The Bishop of Lichfield has called on Christians to work together to bring about the end of global people trafficking. In a taped message being played today in the 585 churches in his diocese, the Rt Rev Jonathan Gledhill said that Christians can be proud of "the decisive part that Christians played in the campaign to abolish slavery and do something together to stop the new people-trafficking round the globe."
In addition to the bicentenary of the abolition of the slave trade, Bishop Gledhill reminded congregations that 2007 sees another 200th anniversary - that of the spiritual outpouring on Christians gathered at Mow Cop in Staffordshire, which resulted in the birth of the Primitive Methodist movement - now part of the Methodist denomination.
He said: "We can celebrate with our ecumenical partners this special outpouring of God's love which particularly touched the workers of Stoke and we can pray for God to revive us in our generation."
And he urged churches to take part in "Back to Church Sunday" - a national campaign taking place in September in which churches will be inviting parishioners to give church a try once again.
Bishop Gledhill said: "I thought this a gimmick when I first heard of it, but experience all over the country seems to indicate that there are lots of people out there just wanting a proper invitation and a proper welcome to a service where the love of God is offered in a way they can grasp, for them to start coming back to church regularly."
