Migration 2010 - European Churches responding to migration
'Migration is at the heart of the churches' agenda in Europe' - Jean-Arnold de Clermont, President of the Conference of European Churches.
Migration 2010 aims to:
• make the churches' commitment to strangers visible;
• promote inclusive policy at European and national levels;
• press for the right to long term residence status after five years of legal stay.
There is already a substantial amount of material on the website including the presentations given at the launch meeting last November and a calendar highlighting focus themes for each month of the year. Further worship resources, information and suggestions for action will be added as contributions are received and shared.
July 2010
Churches Respond to Budget
Churches are very concerned that the budget will harm the most vulnerable. With Child benefit cuts, stealthy cuts in other benefits by changing how they are updated and potentially far reaching changes to Housing benefit, the initial fear is those who did not benefit from the
boom are going to be hit hardest by the bust.
Paul Morrison, Policy Office, reflected on the point that Churches have argued that it would be just to levy taxes on those who could most afford to pay - who are also those who benefited most during the boom years.
"The £2bn banking levy is welcome, but must be judged against the government's £850bn support to stabilise the banking industry. Other figures worth noting are that in 2009 £12n was paid by Goldman Sachs in bonuses to employees alone, with the average remuneration per employee being £325,000, up 35% from last year.
The hardest hitting tax measure is the rise in VAT to 20%. This hits the poorest 10% of society twice as hard as the richest. This cannot be fair by any measure as the poorest will see their ability to make ends meet severely damaged. This one measure will raise around £13n over the next 5 years, compare this to the mentioned above and we must question if this is being fairly distributed".
The URC released a statement on the day (external link).
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All's fair in cuts and spending?
The budget proposed cutting billions of pounds from public expenditure. How this is achieved will be a subject of much discussion and debate. The Baptist Union, Methodist Church and United Reformed Church are part of a 'fairness test' coalition, examining the impact of the cuts to see who really pays the price. The fairness test applies principles of justice to tax cuts and spending rises asking questions such as:
• Are the people affected by cuts the ones who benefited from the boom?
• Can the people affected afford the cuts?
• Are the people contributing tax the people who benefited?
• Are people contributing tax proportionate to their ability to pay?
• For more information see church action on poverty (external link).
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Alternatives to Child Detention
Did you send a Christmas Card challenging the then immigration minister, Phil Woollas, to end the detention of children? Last year as part of a Baptist, Methodist and URC campaign, the minister received thousands of cards asking him to end the practice of keeping children in detention centres and pointing out the damage that it does to their physical, emotional and mental health.
The new coalition government has announced its intention to end the detention of children for immigration purposes but has not given any details. The government is currently consulting on alternatives to detention. It is vital that a solution is found which does not involve separating children from their parents.
Outcry!- the campaign against the detention of children co-ordinated by the Children's Society - has asked as many people to respond as possible to respond to the consultation which closes on 1 July 2010. You can find a link to the consultation and background notes here (external link).
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Talking and Acting
By the end of the summer, representatives of Baptist, Methodist and United Reformed churches will have gathered to debate key issues of the day. At their respective meetings, issues including war, peace, Israel/Palestine, the environment and ethical investment will have been discussed and decided upon.
Read the papers and discover how your church is engaging with issues of social and moral concern
• Issues debated (and passed) at Baptist Assembly can be found here (external site)
• Methodist Conference papers available for download here (external site)
• URC General Assembly papers available for download here (external site)
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Pray for those seeking sanctuary
The plight of people seeking sanctuary is a concern that many church congregations regularly hold in their prayers. This issue has resurfaced after the charity, Refugee Migrant Justice (RMJ), went into administration on 15 June 2010. RMJ is the largest specialist provider of legal advice and representation to asylum seekers. Payments via the legal aid system were altered under the last government to be delivered upon the completion of a case. This meant, regardless of length, payment only occurs at the end. For asylum cases this can be years, and meant that RMJ was left with a unsustainable deficit.
• Please consider in your prayers this week:
• Those seeking sanctuary who were represented by RMJ including an average of 900 unaccompanied children
• The lawyers and staff who worked for the organisation
• Other organisations and clients affected by the change in the Legal Aid scheme change
More information about RMJ's campaign (external link).
Upcoming Events from The Windermere Centre
Transforming Bible Study
Mon, Jul 19, 2010, 4pm
NWSLF
Fri, Jul 23, 2010, 12pm
Burslem and Clayton URC
Fri, Jul 23, 2010, 4pm
Education and Learning Summer School for URC Ministers in Training
Mon, Jul 26, 2010, 4pm
Walk and Talk with Alvene Kinsey and John Costello
Sat, Jul 31, 2010, 4pm
http://windermere.urc.org.uk/
The Central District of the North West Synod has created a Prayer Diary to help all the Churches think about one another by praying for particular Fellowships each Sunday throughout the year. We will be including these Churches in or "Prayers for the Church Family" during our Sunday morning worship.
Each week, please pray for:
Everyone in our Fellowship, young and old, especially those leading worship and those who cannot attend;
Pat Oliver our Community Minister and everyone involved in the work of the Children's Centre and the Building Bridges project; The Pupils, Parents and Staff of Tonge Moor Community Primary School and Moorgate Primary School; Friends at other local Churches: St Aidan's, St Andrew's, St Augustine's, St Columba's. Friends at our sister Churches: Rose Hill and St. Andrew and St George
Wendy White in her role as chaplain to Middlebrook Retail Park.
Diary Dates
See website below......
http://worldchurch.blogspot.com/
