大象传媒

This script is for guidance only. Whilst it reflects what was broadcast it has not been checked for complete accuracy. It may contain notes for the production team.

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Continuity: 大象传媒 Radio 4. At ten past eight it鈥檚 time for Sunday Worship.

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MUSIC: Brother Sister let me serve you听 (The Nation's Twenty Favourite Hymns - The Daily Service Singers - Integrity Music)

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Bishop Guli:听 Good morning and welcome to our service which this morning takes a topic of deep significance to Christians and other people of faith right across the world 鈥� that of freedom of religion and belief.

It might not touch most of our lives at all regularly here in the UK yet the subject of interfaith relationships is always relevant in our pluralist world, and it鈥檚 seen by each of us through听 the lens of our vastly varied contexts and histories.听 King Charles the Third, when he was Prince of Wales,听 drew attention to the plight not only of Christians but those of the many faiths around the world who are persecuted.

I鈥檓 Bishop Guli Francis-Dehqani. My own personal history is inextricably intertwined with my Christian faith and that of Islam, the predominant religion of my country of origin, Iran.

Persecution because of faith, or even lack of it, is widespread and a experienced by adherents of probably every religion. Today I hope, anyone calling themselves Christian would want to defend the freedom of all whatever religious tradition听 to practice their faith without hindrance or prejudice.

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MUSIC: Brother Sister let me serve you verse 3 Brother Sister let me serve you听 (The Nation's Twenty Favourite Hymns - The Daily Service Singers - Integrity Music)

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Sadly we know that in the past Christians have been by no means guilt free when it comes to persecuting or discriminating against people of other faiths or denominations. We can only be ashamed of the Christianity that fought the Crusades or which shows itself in some of the far right politics of the western world today. We certainly need to mourn all such actions and repent of anything similar happening now. For the freedom to practice any religion or belief is a basic human right.

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MUSIC: Benedictus from the Armed Man (Karl Jenkins) - Decca B00J86QTF2

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As we begin our worship today we bring before God our own grieving Royal family. We also bring before him the continuing hostilities in Ukraine, and the sense of insecurity that situation brings into our minds.听听

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MUSIC: Benedictus from the Armed Man (Karl Jenkins) - Decca B00J86QTF2 Let us pray:

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鈥淟ook with compassion, O Lord, on the whole human family, whom you have made in your image and according to your likeness.听

Open the borders of our hearts and minds, that we may long for justice and the defence of the vulnerable. Take away arrogance, fear, and hatred, that we may learn to better love you, one another, and ourselves. Break down the walls that separate us, and unite us in bonds of love.

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Amen鈥澨�听听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听听

Edited source: ()

MUSIC: Benedictus from the Armed Man (Karl Jenkins) - Decca B00J86QTF2

Although I鈥檓 a bishop in the Church of England, I started life in Iran where I was born and grew up. It was in the tiny Anglican community there that the seeds of my early faith were planted. My father was a Muslim convert from a small village in the centre of the country and by the time I was born, he was already Bishop of the fledgling Diocese of Iran; and my mother, the daughter and granddaughter of British missionaries, was herself born and raised in Iran. I lived an unusual life between and betwixt the worlds of Islam and Christianity, Persian and English, Eastern and Western influences.听听

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This unusual childhood was what I considered normal and for the most part my two worlds of school and wider society on one hand, and home and church life on the other coexisted reasonably peaceably with some occasional overlap. All that changed as the events which led to the Revolution of 1979 began to unfold. At school I began to be ostracised both by friends and teachers and at home, the church was coming under increasing pressure. Over a period of 18 months, institutions such as hospitals and schools were forcibly taken over or closed, church offices and the bishop鈥檚 house were ransacked, raided and confiscated, the church鈥檚 financial assets were frozen, one of the clergy was found murdered in his study, and my father was briefly imprisoned before an attack on his life in which he survived but my mother was injured.

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For us as a family, events culminated in the murder of my brother who was 24 at the time. His car was ambushed on his way back from work and he was shot in the head. My father was out of the country for meetings at the time and although no one was ever brought to justice we鈥檝e always understood that my brother was targeted because of his association with the church and because he was his father鈥檚 son. After the funeral, the rest of the family and I joined my father in England, assuming we鈥檇 be back home within a few weeks or months. That was not to be and having arrived as a refugee aged 14, here I still am, over 40 years later, now a British citizen. My father continued working as Bishop to Iran in exile until his retirement and dedicated his life to supporting and encouraging Christians still in Iran, working with Persians (both Muslim and Christian) in this country, and writing and translating Christian literature in Persian.

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Although my family suffered as a result of the revolution I have known Islam as a great civilization which over the centuries has gifted to the world some of the greatest scientific advances, architectural designs, poetic and literary masterpieces and spiritual insights. I have one precious photo of me with my grandfather, a Godly and wonderful Muslim man of deep faith; You can see this happy image of the two of us on the Sunday Worship webpage

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Our first reading comes from the first letter of Peter Chapter 4, a passage the bishops were reflecting on at the recent Lambeth Conference. 听听听听听听听听听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听听

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MUSIC UNDER READING: Agnus Dei from the Armed Man (Karl Jenkins) - DG 4793232

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READER:

12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13But rejoice in so far as you are sharing Christ鈥檚 sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed. 14If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory, which is the Spirit of God, is resting on you. 15But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, a criminal, or even as a mischief-maker. 16Yet if any of you suffers as a Christian, do not consider it a disgrace, but glorify God because you bear this name. 17For the time has come for judgement to begin with the household of God; if it begins with us, what will be the end for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18And 鈥業f it is hard for the righteous to be saved,听what will become of the ungodly and the sinners?鈥�

19Therefore, let those suffering in accordance with God鈥檚 will entrust themselves to a faithful Creator, while continuing to do good.听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 听听听听听听听听听听听听听

MUSIC: Agnus Dei from the Armed Man (Karl Jenkins) - DG 4793232 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听听

BISHOP GULI: It's important to note that Peter doesn鈥檛 glorify suffering for its own sake and neither does he suggest it should be endured passively. This relates to the call for Christians to act and speak for justice, wherever and whenever possible. Nevertheless, Peter also reminds his small community that they shouldn鈥檛 be surprised by the suffering they are undergoing because Christ himself suffered and in that sense suffering is the default for any Christian community. Indeed, perhaps the norm for Christian communities over two millennia is that they should expect persecution. Peter encourages them, and us, to associate any suffering we undergo because of faith, with the suffering of Christ, thereby finding comfort and even joy in its midst; in a mysterious way suffering can take us closer to Christ. This is how my father described it at the height of the Revolution in Iran: 鈥淭he way of the cross has suddenly become so meaningful that we have willingly walked in it with our Lord near us. Our numbers have become smaller, our earthly supports have gone, but we are learning the meaning of faith in a new and deeper way.鈥�

One person who has been 鈥榯hrough the fiery ordeal鈥� as the writer of the first letter of Peter puts it, is Timothy Cho, from North Korea. Timothy now lives with his wife and child in Greater Manchester but the early part of his life was very different. Left at the age of nine to fend for himself as his parents escaped the prison state Timothy himself escaped North Korea twice. The first time China returned him to North Korea, but he knew that if he was returned a second time he would be shot as a traitor to the state. 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听听

Timothy Cho 鈥� Tells his story from going to the American school in Beijing 鈥� prison 鈥� escape.

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MUSIC: Not my Will听 (David and Yvonne Lyon - Love Like No Other - davidlyonmusic.com - Al224)听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听

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Bishop Guli: Demanding total obedience, even worship of a leader like Kim Jong-un Supreme Leader of North Korea, is nothing new. The Old Testament book of Daniel chapter 3, tells of a King Nebuchadnezzar, ruler of the Babylonian empire, who made a golden statue sixty cubits 鈥� perhaps 30 metres high 鈥� and demanded everyone worship it. Those who refused were to be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire. Those of us who attended Sunday school as children will doubtless recall this colourful story 鈥� but at its heart is an account of persecution of the Jewish minority who refused to worship an image made by human hands. The story centres on three Jewish civil servants, who remained faithful to the one true God鈥�

