The letter that James wrote to the twelve scattered tribes has always appealed to me, probably because I find easier to ‘do’ than to contemplate what I could, or should, be doing, and because I like the interaction with other people that action brings. James is forthright in his epistle in telling us that simply wishing well to a person in need serves no purpose, “What good is that?” he says, “if we do nothing about their physical needs?”

We are surrounded in Oxford by people with physical, psychological, and spiritual needs. Do we do enough, or even do we do anything, to show our faith through our deeds?

The Christian Church has suffered, and is still criticised in some quarters, for its patriarchal attitude in the past to helping the poor and vulnerable, think Dickens, workhouses, and the Board of Visitors. Sadly this somewhat sanctimonious approach still lingers in some minds, but times have changed, and we have the opportunity, situated in the middle of Oxford, to work with other agencies, both town and gown, to help and support our neighbours, and to build solid community links with them.

St James reminds us; “As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.”