Church of England baptises hundreds of asylum seekers

Church of England baptises hundreds of asylum seekers

The Church of England has christened hundreds of asylum seekers who hope to use their new-found faith to win the right to stay in England, a senior bishop has revealed.

One church alone has baptised 200 Iranian asylum seekers, according to documents placed before the Church’s parliament, the General Synod.

Many of the new converts are thought to have used their beliefs as part of asylum claims put to the Home Office and to immigration court hearings.

Reverend Mark Miller, the vicar at Stockton Parish Church in Stockton-on-Tees near Middlesbrough has assisted refugees in their asylum claims. In one case he provided a reference for an Iranian woman known as H who was appearing at a Home Office tribunal

The Bishop of Wakefield, the Right Reverend Tony Robinson, said of the new asylum seeker congregations: ‘This type of growth is exciting but costly and transitory.’

He added: ‘Helping people navigate the legal system is time-consuming for clergy, and many people choose to move elsewhere once they have leave to remain, to be close to friends and family or for work.’

The disclosure of the Church’s deep involvement in helping asylum seekers in claims for refugee status comes ahead of a debate on relations between inner city parishes and other faith groups when the Synod meets in York this w eekend.

Bishop Robinson acknowledged in a paper prepared for the Synod that the CofE’s move into asylum assistance has not pleased some members of existing congregations.

Stockton Parish Church in Stockton-on-Tees where a number or Iranian asylum seekers have been Christened

Pictured: A sign at Stockton Parish Church. Two hundred asylum seekers were baptised at the church over a five-year period

The presence of asylum seekers was a ‘great joy’ but ‘brings challenges, particularly the complex practical and spiritual support of those seeking asylum in the UK, and balancing the needs of new believers with those of existing congregation members’, he said. 

The role of the CofE in bringing asylum seekers into the pews has been developed as part of its Presence and Engagement Programme, designed to assist clergy in parishes where more than one in ten of the population follow a non-Christian faith.

The 200 Iranian asylum seekers were baptised over a five-year period in a parish church in Stockton-on-Tees near Middlesbrough, in an area where migrants who come into the country and apply for refugee status are housed while their claims are considered.

Large numbers of asylum seekers are also reported to have been baptised in cities including Stoke-on-Trent, Nottingham and Manchester. Christianity was driven underground in Iran after the 1979 revolution brought radical Islamic clerics to power. Independent estimates say there may be 40,000 people who attend clandestine churches in the country.

Church that christened 200 Iranians in five years 

Two hundred asylum seekers were baptised over a five-year period in a church in Stockton-on-Tees near Middlesbrough.

All were Iranians, who currently make up the biggest national group of people ent ering Britain to ask for refugee status.

The support that Stockton Parish Church offers is advertised on a sign next to the front door, alongside its service timetable, and there are posters inside. The interest of Iranians asylum seekers has transformed the congregation of the church.

Eight years ago churchgoers numbered fewer than 20, but there are now 240, over a half of whom are Iranians. The church places messages in Farsi on its Facebook page and holds events in the language.

One man, who arrived from Iran five years ago and attends the church once or twice a week, said: ‘The [church’s] asylum centre will help with asylum forms. If you have a problem here, say if you have to go to court of something, you can just go and speak to the vicar and he will help.’

The church’s vicar, the Reverend Mark Miller, has assisted refugees in their asylum claims. In one case he provided a reference for an Iranian woman known as H who was appearing at a Home Office tribunal.

He wrote: ‘My own observations of [H] suggest that she does indeed believe in trusting God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Her participation in Sunday services is not passive, but active.’

In this case a previous refusal of asylum was overturned, with the tribunal believing her evidence about religious persecution in Iran.

Mr Miller declined to comment.

Western evangelists say the clerical dictatorship has driven large numbers of people towards Christianity, and the highest estimates claim half a million converts are in the country.

Nearly 4,000 Iranian asylum seekers came to Britain in the year to March. Advice for clergy fr om the CofE says Iranian Christians arriving in this country may not have been baptised previously because the ceremony was too dangerous to carry out in Iran.

‘Some of those reported as converts receiving baptism have in fact been Christians for years in Iran but have not been able to mark this in a public way,’ the guidance notes.

When this is the case, baptism in an English church is ‘appropriate’, clergy are advised. The document adds: ‘There are complex reasons why people might not continue to attend church following their baptism â€" this is not necessarily a sign that their testimony was inauthentic.’

The Presence and Engagement Programme has supplied guidance to clergy on giving support to asylum seekers. Clergy are told they should record church attendance records of converts and if there is a tribunal hearing may attend court to give evidence that the conversion i s genuine.

Supporters should also come to court â€" but they are warned that ‘judges are likely to react negatively if there is anything like an organised demonstration’.

Where someone has already had an asylum application turned down, a conversion to Christianity may allow a new claim, clergy are advised. 

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