|PIC1|The Faithworks conference opened on Thursday night with a call to Christians to transform their communities by sharing the same love with others that they themselves have received from God.

The Bishop of Liverpool and long-time supporter of Faithworks, the Rt Rev James Jones, warned that deprived communities were falling victim to low self-esteem and low aspirations.

"There is a spiritual dimension to regeneration and it comes from realising that there is someone who loves you. And when that 'someone' is God, then that is spiritual renewal," he said.

"That is why Christians and other faith communities are in areas of deprivation. We are not just an alternative to social services, or an alternative to education services. We are there because we bring something distinctive to the regeneration process."

The remedy to regenerate impoverished communities, he added, could only truly come in helping people come to know the God who loves them.

"You and I are called by God to be agents of Him - the one who believes in them - because one day we discovered he believes in us. And because we know that He believes in us, we can dare to believe that He also believes in them."

|PIC2|Bishop Jones also encouraged Christians to take an organic approach to community transformation.

"You cannot apply mechanical solutions to organic problems. An organic understanding leads you to understand how and why communities die and how and why communities can live again," he told conference delegates. "The spiritual is a vital ingredient in the organic process of a community coming again to life."

The three-day conference has been put together by Faithworks to inspire and encourage Christians as they work to socially and spiritually transform their communities, and is being hosted by Faithworks leaders Malcolm Duncan and Steve Chalke.

Other speakers at the conference include Stephen Timms MP, the General Director of the Evangelical Alliance the Rev Joel Edwards, Dr Patrick Dixon, Brian Souter, Bishop Joe Aldred, Fran Beckett and the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Hazel Blears.