Loving, compassionate and welcoming responses to refugees arriving in the UK across the English Channel are lighting up ways to challenge hostility with protective hospitality. These include twelve small and large church congregations, like Nailsea Methodist Church and Chester Cathedral, that received the recognition of Church of Sanctuary in 2023.
The Nailsea Methodist congregation reached out to ‘asylum seekers’ housed in a nearby hotel, with expressions of welcome, friendship and community. The congregation works with other local churches to provide a Conversation Café for refugees. The Rev Deborah Mallet, the local Methodist Minister, stresses the central importance of welcoming the stranger. “The call to love our neighbour, whoever they are and wherever they come from, lies at the heart of Christian faith. We aspire to be a community of welcome and a safe place for all”.
Church of Sanctuary is a faith-based initiative, a call to prophetic Christian witness. It is an expression of hospitality as a clear challenge to hostility.
The aim is to take steps to build protective hospitality in ways that are mutually enriching. The hope is that churches will become places for all and proud to foster welcome, hospitality and safety to people fleeing violence and persecution. This would be a clear demonstration of Christian discipleship.
The Christian tradition of Sanctuary is deep. It is rooted in the Hebrew concept of Cities of Refuge (Numbers 35, Joshua 20). Today it is related to safeguarding, protection and hospitality. Hospitality is holiness in action, it is a holy act of solidarity.
Why should any Church become a Church of Sanctuary?
Sanctuary, or hospitality-with-safety, is a long-standing prophetic theme of Scripture. It is the most repeated ethical requirement in the Hebrew Scriptures. The foundation is: love your neighbour as yourself (Leviticus 19:18) and love the stranger as yourself (Leviticus 19:34). This is echoed in Jesus’ teaching about how we treat the neighbour, or someone on the margins of society (Matthew 25:35-40; Luke 10:29-37).
Sanctuary in churches used to assist those claiming to be innocent of a crime. More recently it has operated to protect immigrants or refugees facing deportation by the state. Now we need Sanctuary Churches who wish to greet new arrivals fleeing from danger to their lives. We need sanctuary for all vulnerable people.
WHAT IS A CHURCH OF SANCTUARY?
Churches take pride in welcoming all. Many churches go beyond welcome and are thoroughly engaged with supporting refugees and people seeking sanctuary.
Becoming a recognised Church of Sanctuary further strengthens and embeds your ethos and culture of welcome, hospitality and safety. It connects you to the Church of Sanctuary network of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI), the wider City of Sanctuary network, and the wider community engaging with refugees and people seeking sanctuary. It takes you on a journey to build collaboration, to know you are part of a movement endorsed by a diverse range of people.
You will become part of a movement to build cultures of welcome and hospitality. You will be enabled to engage in more informed ways with serious issues that matter to you. You will connect refugees and people seeking sanctuary to support networks and agencies.
In a Church of Sanctuary all members of the congregation intentionally work together to:
- Learn about real life stories of refugees and people seeking sanctuary, and engage with others to work from facts not fiction.
- Embed the values and cultures of welcome, hospitality and safety as part of the values of your congregation and community. You will use these to support refugees and people seeking sanctuary, and include them in your activities.
- Share with pride your vision, commitment and achievements, and let others know about the positive contributions of refugees to society and the benefits of welcoming others.
Note that all members engage in this work. It is not left to those who hold office, or to people who particularly hold a passion for this work.
Church of Sanctuary is not a campaigning political movement. It is a biblically inspired initiative, it is about being prophetic, challenging hostility with hospitality. This can mean we become political, and this is in keeping with the style of biblical prophets, speaking truth to power with passion and compassion, seeking justice.
Church of Sanctuary is not about opening up buildings for people to live in. It is about building communities of hospitality and sanctuary. Human warmth and welcome are the sanctuary we all hold and bring into relationships. We remain conscious of the vulnerabilities of further harm to people already hurting when safeguards and precautions are not respected.
PROCESS OF BECOMING A CHURCH OF SANCTUARY
Learning and working together to grow cultures of welcome and hospitality is rewarding. This should be your focus, more than the Church of Sanctuary award. It is helpful to discuss things with congregations that have the Church of Sanctuary recognition.
Sanctuary Sunday, traditionally the Sunday at the end of Refugee Week in June each year, could be used to raise and launch the idea of becoming a Church of Sanctuary. The congregation can make a commitment to spend the following twelve months exploring what it means to be a Church of Sanctuary.
Ensure people seeking sanctuary and refugees are integral to the discussions and developments as far as possible. Church of Sanctuary is about working together, not what we do for others but what we do together.
- Explore the biblical basis of the idea of sanctuary. Resources are available for this on the Methodist Church and CTBI websites.
- Learn about the City of Sanctuary movement and pledge your support. Details are available on the City of Sanctuary website.
- Give attention to all that your congregation is already doing to build cultures of welcome, hospitality and safety for all.
At the following Sanctuary Sunday, 12 months on, the congregation can be briefed on progress, and make a commitment to further development. Invite refugees to share their stories, listen, learn together. You might decide to apply for Church of Sanctuary recognition. Your congregation can engage in this work with other congregations in your area and seek to become a Parish/Circuit of Sanctuary. Your congregation can twin with one that supports refugees. The whole process is about learning together.
The award has value as a statement by your congregation. It is about your inclusive values of welcome, hospitality and safety for all. It is something to celebrate and to share – your award will be an inspiration and encouragement to others. In the process you will build and strengthen refugee voices and leadership.
The award is not the end of the process. It is an important stage on an ongoing pilgrimage. It’s not about getting a certificate to display. It’s more about learning together and building communities of sanctuary.
The Methodist Conference 2022 encouraged all congregations to consider becoming Church of Sanctuary. This monthly series will share further resources and stories of Church of Sanctuary based on experience at the congregational level.
Inderjit Bhogal, January 2024