Activities | History | Nurture

July and August 2026 magazine

stjohnstmarkchurchburyWednesday, July 1, 2026

Please find attached a digital version of our bumper July and August 2026 magazine. Paper copies are available in both of our churches.

This double edition includes news and updates from most of our groups and organisations. There are plenty of reflections too and information about upcoming events and activities.

The July and August 2026 magazine also has this letter from Margaret Trivasse…

Love, Welcome, Serve

“I WAS A STRANGER AND YOU WELCOMED ME” (Matthew 25:35)

I am writing this at the beginning of Refugee Week (15-21 June).  It’s an opportunity to celebrate the contribution to this country of refugees in terms of culture and contribution to national life.  I have a T-shirt on which is printed the shape of the UK and Ireland which, if you look carefully, is made up of the names of significant people who were themselves refugees.  They include, among many others, Sigmund Freud, Marlene Dietrich, Isabel Allende and the Dalai Lama.

Sadly, not all public discourse is so positive.  People come to the UK in various ways, some on work or student visas, some on UN refugee programmes and others in less formal ways. Those for whom no safe and legal routes are available but who have no option other than to place their lives and their families’ money in the hands of smugglers are those who come to seek asylum by means of the infamous “small boats”.  The impression given is that of a great influx which will overwhelm the country and pose some kind of threat.  In reality, in 2023, the Office of National Statistics noted that only 4% of total migration was by this route.

Human beingsOf course, there will be the odd bad apple, as there is in all communities, but the vast majority of people are fleeing persecution for religious or political or personal reasons, or are escaping war or absolute poverty.  For many years, I have heard the stories of people seeking asylum; these are not a faceless mob but human beings who have often suffered terrible things.  I have been moved by their tremendous courage and resilience, as well as by the post-traumatic stress many are experiencing.  And I have also been hugely impressed by the stories of faith I have heard; people who rely on God to sustain them in their suffering.  One of the first things some asylum seekers do is to find a church or mosque and will often volunteer in those places, being not permitted by law to undertake paid work.

Where do we come in?

So where do Christians come in?  Our immediate task is to welcome any strangers who come over the thresholds of our churches.  Then we are to listen, for they have so much to offer and enrich existing congregations.  I think of the vibrant Cantonese Congregation at Bury Parish Church or the Farsi Congregation at Holy Innocents in Fallowfield.  When we listen, our previous assumptions are challenged.

We then have a responsibility to challenge attitudes.  Asylum seekers and refugees are not a threat but human beings loved by God who want to work and contribute to this country.  I say this because I have heard it many times.  There are other narratives than the ones most popular in the media: check out the Refugee Council website, for example.  For a different perspective on those seeking asylum, I recommend We came by sea by Horatio Clare.  From Old Testament injunctions to care for “the alien” (eg Exodus 22:21 and Deuteronomy 14:28, 29) to Jesus’s teaching about loving our neighbour and welcoming the stranger and Paul’s assertion that all are one in Jesus Christ (eg Galatians 3:28), the Christian imperative is to love, welcome and serve.

Margaret Trivasse

[Thanks to createvista.com for the cover image]