A message for the Church.

No-one who saw the Grenfell fire on 14 June last year will forget it. It was a literal towering inferno that has had ramifications far beyond North Kensington. It cost the lives of 72 people, displaced not only the survivors but also hundreds who lived nearby and broke the reputation of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) as one of the best-run local councils in the country. More broadly, it exposed deep-seated problems of governance that have shaken the nation.

Over the forthcoming months, the Public Inquiry will reveal more that will no doubt embarrass (in different measures) the Fire Brigade, the Council, the Tenant Management Organisation, the 60+ contractors involved in the refurbishment, the Government department responsible for fire safety and standards, and no doubt a few Government ministers, as well as Parliament. Whether responsibility will be pinned on one or a few, or be much more widely spread, is conjecture. But it is clear that there were very many shortcomings, by many different organisations.

Precisely because of its size - it was the largest such tragedy in 25 years (Hillsborough and Aberfan are both comparable in terms of loss) - and the degree to which it dominated politics and the news for weeks after the fire had extinguished itself, Grenfell needs to be seen both politically and spiritually as a national event, raising national questions.

This is all the more so as - quite ‘coincidentally’ – further tower block fires broke out in Lewisham and Glasgow on the very anniversary of the Grenfell fire. Given that the main news on Thursday was the anniversary of Grenfell, it is as if God, in allowing two fires in similar buildings to break out that same day (although thankfully neither with fatalities) is really trying to get our attention.¹ But many may well have missed these news stories.

Grenfell needs to be seen both politically and spiritually as a national event, raising national questions.

Why Did God Allow Grenfell?

Why did God allow the Grenfell tragedy to occur? First, we need to stress that there was nothing particularly bad about those who died. In Luke 13, Jesus tells his listeners that those who died when the tower in Siloam fell were not worse sinners than others who dwelt in Jerusalem (verse 3). However, he is unequivocal in the following verse that his listeners nevertheless need to repent, lest they too perish.

In other words, the collapse of the Tower of Siloam was allowed by God in order to send a wider message of repentance to those looking on. Just so with Grenfell. Too few Christian leaders regularly acknowledge the degree to which we live in a fallen world, and repentance is a neglected concept. God is very holy and we are very much mired in our sin. We desperately need Jesus’s atoning death to pave the way for eternity.

I also believe God allowed Grenfell in order to expose the sin that lay behind the fire and its aftermath. In a previous article on this subject, I noted that if there was one sin of which RBKC (indeed, the UK as a whole) was perhaps guiltier than most, it was pride, itself the root of all sin.

Thousands join a silent march marking one year since the blaze.Additionally, I believe that God wants to get our attention, as believers and also as UK subjects. It is not his delight to punish, but to show mercy – he wants us to seek his face in serious repentance (not just with lip-service), that he might pour out forgiveness and that we might be restored. Undoubtedly, searching questions need to be asked: not just about who was to blame, but about our entire direction and destiny as a society.

For this reason, Grenfell is first and foremost a wake-up call to the Church, which in turn should bear the message of repentance to the nation. How the Church responds (or fail to respond) will have hugely significant consequences for Britain’s future destiny.

Emotion and Injustice

At a local level, the Church has a role to play in the aftermath of Grenfell which the Government simply cannot fulfil. In my previous article, I looked at the historic reasons for the lack of trust, lack of hope, latent anger and hatred which mark communities in and around Grenfell Tower. I explained that decades – even centuries – of deprivation and disenfranchisement now imbue this area with deeply felt emotions, made worse by the incredible affluence on display virtually next door, in the south of the Borough.

Grenfell is first and foremost a wake-up call to the Church, which in turn should bear the message of repentance to the nation.

But while these problems strike at the heart of Government, concerning as they do issues of decision-making, empowerment and stewardship of resources, they also involve complex social and spiritual problems that our secular Government is unable to properly address - and perhaps was never supposed to.

With a relatively narrow remit, we cannot expect the Inquiry to look into these things. This is where the Church must come in: we need to ask what the role of the Body of Christ should be, and how it can bring true hope and restoration into this situation, and more widely.

Re-Commitment Needed Desperately

As a result of wide-ranging criticisms, many RBKC councillors and staff have moved on and a governance review is underway. There is much yet to be done, but few serious observers would dispute that there has already been significant change.

Whether this could also be said of the local Church is a different matter. The churches immediately surrounding Grenfell Tower responded extremely well to the tragedy. However, their ecclesiology, missiology and theology vary so hugely (and in some cases are diametrically opposed), that the question needs to be asked whether they can all be meaningfully and genuinely Christian. This issue strikes at the heart of the direction in which different parts of the Church in Britain are progressing – and implicitly raises the question of what sort of a god they worship.

In my last article, I noted the need for a re-commitment to evangelism from both church leaders and ordinary Christians, all across the country. This point still stands. As the Public Inquiry has shown, many Grenfell Tower residents were Muslims. They need the true Jesus of the Bible just as much as do the wealthier across the Borough – as indeed does the country as a whole: it is the job of all churches to evangelise the lost – from whatever ethnic background or culture they are. Few of us have shared the Gospel as we should have done, with boldness and seizing all opportunities.

