In helping to build a welcoming community it is important not just to provide a welcome for newcomers but also to help existing populations to adjust to change. Cultural shock is acute for people who are made to feel out of place, but an influx of people who are different can also cause a range of emotions from unease to fear and hostility in local people. It is part of Christian leadership to acknowledge all these emotions and needs, and to find ways of creating mutual understanding and fellowship.

Church responses to issues of immigration, asylum and racism

The main Churches in Ireland have responded in different ways.

The Catholic Church has a big commitment to refugees through the Refugee Project in Maynooth and Sr Joan Roddy refproject@iecon.ie who co-ordinates of the Churches Asylum Network in the Irish Republic. The work of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People was published in 2004 as Erga Migrantes caritas Christi [pdf] (The love of Christ towards migrants). It examines the challenge of human mobility and the pastoral implications. Each diocese in Ireland now has a person in charge of the pastoral care of immigrants and they report to the Bishops’ Conference. In June 2006 the Bishops issued a statement calling for legislation which protects the innocent parties in people trafficking and strengthens criminal sanctions against the traffckers.

The Presbyterian Church in Ireland has adopted a document, Policy on Asylum Seekers and Refugees; a Report by the Race Relations Committee to the 2003 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. Full Text [pdf]. It is more comprehensive than the title suggests, as it also explores issues of immigration, racism and welcome. The Race Relations Committee has recently become the Race Relations Panel (rkerr@presbyterianireland.org) which continues to take responsibility for this area.The PCI Peacemaking Programme has a module on Relating to our Neighbours in its new Gospel in Conflict: Loving our Neighbour course.

The Methodist Church in Ireland has adopted the Presbyterian policy document and addresses the issues through their Council on Social Responsibility. Scott Boldt, Reconciliation Development Officer at Edgehill Theological College is also continuing his work with the All-Ireland Churches Consultative Meeting on Racism (AICCMR).

The Church of Ireland is in the middle of a 3 year Hard Gospel programme which aims to improve the ways in which the church deals with difference at all levels. This includes the challenge of ethnic difference and consultations on immigration and racism are being run currently in every diocese. A six-part course on Loving our Neighbours has been distributed to all rectors and it includes a session on Welcoming the Stranger. One southern diocese, Dublin and Glendalough, has a working group on combating racism which has published a useful booklet: Welcoming Angels. Much of this publication (including the material on welcome) is equally applicable in the north, and although aimed at Church of Ireland parishes, other denominations should find ideas which resonate with them.

Welcoming Angels is available from the Diocesan Office, Diocese of Dubin and Glendalough, Church of Ireland House, Church Avenue, Rathmines, Dublin 6. The price is 5.00 euro.

The Religious Society of Friends are raising awareness among their own members through workshops, seminars and regular exchange of information.They also work closely with other churches and faiths. 

Other Christian groups such as the Evangelical Alliance have worked to raise consciousness around the issues and the Centre for Contemporary Christianity in Ireland (CCCI) (formerly ECONI) have been involved in hosting conferences and building awareness. For example, see ECONI’s Lion & Lamb, Racism and Religious Liberty, No 37 Autumn 2004 and Noel Fallows,, ‘Multi-cultural church life’ in Lion & Lamb, Racism and Religious Liberty, No 36 Spring/Summer 2004, pp 10–17. Directory

The Corrymeela Community continues to provide an annual holiday break for refugees and people seeking asylum. Its website includes some useful resources www.corrymeela.org

This year has seen a marked increase in the number of individuals, groups and congregations who are acting imaginatively at local level to make this a more welcoming community.

Organisations and resources:
Centre for Contemporary Christianity in Ireland (CCCI) www.contemporarychristianity.org
Corrymeela Community www.corrymeela.org
Evangelical Alliance: www.eauk.org/northern-ireland

The Refugee Project at Maynooth, publishes Sanctuary, on the Refugee situation in the Irish Republic and the involvement of the Churches. www.catholiccommunications.ie/sanctuary
Hard Gospel Project: www.hardgospel.net
Methodist Church in Ireland www,irishmethodist.org
Presbyterian Church in Ireland www.presbyterianireland.org 

Inter-church structures

Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI) is the umbrella body for Christian Churches. It liaises with ecumenical bodies in Great Britain and Ireland as well as ecumenical organisations at European and world levels. It provides a forum for joint decision-making, and enables the Churches to take action together. See www.ctbi.org.uk.

