SALT OF THE EARTH

The resources for the 2016 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity are available on the CTBI website.

Please click here to go to the resources.

Following the Sousse shootings, Radio Alba with Glasgow Churches Together have produced a 13-minute audio Service for Tunisia with Church of Scotland, Roman Catholic and Scottish Episcopal Church contributions. A service sheet and dedicated prayer are also available.

The service can be found on the Glasgow Churches Together website, here

The prayer for Tunisia can be found, here

Over 20 million people worldwide live in slavery today. It is not something that only happens in distant lands – it happens here and now in Scotland. People are forced to live in appalling conditions. They are deceived into working long hours in the fishing industry, or in the fields, in hotels and restaurants, in brothels and in private homes.

In Luke, chapter 4, we are told that Jesus said that he was here, among us, 'to set the oppressed free.' The Scottish Churches' Anti-Human Trafficking Group, made up of representatives from all the major denominations in Scotland, has been campaigning for years against the awful crime that is human trafficking.

In 2015, the SCAHT Group is launching its RE:Value project, which invites you to help us raise awareness of human trafficking. At the Edinburgh Festival in August, the Group will be running a series of events in partnership with Stop the Traffik and Just Festival. These will include hosting the UN GIFT boxes, which have previously visited Glasgow for the Commonwealth Games, street theatre, film showings and discussions.

If you would like to learn what you can do to help stop trafficking and are interested in becoming involved with RE:Value at the Edinburgh Festival, the SCAHT Group will be running some information sessions to which all are welcome.

The details can be found on the attached files – a leaflet and a poster. We also attach a short powerpoint presentation that can be displayed before or during a service.

Preparing for the UK General Election

Churches Together in Britain and Ireland have just released a set of resources for the forthcoming 2015 UK General Election.

CTBI are delighted to announce that the final versions of CTBI's general election resources – including the 2020 Vision of the Good Society discussion document (full and summary versions) and Guide to organising a local Hustings – are now available. Welsh language versions will also be available in due course.

CTBI's special General Election website – http://ctbielections.org.uk is now live.

On this site you will be able to download Hustings briefing; register details of your own event and search for events happening near you. The website also contains a range of election related resources, including the '2020 Vision of the Good Society', as well as briefings and events from member churches and others.

Full details on the CTBI UK General Election Resources can be be found here. 

This interactive workshop aims to give an understanding of the processes people have to go through when seeking sanctuary in the UK and, crucially, how that experience might feel. Rather than simply being presented with the facts, participants are given the opportunity to discover them in a way which encourages them to internalise the information and empathise with those involved.

All the stories are based on real people and events, mostly told at the Independent Asylum Commission hearings www.humanrightstv.com/iac. They have been selected to represent a balance of backgrounds, nationality and gender, and their outcome reflects the overall success rate of those who seek sanctuary in the UK.

To download the resource, Seeking Sanctuary, please click here.

Worship resources for Remembrance Sunday (9th November 2014), Advent 2014 and the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (January 2015) are now available on the website of Churches Together in Britain & Ireland (CTBI): www.ctbi.org.uk