Readings
Conflict evolution
There is pain in still seeking home after thousands of years
Deep suffering as home is taken away
Yet I commit to a depth of understanding that opens my heart truthfully and allows the hearts of others to open too.
It’s what I’m expected to do.
No Christmas in Bethlehem
Matthew 2: 18
There’s no Christmas in Bethlehem this year.
No Christmas tree, no coloured lights,
no celebrations, no revellers…
There’s too much suffering,
too much violence, too much hatred,
too much resentment, too much oppression.
Too many people are homeless,
too many are refugees, too many are fearful,
too many are hungry, too many are sick.
Too many
2023 Migration Worship and Resource Pack
This is background information for anyone using the 2023 Migration Worship Resource Pack
The Emergency Motion at the 2023 General Assembly
“Proposed Emergency Motion on Illegal Immigration Bill 284 2022-23
The General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches:
Signed: Rev. Winnie Gordon (Ministerial Fellowship Co-President), Rev. Cody Coyne, Rev. Kate Brady McKenna, Rev. Sue Woolley (General Assembly President),
‘Send them home’
This appears as a suggested reading in the 2023 Migration Worship and Resource Pack
[An edited version of a sermon delivered at a Worship Service for Refugee Week in June 2014]
“Firstly a clarification of terms: a refugee is someone who, from a fear of persecution, has had to leave the country he/she has lived in and
Listening to the voice
This podcast is suggested as a resource in the 2023 Migration Worship and Resource Pack
Listening to the voice – first 5 minutes of Guardian podcast
“Did distress calls go unanswered in the run-up to a fatal Channel disaster?” https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2023/may/10/did-the-uk-coastguard-ignore-desperate-calls-for-help-podcast
From start to 3m58s in.
Bible verses relating to migration
These appear as suggested readings in the 2023 Migration Worship and Resource Pack
The Bible on Welcoming Strangers (New International Version)
Leviticus 19:34:
“You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your
Our sons
This appears as a suggested reading in the 2023 Migration Worship and Resource Pack
Our sons, our grandsons, our nephews, our cousins
Are from Surrey, England, Eritrea, Kurdistan, Sudan, Afghanistan
Want to be plumbers, doctors, cricketers, barbers, engineers, nurses, mechanics, actors
Worry about exams
Leave clothes on the floor
Love rap
Hate getting up in
Earth blessings
The Earth –
Soil feels in your hands
As life itself
Blessed Earth thank you
May we remember Earth
Commit to our connection
Today and every day.
The Air –
This breath in your lungs
As life itself
Blessed Air thank you
May we remember Air
Commit to our connection
Today and every day.
The Sun –
This heat and light
As