The Together Alliance March
Green Christian joined the service and march on 28 March in London. We prayed and marched for love, for hope, for unity.
Green Christian was an official supporter of the Together Alliance march in London where half a million people marched against the views of the far right, and for love, hope and unity.
The energetic and joyful service at Oasis Church, Waterloo, was so full that people had to be turned away to keep within fire regulations.
The Bishops of Edmonton and Croydon led the prayers – the leader pointed out how they showed the diversity of the movement, as one was from North, and the other from South London!
Nathan Jones gave a short address. He spoke on Jesus’ reaction to the rich young ruler in Matthew 19, that he expected him to change his behaviour, but before that, “Jesus looked on him and loved him.” And we have got to be people who love too. He quoted Martin Luther King Jr, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.”
The songs were uplifting and worshipful, but also challenging. I loved the words in Andy Flanagan’s We are blessed that seemed to be the simple solution to all the world’s problems if only we people of faith would get around to realising our raison d’etre in this world.
After the service, Clare said,
I thought that the service beforehand was special and I’m so glad I got up at 5 in order to get to London in time! The idea of putting aside anger, judgement, force and looking to build bridges and even show love is challenging (for me anyway) but so important. And it seems a reflection of Jesus in Holy Week.
People left the church to travel to where the Faiths were congregating, near the end of the march in Park Lane. I asked Green Christian member, Anna, what it was like waiting for the march to start.
Standing around for such a long time waiting for the match to start was a bit of a challenge. But it did give me plenty of time for banner reading- this was one of my favourites! It was heartening to be surrounded by so many people of like mind. When we were informed that the wait was due to numbers of marchers, well, what a cheer went up!
Margaret Roberts, who had travelled from Derby, said,
It was awesome being with so many people who, despite any differences in ideology, had joined together to represent the vast number that oppose racism and division. There were so many disparate groups there, organisations that I would not have much connection with in any other sphere but as we were together, we proved that there is unity in diversity.
What is the Together Alliance?
Together Alliance is a large and diverse coalition of organisations (including Amnesty International, Greenpeace, Choose Love, and the Muslim Council of Britain) who are taking a stand against the rise of the far right with a message of love, hope, and unity.
The Christian Bloc
Better Story convened the Christian bloc for the event. We thought that it was especially important to have Christian involvement given increasing far right appeals to Christianity.
Our bloc joyfully proclaimed Jesus’ call to love our neighbours and our enemies, and contributed to an atmosphere of peace on the day.
Banners and Placards
Our banners and placards reflected clear, core, and unifying Biblical teachings: love your neighbour, love your enemy, welcome the stranger, everyone is made in the image of God.
Comments on "The Together Alliance March"
Ruth Jarman:
Ah that's great you were there, Gillian, and sorry we missed you :)
Gillian Jones:
I was there but didn't know about green Christian. I was with my daughter in the NEU near the front of the march . I guess we left before you arrived.
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