Government Report from the Race Disparity Unit in the Cabinet Office on disparities in the risks and outcomes of COVID-19 for ethnic minority communities. The report has been praised for its robust analysis backed by £7 million of Government funding. It identifies the factors which have driven higher infection and mortality rates among ethnic minority groups. These factors are occupation, living with children in multigenerational households, living in densely populated urban areas with poor air quality and higher levels of deprivation. For more information, please visit here.
Faith leaders urge Priti Patel to scrap planned protest crackdown and warn of ‘chilling effect’ on religious expression
We’ve signed this joint letter to express concern about the #PolicingBill’s impact on faith & belief groups and marginalised communities.
We call on the government to rethink the bill and accept amendments on protest and trespass.
The full text of the letter and list of signatories is on the Police Bill Alliance website HERE.
The joint faiths and beliefs letter on the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill has now been featured in The Independent HERE.
A Day in the Life of a University Chaplain
THE DISSENTING DEPUTIES ANNUAL MEETING IS BACK – PLEASE COME
Dating back to 1732 as one of our first, if not the first, civil rights societies, the annual meeting of the Dissenting Deputies has a long pedigree in the history of what we now call the Free Churches. Its role as a guardian of free speech and association is now assumed by the Free Churches Group and now we are an annual association..
So it is special that we are now able to meet again for our annual lecture – 6 pm Wednesday 27th October 2021 at Free Church House 27 Tavistock Square London WC1H 9HH.
We are very fortunate to have a distinguished speaker _ the Rev Dr Robert Pope, Vice Principal of Westminster College, Cambridge and he has a theme for our time:
“The greatest Terror of Mankind” – Contagion, the Church and the Providence of God
Sabina Williams sent the attached letter to our church contacts some weeks ago. We very much want you to come. But so we can get the room prepared, and to soothe our organising nerves, we also need an RSVP response before then if possible please.
Please email Sabina to confirm – sabina.williams@freechurches.org.uk or call at 0203 651 8334.
Many thanks,
Paul Rochester & Keith Salway
"We find peace in a broken place." Praying in Prisons Week
Prisons Week prayer for Saturday 16th October:
PROMISE
”Consider the ravens: they do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!” Luke 12:24
We find peace in a broken place. God’s grace can give you new strength. My wounds you heal. Lord Jesus, how great you are! They control the locks, you Lord control the clocks. Time will pass and we will be free. Amen
“Trust the past to the mercy of God, the present to his love, the future to his providence. ”
Thank you for joining us during Prisons Week for a week of prayer and reflection on the theme of Respair – the return of hope after a period of despair. You can continue to share and pray with the Prisons Week resources throughout the year and you may also be interested in the monthly prayer diary produced by our friends at Prison Fellowship.
May God bless you in your work and witness, your life and ministry. Amen
Revd Sara Iles, FCG Media Support Officer
(cover photo courtesy of Ante Gudelj at Unsplash)