Power Of Welcome This Refugee Week

Bishop's statement, resources and prayers

The Right Reverend June Osborne, Bishop of Llandaff, has released a reflection celebrating the contribution of refugees in our communities and criticising new UK legislation that undermines Wales’ commitment to being a nation of sanctuary.

As part our diocesan outreach strategy, we want to establish a Welcome Church in each Ministry Area, with 'Croeso groups' to offer a welcome and support to refugees and migrants moving into the area. In our commitment as a country, church and diocese to being a place of sanctuary, please find below a variety of welcome resources and projects for churches and schools to use for Refugee Week and all year round.

On this page

• Bishop's Statement
• The Welcome Church Network
• Croeso Groups
• Refugee Week with Welcome Churches
• Schools of Sanctuary
• Prayers

For over a thousand years, Wales has welcomed people from every nation seeking new opportunities and a safe place to rebuild lives - from our industrial valleys to the communities in Tiger Bay and Butetown that transformed Cardiff into one of the most wonderfully multicultural cities in the UK. In the past year we’ve worked to welcome Ukrainians and Afghans fleeing the terrors of war and persecution.

Refugee Week offers us all, as schools, churches and communities, the perfect opportunity to come together and celebrate the incredible contribution these refugees and migrants make to our society, whilst also reflecting on the resilience of those who have experienced untold suffering as they seek safety here in Wales. However, this year has been impaired by new legislation that has criminalised many seeking safety, and just this week we’ve witnessed the first shameful attempt to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda.

In the Judgement of the Nations, Jesus challenges us to welcome those seeking safety, because when we fail to “just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.” This Refugee Week let’s rise to Jesus’ challenge. Let’s celebrate the contribution of refugees and migrants, challenge the injustices they face, equip our churches to be welcoming and supportive places, and together, pray for those still in danger and the response of our politicians.

- The Right Reverend June Osborne, Bishop of Llandaff

The Welcome Church Network are a community of churches committed to welcoming refugees and asylum seekers – there are currently over 700 churches across the UK. Churches within the network have access to online training and resources to support them in welcoming refugees, including a Wellbeing and Trauma Hub, a Discipleship Hub, a Legal Awareness Hub and a Refugees Online hub of resources. In return, these churches are added to a national referral system, through which refugees and asylum seekers can be referred to a welcoming church when the move into a new area.

Milad fled Syria and found a warm welcome in Derby from a local Welcome Church. Hear his story:

If you’re interested in exploring becoming a Welcome Church and signing your church up to the Welcome Network please contact Christoph Auckland, Senior Outreach Officer, at christophauckland@churchinwales.org.uk

Local Croeso groups will support their Welcome Church, as well as Homes for Ukraine hosts and other refugee and migrant projects, to offer a welcome and support those people moving into the ministry area. Through training provided by Welcome Churches, as well as support from Citizens Cymru and the depth of experience from our community sponsorship groups within the diocese, Croeso groups will have the skills, resources and training they need to respond to Jesus’ challenge of welcome.

If you’re interested in helping form or join a Croeso group in your area, contact Christoph Auckland, Senior Outreach Officer, at christophauckland@churchinwales.org.uk and speak to your church or Ministry Area leader.

If you’re interested in learning more about Welcome Churches they have produced a wonderful series of materials and resources for Refugee Week and Refugee Sunday, available at www.welcomechurches.org/churches/refugeesunday.

This is a powerful way to explore the incredible impact Welcome Network churches are already having on the lives of those seeking safety in the UK. We hope this can be a springboard for you to explore joining the Network and forming a Croeso group.

We have worked hard to rise to the challenge of welcome Jesus sets us in Matthew 25.31-46, whether sponsoring refugees from Syria, supporting Afghan children in our schools, or opening our homes to Ukrainians. And we’re incredibly proud of our Schools of Sanctuary within the diocese.

Schools of Sanctuary are a UK wide network of over 300 primary and secondary schools all committed to creating a culture of welcome and inclusion for refugees and people seeking asylum.

Driven by teachers, school staff, parents, governors and community groups, this network supports the thousands of young people seeking sanctuary in the UK, raises awareness of the issues facing people in the asylum system, challenges misconceptions and builds social cohesion.⁣ Two Cinw schools within the Diocese of Llandaff are recognised as 'schools of sanctuary' with six more creating a similar network this Autumn.

For more information about what Schools of Sanctuary do and how to become one visit https://schools.cityofsanctuary.org/

See what else schools are up to this Refugee Week.

With Bishop June and church leaders across the world, we continue to pray for those feeling danger and seeking safety here in Wales, and come together to pray for politicians and lawmakers as they consider policy and the impact it has on those seeking safety and sanctuary here in Wales and the rest of the UK.

Our diocesan prayer for refugees:

Lord God, be with those who flee from danger,

and who embark on the great journey to a new home.

May the guiding hands of the Father be on their shoulders,

making smooth the paths before them,

and may the shield of Christ the unconquerable guardian surround them,

defending them on every side.

Lord God, soften our hearts to the plight of migrants and refugees,

through the example of the Blessed Mary, Mother of Mercy,

who sought refugee in Egypt to protect her son, our saviour.

May the love of Christ be in our own hearts,

calling us to compassion and generosity,

and may the voice of the Holy Spirit be in our mouths,

as we speak up against the ambivalence of the world.

Lord God, help us to confess our faith in Christ through our actions

to those in need,

and may the blessing of God Almighty,

Father, Son and Holy Spirit,

be with refugees and migrants today and always.

Amen

Our diocesan prayer for politicians and lawmakers:

Heavenly Father, King of kings, Lord of lords,

look down upon our humble institutions

and replenish our British and Welsh lawmakers

with the grace of your Holy Spirit.

As they debate policies that impact the most vulnerable in our world,

may they walk humbly in the way of you son Jesus Christ,

remembering his teaching that, as we do to the least, we do to him.

In all that our lawmakers do, in Parliament and the Senedd,

may they strive not for fleeting populism,

but for the greatness of your Kingdom and the common good of all.

Unite us through your spirit in the condemnation of oppression,

mobilise us to protect the dignity of all crafted in your image,

and empower us care for all of your glorious creation,

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen