. Meanwhile, others run CAP courses that aim to prevent any of us falling into financial problems. 

Churchgoers from Holy Rood Church, Stubbington, are among those who will run courses across south-east Hampshire. And other Christians are working in the new CAP centre in Fareham, offering free debt counselling to individuals.

The project will be launched at the 9.30am service in Holy Rood Church on February 7, with a presentation about Christians Against Poverty. Debt counselling is one of the mission areas identified in the church’s five-year vision.

Worshipper Mark James, from Holy Rood Church, said: “I’ve been going through the pain of not having much money myself. I’ve been lucky to have people around who can help me, but many people end up despairing. In the UK, we have two-thirds of Europe’s credit card debt, and it’s not sustainable.”

And fellow worshipper Tony Scurr said: “My income has also dropped because I retired. We’re trying to be a mission-shaped church, and part of our mission involves helping people in our community. There are 100,000 people in the UK who owe money to loan sharks, and are charged extortionate rates of interest.”

Mark, Tony, his wife Barbara, and Pam Dilloway, also from Holy Rood, spent a day training with CAP so they could run the courses. They can offer churches or community groups three evening sessions that help individuals to manage their money. Anyone interested in hosting a course can contact Mark James on mark.james(at)hotmail.co.uk or 07789-625907.

Meanwhile, Beryl Lawrence and Jackie Harper, from Fareham Community Church, have been offering free debt counselling Fareham people since November. They work voluntarily from the CAP centre, based in their church in West Street, Fareham, visiting those affected by debt in their own homes.

“If someone lives in the PO postcode area and they ring the national hotline, then it’s one of us who will visit,” said Beryl. “It’s challenging and exciting work. We offer them pastoral support as well as debt management advice. The financial wizards at CAP headquarters negotiate with their creditors to find the easiest way to re-pay the debt.

“We encourage them to keep to a set budget. We ask them to pay their primary debts first, which may be rent, electricity, gas, electricity or travel costs. The secondary debts, to loan sharks or others, may not necessarily be paid in full – it depends what can be negotiated.”

And Jackie said: “We sometimes assume that it’s people living off benefits who will be affected, but those living in big homes with big cars may also have large debts. It’s such a privilege to go into people’s homes and help them in this way. They know we are Christians and we also offer to pray for them, so it’s a way of showing God’s love.”

CAP has 112 centres across the UK, but is looking to launch centres in churches in this area. If you’re interested, see www.capuk.org or ring 01274-760720. If you want help with money problems, ring the free national hotline on 0800-328 0006.

Meanwhile, a separate Portsmouth church organisation called Churches Homeless Action has trained churchgoer Wendy Brombley, from the North End Team Ministry, to deliver a similar course entitled ‘Made of Money’.

If your church is interested in running the eight-session ‘Made of Money’ course for adults and children, contact the Rev Tom Kennar on 023 9234 2661 or tomkennar(at)googlemail.com.