What is desperately needed is a wholehearted re-commitment from churches around the nation to God’s word and his purposes.

However, even a re-commitment to evangelism (while welcome) is not enough on its own. What is desperately needed is a wholehearted re-commitment from churches around the nation to God’s word and his purposes. This would transform not only our evangelism but much else besides – and empower the Church to respond to this tragedy prophetically, declaring its lessons to the nation, as well as serving locally.

The hour is late; the time has come for fearless proclamations of truth, made in the power of the Spirit of God, as well as demonstrations of God’s kingdom purposes - to say nothing of his love. The future of churches – indeed, entire denominations - that refuse this mandate is at stake, for “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Matt 7:19; also John 15:2).

A Wake-Up Call

While much else besides, Grenfell was a wake-up call to a slumbering Church which has lost its way. The true Church – the Bride of Christ - needs to discern the wider significance of the tragedy and the necessity of repentance just as much as those not yet in the Kingdom.

Many churches local to Grenfell have given fully of themselves and are still doing all that they can. But given that this is a national tragedy, it should be the case that churches across the country are also willing to help as needed – one obvious way being in helping to carry the burden of prayer and intercession: for hope and healing, for repentance and forgiveness, and for the fullness of God’s purposes to be worked out, including through the Inquiry.

The cost of the fire will be borne by survivors until they themselves die, and will continue to mark our society even after. But if Grenfell’s stark warnings about the nation’s precarious position before God cannot be learned and applied soon, it is undoubtedly the case that further destruction will follow. If we do not listen to God’s words, we will have to endure his works: the former may be challenging - the latter much more so.

Leading the way here, declaring the warning and holding out the offer of mercy to a lost nation, should be the true Church of God! If the Church senses the great urgency of the hour and responds as the Father wills, there is yet opportunity for great positive transformation in Britain that would, in some measure, mitigate the indescribable loss of Grenfell.

References

1 See news articles from the BBC, The Guardian and The Telegraph, for example.

Further Reading

Previous article on this subject: Reflections on the Grenfell Tower Fire. Prophecy Today UK, 15 December 2017.

Everett, A, Rev, 2018. After the Fire, Finding words for Grenfell. Canterbury Press, Norwich.

O'Hagan, A. The Tower. London Review of Books.

Some thoughts from Kensington and Chelsea.

One of our regular readers writes from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, reflecting on the aftermath of the tragic fire at Grenfell Tower six months ago.

It is six months since the fire at Grenfell Tower on 14 June which was caused by a catalogue of faults and failings currently being investigated.

More than anything else, it revealed a broken Council, a broken Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (the smallest and one of the most dense boroughs in Britain, and home to a number of very wealthy individuals) and, more widely, a broken Britain.

Given the magnitude of the fire and the number of displaced, it is very doubtful whether any council could have coped with the aftermath without help, the more so given the number of social houses available in the Borough (roughly one year’s supply for new tenants was destroyed in one night).

However, while the Inquiry will give its verdict on the causes of the fire, no-one would dispute that it took much too long for senior staff to assess the magnitude of the disaster, and act accordingly. The response of the Council was at best poor – it was slow, cumbersome and bureaucratic, whereas the response of both the wider and local community and of all the faith communities was fast, assured and compassionate.

Decades of Neglect

With a relatively narrow remit, the Inquiry is not likely to look at the origins of the lack of trust, lack of hope, latent anger, hatred and much more, prevalent among residents of North Kensington: some of these go back decades, and even longer.

North Kensington has always been poorer than South Kensington. Adjacent to Grenfell Tower is the site of the old potteries and piggeries – a really tough, deprived area in the late 19^th Century and early 20^th Century.

With its narrow remit, the Inquiry is not likely to look at the longer-term relationship between North Kensington residents and the Government, national and local.

In the 1950s Peter Rachman helped make Notting Hill notorious for his treatment of immigrants and others in low quality, privately rented flats, around the same time as the Notting Hill race riots (1958). Some of those involved founded the Notting Hill carnival in 1966.

The sense of neglect by local and central Government was also well exemplified by the building of the Westway (the M40 running into London) in the late 1960s, and the resultant demolition of many terraced houses in the area, running along an east-west corridor half a mile south of Regent’s Canal.

Notwithstanding the investment in the north of the Borough, for at least the last half-century there has not been any real sense of local people being listened to or given any empowerment.

Asking Difficult Questions

The reality is that many cities, towns and boroughs have ugly parts. Indeed, we all have ugly histories, and love to airbrush out that which does not accord with how we like to present ourselves – whether as individuals, churches, towns, cities or nations.

Given what has happened, we need to ask some difficult questions: how aware is much of the Borough of the problems within its boundaries, both historic and current? How aware are most residents a couple of miles away in South Kensington of the complexity of the situation in the north, and of their very different life chances, including life expectancy?

How are local Councillors and MPs to be judged? If we were elected, and held office, and judged, how would we fare? In this instance, given the resources of the Borough, what is the right way to evaluate the Council’s legacy? Could we - should we – expect more of our elected representatives? Indeed, can we do more? Or is Government trying to do too much, and being disingenuous by not admitting its inability to fulfil its promises?