The Churches’ Commission for Racial Justice (CCRJ) www.ctbi.org.uk/ccrj is a Commission of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland, and includes representatives from the Churches and related organisations. It monitors trends and developments in the field of racial justice in Britain, Ireland and Europe and seeks to co-ordinate the Churches’ response on key issues.

In Ireland, the Irish Council of Churches (ICC) www.irishchurches.org includes the mainstream Protestant churches.

The Irish Inter-Church Meeting includes the Catholic Church and the ICC members. That umbrella grouping has combined with the CCRJ, as the All-Ireland Churches Consultative Meeting on Racism (AICCMR) and this has enabled 2 major initiatives to take place.
The late Fee Ching Leong undertook research for AICCMR that was published in November 2005 as The experiences, expectations and aspirations of black and minority ethnic people in relation to the churches’ role in tackling racism [pdf]. The interviews undertaken for this research reveal the shortcomings within the Churches in responding to the needs of minority ethnic people and this was discussed at a major conference in November 2005, Challenged by Difference: Threat or Enrichment. 
Its purpose -
1 To listen and learn from the experiences of minority ethnic groups and people who have responded to the challenge of difference.
2 To encourage all Christian churches to acknowledge racism as a fundamental issue in society that the churches have a significant role in addressing.
3 To describe and to present anti-racist initiatives that various churches have undertaken, developed or supported.
4 To create the time and space for people to interact, share ideas and concerns, focus on issues and make a commitment to anti-racist work.
Leaders and representatives from the churches, minority ethnic communities and from various agencies came together for this event. Follow-up sessions have been held to assist networking.

Conference papers

• Affirming Identity to Create Community [pdf]
• Racism in Belfast: Up-front and Ugly [pdf]
• Challenged by difference: Threat or Enrichment [pdf]
• Challenged by Ignorance [pdf]
• Being, Identity and Belief [pdf]

AICCMR has issued advice for welcoming new residents and responding to a racist incident [pdf].
In May 2007 AICCMR hosted Taste and See, a series of workshops and worship reflecting the variety of new Christian worship expressions on the island of Ireland. For further information on AICCMR contact: Dr Scott Boldt, Edgehill Reconciliation Project, Edgehill Theological College, 9 Lennoxvale, Malone Road, Belfast, BT9 5BY Tel: 028 9068 6933

BUILDING WELCOMING CONGREGATIONS

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God. (Ephesians 2: 19)

‘The authentic Christian community must always be asking “Who is being excluded?”‘
Archbishop Rowan Williams quoted in Inter-Cultural Insights

Richard Kerr of the Presbyterian Race Relations Panel and EMBRACE has the following suggestions:

• ‘Use Initiative in exploring options. Find out what is appropriate in your situation and for those you meet. What works elsewhere may be a good pointer, but may well need adaptation for your situation and your gifts and resources.
• Perseverance is an important attribute; if at first you don’t succeed try and try again. Some things may work, others (perhaps inexplicably) won’t.
• It is important to network with other churches, statutory organisations and non-government organisations (NICEM, MCRC, Law Centre and EMBRACE for example).
• Commitment is required to make things happen and to build relationships. Within your congregation there will be need to inform and persuade members and leaders of the importance of reaching out. This will inevitably demand patience.
• Being involved may well involve risk; it will not necessarily be easy. Yet, the challenges and opportunities are there to be met, and provide us with an opportunity to share and show the love of Christ.’

The authors of Welcoming Angels, published by the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin’s Working Group on Combating Racism outlines 3 stages of Christian welcome:
1 ‘Genuinely outward-looking’: a social welcome
The welcome beginning in the wider society
2 ‘Truly welcoming’: a welcoming church event
How people are made welcome when they chose to attend a service
3 ‘Seriously inclusive’: a structural welcome
Celebrating diversity and encouraging participation
Welcoming Angels, Dublin 2005, pp37–51.

