This YouTube video shows exactly why there is a need for the “City of Culture” accolade.
Whilst such ignorance is platformed by those seeking to be mainstream news outlets, it is important that cities like Bradford (and other northern towns and cities) are given the opportunity to both showcase the positives and seek investment, something rather lost on the commentator.
We already know about the culture of places like Bath (and of course other cities get the opportunity anyway). We also know about the downsides to Bradford. Yes, its inner city neighbourhoods and estates suffer from deprivation and crime. That’s not uncommon. It has suffered much from external policy makers and its own local government alike.
We also know that it is a multiracial city with many people now third and fourth generations from South Asian and Afro-Carribean immigrants. What that has to do with the city’s cultural status apart from the positive benefits of bringing different foods, architecture, art and music to the city I do not know.
What is less well publicised is the huge cultural capital of my home city. There’s a wealth of architectural history, especially from the Victorian era when the city was the centre of the wool trade and at the heart of the Industrial Revolution. Think Saltaire, Lister Mill and Little Germany.
The city has featured as a prime film location (going back to Billy Liar)for many years and has strong links to numerous books and plays. Don’t forget its links to authors including the Brontes and JB Priestley. Its more contemporary associations include musicians and singers: Kiki Dee, Tasmin Archer, Gareth Gates, Zayn Malik and Kimberly Walsh among others. Then there are artists like David Hockney.
I’ve little time for the kind of ignorant, pretentious, arrogant bile in the video. It says more about the speaker than it does about Bradford.
I hope though that such attitudes are not there among Christians, not just about Bradford but about other towns and cities in the north and the Midlands. It is important that we don’t neglect them when thinking about church planting and revitalisation but it is also important that we aren’t just patronising seeing only the economic and spiritual deprivation
I’ve used a picture of Sunbridge Road Mission at the top of this article. It’s the church where I grew up and it was there that aged 5 I met Jesus. The church began as a mission to a tough inner city area. From there many men and women came to faith in Christ. Some became positive influences in the city as artists, businessmen, etc. others went into Christian ministry as pastors, missionaries etc. Perhaps the most notable was Fred Mitchell who went on to head up the precursor to OMF and also chair the Keswick Convention.
The church has a rich heritage but has gone through tough times and declined. I was encouraged when we attended over Christmas to find the place full with all ages and a wide mix of cultures.
There are good news stories about Bradford and good news stories about the church but there are challenges too. There are vast parts of the city with no visible Gospel presence. There are neighbourhoods that need church plants. There are struggling churches that need revitalisation
I’m proud of my home city and delighted that it will be recognised as City of Culture this year. I hope too that this will give the city opportunity to attract positive attention and investment.
More importantly, I’m both proud of the city’s spiritual heritage and hope that the focus on Bradford will cause Christians to focus on the need for church planting and church revitalisation.
Faithroots 