CHRISTIAN AID’s 80th anniversary was commemorated in a service at Westminster Abbey on Thursday, with a celebration of the charity’s past campaigns.
Substantial changes to the structure of Christian Aid are currently being considered, as the charity attempts to move away from a direct-delivery model of aid work. The proposed changes would involve almost the halving of staff numbers, as employees in the UK and in country offices around the world would be subject to redundancy (News, 2 May).
As guests queued and filed in through the great west door of the Abbey, children from St Mary’s C of E School, Walthamstow, sang. The congregation included staff members, volunteers, and church leaders.
Christian Aid’s chief executive, Patrick Watt, and its chair, the Bishop of London, the Rt Revd Sarah Mullally, delivered a joint reflection, speaking on the charity’s achievements over the past 80 years. Bishop Mullally expressed thanks to “supporters who give, act, and pray”.
Placards featuring the charity’s past campaigns were then carried in procession past the high altar. Phrases such as “Hope has no borders”, “Food is a human right”, and “Give tax dodgers nowhere to hide” were written in the charity’s signature colours of red, white, and black.
In his address, the general secretary of the World Council of Churches, the Revd Professor Jerry Pillay, drew on the parable of the Good Samaritan. He applied it to own experiences, referring to an occasion when he was nearly dragged out to sea by a whirlpool.
DEAN & CHAPTER OF WESTMINSTERChildren from St Mary’s C of E School, Walthamstow, sing as the congregation arrives at the Abbey
Many in the congregation were Christian Aid supporters who had come from around the country. None of those who spoke to the Church Times after the service had been aware of the restructuring proposals
A Methodist minister from Ealing, Stephen Day, was at the service. He had noticed that Christian Aid had been shifting its work to focus on empowering local partners rather than directly delivering programmes — a trend across the aid sector in recent years (Comment, 3 January).
Long-time fund-raisers for Christian Aid, Vernon Morris and Marian Heald came from north Wales for the event. They were also unaware of the restructuring and proposed cuts. “It seems to be happening everywhere,” Ms Heald said.
An ex-employee of Christian Aid, who worked at the charity from 1998 to 2007, did not know of the restructuring, but said that it happens “all the time” in the charity sector.
A bake-sale veteran, who wished to remain anonymous, said that, after the service, she had felt inspired to become more involved with the charity, and was disappointed to hear of the proposed cuts.
A couple who travelled from the north-east to attend the service blamed the UK Government’s cuts to oversees aid (News, 25 February 2025), saying that the decrease in spending would “affect the NGOs who do good work”. They had been campaigning against the Government’s decision and said that “the UK is supposed to be a global player; so pulling back is not the answer.”
Each member of the congregation received a magnetic badge featuring Christian Aid’s logo and “80” to mark the anniversary, plus a flyer with a prayer on one side written by the general secretary of East Jerusalem YMCA, Peter Nasir. On the reverse were words on hope by the spoken-word poet Storm Cecile. The flyer was printed on seed paper, meaning that it can be planted.