Some ideas on congregational welcome, including some from Welcoming Angels:

• Ensure that the building is welcoming from the outside, with clear welcoming signs
• As well as having individuals responsible for welcoming at services, involve the whole congregation in learning about the importance of welcome
• Welcome should never be overwhelming, people need to take their time before they decide to make a congregation their home
• Language is very important, and it is helpful if people can be greeted with a phrase or two in their own language
• Encourage newcomers to participate, for example, in reading a lesson or taking up the collection/ offertory – small, visible signs of acceptance
• Include some aspect of the worship tradition from the country of origin, such as a song or a prayer
• Invite members of minority ethnic churches to take part in special services.
• Hold special services for example, in Refugee Week, Anti-Racism Sunday, or Holocaust Memorial Day, and invite members of minority groups to speak or attend.
• Expect blessings, such as enthusiasm and sense of fellowship, not just problems

What churches can do together 

• Work together to let residents know about church services and activities
• It is helpful if local church leaders have an agreed policy so they can respond jointly and immediately if a racist incident occurs.

PASTORAL CONSIDERATIONS
Many people who come here will adjust easily. However, we need to bear in mind that some people find a change of country very difficult. In addition, people who have been forced to flee here, destitute migrant workers, or undocumented people all have special difficulties. It is not always easy to understand people’s feelings of insecurity, bewilderment, loneliness, suspicion, fears, hopes and needs, when their stories are so different from ours. We need an attitude of openness, respect and sensitivity.

• You may need to research where to access expertise – legal, social, and medical.
• You may be pressed to find a lot of time for people whose multiple problems leave them very emotionally dependent.
• You will need to be aware of special sensitivities, for example, regarding confidentiality. Someone left a church permanently because he felt shamed at being introduced as an asylum seeker by someone who probably only wanted him to be made especially welcome.
• In responding to a racist incident the natural instinct to make public your sense of outrage should always be overridden if the victim of the attack needs privacy.
• In some cultural backgrounds women should never be visited by a single man so it is helpful to make at least initial pastoral visits in pairs.
• Be aware that immigrants and minority ethnic groups are not homogeneous; there is great diversity, and sometimes animosity, within and between ethnic groups.
• It is important to listen empathetically. It can be a challenge to hear what someone is feeling and not just the words they are saying. Different cultures invariably express things in different ways, even similar words can be understood in different ways, and body language can be significant.
• You may never know if what people tell you is completely true, and it is hard to measure up a story when the normal parameters do not apply. You have to take a certain amount on trust, and you may find cultural signals confusing. A failure to make eye contact may appear a sign of untrustworthiness or trauma, when in reality it may only be what is regarded as respectful in the country of origin.
• We all make cultural mistakes, whether in your assumptions, language or behaviour, such as simply forgetting to remove your shoes in an Asian house.
• You may be confronted by new unpleasant issues such as child prostitution and people trafficking
• You may find yourself acting at or beyond the edge of the law and uncertain where the moral and legal boundaries lie.
• Above all you will not be human if you do not experience frustration and anger, pain and guilt, as there is often little which can be done to assist in immigration cases which are governed by procedures which seem beyond influence.

HELPING TO BUILD MORE INCLUSIVE COMMUNITIES
Christians are not just called to be welcoming within their congregations but also within their private lives and in how they act as part of the wider community.

‘The command to love your neighbour extends to everybody who lives near you and everybody you meet in the six days between attending church. … We should avoid thinking of ‘church’ as simply a ‘church’ building and instead think of ourselves as the active, committed people of God.’
Welcoming Angels, Dublin 2005, p. 40.

‘People deprived of familiar rootedness in family, culture, tradition and geography deserve the next best thing, which is welcome, hospitality and compassionate concern in their new environment.’
Paul Surlis, ‘Exile’ The Furrow, April 2000 (Reproduced in Inter-Cultural Insights).

Extracts from some suggestions by Rt Rev. Dr Ken Newell, former Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland on the subject of racism:
Full Text [pdf]

• Refocus on the life God calls you to live in your community: ‘live a life of love’.
• Assess your emotional involvement with the issue: ‘Before Hlaleleni from Zimbabwe described the hell of racist abuse she had been put through in an estate in East Belfast, I felt emotionally detached from the problem of racism. After hearing her story of windows smashed, doors kicked in and dog’s dirt shovelled in piles on her doorstep, I changed.’
• Change your lifestyle: ‘Become more socially inclusive. If you rarely have people from a different ethnic, religious or cultural backgrounds to your home for a meal, why not adopt a different approach? Open your heart and your home. … There is nothing more powerful than your neighbours seeing you enjoy the friendship of people from different ethnic and racial backgrounds.’
• Open up the issue in your church: ‘Compile a dossier of racial attacks in your area. Share this material with your friends in church. Present it to your minister and church leaders. Ask them to discuss it and initiate a positive response in your area. … Would Jesus be passive if he lived in your neighbourhood? He does!’

