Category Archives: News

In late 2015 several Scottish Churches and Faith Groups, including the Methodist Church, resolved to establish a refugee co-ordination project as a joint response to a growing humanitarian catastrophe.

Scottish Faiths Action for Refugees has now been set up to co-ordinate and promote action by faith communities in Scotland to support asylum seekers and refugees.

The group has a positive story to tell about interfaith and intercultural co-operation, and is here to help equip communities of faith with practical ways they can get involved and support refugee work, locally and in Scotland, and with partners across the United Kingdom, European Union and beyond.

Visit the website and follow the work on Twitter @WithRefugees.

The latest issue of the connexion tells how Methodists are doing church differently – by taking risks, offering radical hospitality, going mobile and going on-air. The Holy Spirit is inspiring local Methodist churches to meet needs and change communities. Mission is changing Methodism.

Read it online. Copies should be in your church soon.

Representatives from various churches and faith-linked groups in Scotland met recently to discuss the challenge of migrants arriving in Scotland and the overall theme of migration. They hope to set up a website providing relevant information and publicise initiatives from the various churches. They intend to address misunderstandings about migrants and challenge racism.

The group agreed to support a complaint to the Daily Mail regarding a cartoon which is based on Nazi propaganda and portraying migrants as rats. You are invited to sign the online petition.

Action of Churches Together in Scotland has agreed to support the project through funding and other resources. Other faiths will be invited to join the project.

The Methodist Church in engaged in a conversation about whether it should revisit its definition of marriage.    This conversation is happening  in the light of changes in both the law and social attitudes to  divorce, co-habitation and same-sex marriage.

Currently, the Methodist Church, in line with scripture and traditional teaching, believes that ‘marriage is a gift of God and that it is God’s intention that a  marriage should be a life-long union in body, mind and spirit of one man and one woman’ .

The Church is asking ‘ Should the Methodist understanding of Christian marriage be revisited?’  We expect there to be a range of views.   We are feeding back the full range of these view to the connexional working group.  There are no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ responses.

More information on the conversation in Scotland.

The Joint Public Issues Team, representing many church bodies in the UK, including the Methodist Church, has published a report challenging the premise that the Welfare Reform and Work Bill will incentivise those on benefits to improve their life chances by finding (more) work. Instead, it points out that a large number of families with children will lose a lot of money each year – up to £3000 – and that research suggests that this will result in few families finding extra work; rather, the life chances of the children will be diminished because their families will be attempting to cope with living on not enough money.

Booking is still open for the We are Family events on 21st October in Glasgow.

If you are unable to attend the event, read the booklet that will be discussed there, and consider the ways in which changes in family ministry could be relevant to your church.

The summer issue of ‘In Touch‘ – the newsletter of the Methodist Church in Scotland – is now available. Hard copies will be delivered to all Methodist churches in the District.

Read about the Methodist tent at the Solas Festival, reports from Conference, and much more!

The Joint Public Issues team, representing the Methodist Church, the Church of Scotland, the United Reform Church and Baptists Together has issued a statement on the situation in Calais, stressing that the churches believe it is important that public debate is grounded in values of compassion.

Looking for Grants for work on your Church?

See advice in this Quarters Property Matters:

http://www.methodist.org.uk/media/1502930/property-matters-issue-10-mar15.pdf