Faith is very important in our society. If you ask, more than half of our population still say they have some kind of faith. For many, faith is their primary identity. It drives our values and binds our community together, and this is recognised by Parliament.
My role is to lead the Labour Party on issues relating to faith and belief. As Shadow Minister for Religion, I will meet with representatives of different faiths to learn about the joys and challenges in their communities and discuss how Government can help, work with and learn from them.
MPs of various faiths act as faith advocates in the Labour Party. And my political peers who are not of faith still respect their deep commitment to service and social justice in their faith communities and recognize the convictions that drive them.
Hours are more flexible now because of the election. So last week I spent time at a synagogue on Shavuot, visited a Hindu temple and a mosque, went to a community kitchen and a homeless support group, and spoke at several churches about why Christians should be involved in politics.
why? I keep coming back to Colossians 1, which teaches that all things are in Christ and under Christ. Surely “all things” includes how our world is ordered. And that’s what politics is about. Politicians are just people who look around and think the world is out of order and want to do something about it. Christians may have different opinions about what should be done, but we should strive for a more ordered world, especially for those who are vulnerable and who rarely have a voice.
I got into politics because I wanted to change the world. It may sound a bit dramatic now, but as a student in the 1980s, I saw the poverty and despair around me and thought there must be a better way to order things. Over time, I learned that change comes from many people, in many different ways.
Change never comes from one person or one era. When I became a Christian, I realized that it wasn’t just me who saved the world, someone else had to save it first. The change starts with me. We love because God first loved us.
I try not to have heroes. Because we all have our weaknesses. But I love seeing passionate people who, from Charles Dickens to Elizabeth Fry to Archbishop Tutu, are trying to change the world, or at least their corner of it, in their own way. And I meet world-changing people everywhere: Di who founded the Community Fridge in Southwark, Nikki who pioneered the ReFuse cafes in County Durham, Imran who has been a lifelong activist, Brother John who has dedicated his whole life to loving God and serving others, and countless others who love, serve and advocate for their neighbours.
If you could change one thing overnight, what would it be? I want every child to grow up feeling safe, nurtured and loved. So much comes from that. There is a child in every adult.
I have spent most of my professional life in the voluntary sector. In 2000, when I was heading a charity supporting single parents, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, asked me to come in and work for him to advise him on how the Government could tackle high rates of child poverty. I helped him work to improve social care, reform jobs programs and create local Sure Start projects. It was exciting. I got to help change a corner of the world for a time.
In 2010, Gordon nominated me to the House of Lords. Labour was in opposition at the time, so for the first few years we just watched everything we’d built crumble as austerity went on. It was tough. Our worst days in power were worse than our best days in opposition, because you need power to change things. But it’s an honour to have a voice here, so I use it as much as I can. It’s a place to work together to reform bills, even ones that we don’t agree with, based on evidence.
I thought there were no surprises in the world of politics, But over the last few years, that idea has disappeared. I prefer to live a few years without any major surprises. A friend sent me a card with the blessing, “May you live in less interesting times.” And he’s right.
Throughout its history, the Church has had to navigate between the twin risks of integration and isolation. The Church of England is in an unusual position in that it predates the idea of a clear distinction between church and state. The roots of church and state are deeply intertwined in the ways that have shaped our national history and self-understanding. The challenge for the church is to live it out well in each generation.
History shows that there are unpopular groups in most societies. While specific groups may change over time and place, I believe humans will continue to tend to form groups. I believe it’s when people get to know the individuals within a group that it makes a difference. Relationships are key.
I was born to Irish Catholic parents who immigrated to the UK, where my father worked in highway and runway construction. I lived in London for many years but in 2006 I went to Durham for a year to study Theology and have been there ever since. Now I have to be in London Monday to Thursday when Parliament is in session but as soon as my work week is over I hop on the train back home to Durham.
I was never really interested in religion. This continued until I was middle-aged, when one Sunday I ended up in an Anglican church in London. Then everything changed. I was ordained in 2018. (A friend said, “Maeve, you always take things too far…”) I now serve as minister not only in London but also at St Nick’s in Durham, which is a real joy and an absolute privilege.
Coming to faith has influenced my political views. I was middle-aged and already made up my mind about almost everything. Becoming a Christian forced me to go back to basics. I read the Bible and studied theology to understand more about this strange new world I found myself in. This included learning about how the church has addressed issues of life and death, poverty and justice over the centuries. Before coming to faith, I had visited church projects that were doing great work for marginalized people, and that also influenced me.
Injustice makes me angry. And my own stupidity.
Many things make me happy. God. The ocean. Cooking for people I love. Durham winning cricket.
I love the sound of the ocean. Preferably on Alnmouth Beach. And some laughs.
I am optimistic that things can change for the better. I am inspired by people who are brave enough to dream that the world could be different, and I see how passionate many young people are about the environment and justice, but my deepest hope lies in the knowledge that one day all will be well and everything will be for the better because of what God has done through Jesus.
I pray for everything. For the church and the world, for the people I love and should love more, to sleep more, and to trust God more.
I would love to take the chance to lock myself in the church with President Bartlett for a few hours. [The West Wing]: Not a perfect politician, but a decent person trying to make the best choices in a fast-moving, complicated world. That would be fascinating. There would be some great stories! But ultimately I would choose my mother. She died when I was a child, so I would love to have the chance to talk to her in person. Someday…
Baroness Sherlock (Reverend Maeve Sherlock) was speaking with Terence Handley McMath.