These ideas were also expressed in Lion&Lamb:racism and religious liberty,‘Live a Life of Love’ Autumn 2004

How we can learn about each other

• Encourage racial awareness and anti-racism training.
• Hold celebration meals such as harvest suppers where you might invite people from a minority ethnic group to share their cooking traditions with you.
• Celebrate festivals such as Chinese New Year.
• Visit cultural centres together. For example, people from a rural background, anywhere in the world, will find something in common at somewhere like the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum.
• Visit the cultural centres of ethnic communities – such as the Indian Community Centre in Belfast, to learn, and affirm their presence as part of a shared society.
• Learn about other people’s religious beliefs and practices by hosting an exhibition, (such as In Good Faith, which can be borrowed from the Department of Culture Arts and Leisure www.dcalni.gov.uk) visiting religious centres, or inviting members of other faiths to explain their religious beliefs.
• Encourage young people to study the languages, cultures and religions of people from minority ethnic populations.
• Find ways of celebrating and honouring the achievement of individuals and groups from minority ethnic populations in your community.
• Use any forum, inter-church groups, Community Safety Groups, District Policing Partnerships, to make sure that even minor acts of racism are taken seriously.

The use of church premises and other resources

Churches form part of the social capital of a community and many already make their buildings, facilities and the skills of their members available to other groups. These are some suggestions as to how our churches can, and are being used:

• A community audit of local needs
• Working with others on a welcome pack for new residents
• Drop-in centres giving people the chance to integrate
• Mother and toddler groups for refugees or the families of migrant workers
• After-school clubs, helping incoming children to adjust to the differences in our educational system.
• Language classes
• Advice centres for newcomers
• Recreational facilities for minority ethnic groups

The God of Welcomes: St Patrick’s Day in Downpatrick, 17 March 2006

The address at the service in Down Cathedral was given by Rev. Roy Searle, leader of the Northumbria Community and President of the Baptist Union of Great Britain. He spoke of St Patrick’s message:

‘The gospel that changed people’s hearts and minds from hatred to love, harmony to healing, mistrust and suspicion to kindred communities, where fate and helplessness gave way to a passion that burned for God and brought life. The gospel spoke of a God of compassion, a God who reached beyond the boundaries of any prescribed religion, church or civic boundary or protocol to touch the hearts of all. A God of benediction and blessing. A God who welcomed the stranger, the exile and the refugee. The God whose very nature is community – Father Son and Holy Spirit – unity in diversity. A God who created and celebrates diversity and challenges any notion that something different is deviant and therefore needing to be excluded. A message that transformed and informed Patrick’s mission and led him to crusade against injustice and the exploitation of the poor and marginalised.’ … ‘In the midst of the many changes facing Ireland there is the emergence of people coming from different nations. In the last 48 hours I’ve waited in a queue behind a young lady from Poland in a book shop, been served in a supermarket by a young Slovakian woman, and sat next to a Nigerian on the bus up the Saintfield Road. … ‘May the God of Welcomes be expressed through the people of God to strangers and exiles in our midst, for in doing so we reflect the mission of Patrick.’

Some quotations from speakers at the All Ireland Churches’ Consultative Meeting on Racism (AICCMR) conference, Challenged by Difference: Threat or Enrichment at Dromantine, November 2005.

