I am very glad to have this opportunity of being with you this evening.
I have contacts from time to time with the leaders of the Church of England, as the established Church, and with Roman Catholic leaders.
I value this chance to have an exchange of views with you, representing as you do the Free Churches; many of you are, I know, also involved in organisations which span the various Churches, such as the British Council of Churches. [end p1]
Throughout my life in politics I have never wavered from the views that the Churches have a vital part to play in our national life, indeed the most important part of all.
Perhaps this reflects my own upbringing as a child, when I learnt to see the temporal affairs of this world in perspective, and to grasp that what matters fundamentally is Man's relationship to God.
I have never thought that the Christian faith equips those of us in political life with a ready-made political philosophy; what it does give us are standards by which all political actions must, in the end, be judged.
I know, of course, that we live in what is called “a pluralist society” .
I know, too, that equally good and sincere Christians can be found in all the democratic political parties. None of the political parties has a right to identify itself, or to be identified by others, as the party which alone possesses the whole Christian truth. [end p2]
Holding the faith as all of you do, you will have no more sympathy than I have with the illusion that Man is perfectable.
I do not believe that our way of life, our social and economic arrangements, can ever achieve that. But I do believe that the people of a country like ours need a purpose and an ethical framework within which to be free, fully free, and this is where the Christian faith is so vital. [end p3]
There will be questions which you want to put to me about what the Government is doing, and where we are heading, and I will do my best to answer them.
But I would like you to have in mind this basic thinking behind virtually everything the Government is trying to do, and it is something which I believe to be profoundly Christian.
We are trying to foster the individual's sense of responsibility, to himself, his family and his fellow citizens.
For far too long, in my view, this country has been following the way of placing more and more power and responsibility in the hands of the State, and taking away from individuals their freedom and their powers of choice.
I think we are now paying a very heavy price for this, both in terms of economic performance and also in terms of attitude, of morale, and of individuality in its fullest Christian sense. It will take time, and will not be easy, to turn things round.