Dear friends,
Looking towards our Gift Day on 11 June, today we hear from Chris Talbot : Each year, La Côte Anglican Church hosts a short series of seminars during Lent, which explore contemporary social, political and economic issues, aiming to stimulate deep thought, reflection, prayer and response among those attending. There is always an ethical, religious or spiritual emphasis, which varies from topic to topic. Themes explored in recent years have included Christian perspectives on death and dying, distorting truth and manipulating fear for political power and commercial profit, a theology of trauma, and depictions of Jesus on film.  During Lent 2023, La Côte Anglican Church hosted three seminars in the parish rooms in Divonne, entitled Impacts of the current phase of the war in Ukraine: Reflections after one year. Although the war in Ukraine had lasted more than nine years, the Russian invasion of the country on 24 February 2022 was a massive escalation in the intensity of violence and suffering.
On 28 February, Nina Kiderlin, a PhD researcher in sociology and a Research Fellow in the Centre for Finance and Development at the Graduate Institute, Geneva, explored the macro-impacts of the war in Ukraine on international diplomacy, energy supply, trade and food security.
The war in Ukraine has hugely influenced how firms do business. The second seminar, on 7 March, was led by La Côte church members Phil Clifton and Dan Weston, senior executives of international corporations, based in the Canton de Vaud. In a lively conversation, Phil and Dan examined the war’s impacts on management of human resources, procurement, supply chains, markets, corporate culture and corporate social responsibility.
The intensification of the war in Ukraine in February 2022 prompted a massive outflow of Ukrainians into neighbouring states and other European nations. How have communities receiving and hosting Ukrainian refugees been affected by the influx? How have those communities responded? The final seminar, held on 14 March, opened up these questions. It was led by Giulia Bonoldi, Managing Director of the Joel Nafuma Refugee Centre, Rome, and Chief Welcoming Officer [what a wonderful job title!] for Refugees and Asylum Seekers of the Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe.
At each seminar, the questions from participants and ensuing discussions were deeply moving and thought-provoking.
The La Côte Lenten Seminars do not aim to provide neat solutions to contemporary ethical problems, they do seek to deepen our understandings, reflections, prayer for and engagement with challenges facing humanity.
Chris Talbot  | 
