Does the practice of Shared Life in UK churches affect Community Integration?

The recent experience of a global pandemic, social distancing and restrictions to corporate meetings of faith communities and churches, has given new impetus to many Christians reviewing the nature of their church practice. Some are actively seeking to strengthen the relationships within their faith community and are turning to a model of shared life, re-examining the practices of the early church and imitating these in a 21^st Century context. In the UK there is considerable interplay between the faith sector and government-led integration policies and so it is important to understand if, and how, any change in faith practices could affect integration. This study therefore explores the practice of shared life, its nature and aims within the church and its effects on the wider community.

This study was framed and contextualised within a literature review which examined both shared life and integration and placed a particular focus on the intersection of both areas. Following this, and employing a qualitative, constructivist approach, 11 in-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants drawn from both faith (leader and participants) and policy backgrounds (civil servants, think tank researchers and academics). These interviews generated rich data around shared life, integration in the UK and the interplay between them.

These interviews demonstrated that shared life is not a universally recognised term but all participants, whether from faith or policy backgrounds, were rapidly able to adopt the term and discuss the practices and paradigms common to the practice. Alongside this integration was seen as a more problematic term with responses ranging from an insecurity of understanding, to contesting the meaning or the purpose of integration.

The main finding of the research is that shared life can affect community integration in the UK and that there are potential positive and negative outcomes of this. A defining feature of shared life is that it is intentional, and here the UK government could better harness the reach and goodwill of the faith sector to allow shared life to play a role in integration. This is so long as the intentionality, in its founding, is directed to reach out as well as in. If shared life is led in a way which is outward facing and inclusive, then shared life can play a positive role in community integration. Likewise, if shared life is steered in a way which is inward focused and insular, then this can produce negative effects.