Following Saturday night's fatal stabbing of 15-year-old Adam Regis in Plaistow, Newham, east London, Cllr Alan Craig, leader of the Christian Peoples Alliance group on Newham Council, called for urgent action by the thriving London churches.

Cllr Craig said that youth violence is reaching "epidemic proportions" and that the authorities have simply run out of ideas and solutions.

"While the Government buries its collective head in the sand and claims the recent spate of teenage killings is nothing more than isolated incidents, it is time for the churches to step back into the public arena to promote their distinctive people-centred approach to young people.and youth issues," argued Cllr Craig.

"Many churches are already bursting with people and activities that offer proven solutions to these intractable problems," said Alan Craig. "The Glory House Football Academy, the flourishing Saturday supplementary schools, the Street Pastor scheme, the Eastside Young Leaders Academy and the Peace Alliance - all these are successful Christian initiatives at local level in east London that offer hope for young men, especially black young men, who are being failed by society."

Cllr Craig cited three areas where the churches have distinctive solutions:

• The marriage-based family: "There is no better long-term alternative to the burgeoning urban gang culture than the active promotion of stable and committed family life. Although the authorities refuse to recognise it, marriage is - literally - a Godsend to our fractured and alienated cities."
• Fathers for boys: "Christians alone see God as Father so the churches should be shouting from the rooftops that children - especially boys - need fathers. After years of marginalising fathers, society now needs them more than ever. The churches should rapidly expand their successful fathering and mentoring schemes.
• Education for males: "Last week's Ofsted report on pre-school education highlighted that even from the earliest stages our over-feminised schooling system is failing the 50 per cent of the population that God made distinctively male. Boys are unable to use their practical, focused, imaginative and often outdoor energies - and society is the loser."

"The police and local authorities can now be declared officially bankrupt of any meaningful solutions to youth violence in our capital," said Cllr Craig. "They have created a vacuum and - almost alone - the churches can fill it.

"It is time for the churches to ignore the authorities, to step into the breach and to take a lead in serving the community in their distinctive way in order to combat gang culture."

[Source: Christian Peoples Alliance]