Annual Diocesan Justice and Peace Assembly,11th October 2008
“There are no strangers”: I was a stranger … you welcomed me. Matthew 25:35
Held in the recently refurbished St. Peter’s school in Solihull, it attracted 172 participants representing 41 parishes (17 deaneries) in the Archdiocese and it was particularly pleasing to welcome 16 school and 7 other students.
The programme comprised talks, discussions and workshops with an appropriate opening and closing liturgy; it was organised & presented by members of the Diocesan Justice and Peace Commission.
Two keynote speakers set the theme for the day:
Francis Davis of the von Hugel Institute in Cambridge concerned himself with policy on immigrants. He gave examples of the current situation in this country, church teaching and the requirements for future action which needed to be based on reliable data, to counter the imbalance of reality and perception in relation to migration in the areas of:
·Policy makers’ lack of understanding;
·The scandal of current treatment of some migrants.
Details appear in the full Assembly Report.
Shari Brown of RESTORE, set up by
Birmingham Churches Together, covered the nature,
dimensions and practicalities of dealing with the current
migrant situation in the city together with an account of the
volunteer-based action in converting “strangers into
citizens”. RESTORE is involved in many aspects of
welcoming migrants: details appear in the full
Assembly Report.
Discussion Groups and Workshops
Discussion groups formed the basis for ten different workshops; six were concerned with action to aid and support migrants and how to remedy the many defects of migration policy in this country. Here, Bishop William leads discussion on the Bishops' Pastoral Document on Migrants.
A Panel comprising Chair for the day Derek Smith along with the two speakers took questions from the audience which explored many of the justice and peace issues relating to Migration. These expanded further upon the two initial talks which set the theme for the day and prepared the way for full benefit and enjoyment of the afternoon Workshops.
Continuity with the 2007 Assembly was established in two workshops both of which were concerned with climate change. The first was based on the ecumenical project Operation Noah, dwelling upon the difficulties of altering attitudes, how to influence government and ensuring commitment in the churches; the key role of volunteers was stressed. The second was on Ecocongregations (seen here) a multifaith initiative supported by Friends of the Earth concerned itself with the “greening of churches; a challenging task.
The final event was a moving liturgy devised and led by Ann Farr, linking both the opening reflection and the overall theme of the Assembly. This was achieved through prayers, a Taize chant, readings, quiet reflection and bidding prayers associated with the lighting of candles.
A Blessing by Bishop William closed the Assembly.
A full report of the proceedings is available to read and download from the "Documents To Download" tab on the left, under "Annual Assembly 2008".
A Panel comprising Chair for the day Derek Smith along with the two speakers took questions from the audience which explored many of the justice and peace issues relating to Migration. These expanded further upon the two initial talks which set the theme for the day and prepared the way for full benefit and enjoyment of the afternoon Workshops. 
