(Premiere) Bp Philip North–Resist the worldly pressure to always pick a side. Jesus shows us a better way

We meet against a backdrop of serious threats to national unity and social cohesion. One of our priests described to me a few days ago how his community has become a “town of two flags” with one half festooned with the flag of St George, the other with the flag of Palestine.

We have seen huge marches for Palestine or against immigration. We are seeing growing anger with politicians and the political establishment and the accelerated rise of populism. So many people seemed to be locked into a mood of anger. Then, three weeks ago, two people were killed in a terrorist-inspired attack on a synagogue in Manchester. 

Against such a backdrop, a world that understands only binaries demands that we take sides. But of course, for us as Anglicans, such binary choices are incredibly difficult to take. We are on the ground in every community so we hear and try to understand every voice.

We understand the desperate fear of asylum seekers driven from home, often for professing Jesus as Lord, and we want to offer a safe place.

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Posted in Church of England (CoE), CoE Bishops