Part of the opening remarks of Michael Jackson, Church of Ireland Bishop of Clogher:
Our concern is … that it is vital for members of churches in Ireland today to develop what I might call a fresh theology of hospitality. This is something generous, something practical and something for others. We exist for those whom we do not know every bit as much as for those whom we do know. The church of God has never been only for those on the inside. That attitude is and remains a scandal and an affront to God and neighbour alike. I say this for Biblical reasons. The direct question which Jesus answered in the life He lived, which became the Gospel, was the following very open question: And who, then, is my neighbour? Not only is the question open but so is the answer. The only person not to pass by on the other side is the noble but despised Samaritan. It is our conviction – and we have indeed been given every encouragement to think so – that what we are embarking on today is not just another thing which the church is picking up from what others are doing round about but is, in fact, part of its core identity. And it is just that because it is for all of us a journey of self-understanding and of a new self-definition in those three virtues: faith, hope, love.
All Ireland Churches ’ Consulatative Meeting on Racism (AICCMR) conference, Challenged by Difference: Threat or Enrichment [pdf] at Dromantine, November 2005.

Rev. Dr Sahr Yambasu, Methodist, keynote speaker from Galway whose talk was entitled ‘Challenged by Ignorance: Responding to the Strangers in our Midst’:
Part of a longer analysis of the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collecter:
In the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, Jesus put his finger on what I believe is the perennial issue at the heart of human responses to other humans beings as different: the uncritical acceptance of our own particularities as normal and essential while we seek to deny or ignore or even label other people ’s boundaries as abnormal, and wish, consciously or otherwise, that their own differences should give way to our own. …
Jesus recommended the self-view of the Tax Collector not, I would suggest, because he was better or worse than the Pharisee in actual fact; but because he had the attitude of mind and heart that in the end, mattered most.
His disposition characterised him as a man open towards new ways of seeing and being. In this man reposed the humble recognition that he is nowhere near being what he could be as a human being created in the image of God. In this man was real hope for change for the better. You see, we never begin to be good till we can feel and say that we are bad.
The Pharisee, on the other hand, no longer saw anything good in different others to emulate; at least not in the Tax Collector whom he perceived as being below him; perhaps not even in God because he sounded totally self-liberated and self-dependent. He had arrived so to speak. His standard was himself, and no other. The Pharisee saw himself as the master exemplar that everyone else must imitate. Such a person would find no reason to learn from others, or change for the better.
This Pharisee, I would say, had the stuff from which ethnic, national, religious, gender, age, economic, cultural, political, and skin colour discriminations, exclusions, and conflicts are made. The stuff is called ‘superiority complex’. It is the ‘I am better than you’ syndrome that has always plagued this world and continues to do so. It is the attitude that says unless you are like me, or until you become like me, I am not prepared to value you as a human being like me, nor the way of life you represent. …
All Ireland Churches’ Consulatative Meeting on Racism (AICCMR) conference, AICCMR conference Challenged by Ignorance [pdf] at Dromantine, November 2005.

Rev. Arlington Trotman Churches’ Commission for Racial Justice spoke on ‘Being, Identity and Belief: A Christian Basis for Pursuing Racial Justice’.
The challenge for any society divided along the lines of ethnicity or people group (race), religion, sexual orientation, gender and culture, is the recognition that politically, economically, socially and spiritually, that society becomes and remains poorer. Yet, these are essential differences which make up the identity of each person.
As Christians, whose existence is fixed by faith in a loving God, we battle against the overt and hidden causes and forms of racism. If this endeavour is to be redemptive and sustainable, two principles are vital: One, it is imperative that we resist the mild form of ‘neo-colonialism’ of merely ‘doing-on-behalf-of’ marginalized people, despite its importance, and harness the strength of our oneness in Christ as the basis for ‘identifying-with’ them in all our work to defeat racism. You see, the victim and the perpetrator of racism are fellow human beings. …
All forms of racism are ultimately unsustainable because they are not only evil, but racism tries to subvert the essential identity of all human beings. We as Christians must embrace difference and be ‘richer’ by undergoing a measure of cultural integration, recognise our human interdependence, promote social and economic redistribution, and pursue ethnic harmony, so that our Being is being-in-love-for-one-another’. This does not entail ‘giving up our identity’, which … is impossible.
All Ireland Churches ’ Consulatative Meeting on Racism (AICCMR) conference, Challenged by Difference: Threat or Enrichment at Dromantine, November 2005. Being, Identity and Belief - A Trotman [pdf]

