Still have questions? Feel free to contact us: enquiries@jpit.uk
What is the cost?
There is no fee to be part of the network. Your church might want to consider having a small budget to help develop the work locally, but that is entirely up to you.
Can anyone be the link person or does it have to be the minister / pastor
Having a link person is helpful so we know who to send information to.
Anyone in the congregation can be the link person.
We understand church ministers carry many responsibilities, so it might be a relief for someone else in the congregation to take on this responsibility.
We’d like to see whole congregations or at least wider groups taking this on, so we’d recommend a small group working on this.
What happens if our church building/official address is in a different constituency from where church members live?
This is very likely! MPs will only respond to emails/communication from those who use an address in their constituency. Communicate with the MP of the constituency of your church for church-based actions.
What if we don’t have a church building?
Communication with MPs works best when the correspondent has an address the within the MP’s constituency.
In the case of a lack of a physical building, one option is to use the address of the church offices or church’s address for correspondence
If your church does not have a permanent address, this could be an opportunity to work alongside other local churches with a permanent address.
What if my church network or denomination is not a part of JPIT?
If your church is not Baptist, Methodist, URC, LEP or Church of Scotland you can still take part. We want CAN to be a project with a spirit of partnership and we don’t want anyone to be excluded from this.
Any church can sign up to be a part of CAN and use what is helpful to them. However we can’t guarantee the same level of support, tailored resources and advice to churches outside of our partner denominations.
It is also important that churches are aware of JPIT’s nature and aims, so if you have never heard of JPIT before we would recommend reviewing our 6 hopes for society for society.
What if my church is particularly passionate about an issue that JPIT doesn’t work on?
We want this network to be an opportunity for churches to raise their voices on issues that matter to them, particularly local issues that impact your area.
It’s great if your church is passionate about an issue so we’d encourage you to gather together as a church and go for it!
Our hope is that by joining CAN churches will be better equipped and empowered to work for justice and peace at a local and national level on JPIT campaigns and beyond.
Please do let us know what you are working on as it’s helpful for us to know what’s relevant to churches within the network.
What if my church is in Scotland?
JPIT’s work is organised around the Six Hopes for Society. If you live in Scotland some of the policy-making that impacts these Hopes is devolved to the MSPs in the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood, although your Westminster MP will usually have an interest in these issues too. If you have questions about devolved issues, please contact the Scottish Churches Parliamentary Officer, David Bradwell on DBradwell@churchofscotland.org.uk
More detailed information on what the Scottish Parliament can decide is on their website here.