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READER:听13 Then Nebuchadnezzar in furious rage commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought in; so they brought those men before the king. 14Nebuchadnezzar said to them, 鈥業s it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods and you do not worship the golden statue that I have set up? 15Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, drum, and entire musical ensemble to fall down and worship the statue that I have made, well and good. But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire, and who is the god that will deliver you out of my hands?鈥�

16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered the king, 鈥極 Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to present a defence to you in this matter. 17If our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire and out of your hand, O king, let him deliver us. 18But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods and we will not worship the golden statue that you have set up.鈥櫶�听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 听听听听听听听听听听听听听听

MUSIC: By the Waters of Babylon (Belshazzar's feast - oratorio..., Part 1; no.1; If I forget thee, O Jerusalem - William Walton - Warner Apex 27443942)听听

Bishop Guli: Our preacher this morning is my colleague Philip Mounstephen. Before becoming Bishop of Truro Bishop Philip was Executive Leader of the Church Mission Society. In 2019 he was invited to present an independent review for the Foreign Secretary of Foreign and Commonwealth Office support for persecuted Christians.

Bishop Philip Mounstephen 鈥� No one faith in the world today has a monopoly on pain. Far from it. The number of those who suffer today because of what they believe 鈥� or because of what they choose not to believe - is, depressingly, on the rise.

As Guli has just said, three years ago I was asked by the then Foreign Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, to lead an independent review of the way the UK Foreign Office had responded to the global issue of the persecution of Christians. I believed then, and I believe now, that Christian persecution has been significantly overlooked by many of us in the West 鈥� to our great shame.

It鈥檚 now over eight years since the Times published an editorial entitled, 鈥楽pectators at the Carnage鈥�. It started with these words:

Across the globe, in the Middle East, Asia and Africa, Christians are being bullied, arrested, jailed, expelled and executed. Christianity is by most calculations the most persecuted religion of modern times.

The marginalisation, discrimination and persecution of Christians has been sadly and shamefully overlooked. But the marginalisation, discrimination and persecution of anyone on the basis of what they believe is sad and shameful too. And yet that is just what is happening today 鈥� and on an increasing global scale.

So, yes, I was commissioned to write a report on Christian persecution, but my recommendations were deliberately framed in terms of guaranteeing Freedom of Religion or Belief for all 鈥� both because, ironically, to single one community out for protection is to make it more not less vulnerable, but also because we should afford everyone, without distinction, the same protection we ourselves would want if the tables were turned.

But let us be clear about this: the wholesale denial of Freedom of Religion or Belief in today鈥檚 world is a great evil. I didn鈥檛 come to the topic ignorant of it, but nonetheless I was shocked by the scale, scope and severity of what I found. That people should be targeted simply because they believe different things and organise their lives accordingly is a monstrous evil. That 84% of the world鈥檚 population have that freedom curtailed is simply unacceptable. We simply cannot pass by on the other side.

This is a profoundly moral issue which demands our attention. If you lift the stone of persecution and look underneath, you find some very unpleasant things: you find gang welfare on an industrial scale driven by drug crime; you find authoritarian, totalitarian regimes that are intolerant of dissent and of minorities; you find aggressive militant nationalism that insists on uniformity; you find religious zealotry and fundamentalism in many different forms that often manifests itself in violence. So if we care about those issues we should certainly care about the persecution of Christians and about Freedom of Religion or Belief more generally.听

But we can take this further. What is often overlooked in a largely secular West, which tends to underplay the significance of this phenomenon, is just how this issue intersects with others that are of major concern to countries such as the UK. Take trade as an example: plural communities in which the rights of minorities are respected are inevitably more stable and therefore make better, more secure, trading partners. Think about issues of security too: such societies which value plurality will inevitably pose less of a security risk.

Or think about other human rights and humanitarian issues which tend to be looked on with rather more seriousness in the West. Again, there鈥檚 a clear intersection between the two. If the right to Freedom of Religion or Belief falls, so many other rights fall too. Thus many religious minorities, many Christians amongst them, live in much greater poverty and suffer from greater food insecurity than do members of the majority community. Many religious minorities are also ethnically distinct as well, so there are, frankly, simple issues of racism at work here too.