Rev. Philip T Sumner, Oldham, England, whose talk was entitled ‘Affirming Identity to Create Community’.
For a person to enter into healthy relationships requires the ability to believe that he is loveable. If a person’s self-esteem is significantly low then he either avoids entering into a relationship or he tries to control the relationship so that he believes he cannot be hurt. The same applies to cultural communities. For there to be good relations between communities, each community has to believe that it is highly estimable. Then, as bridges are built, there have to be good foundations on each side. People from both cultures need to know who they are and be proud of who they are. Sometimes, in multicultural settings, one community can become too fearful of expressing its own identity for fear of upsetting other communities. Again, people do not build good relationships by hiding their real personalities …
Stereotyping takes place when someone thinks he knows the particular needs of a community but has failed to check his ideas in this regard with the community itself. We all have a responsibility to engage, as soon as possible, with people of other cultural identities entering into our localities. Real engagement helps to dispel any myths and to discover the particular needs of those communities. This takes time and there are no short cuts! We have to learn how to communicate in a way that demonstrates our esteem for those with whom we engage. In this process, we may discover that some of our language with regard to other communities may be inappropriate. We may make mistakes and have to seek forgiveness. …
Each cultural grouping has to feel that it is somehow part of the very fabric of the wider community and not an exotic decoration that can easily be discarded at whim. …
All Ireland Churches ’ Consulatative Meeting on Racism (AICCMR) conference, Challenged by Difference: Threat or Enrichment at Dromantine, November 2005. AICCMR conference: Affirming Identity [pdf]

Rt Rev. Ken Newell’s talk ‘Racism in Belfast: Up-front and Ugly’
Some months ago a friend who had just got out of hospital was reading the papers about the upsurge of racist attacks in South Belfast. He felt so angry, ‘It’s only a matter of time, Ken,’ he said, “before somebody gets killed. Some of the Filipino nurses who looked after me in the Royal were the ones chased down the Donegall Road by a pack of thugs’. It was this kind of incident that led The Guardian to label Belfast ‘The Race-Hate Capital of Europe’. Sadly, there are chilling statistics to back that up. While racial attacks in England and Wales were running at 12.6 per 1000 of the ethnic population, in Northern Ireland the figure for the same period was 16.4.
All Ireland Churches ’ Consulatative Meeting on Racism (AICCMR) conference, Challenged by Difference: Threat or Enrichment at Dromantine, November 2005. AICCMR conference: Racism - Up Front and Ugly in Belfast [pdf]

Renewing Hope: Christians taking Responsibility 22 May 2005

A group of Christians from across the denominations in Northern Ireland has come together to focus on bringing about a society where everyone can enjoy freedom, politicians and people take responsibility and healthy relationships flourish. One facet of this is recognising the challenges of diversity:
“To build good relations in a diverse society, we must continue to confront sectarianism and racism where they manifest themselves, and stand alongside those who feel threatened by bigotry. This includes a realistic recognition of difference, tolerance in place of hostility, inclusive celebration of our varied cultural heritages, where possible, and an honest engagement regarding aspects of other cultures and ideologies that we find threatening or disturbing. Within this land there is increasing ethnic diversity, to add to the long-standing cultural, political and religious division. This raises new kinds of fear, resentment and intolerance.

Such diversity, however, can contribute to our economic and cultural vitality, and should be a measure of our openness to new ideas, perspectives and people. It offers us a foretaste of the heavenly Kingdom, which will include people from every earthly nationality. (Revelation 7:9) Minority ethnic communities are vulnerable fellow citizens, often literally strangers in a foreign land, and as such God’s people are commanded in scripture to protect and support them. (Leviticus 19:34)’ …

Churches have a crucial role to play, creating spaces that foster hope and imagination. In the negotiating of difference and living together we must acknowledge both our rights and our responsibilities, and that we can claim no rights or privileges for ourselves which we are not prepared to share with our fellow citizens of other traditions. In doing so we live out Paul’s advice to the Philippians, ‘Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.’ (Philippians 2:4)”
More of this reflection and the statement on which it is based can be found at www.renewing-hope.org.

A view from the South: General Synod of the Church of Ireland May 2005

Rev. Katherine Poulton. (Dublin Diocese) ‘spoke of the “boost” to inner city parishes of the arrival of immigrants. Congregations, she said, had “stepped outside their own comfort zones to embrace new arrivals from many different cultures and backgrounds.’ Church of Ireland Gazette 20 May 2005.
Canon Desmond Sinnamon (Dublin Diocese) reflecting on the numbers of refugees and people seeking asylum in the south, said that in the past 10 years:
‘Ireland has been enriched, and … our church life in certain areas has been revitalised by increasing numbers from other church cultures. … Canon Sinnamon called on local churches to be places of welcome and hospitality and “to be a bridge to help and support our newcomers.”’Church of Ireland Gazette 20 May 2005.

