Charity Commission Consultation: should Christians need to 'demonstrate public benefit'?

The Charity Commission is overhauling charity law, one bit of which is to require that charities demonstrate a 'public benefit'. There is a public consultation currently underway:

Practical details:

The deadline for responses is 30th June 2008.
Every Christian charity and individual is welcome to respond.

All responses should be headed ‘Consultation on the Draft Supplementary Guidance on Public Benefit and the Advancement of Religion’.

Send your Response by post to the following address:
Charity Commission DirectPO Box 1227LIVERPOOLL69 3UG

You can also send it by e-mail to: publicbenefit@charitycommission.gov.uk

Please provide the following information as part of the introduction to your response, in the order listed below:
Organisation/Charity name (if applicable)
Charity number (if applicable)
Contact name
Position within organisation (if applicable)
Contact number
Contact address
Contact e-mail
Confidentiality Statement (Whether you are content that your response is made public—see below)
Consultation response/answers to consultation questions

If you represent a charity, please also state your organisation’s charitable aims.

The Consultation Document can be accessed via
http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/Library/publicbenefit/pdfs/pbarsum.pdf.

2 responses -

CCFON here

The Church of England here, with press release here.

This all sounds quite crucial, as it could possibly change the playing field and the rules for any Christian group operating in the UK.