A CAMPAIGN to encourage more Christians to adopt children or
become foster carers is being supported by bishops.
The Home for Good campaign, which was launched this week,
is being co-ordinated by Care for the Family, the
Churches' Child Protection Advisory Service, and the Evangelical
Alliance (EA).
The organisations "are committed to making fostering and
adoption a normal part of church life", a statement said.
"Together, we are in contact with over 15,000 churches and
organisations, and have the chance to make a significant
difference."
Consultation events took place in cities across the country last
year, to explore the Church's experience in adoption and to
identify ways in which it could play a greater part (
News, 16 March 2012).
The EA's Programmes Manager, Phil Green, said: "The urgent need
to find more adoptive families and foster carers presents the
Church in the UK with a fantastic opportunity to make a difference
in the lives of vulnerable children. . . Perhaps most encouraging
of all are the phone calls we are now getting each week from Social
Services, and other agencies from around the country, eager to see
how we can help them connect with Churches."
The Archbishop of York, Dr Sentamu, said: "We have both a
challenge and an opportunity on our doorsteps. I commend Home for
Good."
The Bishop of London, the Rt Revd Richard Chartres, said: "God
so loved the world that he was generous. I hope and pray that many
Christians will be encouraged to welcome a child into their own
families with that same generosity and love."
Writing in The Guardian on Wednesday, Baroness
Butler-Sloss, who chaired the House of Lords Select Committee on
Adoption Legislation, said that the Government had "failed to
grasp the nettle . . . in providing post-adoption support to
parents and children, to allow them to make a lasting success of
their new families".
www.eauk.org/homeforgood