The introduction to the Lutheran World Federation’s Nairobi
Statement on Worship and Culture (1996):
Worship is the heart and pulse of the Christian Church.
In worship we celebrate together God’s gracious gifts of creation and salvation, and are strengthened to live in response to God’s grace. Worship always involves actions, not merely words. To consider worship is to consider music, art, and architecture, as well as liturgy and preaching.
The reality that Christian worship is always celebrated in a given local cultural setting draws our attention to the dynamics between worship and the world’s many local cultures.
Christian worship relates dynamically to culture in at least four ways. First, it is transcultural, the same substance for everyone everywhere, beyond culture. Second, it is contextual, varying according to the local situation (both nature and culture). Third, it is counter-cultural, challenging
what is contrary to the Gospel in a given culture. Fourth, it is cross-cultural, making possible sharing between different local cultures. In all four dynamics, there are helpful principles which can be identified.
Refugee Day / Refugee Sunday
Churches around the world choose to hold a special service or prayers for refugees on or around 20 June each year – the United Nations International Day for Refugees. This could be a special event on 20 June itself, or the Sunday closest to it, which is designated as Refugee Sunday or Sanctuary Sunday.
In Scotland, the Scottish Refugee Council organises a two-week Refugee Festival on either side of 20 June. Community organisations are invited to hold special events to explore refugee issues more deeply. In England and Wales a Refugee Week is held at the same time.
Churches Together in Britain and Ireland is encouraging churches to consider what the role of sanctuary is in providing practical and spiritual response to refugees arriving in our society. You can read more about their Church of Sanctuary initiative at www.churchofsanctuary.org
The Churches’ Commission for Migrants in Europe (CCME) encourages people to use 20 June ,or the Sunday nearest to it, as a time also to remember the situation facing those on the dangerous journey to Europe and, in particular, to commemorate the lives of people who have died in the attempt to seek safety. CCME has published intercessory prayers and related resources at www.ccme.eu.
The Refugee Resource Centre for Churches (R2C2) is a partnership between two UK charities: Jubilee+ and the Boaz Trust. Their vision is to see churches increasingly play a major role in welcoming, loving and supporting refugees and asylum seekers in the UK, both through practical action and as a voice for justice, so they can integrate, flourish and play a full part in society. Their website has been set up for churches and individual Christians (of all denominations) to work effectively towards that vision.
www.refugeeresourcecentreforchurches.org.uk
Hospitality and Sanctuary for All
When preparing a service on the theme of migration, it can be helpful to reflect some of the considerations that Inderjit Bhogal makes in his resource “Hospitality and Sanctuary for
All”:
- Learn – about what it means to be seeking sanctuary, and be actively involved in awareness raising
- Embed – take positive action to make welcome and inclusion part of the values of your congregation or community, to support those seeking sanctuary and refuge, and to include them in your activities
- Share – with pride, your vision and achievements: let others know about the positive contribution refugees make to society and the benefits of a welcoming culture for everyone
Resources
Your worshipping community may already include asylum seekers and refugees in its midst.
- Provide opportunities to enable the members of the community to meet asylum seekers and refugees and to hear their stories.
- Take positive action to embed concepts of welcome, safety and inclusion.
- Create a welcoming and supportive environment.
- Develop a welcoming, hospitable, inclusive environment in which strangers feel genuinely welcome. Befriend homeless people, asylum seekers, refugees, people from the travelling communities and all those seeking sanctuary among us and, when appropriate, assist them in facing difficulties with the authorities.
- Work to build relationships of mutual respect and trust within the congregation in all its diversity
Incorporate appropriate activities into the education and social programme of the worshipping community
- Promote and listen to the stories/voices of those seeking sanctuary by inviting refugees or others seeking safety to come and speak to the congregation, and to share in other events or activities which may meet some of their needs. Work at relating this to the theology and interpretation of the religious texts used in the place of worship.
- Celebrate the contributions of refugees and people seeking sanctuary.
- Offer your premises to be used by asylum-seekers and refugees for meetings or English classes.
- Commit to wider local initiatives which aim to offer welcome, end hatred & hostility, and build cultures and communities in which all are welcome, valued and safe.
- Support organisations and events seeking to offer information and hospitality.
A suggested Order of Service including prayers can be found on page 50-57:
The Lampedusa Cross – Refugee Solidarity Liturgy
CAFOD have produced a seven stage liturgy that takes people through reflections on being forced to flee (from war, poverty and climate change, and persecution, through the journey, losing family, facing welcome or rejection and to the cross of compassion.
Ideas for creative, symbolic or meditative practices for church services
Walls
Using old cardboard boxes, build a wall across the front of the church (you may need lots of large boxes!) before the start of the service. One each box write or paint in large letters some of the issues and barriers faced by migrants and refugees: war, terrorism, conflict, discrimination, violence, climate crisis, poverty, famine, FGM, torture, trafficking, self-centredness, security – etc. You may add your own.
As a symbolic act in the service, ask people to come up and remove the wall, block by block, while reading prayers, scripture or reflections which speak of love, hope, hospitality, faith, compassion and sanctuary.
Candles
This would work well for an evening service when it is dark outside. Keep the lights of the church on a lower setting if possible. Before the start of the service light 150 tea lights and spread them all around the church. When the service starts, explain that in 2018 4,797 people died while migrating: an average of 92 per week. Get a volunteer with a timer to blow out 92 candles over the course of the service (for an hour’s service this would be around every 40 seconds). The effect should be of a bright candle lit church at the start, but with more than half of the lights extinguished by the end.
For updated/more recent statistics please see the Missing Migrants website:
www.missingmigrants.iom.int
Artefacts
Bring into the church objects that you might associate with refugee journeys: a dinghy or ribbed-inflatable boat. Orange life jackets. Scruffy tents with cooking equipment. Metal fences. And maybe bring artefacts that you might not associate with refugees: mobile phones and chargers, keys (of homes left behind), evidence of professions or occupations left behind. Set up prayer stations or reflection points at each artefact and allow your congregation to move around and stay and pray as they wish.
