Pete Moorey, Head of Church & Community, Christian Aid writes…
Over the last week, we’ve been marking 80 years since the end of the Second World War at VE Day. As we look back on that moment, it’s worth reflecting on how churches in Britain came together to respond to the devastation across Europe at the end of that war.
While 8 May is the date that we continue to mark, it was actually Sunday 9 May when a National Day of Thanksgiving was held with church services across the land. The British Council of Churches – as was – had been giving thought to how to support post-war rehabilitation in Europe from 1942. And the British and Irish churches set up the Committee for Reconstruction in Europe, with similar initiatives starting in the US, Switzerland and Sweden.
Every denomination adopted plans to raise a share of a £1m target. As the end of the war approached, the secretary of the British Council of Churches came up with the idea to use the National Day of Thanksgiving on 9 May 1945 as the occasion for churches to demonstrate our solidarity with Europe.
The General Secretary of the Committee for Reconstruction in Europe, Eleanora Iredale, wrote a year later that this act “proved one of more than ordinary significance”. She wrote that “the fact that on that particular VE Day we put the needs of Europe before all else had a profound psychological effect in Europe. It gave rise to the hope of our genuine understanding and concern for them, and of our desire to join with them in an effort to make Christ King amidst a world in ruins.”
This was demonstrated in the incredible generosity of that first VE Sunday – as churches raised more than £80,000 – around £3m in today’s money. This support helped churches across Europe to provide emergency support across the continent – so vital when nations such as Hungary were in the midst of a famine.
Eleanora Iredale wrote in 1946 that: “The psychological situation is even more tragic than the physical.” She talked of “a spirit of despair neighbouring on nihilism.” And that this meant to that “Christian people in Europe and outside must respond with acts of Christian love.” That’s why one year on, British and Irish churches marked the anniversary of VE Sunday – this time on 12 May – with another call for solidarity. The BBC devoted its Sunday worship to focus people on the continuing work of the Committee for Reconstruction in Europe – and churches once again responded generously to fund the ongoing refugee crisis.
Within a few years, what became known as “Christian Reconstruction in Europe” was absorbed into the British Council of Churches and in 1949 became known as Inter-Church Aid and Refugee Service. Its work expanded from Europe to supporting refugees in Palestine, Korea and Hong Kong / China. It then started supporting the processes of nation-building in Africa – in nations such as Kenya – responding to the injustice of colonialism and the need for independence.
In 1957, it established its first annual fundraising week – called Christian Aid Week. It was logical that the week should be held in mid-May, kicking off on VE Sunday, since this had swiftly become an annual moment for churches across Britain and Ireland to stand in solidary with people impacted by poverty and injustice around the world.
As Christian Aid Week rapidly established itself as an incredible moment when churches across Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England fundraised, campaigned and prayed to end poverty, it rapidly became clear that another name change was needed – and so the Inter-Church Aid and Refugee Service became Christian Aid.
80 years on, this relationship between churches and Christian Aid continues. Over the decades together we have witnessed to Eleanora Iredale’s message that in the face of despair and injustice, we must respond with acts of Christian love. From speaking out against apartheid to calling for debt, racial, climate, trade and tax justice. Over 80 years, we have become an incredible movement for change – strongly rooted in the partners we work with globally and with the churches in Britain.
In this moment, 80 years on – we face many challenges. Conflict, the climate crisis and economic injustice continue to push our sisters and brothers into poverty in Gaza, Ukraine, South Sudan and too many other nations around the world. But that spirit of togetherness – demonstrated by the churches in 1945 – lives on. And it’s something that should continue to give all of us hope.
Christian Aid is a National Agency of Churches Together in England.
Photo credits: Christian Aid