Category Archives: News

Mission partner Barry Sloan takes us on one of his work trips to Lampedusa, a tiny Italian island in the Mediterranean Sea. We get to see the work of Mediterranean Hope, a faith-based organisation, in which Mission Partner Fiona Kendell serves, that is working with and for refugees and migrants; Barry helps us explore the complex narrative around refugees coming to Europe.

On Monday, the Prime Minister announced a new strategy for dealing with those the Government describes as illegal immigrants, seeking to push back and restrict people crossing the channel to seek sanctuary in the UK. On Wednesday, more lives have been lost as people made the perilous journey in desperation.

On Monday, the Government chose to impose restrictions and intensify resources to try to stop people seeking a new life in the UK. Today, we need to reflect on our desire to deny other people – who are also made in the image of God – the same opportunity for safety and flourishing that we claim.

On Monday, those who are blessed with safety and resources decided to place limits on those who seek just the bare essentials. Our hearts go out to those whose loved ones have died crossing the channel and those who will try to do the same again.

On Monday we closed our doors a little more to those who are seeking sanctuary. Today we need to declare, ‘There is room’!

Prayer

Loving God, when Mary and Joseph arrived in Bethlehem, they were told that they could not be accommodated like everyone else. There was no room in the inn.

When people risk life and limb for a better life for themselves and their loved ones, they are told that they cannot be accommodated like everyone else.

Help us to be those who find accommodation for others.There is room.

Help us to move over and give one another space.There is room.

And help us to reflect on the capacity of your all-embracing love as we journey with you this Advent because, ‘There is room’.

We pray in the Name of Jesus whose love accommodates all.

Amen.

The President of the Methodist Conference, the Revd Graham Thompson

Stirling Methodist Church has discovered a chemist, Superdrug, that collects and recycles medical blister packs. This looked like a challenge so a collection tub has been set up by the front door of the church into which members of the congregation can put their used medical blister packs as they enter for worship. Every 2/3 weeks a member of the church empties the tub into a bag and when they next pass the chemist, usually the next day, drops them off. This involves a minimum of effort and no one has to go out of their way. To assess how well the scheme is doing, on the first few occasions the tub was emptied, the blister packs were counted. If we continue at the rate we have achieved we will be recycling between 2,000 and 2,500 used blister packs a year.

We are piloting free electronic editions of selected services from the Methodist Worship Book in formats including Word and Power Point.

You can now download the Covenant service and other Holy Communion services from the Singing the Faith Plus website.

Rev David Coleman has produced resources for Advent with videos from Scotland.

The four Advent reflections were filmed in the Pentland Hills near Edinburgh and the blanket bog landscape of the Flow Country. They’re presented as a complement to  (or to take the place of) lively preaching on familiar lectionary Advent themes. These reflections are also sometimes used by small churches, or those in vacancy, in the ’sermon slot’ and by green groups or study groups.

Video and audio recordings from some of the sessions at the Gathering are now available on the Scottish Methodist Gathering YouTube Channel.

These include sessions by Roger Walton and John Bell, as well as the lovely 8 minute ‘Good News’ video which was compiled from the photos sent in from all the circuits.

One more video is due to be added, so do keep checking the channel.

The Scottish Government’s suicide prevention strategy and action plan was published last week.  For an easy read version, that includes links to useful relevant organisations, see Creating Hope Together – suicide prevention strategy 2022 to 2032: easy read – gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

If you don’t know sign language, meeting someone at church who is d/Deaf* may seem scary. How could you communicate?

Neil’s top tips if a d/Deaf person comes to your church for the first time:

• Smile and show they are welcome! Don’t panic – just try to communicate.
• Ask if they can lip read – point to your mouth to show what you mean.
• If you can’t sign, you may be able to use written messages and gestures.
• Don’t assume all d/Deaf people have the same communication needs –people may lip read or sign in BSL, or use other forms of signing.
• Always look at the d/Deaf person – speak to them directly, not to a person accompanying them.
• If a d/Deaf person visits, never ever pray for them to hear without asking! They know their prayer needs, and being d/Deaf may be their identity.

* The term d/Deaf is used to cover both the wider deaf population (small d), including those who are hard of hearing, and the Deaf community (capital D) which uses BSL (British Sign Language) as the first or preferred language and has its own cultural identity.

James Carver – Methodist Youth President

The Methodist Church in Britain, the United Reformed Church and the Baptist Union of Great Britain respond to the proposal to limit the uprating of benefits, risking a real terms cut to benefit levels:

The social security system should prevent families from being pushed into hardship, yet foodbanks are facing rapidly rising demand and almost half of claimants receiving Universal Credit report skipping meals to make ends meet. The value of benefits has declined for the last decade and already an average family of four relying on Universal Credit will be £1,400 worse off this winter than last – despite the interventions already put in place. Against this background it would be outrageous to erode benefits further.

For months we have called on government to provide targeted support to the lowest income households, who are at the sharp end of rising costs. Without that additional help huge numbers of families – particularly families with children – will face impossible choices to make ends meet. The proposal to link benefits to wages rather than prices would mean the largest real terms cut in benefits ever at a time when low-income families are already facing increased hardship. Such a decision would lack both compassion and morality.

At the beginning of his ministry, Jesus declared “I have come to bring good news to the poor”. We cannot stay quiet when vital support to the communities we are part of is threatened. We call on the Government to reaffirm its commitment to uprate benefits in line with prices and to provide targeted support to those families who are at the sharpest end of the cost of living crisis.

Signed by

• Revd Fiona Bennett, Moderator of General Assembly, United Reformed Church
• Revd Graham Thompson, President of the Methodist Conference, The Methodist Church in Britain
• Revd Lynn Green, General Secretary, Baptist Union of Great Britain