COMMON CONCERNS
Members of the Iona Community are committed to living out the Christian faith in the areas of social justice and peace.
We reflect and act locally, nationally and internationally in political life and the life of our churches and faith communities.
Members and Associate Members (including Young Adult Group Members) meet together to pray, reflect and support one another through the following Common Concern Networks (CCNs) listed below.
If you would like to join one or more of these CCNS visit our membership page to see if becoming an Associate Member of the Iona Community is right for you. Once you’ve joined as an Associate Member you will have full access to all the CCNs.
ENVIRONMENT
The Environment CCN is an international group with broad interests and experiences in faith and the environment.
Members of this CCN, inspired by the Iona Community Rule, act in solidarity with victims of environmental injustice, support structural change in our own countries to reduce resource consumption, and rekindle community with the whole Creation. In all of this, network members are committed to showing mercy, seeking justice and walking humbly.
Members of the Environment CCN have prepared a Rosebank Oil Field Briefing calling for the cancellation of this planned oil field.
Read the Environment CCN response to the Climate Change talks, COP28, that took place in December 2023 in Dubai.
POVERTY & INEQUALITY
The members of the Poverty and Inequality Common Concern Network are passionate about the Iona Community’s commitment to promote just social, political and economic structures in the UK and worldwide.
We meet once a month to share information on poverty and inequality issues. And we inspire each other, and the broader community to campaign and take action.
MIGRATION AND REFUGEES
The Migration and Refugees CCN is open to all who are concerned with issues to do with migration, and particularly forced migration.
Our members are focused on the reception of refugees across Europe and in the UK. But we welcome members with other interests in the area. Some of us work with or on behalf of refugees, while others are more concerned with sharing and communicating this concern across the wider Iona Community.
CHALLENGING RACISM
The Challenging Racism CCN is passionate about projects which advocate for racial justice in churches and wider society.
We seek to address the issue of white privilege, and develop strategies to challenge racism in society and large institutions.
This CCN supports Members and Associate Members of the Iona Community who are challenging racism in their life and work, finding places where racism has gone unchallenged and uncovering hidden or unconscious bias.
ISRAEL/PALESTINE
The Iona Community has a strong and long-standing commitment, through prayer, protest and the active engagement of many members, to seeking peace and justice for all in Israel/Palestine.
The Israel/Palestine CCN prays together, shares updates on developments and campaigns, leads occasional events, and offers support to those seeking to act on the Israel/Palestine public position statement . We are strongly connected to Sabeel Kairos.
We believe in pursuing a just and peaceful settlement which is in the interests of both Israel and Palestinians, and which honours the God-given dignity of every individual in the region.
Many of our Members have acted as ‘accompaniers’ through the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel.
You’ll find prayers for Israel/Palestine in our News section.
The Iona Community has signed the letters below, along with the following organisations and other church/faith leaders, calling for an end to violence:
INTERFAITH RELATIONS
The interfaith relations CCN will provide a space for nurturing openness, respect and confidence as we explore questions and issues concerned with faith and belief. We will explore ways of engaging and listening to people and groups of different faiths and beliefs, as we together seek justice and peace in our societies.
When on the 7th day of the month we pray for people of all faiths and beliefs, we are recognising that the same spirit is at work in different faith communities as well as in our own. How can we as a Community and as individuals make a significant contribution to positive interfaith relations and therefore to a more peaceful society?
The following words from the late South African missiologist David Bosch express what we hope will be the spirit in which this group operates:
God’s Spirit is constantly working in ways that pass human understanding. We do not take God to others. God accompanies us and also comes towards us… We are not the ‘haves’ standing over against the ‘have nots’. We are all recipients of the same mercy. Therefore we approach the adherents of other faiths reverently, taking off our shoes as the place we are approaching is holy ground.
LGBTQ+
The LGBTQ+ Common Concern Network enables us to encourage, inform and challenge each other, our Community and the world with regard to justice and peace, wholeness and reconciliation, for those who identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Trans, Questioning and all others who identify with the LGBTQ+ umbrella.
We spend time learning about topics of relevance to LGBTQ+ social justice from members and invited speakers, sharing news, and supporting each-other.
The Iona Community affirms this statement from Inclusive Church.
You will find a range of resources supporting the work of the LGBTQ+ CCN at www.ionabooks.com. This includes a link to our latest publication, Grace like Glitter.
If you are interested in LGBTQ+ social justice, please join us. We look forward to hearing from you so that we can move forward together.
May we find new ways to touch the lives of all.
PEACEMAKING
The Iona Community has a long-standing commitment to pacifism, campaigning and action for peace and peacemaking.
We are also deeply involved in reconciliation work. We meet regularly to inform and educate ourselves, deepen our understanding of these social justice issues, and to encourage and challenge each other in our commitments. We are also involved in campaigns and actions for peace.
We work closely with partners such as XR Peace, Reconcilers Together, and Spirituality of Conflict.
FAITH & SPIRITUALITY
Our experience of worshipping together transforms our understanding of how we relate to God, the world, and one another – through practices of prayer, through new ways of reading scripture, and through radical hospitality.
From the start of our life, the renewal of worship has been one of our core aims.
This network focusses on five threads:
Jesus said: every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.
Matthew 13: 52
