Do movement leaders, para-church leaders and theological institutions have the courage to call a moratorium on outreach into council estates and housing schemes?

Scotland’s schemes certainly have been—for decades now.

If you come from Glasgow, you are more likely to die younger than if you came from UK cities of a similar size like Liverpool or Manchester. This has been dubbed 'The Glasgow Effect'. So how do we respond to this?

As we look back at Glasgow’s Christian history and the problems which continue to blight it, our prayer would be that our past would point us to the only place where Glasgow can find hope today - in the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

It seemed as if the more I wanted to distance myself from my old life, the more the church kept me at arms-length for anything else.

A quarter of a century ago, I was shivering in the cold outside Victoria Train Station in London. I was high. I was hungry. I was scared. I was so very angry at the world.

We do it because 20 years ago, an older couple in church broke with their entire worldview and comfortable life and allowed me into their home.

Those of us who are in leadership bear the weight of responsibility for recruiting and training the next generation of Christian leaders.

Often, the middle class approach to leadership training is, “Prove yourself and then we will see”, but a better way within scheme culture is, “Take responsibility until you prove you are unable.”

How can we call people to a life of self-sacrifice, yet promise to meet up with them for an hour once a week?