Jesus and the small boats: how should we respond to refugees? - Revd Steve Tinning

Revd Steve Tinning is the Baptist Union’s Public Issues Enabler, dividing his working week between the Baptist Union of Great Britain and the Joint Public Issues Team (a partnership between the Baptist Union of Great Britain, the Methodist Church, and the United Reformed Church, helping the churches to work together for peace and justice through listening, learning, praying, speaking and acting on public policy issues). At heart, Steve is an activist, with practical theology and community-organising theory working as the foundations of a ministry of justice and compassion.
Steve was one of over 1450 Christian leaders who signed a statement to oppose the government’s illegal migration bill earlier this year. He said that the bill “represents nothing of our Christian values of compassion, hospitality and mercy. It threatens the detention of innocent children, it offers no obligation to provide safe routes for those fleeing war and persecution, and it criminalises and punishes innocent victims. We implore the government to stop stoking fear and cease their jeers of rejection and hostility. Instead, we ask and pray that our nation might set a table and sacrificially make space for the other.”

Café Théologique is hosted by the University of Reading Chaplaincy and is a space to explore contemporary issues from a theological perspective.

Timestamps:
00:00 Hello and welcome, introduction by Mark
01:10 Steve Tinning - introduction, what is JPIT?
01:52 Six Hopes
02:54 Structure of talk
03:44 Geopolitical context and statistics on refugees
05:20 UK statistics on resettlement programs, channel crossings
08:00 Current safe route schemes
12:10 Recent government policies on immigration, church opposition
12:44 Illegal Migration Bill
15:34 Church critiques of and opposition to the Illegal Migration Bill
18:27 Theological case for supporting refugees, Revd Dr Sam Wells: "The bible is founded on migration stories"
21:42 Stations of the Cross with images from refugee camps
40:22 Story of how local churches got Southend Council to take in Syrian refugees, story of the family the churches found accomodation for
45:50 Kindertransport anniversary campaign to bring 10,000 child refugees to the UK, contribution of Syrian child refugees to campaign
50:00 Family divided, difficulties of reuniting
51:40 Legal and political efforts to reunite family, eventual success
54:30 Conclusion: Safe routes save lives
55:22 Recent developments: Government push to cap safe route numbers
58:08 Close

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