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joint
public issues newsletter 2
JOINT PUBLIC ISSUES
TEAM
Newsletter
2. Christmas 2006
Welcome to the second
edition of the Joint Public Issues Team newsletter, produced by
staff of the Baptist Union of Great Britain, the Methodist Church
and the United Reformed Church, working together in the field of
social justice. We wish you a happy and blesséd Christmas. At an
informal Christmas gathering to celebrate the closer working
relationship, Alison Jackson, team leader, thanked those people with
whom the Churches were already co-operating - and welcomed many
more, with whom the team hopes to work more closely.
CHURCH LEADERS
OPPOSE TRIDENT RENEWAL
Leaders of the three
denominations represented within the Joint Public Issues team joined
together to issue a statement opposing renewal of Britain’s Trident
nuclear weapons programme. They urged the British Government to
“work tirelessly” to rid the world of weapons of mass destruction;
replacing Trident, they said, would send the wrong message to
aspiring nuclear powers. The full text of the statement is available
on the Joint Public Issues Team website
www.jointpublicissues.org.uk
It was signed by Revd Jonathan Edwards, General Secretary, Baptist
Union of Great Britain; Dudley Coates, Vice-President, Methodist
Church; and Revd Elizabeth Caswell, Moderator of the General
Assembly of the United Reformed Church. The statement was mentioned
by several daily newspapers and on Today on BBC Radio Four. There is
the opportunity for individual church members to petition the Prime
Minister online by going to
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/trident/
SET ALL FREE
As the bicentenary
approaches, of the passing of legislation abolishing the slave trade
in Britain - March 25 is the actual date - the Prime Minister has
issued a statement expressing regret for Britain’s involvement in
slavery. Mr. Blair stopped short of making the formal apology some
had wanted, but said “It is hard to believe that what would now be a
crime against humanity, was legal at the time. Personally, I believe
the bicentenary offers us a chance not just to say how profoundly
shameful the slave trade was - how we condemn its existence utterly
and praise those who fought for its abolition, but also to express
our deep sorrow that it ever happened”. Worship and other resources
to enable churches to commemorate the bicentenary are available at
www.setallfree.net
RE-CYCLING SUCCESS
United Reformed Church House re-cycled 7,295 kilograms of paper
during the year ended October 2006. This apparently save the
equivalent of 124 trees.
UPCOMING DATES
HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL DAY
27January 2007 Theme: The dignity of difference. Resources available
from
www.holocaustmemorialday.gov.uk
.
HOMELESSNESS SUNDAY 28
January 2007 Theme: Loose the bonds of injustice … (Isaiah 58.6).
Organised by the Homelessness Sunday Partnership. Order a resource
pack from
www.homelessness-sunday.org.uk
or tel. 020 7723 7273.
EDUCATION SUNDAY 4
February 2007. Resources from
www.educationsunday.org .
FAITH AND HOMOPHOBIA
CONFERENCE 17 February 2007 Theme: Securing legal protection and
managing conflicts. Venue: Rich Mix, 35-47 Bethnal Green Road,
London E1. Information and booking form at
www.lgcm.org.uk/fhconference
POVERTY ACTION SUNDAY
18 February 2007 Resources on the theme Just Church available from
www.church-poverty.org.uk .
In 2008, there will be
a POVERTY ACTION WEEK 28 January–3 February 2008 planned jointly by
Church Action on Poverty and Housing Justice, which will provide a
significant opportunity for local churches to discover and engage
with poverty and social justice issues within their own communities.
Local churches interested in hosting a local or regional training
workshop to promote the week should contact Niall Cooper of Church
Action on Poverty at
niallc@church-poverty.org.uk
FAIRTRADE FORTNIGHT 26
February 2007–11 March 2007 Theme: Change Today, Choose FAIRTRADE .
Focus on action to get more people to choose products with the
FAIRTRADE Mark in order to help people in countries around the world
to change things for the better in their own families and
communities. For more information go to
www.fairtrade.org.uk
SOCIAL WORK CHRISTIAN
FELLOWSHIP 16-18 March 2007 Title: The plate spinners guide to the
galaxy. Venue: Hayes Conference Centre, Swanwick, Derbyshire.
Details from
www.swcf.org.uk
FIFTH UK URBAN MISSION
CONGRESS 14-18 June 2007. Theme: Setting People Free. Brochures
available from ECUM, Bethnal Green Mission Church, 305 Cambridge
Heath Road London E2 9LH or
ecum1@tiscali.co.uk
RESOURCES
ACTION FOR PRISONERS’ FAMILIES An audio
version of the book Finding Dad is now available, recorded by
Michael Palin. It is aimed at children aged 8-11 and tells the story
of a boy who turns detective to find out why his dad disappeared
with the police early one morning. For more details e-mail sam@actionpf.org.uk
or download an order form at
www.actionpf.org.uk
ACTION CARDS 2007 are
available at £3.00 a set from URC Church and Society office (cheques
payable ‘United Reformed Church’) or Christians Aware, 2 Saxby
Street, Leicester LE2 0ND (cheques to ‘Christians Aware’). This
ecumenical venture encourages people to use information in monthly
briefings to send a message of support or challenge to a designated
recipient. Briefings appear in the Baptist Times, Methodist
Recorder, and on the URC website.
CREATION CHALLENGE The
November edition of the environmental newsletter from the
Methodist/URC network is available at
www.creationchallenge.org.uk
. From the website, you can subscribe to an e-mail distribution, so
that you receive each newsletter as it is published.
CONTACT
THE JOINT PUBLIC ISSUES
TEAM newsletter is distributed through existing denominational
mailing lists and will be sent to those who previously received the
Baptist Faith and Unity newsletter, the Methodist Public Issues
E-news (Pie) and the URC Church and Society network hotline. If you
are reading a copy that someone else has given you, and you would
like to be added to the mailing, or if you have any other queries,
contact Wendy Cooper
wendy.cooper@urc.org.uk tel.
020 7916 8632. 86 Tavistock Place, London WC1H 9RT.
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