Yesterday I watched a documentary about children who care for their parents and was immediately struck that one of the girls shown was sporting a 'Team Spurgeons' sweatshirt.  Surely, I mused, this must be Spurgeon's Childcare, a Baptist (at least until recently) charity and one we supported regularly when I was in Dibley (we split the offering from the united Christingle service between the three 'roughly denominational' children's charities).  A bit of googling, and I confirmed it was, albeit rebranded since I last checked it out.

What struck me as I watched the programme was that most of the charities involved were the former denominational ones... Action for Children (formerly NCH Action for Children, formerly National Children's Homes) ex-Methodist; The Children's Society (formerly The Church of England Children's Society) ex-C of E; Spurgeons (formerly Spurgeon's Childcare) ex-Baptist.  Each of these to some degree retains its Christian ethos - Spurgeon's notably offering Lent resources, Children's Society the Christingle service - and each seeks to work with people of any or no faith.  How many viewers would have known that these, along with Barnardos, had Christian origins, or that the former denominational ones depend heavily on those denominations for financial support?

We hear plenty on the news about churches getting it wrong with children, but here were examples of church-funded or church-supported work reaching the most vulnerable and often hidden children.

Spurgeon's is a pretty small charity and its work in the UK is restricted to parts of England (it also does some African work, undoubtedly reflecting aspects of its Baptist roots) but its role is surely vital for those it helps, often in some of the most disadvantaged areas.

I think by posting I am reminding myself and other Baptists (at least the ones in England!) of this vital work and our challenge to support it practically and prayerfully.  CHS was not 'just' a preacher, he knew that 'faith without deeds is dead' and we do well to remember that.

(Photo from Spurgeon's website)