Keep The Faith magazine - Britain's leading publication about Black faith

Rev David Shosanya gives a rounded Christian-based response to the riots, and calls for churches to financially support organisations working within vulnerable communities 

It has now been a number of weeks since we witnessed unprecedented scenes of rioting in the UK. The deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, has since announced the establishment of an inquiry team that will lead the investigation into the factors responsible for the riots, and the impact of the rioting on innocent victims.

When announcing the inquiry, Nick Clegg commented that it is "only by listening to people who have been affected by the riots - the victims - will we ever be able to move on and rebuild for the long term." The inquiry panel will be chaired by Darra Singh, the CEO of Jobcentre Plus, who will work with Simon Marcus (founder of the London Boxing Academy); Baroness Sherlock (former CEO of the National Council for One Parent Families), and Heather Rabbatts (a lawyer and former CEO of Lambeth council). They will seek to find answers to the following six questions:

• Why did people take part in riots?
• Why did the riots happen in some areas and not in others?
• How have key public services engaged with communities before, during and after the riots?
• What motivated local people to come together to take civic action to resist riots in their area, or to clean up after riots had taken place?
• How can communities be made more socially and economically resilient, in order to prevent future problems?
• What could have been done differently to prevent or manage the riots?

At the risk of being labelled an apologist for the rioters, their perspectives and life experiences are conspicuously absent from the areas of investigation announced by Nick Clegg. However, it is important that we do not marginalise those voices, as they may offer some critical insights into the psychology and social experience of the individuals who felt so little pride and sense of ownership in their own communities, that they felt no compulsion to ransack their physical environment, and to induce a deep sense of social insecurity/angst in their neighbours.

While we are all keen to identify the factors that led to and fuelled the rioting, it is imperative that we exercise the type of caution that does not leave us vulnerable to knee-jerk reaction. These reactions fail to grasp the nettle, and offer convenient but inadequate explanations for what occurred that are both unworkable and unsustainable. Furthermore, we should be cautious about our own personal motivations for entering the fray. Motives are not always readily or immediately obvious when individuals or organisations put themselves forward as community champions or effective practitioners. Often, latent aspirations for visibility, personal achievement, status and social significance can be masked behind offers of service.

We should be particularly cautious of this fact during times of crisis, like these induced by the rioting, when leadership vacuums are either created, exposed or inflated. Add to that the lure of extensive media exposure, and the opportunities to be seen with individuals of influence, and the potential for a deadly cocktail of self-promotion and -aggrandisement become a very real temptation that all leaders - church leaders in particular - need to actively resist.

One of the factors that militate against this is the desperation felt by individuals and organisations to secure much-needed financial resources, required to continue the critical work they undertake. This struggle to resource their work often means that grass-roots organisations feel that they are in the unfortunate position of competing with one another in order to demarcate themselves from the other outfits that are doing similar work to theirs. Regrettably, this can and does lead to claims and counter claims that effectively undermine and trivialise the innovative work undertaken by their 'competitors'.

If we are to learn anything from the recent riots, it is that we must make a greater effort to be intentionally collaborative in whatever services(s) we are involved with. Each organisation should be seeking to work to its strengths, and to 'supplement' its weaknesses through partnering with other agencies.

There are some things that we can do in the meantime. Firstly, there is a desperate need for an independent solution-centred leadership summit that brings together senior representatives from as many organisations as possible. The summit should aim to facilitate an inter-agency dialogue around patterns of collaborative working. This would create partnerships that allow for joined-up, strategic thinking and action, around empowering the disenfranchised. I commend Bishop Wayne Malcolm for the pioneering work he is doing in this area since the shooting of Mark Duggan. This is a powerful example of what is possible when the Church wakens to the possibility of facilitating much-needed public and community dialogue.

Secondly, in order to demonstrate this commitment to practical action, and not just words, church leaders and denominations should set aside money to be invested in organisations that are working with the most vulnerable individuals across communities. This will have the effect of releasing practitioners from the distracting pressure of being unduly concerned about meeting personal and family obligations. Furthermore, church leaders should be instrumental in advocating for resources that support the most effective practitioners, and for them not to be discriminated against on the basis of their personal, religious beliefs.

Thirdly, and no doubt the most challenging response, should be one of personal and institutional involvement in the most vulnerable communities. This requires a level of commitment that very few of us are willing to demonstrate. However, it is necessary if the downward spiral is to be arrested and action taken to reverse the inevitable fate of 'the least of these'.

My prayer is that God will enable us to be the difference we want to see. A prayer: ‘Lord, help me to be the difference I want to see.’ Amen.

Rev David Shosanya is a Regional Minister and Director of The London Baptist Association