Given what has happened, we need to ask some difficult questions about the Borough, its history and the capacity of those currently in power to effect change.

And yet…the failings evident in the Grenfell tragedy are also, in part, a consequence of the limits of local Government, which raises only about ¼ - ⅓ of its total revenues locally. Central Government (HM Treasury) seeks to control so much of what local Government aspires to do. This relationship requires a complete revamp - what are the purposes of each and therefore how should they be funded?

Wake-Up Call for Radical Change

The Grenfell fire needs to be seen as a wake-up call, indeed as a call for radical change, at least for the Kensington and Chelsea Council, if not for all levels of Government.

At the Council, such change is undoubtedly underway. Of its 37 Conservative councillors, at least 17 are not standing again – an unprecedented proportion – and it is far from given that all who stand will be re-elected. A number of senior staff too have moved on since June.

Time will tell the degree to which the change forced on the Council following the Grenfell tragedy was an opportunity taken or missed. But many of the issues facing residents of the Borough – lack of trust, lack of hope, not being listened to, not being empowered – apply throughout Britain! While there are undoubtedly many individual examples of good practice in local Government, they are rare.

Time will tell the degree to which the change forced on the Council following the Grenfell tragedy was an opportunity taken or missed.

In this case at least, the hope must be that the Council implements in full the essential changes needed to its structure and culture – and can in the future humbly encourage other councils to look honestly at their own shortcomings.

Where Are the Churches?

However, while radical change is needed in the Council, it also needs to be asked whether radical change is needed in other groups serving the community. The churches responded well to the Grenfell tragedy, but the differences among those closest to the fire are great and their beliefs are so diverse that it is doubtful whether they should all be called ‘Christian’.

This is a delicate issue that goes to the heart of the direction in which different parts of the Church are progressing – and implicitly raises the issue of what sort of a god they worship. The Grenfell Tower fire was a local issue of national importance, but to those with ears to hear, God was also speaking to us through it, trying to get our attention. If we don’t hear God’s words, maybe we have to endure his works.

There is an irony that the Grenfell tragedy took place in the smallest Borough, but which is also home to two of the largest churches in the country. Kensington and Chelsea is home to both Kensington Temple and Holy Trinity Brompton (HTB), but both have been conspicuous by their absence since the initial aftermath of the fire.

Why Did God Allow It?

A key question that needs to be asked is why God allowed the Grenfell tragedy. Partly, it is because we live in a very fallen world. He is a holy God and we are sinners. Partly, it is because God was exposing the sin that lay behind the fire and its aftermath. If there was one sin of which the Council (in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea) was perhaps guiltier than most, it was pride; itself the root of all sin.

Partly, it is because God wants our attention. He wants this, as with all judgment, to be restorative, but that requires us all, believer and non-believer, to repent. And it is undoubtedly partly because he wants us to seek his face more seriously than we have thus far.

The Grenfell Tower fire was a local issue of national importance, but to those with ears to hear, God was also speaking to us through it, trying to get our attention.

In what sort of a society do we want to live – and how do we change it? What place should Christianity have in the public square? More widely, in what sort of a God do we believe? In terms of national politics, what are God’s purposes for the UK, particularly through Brexit, and also in relation to Israel?

Lessons for the Church

Where do we go from here? Locally, churches need to evangelise the lost – whether rich or poor, from whatever ethnic background or culture. Evangelism needs to be an ongoing commitment that characterises everyday Christian life. This should not need to be said – yet it is not the case everywhere. Such evangelism - for the whole country - needs to be the responsibility of all, not just the professional leaders of churches.

It is critical that the true Gospel, the Gospel of the Kingdom, is preached and put into practice – which will mean some congregations in the country having much to learn as they start to evangelise. Likewise, for some churches, this will necessitate a radical repentance, pleading to God for mercy for their own sin - possibly not ever having evangelised - individually and collectively.

All churches need to engage with meaningful spiritual warfare, for the Church and for the nation: if we don’t, others, whose purposes may be nefarious, will do so. And all churches need to prepare for tougher times, or the faith of many current believers will not be sufficient for the days ahead.

The true Church needs to discern the wider significance and importance of Grenfell, to confess and repent as appropriate – in a way that has not yet been conceived, yet alone done.

Those in the true Church need to acknowledge the severity of the hour.

The Severity of the Hour

Those in the true Church need to acknowledge the severity of the hour – which means getting back to our biblical roots and renewed commitments to the word of God and its application to every area of our lives; to evangelism (particularly of those from a Muslim background); to engaging in spiritual warfare; to standing with Israel in prayer and action; to standing for Christians around the world who are persecuted for their faith; and to being a Body genuinely characterised by grace and truth.

Finally, we need to be aware that the Second Coming of Christ might be much sooner (irrespective of how sudden it is) than many Christians seem to be expecting. Clearly, it is 2,000 years nearer than when Jesus was crucified and resurrected - but it is hard to know that from the way in which most churches operate.