All Christians invited to service before anti-Trident demonstration

Hinde Street Methodist Church in central London will hostecumenical service at 10:30 on 24 February.


Christians joining the anti-Trident demonstration in London on 24February are invited to an ecumenical service beforehand. HindeStreet Methodist Church Ð just north of Oxford Street Ð will holdan ecumenical service at 10:30 and all are welcome.

'Trident is a major concern for many Christians,' says Anthea Cox,Methodist Church Coordinating Secretary, 'and we want to create aspace for Christians to share their concerns about the renewal ofTrident. The demonstration is a wider event bringing together manygroups. We want to enable people to put it in a Christian contextby coming together for a short service before we go to join thegathering demonstration. It will also hopefully provide a practicalbenefit as people will have come from all over the country, andHinde Street will offer a chance to pause and reflect before goingout to make their voices heard in calling on the Government not toreplace Trident.'

Over the Christmas period, The Methodist Church distributed thebooklet Peace in Your Pocket to hundreds of bars, health clubs andplay centres. The booklet addressed peace issues, and invitedreaders to consider how we can all play a part in building peace.The United Reformed Church and the Methodist Church recentlyproduced a resource, Peacemaking: a Christian Vocation which alsocalls upon the churches to engage with issues of peace andjustice.

The Baptist Union of Great Britain, the Methodist Church and theUnited Reformed Church have spoken out frequently against thereplacement of Trident, and are supporting the goals of thedemonstration on 24 February. Says Anthea 'we all seek peace in ourown lives, and we also want to see it in the world. Issues likeTrident are complex, and different people at the demonstration willhave their own reasons for opposing its replacement. But Christianswill bring their own faith to their reasoning on nuclear weapons,and so we invite all to Hinde Street to be together in prayer andworship.'

Graham Sparkes of the Baptist Union says 'The Christian gospel isall about peacemaking. Our calling demands that we resist thecontinuing proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, howeverrisky that path may be. Our churches have spoken clearly againstthe replacement of Trident. I hope many will make their voicesheard as we seek to witness for peace in our violent world.'