‘L’Arche Communities are Communities of faith, rooted in prayer and trust in God. They seek to be guided by God and by their weakest members, through whom God’s presence is revealed. Each Community member is encouraged to discover and deepen his or her spiritual life and live it according to his or her particular faith and tradition. Those who have no religious affiliation are also welcomed and respected in their freedom of conscience. Communities are either of one faith or inter-religious. Those which are Christian are either of one church or inter-denominational. Communities recognise that they have an ecumenical vocation and a mission to work for unity.’ (The Charter of L’Arche)
L’Arche in the UK is Christian. Each Community is open to welcoming people of different church traditions. We respect everyone’s journey of faith. We help them to be in touch with their faith traditions.
Since he began L’Arche Jean Vanier has always said it is very important to be rooted in our Churches. He also says that L’Arche should have regular contact with Church authorities. We have local links to our churches. L’Arche also has a Church Leaders Group. They keep in touch with national church bodies. We have regular meetings with representatives of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Roman Catholic Bishops’ Conference, the Free Churches Group of Churches Together in England and the Church of Scotland.