The Teahouse, made up of clergy and ordinands from across the country, are meeting in person for the first time at a Eucharist service in Southwark Cathedral and later in Chinatown in London as well as attending Evensong at St Martin-in-the-Fields. The group was founded by Revd Mark Nam (see photo), a curate at St Anne’s church in Oldland and United Church in Longwell Green, Bristol, who is also the Diocese of Bristol’s Minority Ethnic Vocations Champion. Revd Mark said the launch marked a ‘significant’ moment in the life of the Church. People of Chinese heritage make up 0.2% of stipendiary clergy in the Church of England, according to the latest statistics. “The aim of The Teahouse is to support and empower clergy with Chinese-heritage in the Church of England by promoting their presence in all structures of the Church, creating connections and providing information and resources,” he said. “I hope that in the years to come, the Teahouse will have a real impact on the life of the church and the wider community in helping to reflect the diversity in our country.”The Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, said: “I am absolutely delighted to see the formal launch of the Teahouse group. What a wonderful development in our journey towards becoming a church that truly reflects and values the great diversity of life in modern Britain. Seeing groups like this come forward fills me with hope.” The Dean of Manchester, Rogers Govender, who is Chair of the Committee for Minority Ethnic Anglican Concerns, a Committee of the Archbishops’ Council, welcomed the launch of the Teahouse. “We are deeply encouraged by the launch of the Teahouse network. We thank God for the hope that these clergy represent for the Church of England, in our efforts to truly welcome and value the great gifts we are brought by those from minority ethnic heritage, both in our clergy and congregations and in our wider community. “Finding ways to support networks and communities of Chinese-heritage and East Asian clergy and laity has been identified as one of our key CMEAC objectives. We hope to work closely with Teahouse among other partner networks, to fulfil this commitment.”
The Church of England must not repeat its lack of welcome to the Windrush generation when thousands of Hong Kong Chinese people move to the UK in what could be the largest planned migration for decades, say clergy of Chinese heritage.Many of those who arrived in the UK from the Caribbean in the 1950s and 60s were discouraged from attending or even turned away from Anglican churches. Last year, Justin Welby, archbishop of Canterbury, spoke of his shame at the C of E’s record of racism.“We don’t want the church to repeat its mistakes by neglecting the needs and desires of people coming here from Hong Kong,” said Reverend Mark Nam, a Bristol-based curate of Chinese heritage. “I’ve read many harrowing testimonies [of the Windrush generation]. We want the C of E to be ready and welcoming to everyone this time. We need to learn from history.”The Home Office earlier this year received 34,300 applications for a new visa for people in Hong Kong seeking residency in the UK in just two months. More than a million people with British national overseas (BNO) status could arrive in the UK in the next five years, according to official estimates.The UK government has said people with BNO status and their immediate families can apply for entry visas valid for up to five years, and eventually apply for citizenship. The programme was launched in response to Beijing imposing a harsh new national security law in the former British colony.About 600 UK churches of different denominations have signed up to be “Hong Kong Ready”, committing to welcoming Christians from Hong Kong into their church communities. One in 10 of new arrivals is estimated to be Christian.Later this year the C of E’s committee for minority ethnic Anglican concerns (CMEAC) will host a conference on how parishes can welcome people arriving from Hong Kong.On Monday a support group for C of E clergy of east Asian heritage is being launched with a eucharist service at Southwark Cathedral, presided over by Canon Andrew Zihni, who was born and grew up in Hong Kong. The Teahouse has been set up to create connections between the 0.2% of paid clergy who are of Chinese or east Asian descent and “to empower them at all levels of the church”, said Nam.Born in Newport, south Wales, Nam spent much of his childhood in Hong Kong. When his family returned to Wales when Nam was a teenager, he experienced racist abuse at a school where he was the only pupil of Chinese heritage.“When the Black Lives Matter movement kicked off last year, I was asking, ‘Where are the east Asian voices in the church?’ We were invisible. None of us knew of each other’s existence,” he said.He was also concerned about the sharp increase in hate crime against east Asian communities last year after the Covid pandemic took hold, fuelled by former US president Donald Trump’s repeated references to the “Chinese plague”.Rogers Govender, the dean of Manchester and chair of CMEAC, welcomed the launch of the Teahouse. “Finding ways to support networks and communities of Chinese heritage and east Asian clergy and laity has been identified as one of our key objectives,” he said.
The parish priest of Keyham has said he would like his church to do more to support mental health work in the community.Five people, including a three-year-old girl, were killed in a mass shooting in the Plymouth suburb on Thursday, before the 22-year-old gunman, Jake Davison, turned the gun on himself.Father David Way led prayers for the victims: Maxine Davison, Sophie Martyn, Lee Martyn, Stephen Washington and Kate Shepherd during the Sunday service at St Thomas’ Church.He also prayed for peace for their killer, who lived locally and had expressed feelings of anger and extremism on social media.Speaking after the service, Father David said: “At the moment there are a lot of wounded people about, like St Thomas we need to reach out and touch them so as to show God’s love and our love for them.“We want people to know that we are here, particularly at this time I would like to see us helping people with mental health issues.“I would be very interested in talking to any support groups that might like to use our building.”Two candles, lit during Friday night’s vigil for the victims at Plymouth’s North Down Crescent Park, were placed at the front of the church for the service, alongside floral tributes.A special prayer for Keyham, written by the Bishop of Exeter, was read out. The Prayer of St Francis, Make Me a Channel of Your Peace, was also sung.Father David said the sentiment of the song was particularly relevant and it was important for people to avoid “a cycle of anger” as they processed what had happened.Ben Otley, a licensed lay worker for the parish, said “I think what has happened highlights the importance of a parish church in a community to support that community.“We have been able to invite people to come and have tea and coffee, to light a candle, we have been here to talk, to be a reassuring presence.”
This Sunday our joint Holy Communion service is at Dunsfold Church when we will have a special celebration.We will commemmorate our patron St Mary at our 10am service. We hope you can join us. The service will be conducted by Reverend Rutton Viccajee.If you can't be with us at church you can join us via Zoom by clicking on the link below.https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83490829622?pwd=TlNtRiszUHN3ZjFtYVV0bWRZNzZVZz09Meeting ID: 834 9082 9622</div>Passcode: 386481
