Working Man's Theology- a short thought/question

Why is the church so middle class? Or is it? Why do the mainline denominations appear to be middle class in the way they "do" church? Where is the working class theology or is there one and should there be one? In my denomination, the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, we have one model of church: this is a model which works very well in the rural heartland of Ireland, north and south but, with increasing alarm, is failing in the urban city.

In our city we have to deal wit people who are in constant fear of the other side; over the years we have been terrorised by the terrorists but also by the fear of being taken over. We have learnt to be loyal to our side and to mistrust anyone who is unable to give their full support to our politicians, our police and our soldiers. Our experience informs our opinions even of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. While the middle classes keep their distance and talk of the need to remove the peace walls but fail to understand the gulf between the classes. How come the Jesus who earned His living by the sweat of His brow and by the skill of his hands is presented as middle class, educated and a voter of the Alliance Party?

The people who live in our community have a hard time when it comes to education because going on to third level education spells a break with the community and it has led to the removal from the community anyone with a positive view of learning. Even those who could go to university, would very often prefer to get a job and stay within their walls because it is, ironically, safer there but many people fail to understand this.

Much of the social work done in this community has been patronising and been done "for" people rather than "with" them so that far from building community they further make dependents and expect the "receivers" to show their thanks. Jesus was a working man who got alongside people.