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Thursday, February 4, 2010 issue 7938

City of Sanctuary is going global

THE City of Sanctuary movement, which aims to build a culture of welcome, hospitality and safety for people seeking sanctuary in the UK, is going global.

Launched in Sheffield in October 2005, the movement aims to create a network of towns and cities that are proud to be “places of safety” and ready to include sanctuary seekers in the life of their communities. It counts several Methodist congregations among its supporters.

There has been growing international interest in City of Sanctuary, particularly from mainland Europe and the USA, thanks to the popularity of a short online film about the initiative. Now, its founder and chair, former President of the Conference the Rev Dr Inderjit Bhogal, hopes to see cities of sanctuary emerging in countries worldwide.

A corresponding intention is to create a growing movement in the UK that influences policy-makers and community attitudes alike. There are currently City of Sanctuary groups in more than 15 towns and cities nationwide, including Bradford, Bristol, London, Sheffield and Swansea. The organisation expects that by the end of 2010 at least six of these places will have declared themselves cities of sanctuary.

Dr Bhogal, director of the Yorkshire and Humberside Faiths Forum, said: “The idea of Sanctuary is catching the imagination of people. We have received thousands of responses from different parts of the world from people wanting to know more about the movement. In the UK, I am quite hopeful we will have achieved six designated cities of sanctuary by the end of this year.”

‘Generous’ response to earthquake appeal fund

MORE than a quarter of a million pounds has been raised for the people of Haiti in response to emergency appeals launched by the British Methodist Church and MRDF (the Methodist Relief and Development Fund).

The earthquake appeals have so far generated in excess of £270,000. By Monday of this week, donations to MRDF stood at £117,000 while donations to the Church’s World Mission Fund had reached £161,000, with the Methodist Church in Ireland contributing more than £25,000 to this total.

Funds donated both to MRDF and to the Church’s World Mission Fund are supporting the emergency relief and long-term rehabilitation work being carried out by the Methodist Church in Haiti. MRDF is also channelling funds to Action by Churches Together.

As well as funding food, blankets, tents and latrines, donations to MRDF have helped to provide a water purification system in the Belair neighbourhood of Port-au-Prince. This is supplying 10,000 homeless Haitians with crystal-clear drinking water – the first clean water they have had since the earthquake struck.

King of Tonga visits arboretum

A METHODIST monarch from the Friendly Islands, King Taufa’ahau Tupou V of Tonga, is the first overseas head of state to have visited the National Memorial Arboretum at Alrewas, near Lichfield, Staffordshire.

During his visit he awarded military honours to five Tongan nationals who, through the Commonwealth, are members of the United Kingdom armed forces. The King, who laid a wreath at this centre of remembrance, used the occasion to recognise the service and sacrifice of members of the UK armed forces, including those drawn from Commonwealth countries.

Partnership between Scottish Churches

A LANDMARK partnership between the Scottish Episcopal Church, the Methodist Church in Scotland and the United Reformed Church, National Synod of Scotland, has been sealed by Church leaders at a special service in St Ninian’s Episcopal Cathedral, Perth.

The new partnership will enable closer working at all levels of the three Churches, in the sharing of resources and education and development opportunities for clergy and congregations.

ALSO IN THIS WEEK’S METHODIST RECORDER: … News from around the Connexion … Final instalment of this year’s Lent course … The President’s column … Kenneth Greet’s monthly column … Breaking New Ground … and much more!

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For these stories and more, read the Methodist Recorder every week.

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