So violating a person鈥檚 religious freedom frequently means a violation of other key human rights: rights such as freedom of assembly, freedom of expression, freedom from people trafficking, forced conversion, and forced marriage 鈥� which is really just legalised rape. Far too often indeed persecution leads to the very denial of the right to life itself. And yet that is the lot of so many religious minorities the world over today.

Marginalisation, discrimination, and persecution are sadly nothing new. In the Hebrew scriptures we read the story of Daniel鈥檚 three friends, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who refuse to compromise their own faith by bowing down to the Emperor Nebuchadnezzar鈥檚 great golden statue. Despite the threat of being thrown into the burning fiery furnace, they would not bow the knee.

Of course, if you know the rest of the story, you鈥檒l know that they do indeed survive the ordeal, and that - intriguingly - when Nebuchadnezzar looks into the furnace he sees that they are not alone: 鈥楲ook!鈥� he says, 鈥業 see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.鈥� Even in the furnace, they are not alone, not abandoned.

But be that as it may, there was no guarantee at all that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego would be rescued from the furnace, a fact they themselves acknowledge. There is huge risk in the stand they have taken. And yet their faith in God remains unshaken, and they will not bow down. Listen again to what they say to the Emperor.

If our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire and out of your hand, O king, let him deliver us. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods and we will not worship the golden statue that you have set up.

That is the authentic voice of faith under fire. And it鈥檚 a voice we hear in the world today too. I think of the Coptic martyrs murdered on a beach in Libya: martyred on 19th April 2015 with the name of Jesus Christ on their lips.

Christians, and others, marginalised, discriminated against, and persecuted for their faith, deserve our sympathy and our support. But they should inspire us too. They have so much to teach us about what truly matters in this world. If I were in Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego鈥檚 situation would I respond as they did? I just don鈥檛 know. But I pray for grace that I might.

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MUSIC: Dear Lord and Father of mankind (Repton - Parry -听 'From the Heart' Aled Jones with Young Aled - Castle Pulse)

Bishop Guli: Our prayers are led by Timothy Cho:

MUSIC (under): Quatuor pour la fin du temps for cl, pf, violin and cello: no.5; 'Louange a l'eternit茅 de Jesus' for Cello and Piano - Jan Wang - DG 469 052-2

Prayers (Timothy): 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听

Blessed be the Lord our God, King of the Universe who causes us to pray for the world of which we are a part; a world of pain and suffering , error and hate, prejudice and ignorance, arrogance and pride.

Lord God of compassion, hear us as we pray for those who suffer today for the horrors of the past. For survivors of the Holocaust 鈥� and other genocides - whose memory of its awfulness still haunts and hurts. Compassionate God, Hear Us

Lord God of healing hear us as we pray for those who work for reconciliation and understanding, peace, respect and tolerance. Guide organisations that foster friendship and heal hurts and bitter memories, that promote faithful encounter and honest dialogue.

Lord God of Truth, hear us as we pray for those who encourage interfaith dialogue and international peace and relations, for those who pioneer new ways of thinking and understanding, those who encourage fresh visions of a world where we respect each other鈥檚 diversity and celebrate the richness of each other鈥檚鈥� traditions, where we learn from one another and glimpse something of the Mystery that is God.

God of Truth: Hear Us

Lord God of Pity and comfort, hear us as we pray for those who are caught in the world鈥檚 conflicts; innocent men, women and children. Hear their cries, feel their pain and loss, see their desolation. God of Pity: Hear Us

God of Mercy, hear us as we pray for those who are dying, with no-one to care for them, no-one to love them, those who die and nobody knows their name. We pray you will send us to the lost and afraid, the destitute and the dying, the lonely and the oppressed. Give us grace, give us energy and give us a vision of your love and empower us to do your will.

Merciful Father, accept these prayers for the sake of your son, our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen Edited source:

MUSIC: Lord鈥檚 Prayer (Stone - 'Hail Gladdening Light - Music of the English Church' The Cambridge Singers - Collegium Records COLCD 113

Bishop Guli: Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing. And the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, be among you and remain with you always. Amen