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For the final e-bulletin of the year – a double issue: a Christmas edition, and some of the best of the Iona Community e-bulletin, 2009 …
In this edition:
The following two features ran in the e-bulletin earlier this year. Considering their power and the times we are living in, they are repeated here …
UNITE AGAINST FASCISM, by Philip Jakob
On 28 March 2009 the Diocese of Hallam Justice and Peace Commission held a meeting of its parish contacts in Wickersley near Rotherham. During the meeting folk spoke about the European Elections on 4 June 2009 and the possibility of the British National Party (BNP) gaining power. Philip Jakob, Director of Music for the Cathedral and Diocese of Hallam, was asked to provide a Christian response to this threat … Read it here.
A REFLECTION ON WORKING WITH AN ASYLUM SEEKER: MICHAEL'S STORY,
by John Prysor-Jones
John Prysor-Jones is a Specialist Psychotherapist in the NHS and does unpaid counselling for an inner-city counselling and training charity. In this reflection on working with Michael he writes:
'As he recounted his story, his first and most immediate concern was the way he had been treated by the immigration authorities on arrival in the UK. As he spoke his speech became faster and there was growing strong emotion behind his words. He was angry. It seemed that this experience was uppermost in his mind rather than what had happened to him back home.
I found myself becoming tense as Michael recounted his experience. I was in touch with anger, both his and my own. I managed to hold it in during the session. I did have a strong feeling of wanting to fix things for him. After many of these sessions, I was totally exhausted. I found myself thinking that I was ashamed of my country for the way he was treated …'
AN IONA CHRISTMAS, by Neil Paynter
'There’s a ‘house party’ on Iona at Christmastime. Volunteers come from all over the world to welcome guests, some of whom have been going through very tough times all year.
I remember a party we had once in the Abbey common room at the end of one of those weeks, following a Communion service in the Michael Chapel. It was like the whole world was in that room – folk from America, Poland, Wales, Pakistan …'
More
THE RETHINK TRIDENT CAMPAIGN
With Britain facing its biggest economic crisis since the Second World War and much debate on public spending levels and priorities, the country can ill-afford to be spending in excess of £76bn on replacing Trident with a new generation of nuclear weapons …
More
GAZA FREEDOM MARCH
CHRISTMAS SERVICES AT ALL HALLOWS BY THE TOWER, LONDON
THE 2010 WEEK OF PRAYER FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY
Information and resources
BLOCKADE ALDERMASTON, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2010, Trident Ploughshares
The Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston is in the process of building a new generation of nuclear bombs for the UK. Trident already endangers us all, encourages proliferation and undermines international law. We don't want new nukes we want disarmament now.
Please come and join in the blockade …
THE IONA COMMUNITY'S 2010 ISLANDS PROGRAMME
THE GROWING HOPE APPEAL: THE HOME STRETCH
HOLY CITY – REVISED STANDARD VISIONS: IMAGINING A NEW WORLD
John Bell and the Wild Goose Resource Group have announced an exciting new series of Holy City events for 2010 …
More
A CHRISTMAS EVE PRAYER, by Peter Millar
A PRAYER FOR THE NEW YEAR, by Kathy Galloway
More
THE WORD IS MADE FLESH: PAINTINGS BY RUTH GOODHEIR
Paintings and words to meditate on at Christmastime
More
This month, news from Community folk in Switzerland, America and Edinburgh …
A SHAMEFUL DECISION, a reflection by Reinhild Traitler in Zurich
On November 29, 2009, Swiss voters supported an initiative launched by the right-wing Swiss People’s Party that will prohibit the construction of minarets in Switzerland.
Member Reinhild Traitler reflects upon this ruling, and writes: 'What is needed now is an effort to build trust and to take a fresh look at the common future. Muslims as a religious community are here to stay and to practise their religion in the framework of Europe’s secular and democratic societies. It will be an urgent task to explore together what this implies for all and what measures are needed not to tumble into a 'clash of civilisations' and into a new type of religious conflict in Europe … It is my conviction that the Iona Community needs to take up this issue with more vigour and make it a priority in the years to come.'
A LETTER FROM AMERICA, by John Dillon
John Dillon, President of the Iona Community New World Foundation, muses on the health care debate in the US, Lockerbie, the power of the Christian Right in America and Christian principles …
DEVELOPING A GRAND NARRATIVE: A REPORT ON THE EDINBURGH & FIFE PLENARY,
by Jim Black
THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS, by Carol Ann Duffy
TWO ESSENTIAL COLLECTIONS FOR LENT AND EASTER: Stages on the Way, by the Wild Goose Resource Group; and Eggs & Ashes, by Ruth Burgess and Chris Polhill
PLUS TOM GORDON'S NEW BOOK, A BLESSING TO FOLLOW: CONTEMPORARY PARABLES FOR LIVING
BREAD, by Molly Harvey
More
Find out about Holy City worship events, about Peter Macdonald's work and about other Community events and gatherings …
More
FOLK AGAINST FASCISM
CHRISTMAS MUSIC WITH A MESSAGE –
Jackson Browne's 'The Rebel Jesus', Willie Nelson, and Joan Baez
HOPES FOR THE WORLD FOR THE NEW YEAR
What are your hopes for the world for the new year? Send your thoughts to the e-bulletin to share with other members, associates and friends across the globe …
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The Iona Community is a charity registered in Scotland No SC003794.
All banner photos © David Coleman, except 'Calendar', taken by Neil Paynter, and 'Words, Words, Words …', which is a photo by David Coleman of an artwork by Robert Overman Hodgell (1922-2000); Hodgell image copyright the artist or assignee.
Views expressed in the 'Iona Community e-bulletin' are not necessarily the policy of the Iona Community, but the Community seeks the exchange of thoughts and ideas as a basis for finding common ground.
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