The Organisational, Financial and Human Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on the Christian Faith-Based Organisation Service Sector in Great Britain

Team

Principal Investigator Dr. Paul Weller (Visiting Fellow, Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations, Coventry University)
Project Previous Contributors Dr. Sanjee Perera (Project Research Assistant, Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations, Coventry University, August 2020-January 2021)
Dr. Bianca Slocombe (Assistant Professor Research, Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations, Coventry University)
Zsofia Hacsek (Research Assistant, Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations, Coventry University)

Duration

August 2020 - November 2023

Contact

Email: fbocovidresearch@coventry.ac.uk

Project Overview

Of the c.15,000 Faith-Based Organisations (FBOs) that today provide significant scaffolding for contemporary social welfare needs (National Council for Voluntary Organisations UK Civil Society Almanac, 2019) a substantial number are Christian. At the beginning of the pandemic, Britain had one of the highest rates globally of COVID-19 infection and excess mortality.Because of the extra demands made on non-Governmental welfare support services to buttress this distressed landscape, it is critically important better to learn the lessons from this in order better to understand the capacities and contributions, organisational health and durability of FBOs, especially in terms of readiness for any future pandemic or other civil emergency. The study undertakes a review of relevant research focusing particularly on Christian FBOs, but with relevance also to FBOs from within other religion or belief traditions.

Impact Statement

By identifying the causal, consequential, contextual and strategic issues experienced by the sector, the project will contribute to an assessment of initial and projected human, financial, and organisational impacts on these FBOs and their services.

Outputs

Within the formal project delivery (up to November 2023) and reporting (up to February 2024) period:

• A seminar presentation on the project results to take place in Coventry University’s Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations, but with remote access to participants from FBOs (including other than Christian ones); and wider stakeholders in governmental and other public, private and voluntary sector bodies across Britain and the world, on Thursday 9th November 2023 from 16.00-17.30, for which registration is possible via: Covid-19 and the UK Christian faith sector (onlinesurveys.ac.uk) The submission, in early 2024, of a review article to the journal Religions and, subject to successful peer review, its open access publication later in 2024.