General Secretary's Weekly Letter

February 22, 2013


Dear Friends,

“Even if you are exiled to the ends of the world, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there he will bring you back.”  (Deuteronomy 30:4)

According to the World Council of Churches, there are nearly 12 million people around the world who are not considered a national by any state. 

Reading that statistic in a recent press release from the World Council was one of those shocking reminders of how much I take for granted, that other people aren’t able to take for granted.  I’ve lived in a lot of different parts of Canada, and travelled to some other parts of the world, but I’ve never for a minute had to worry about what country I belonged in.  I’ve never had the sense of not belonging anywhere.

The press release from the World Council of Churches was about an international consultation on stateless people that will be held in Washington, D.C. next week.  I read about that just the day before seeing Friday’s headline story in the Toronto Star which said the City of Toronto is becoming the first city in Canada to be declared a sanctuary for stateless people.  By that they mean that “non-status” Toronto residents (estimated at 200,000), will be eligible for municipal services regardless of their immigration status.  It was good to read a news item that makes me proud of Toronto.

“May there be no breach in the walls,* no exile, and no cry of distress in our streets.”  (Psalm 144)

Blessings,
Nora

The General Secretary’s letter is distributed to staff at the General Council Office and colleagues across the United Church. If you are receiving this you may also want to see Moderator Gary Paterson’s blog. Visit www.garypaterson.ca and select "Follow" in the lower right to get an e-mail notice whenever he has a new post.

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