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Thursday, July 3, 2008 issue 7854

Campaign challenge on fair food

A CAMPAIGN promoting the use of locally-sourced and fairly-traded food across the Connexion is set to challenge Christians at this week’s Methodist Conference in Scarborough.

The campaign has been organised by the York and Hull District, one of the Conference hosts, in a bid to persuade Methodists to consider the source of their food. As part of the drive, the 2008 Conference will feature a specially convened farmers’ and local producers’ market, believed to be the first of its kind at Conference.

A local group, the Wykeham Farmers’ Market, will set up shop at the Scarborough Spa Complex on July 10, the final day of the Methodist event, offering a range of Yorkshire produce to delegates and visitors. The market begins at 10 am, but will be officially opened by the Mayor of Scarborough at 11 am.

Paper-chain message

DEBT campaigners delivered more than 10,000 paper-chains to the Government last week in a bid to get the UK to drop unfair international debts.

Earlier, the group had formed a white band around Parliament Square to highlight debt issues, in preparation for the G8 meeting in Japan this weekend.

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Department for International Development Gareth Thomas was presented with the paper-chains and a certificate showing that 10,969 signatures had been collected.

The paper-chain links, which said “Drop the Debt” in English and Japanese, had been signed by thousands of people across the UK to mark 10 years since the G8 meeting in Birmingham (Recorder, May 22).

‘Legal limbo’ of Zimbabwean refugees

IN the aftermath of Zimbabwe’s controversial run-off elections and the installation of Robert Mugabe as President, a Methodist minister and Labour party councillor from Bradford is appealing for a UK Government amnesty for Zimbabwean refugees.

Superintendent minister of the Great Horton circuit the Rev Paul Flowers, a member of the Bradford Metropolitan District Council, hopes to draw attention to the plight of refugees from Zimbabwe living in Britain, particularly those in Bradford.

Fellowship evolves into Spectrum

A NEW ecumenical independent organisation, formed under the umbrella of the Methodist Church, has been launched to help Christians share fellowship and explore issues of faith.

The body has been christened Spectrum, an acronym standing for “study, prayer, exploration, theology, reflection, understanding and motivation”.

Spectrum was formed out of the Fellowship of the Kingdom (FK), a long-established body within Methodism that was founded in 1919, initially for ministers and later for a wider group of people interested.

ALSO THIS WEEK IN THE METHODIST RECORDER: Recorder Travels to Wythenshawe ... Women in the Bible ... The Vice-President’s column ... The President’s Pastoral Address ... TV and Radio reviews … Books … Kenneth Greet … Paul Hulme visits The Gambia and much more!

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