,,When God recommends guests and sojourners to them ...''

At its meeting on 12-13 April in Budapest, Hungary, the WCRC European Area Council adpoted the final report of the Task Force on Migration and Refugee. On behalf of the Task Force on Migration and Refugees, the final report was presented by Dr. Joshua Ralston, Lecturer in Muslim-Christian Relations at the School of Divinity, University of Edinburgh, who invited the council members to think critically of how churches can challenge the theological and biblical justifications used by some churches and members of the public to argue against working with refugees and migrants. After the presentation, the council members had a chance to share their thoughts in small groups. During the plenary session, the Council decided to accept the suggestions for further actions that were offered as ideas for future work of the new Steering Committee. The proposed actions are as follows: 1) to improve Christian-Muslim relations by increasing cooperation and dialogue with the Middle East partners of the WCRC, and also learning from the experiences of other WCRC European partners in their cooperation with Muslims. This can entail formal dialogues between Reformed ministers and Muslim imams, local partnerships around shared action in civil society, 2) to continue discussions on integration, and encourage focus on integration and inclusion of migrants in European communities, attending especially to the dynamics of cultural and religious differences, and 3) to react to the increasing xenophobia within our communities through dialogue and discussion of political messages, with special focus on “Christian identity in secular Europe,” and finding space to confront right wing parties and populist ideologies even within our churches, all taking into account the current political climate within Europe. 

PDF-Report