Migration is a major pastoral issue for civic groups and churches. New communities enliven church life and community activity.
Migration is a major pastoral issue for civic groups and churches. New communities enliven church life and community activity. They also encounter the challenges posed by often harsh immigration restrictions, scapegoating and economic uncertainty.
Migration (often talked about purely in terms of ‘immigration’) is also going to be one of the most important issues in the forthcoming General Election.
But how do we develop a more humane, thoughtful and positive discussion about it? How do we make it about people, rather than abstract numbers? How do we counter populist prejudices?
Harecourt United Reformed Church, in association with Ekklesia and London Churches Refugee Network, is organising an important conversation enabling Christians and others to think through the issues before determining how to respond and vote.
The meeting will take place at Harecourt United Reformed Church, 120 St Paul’s Road, London N1 2LR on the evening of Thursday 19 March 2015.
This event will be accompanied by the launch of a new paper on migration published by Ekklesia and written by the Rev Vaughan Jones.
Contributors:
Jean Lambert MEP (Green Party), Jeremy Corbyn MP (Labour Party), Baroness Julie Smith (Liberal Democrats) and the Rev Dr Michael Jagessar (past Moderator of the United Reformed Church). Other speakers to be confirmed.
Programme
6.00 – 700: Interactive session with stalls, opportunities for conversation with people involved with the issues and refreshments.
7.15- 9.00: Main discussion.
* Registration and further details here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/is-migration-the-election-issue-a-harecou…
* More on the issues in the 2015 General Election from Ekklesia: http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/generalelection2015
* More on migration from Ekklesia: http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/migration