The Church’s Mission and Work in the Context of Migration

A Reflection on Scripture, Theology, and Practice. By the WCRC Europe Task Force on Migration and Refugees

WCRC Europe, Task Force on Migration and Refugee, 31 October 2016

The arrival of hundreds of thousands of refugees in Europe since the summer of 2015 has created a situation that confronts the Churches across Europe. We see women and children, men and elderly fleeing from war, poverty and persecution. Every day people put their lives at stake as they seek life, peace and justice in Europe. The daily news of people drowning in the Mediterranean Sea, women and children being trafficked, terror attacks in Europe, fearful rhetoric used for political gain and pictures of war crimes and devastation in Syria seem to have become part of our accepted reality.

The Presbyterian Church in Ireland has hosted the two-day annual meeting of the fifth Council of the World Communion of Reformed Churches in Europe (WCRC Europe) at Assembly Buildings in Belfast.

A WCRC Europe delegation on a solidarity visit to the Reformed Church in Transcarpathia were deeply impressed by the work of the church in the face of immense challenges.

Are the effects of Communism still burdening our present in Europe; in terms of political relations, sociological findings and church fellowship? Does “post-communism” mean anything or is it just an idea? Is there still a gap between East and West, two decades after the fall of the iron curtain? In short – is the past of Communism still a challenge to the European community? How are we, as churches, involved in this conversation?

Rev. Cheryl Meban

WCRC global - Executive committee meeting in Dodowa, Ghana, 6-16 May 2013.

Council of WCRC Europe,

Warsaw, March 2014

Europe Covenanting for Justice

Edited by Martina Wasserloos-Strunk in cooperation with Martin Engels