Since the 1990s, governments in the industrialised West have shown growing interest in faith-based organisations as welfare providers. In the US, this attention has been reflected in the formation of the White House Office of Faith-based and Community Initiatives in 2000, as well as the influential Charitable Choice legislation of 1996 (Berger, 2003; Bane et al, 2005)1. A similar interest in faithbased organisations has developed in the UK under New Labour (Blair, 2001; Blunkett, 2001), with specific efforts in the spheres of community development and urban regeneration for instance (Farnell et al, 2003; Lukka et al, 2003). In each country, these engagements with faith-based organisations can be read as part of ongoing neoliberal efforts to enrol non-state actors in the delivery of welfare (Peck, 2001).

Given the geography of these developments, it is unsurprising that empirical research on faith-based welfare provision to date has largely focused on the US and UK. Key themes in this literature have included:

• • the extent to which faith-based welfare organisations might be considered distinctive in relation to their secular counterparts (for example, Cloke et al, 2005; Kearns et al, 2005);

• • the potential of faith-based organisations for enhancing social capital and promoting community development (for example, Shaftesbury Society and DETR, 2000; Lukka et al, 2003);

• • the role of faith as an impetus for volunteering and voluntarism (Cnaan et al, 1993; Lukka and Locke, 2003);

• • the place of faith groups in urban regeneration (Lewis, 2002; Smith, 2002; Farnell et al, 2003).

• • the variable dispositions of local and national governments regarding the funding of faith-based organisations (Ebaugh et al, 2005).

In terms of organisational forms, studies have examined both religious congregations (for example, Harris, 1995, 1998; Chaves, 1999; Cnaan, 1999) and independently incorporated faith-based organisations (for example, Harris et al, 2003; Kearns et al, 2005).