We are living in challenging times, with alarming levels of hostility towards people with darker shades of colours of skin, and particularly towards those seeking sanctuary among us – people already traumatised by war and violence. There are elements in our societies who are stoking up fears and adding to …
I supported the small but lively Nether Green Methodist congregation in Sheffield as they engaged with the Church of Sanctuary process. This involved a consideration of their good work of including in their worship and witness people seeking sanctuary, and those with refugee status who have revitalised the life of …
By Rev Warren Bardsley, Supernumerary Presbyter, Tamworth and Lichfield Circuit. Lichfield is a Cathedral city in South Staffordshire with a growing population. Lichfield District City of Sanctuary came into being following a meeting in March 2019 attended by some fifty people at which the speaker was the Rev Dr …
By Rev Dr Jane Brooke, former Canon Missioner and Vice Dean, Chester Cathedral. I was appointed as Canon Chancellor and Canon Librarian at Chester Cathedral with a responsibility for education in 2010 and then from 2019 as Canon Missioner and Vice Dean with a responsibility for outreach in the community. …
How the Brighton & Hove Methodist Circuit Refugee Project, set up in January 2022, became the first UK Circuit of Sanctuary, and how it encourages and supports others locally and around the UK.
The so-called Rwanda bill is unethical. It aims to scare already traumatised refugees away from the shores of the UK. It reflects a callous mindset. It brushes aside the UK Supreme Court which ruled it to be unlawful and defies international commitments to human rights and protecting refugees, including the …
Increasing numbers of congregations are now working towards their Church of Sanctuary recognition. This strengthens their commitment to work together to learn about real-life situations and stories of people who flee danger to their lives seeking sanctuary elsewhere; to embed values and cultures of welcome, protective hospitality and safety; and …
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. …
Migrant God, unbound and free from borders, your presence spans the universe. In all our travel and travail, you are the constant companion of all, in you is our eternal rest and refuge. In Jesus who had nowhere to lay his head, you reveal yourself taking sanctuary among us. We …
Holy God, creator of all there is, You make all people in your image, each person unique, each life sacred. In Jesus you reveal yourself taking sanctuary on earth, fleeing with family as a child into exile and sanctuary, enduring false testimony and persecution. We hold before you all who …
