16 September 2013
News: Church leaders to meet with front bench MPs at Party Conferences
Senior leaders from five Churches will meet with politicians at the Liberal Democrat, Labour and Conservative Party Conferences this month.
A delegation from the Baptist Union of Great Britain, the
Methodist Church, Quakers in Britain, The Salvation Army and United
Reformed Church will discuss a range of issues including poverty,
climate change, and the IF Campaign at the three Party Conferences.
Dr Daleep Mukarji, Vice-President of the Methodist Conference, has
been invited to be among the people whom Labour Leader, Ed
Miliband, will address when he delivers his party speech in
Brighton on Tuesday 24 September.
"This is an opportunity for us to build relationships with MPs and
talk about issues of common concern," said Dr Mukarji. "We may not
always agree with politicians, but we still want to talk and pray
with them. The welcome we receive from Christians and
non-Christians alike, and their willingness to talk about issues
which impact the Churches, demonstrates that not only do we have
faith in politics but that politicians have faith in faith
communities."
At all three conferences, the delegation will offer a visible
witness of support for those involved in politics, co-operating
particularly with the Christian groupings within the parties.
Church leaders will also emphasise the importance of Christian
engagement with politics.
At each of the three conferences, the delegation will participate
in a fringe event sponsored by the Free Churches, in conjunction
with the Christian groupings: the Liberal Democrat Christian Forum,
the Christian Socialist Movement and the Conservative Christian
Fellowship. The fringe meetings will each take the form of a
breakfast followed by speakers, discussion and prayer on the
Tuesday mornings of each Conference.