Press Releases
Church of Ireland Archbishops to address Immigration Conference
The Archbishop of Armagh, Most Revd Alan Harper and the Archbishop of Dublin, Most Revd Dr John Neill, will be keynote speakers at the Hard Gospel Conference on Immigration, entitled ‘A Pilgrim People’, taking place on 18th and 19th January 2008, in the Emmaus Retreat Centre, Swords, Co Dublin. Other speakers include the Republic of Ireland’s Minister for Integration, Mr Conor Lenihan TD, as well as a number of clergy from outside the EU serving in the Church of Ireland.
The conference will include a trip for delegates to the Mosney Accommodation Centre, in Julianstown, Co Meath, where delegates will see the work of the Meath and Kildare Diocesan Social Inclusion Group. There will also be a number of parish materials launched at the event, such as the Church in Society’s Embracing Difference book, multi-lingual ‘welcome’ posters and Select Vestry questionnaires on integration guidelines for parishes. The conference will also feature the world premiere of ‘All the loves’, which was written by Roddy Cowie. This new composition was the winning entry in the Hard Gospel hymn-writing competition and it will be performed by the Discovery Gospel Choir.
‘A Pilgrim People’ is the culmination of a number of Diocesan consultations on immigration, which took place all over the island. In response to the key concerns raised at these consultations, there will be workshops on the following themes; ‘Guidelines for Ecumenical and Inter-Faith Events and Dialogue’, ‘Responding To the Needs of Migrants’, ‘Ten Key Integration Guidelines for Parishes’ and ‘Positive Approaches to Integration in Schools’.
The conference costs £10/€15 for day visitors and £20/€30 for an overnight residential. A sign-up sheet is available on the Hard Gospel website.
For further information, please contact:
Philip McKinley
Dublin-based Hard Gospel Project Officer
Church of Ireland House
Church Avenue
Rathmines
Dublin 6
Mob: +353 (0)87 132 5531
E-mail: Philip McKinley
Visit our website at www.hardgospel.net
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