Archbishop Sean Brady speaks out on Racism in Northern Ireland
“The number of incidents against people from other countries is shameful. Of course it is linked to our reluctance to welcome difference whether it is different religion, different race or different colour of skin. Racism is a disgrace wherever it happens, especially when followers of Christ do it, but it is part of this fear of people who are different and a lack of appreciation of their dignity in the sight of God. … We have to try and change attitudes and improve our appreciation of the value of every human being. In God’s eyes we are equal. We are not the same – or else the world would be very boring – but we are equal in dignity.”
From an interview with Anna Rankin, editor of Lion & Lamb and EMBRACE committee member, Lion & Lamb, Spring 2005. Article in full

‘Silent Racism’ in the Church
Former Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, Dr Ken Newell wrote :
“It would be wrong to exaggerate the overt racism in our community … but there is a silent racism just under the surface. Recently some Indian friends phoned me in distress. They had gone to live in one of our neatly-kept villages. They told me that in the previous 18 months nobody had knocked their door to welcome them to the neighbourhood. I had encouraged them to visit local churches, naively convinced that they would receive a warm welcome. ‘We tried that, Ken.’ They said. ‘We visited the Presbyterian church, the Church of Ireland, the Catholic church and a few others, but nobody said hello or asked us how we were. Even the ministers were disinterested, except for one.’ Eventually they asked a man in a local shop why people were distant. ‘I don’t like to say this to your face,’ he replied, ‘but you’re black and people round here don’t like black people.’ Their final question still haunts me, ‘Why are church people here so cold towards my wife and me? They’re our brothers and sisters. Aren’t they?’ Lion & Lamb, Autumn 2004. Article in full

Ministry for a Multicultural Church
It is important that the issue of the many cultures in one Church never be addressed as a problem to be solved that, once solved, will go away forever. The many cultures in the one Church is a potential blessing, an enrichment of our communities and our humanities. It is an invitation to expand our horizons and nurture new relationships. Keeping that in mind will keep us from seeking technical solutions that get us no farther than reducing conflict (as valuable as that may be), and help move us along a pathway that will bring us closer to respecting the right to culture and the development of culture, about which Pope John Paul II has spoken so eloquently. It is in that vein that we can turn to some of the striking biblical images of cultures coming together: the event of Pentecost, the coming together of every tribe and tongue, people and nation in the Book of Revelation. Ministry in a multicultural Church must be such that it does knit the members of the body, diverse as they may be, closer together and loser to the Head of the Body, Jesus Christ. It is these bold visions which we must hold before us as we struggle to become more faithful to call to ministry in a Church so varied and so rich.
Robert Schreiter, CPPS Ministry for a Multicultural Church
For the full text see www.sedos.org/english/schreiter.htm

Sectarianism and Racism in Tandem
Bishop Michael Jackson, Church of Ireland Bishop of Clogher, said, “members of other world faiths and ethnicities are our neighbours. … “There is evidence that active sectarianism and active racism are running in tandem in Ireland.” He went on to speak about the need to: “dig deep within the spirit of the Gospel to ensure that the words and the actions of Jesus Christ live today, in the daily lives of Christian people in Ireland, in simple and practical ways which are consistent with the radical compassion of Jesus Christ. ’ 16 August 2004

Fortress Europe
Archbishop Sean Brady, in a speech to an Irish group in Manchester, spoke of the dangers of a ‘fortress Europe’ attitude: In the words of His Holiness, Pope John Paul, “How can we say we welcome Christ if we close the door to the stranger in our midst? The presence among us of people from a variety of cultural and religious backgrounds is a gift for us, in that it enables us to broaden our experience of Church, to see that God calls all of mankind into one family, and to realise that the earth is given for all.” October 2003

Exile
Paul Surlis - People deprived of familiar rootedness in family, culture, tradition and geography deserve the next best thing, which is welcome, hospitality and compassionate concern in their new environment. ‘Exile’, Furrow, April 2000