Who are “Compassionate Communities”?

Compassionate Communities is part of the Diocese of London. We exist to support & equip every parish in the Diocese of London in serving their communities compassionately: the practical love of God in action.

Compassionate Communities is one of the three Ambitions of the 2030 Diocese of London Vision, along with “Confident Disciples” and “Creative Growth”

Our Motivation

Compassionate Communities is one part of the outworking of the Diocese of London’s vision: ‘for every Londoner to encounter the love of God in Christ’.

We believe that this Love is encountered through Word, Spirit, prayer and action. Practical care for neighbour, action in tackling poverty and seeking justice are fundamental to demonstrating the love of God to all. They go hand in hand with proclaiming Jesus’s kingship to the wider world, and in encouraging deeper discipleship from those that follow Him.

The Right Rev Graham Tomlin, Bishop of Kensington has written this piece which underlies the theology and thinking behind our work.

” it is vital that the Church is in itself a compassionate community, a place where people can find com-passion, in the fullest sense of that word.

“A compassionate community is one that ‘feels with’ them, shares their burdens and holds them in time of trouble as well as rejoicing in times of joy, just as the God of compassion does.

At the same time the Church bears witness by seeking to enable the wider communities which it serves become more compassionate and just in the civic and social relationships in which they exist.

People can experience compassion not just through the Church but in other ways as well, through the Spirit active in the world.

Every time someone experiences compassion, they touch the hem of the garment of Christ.”