ArticleBlog | St Mark’s Meals: when theology meets practice
St Mark’s Meals: when theology meets practice
Author: Andy PeckPost Date: 25.06.23
When we planted St Mark’s MK (Milton Keynes) in the summer of 2012, we knew that we wanted to be the kind of church whose faith was obvious through our actions and involvement in the community. We also knew that we wanted to get involved with live issues in our city, and maybe in spaces that were not already over-populated by people doing brilliant work.
That autumn, a report was released about Milton Keynes which stated that one in five children in the city lived in poverty (2012). This was a shocking statistic to us. The number of children was disturbing, but also, to be honest, so was the fact that child poverty as an issue was still common in the lives of modern children living in the UK.
Wondering if God might be leading us to involvement with this reality, I found myself in a school canteen early one morning. As the supervisor reached up to unbolt the lock on the door to let pupils into the breakfast club, she paused and told me to watch how fast the children would run into the hall. I asked her why they would run. ‘Because they have not eaten anything since I gave them lunch yesterday,’ she replied.
Moved to Action
This moment is the perfect example of when theology meets practice. We all know that justice, fairness and righteousness are important foundation stones of our faith. We know that God has always provided through the worshipping practices of his people for those who did not have enough. The Levitical codes allow for the hungry to pick grain and grapes from the edges of fields and vineyards to prevent starvation. Jesus teaches the value of children, and the importance of giving cups of water to the thirsty and food to the hungry. James tells us that faith without works is dead, and that true religion is to look after widows and orphans (in other words, families with no other form of provision).
