National Inter Faith Week: part 2

Among the many and varied meetings I attended during Inter Faith Week were:

Monday evening I attended a lecture organised by the Council of Christians and Jews at the House of Lords. The speaker was Shahid Malik MP, who is a minister in the Department for Communities and Local Government. After his speech he generously stayed for an additional thirty minutes, answering questions from the audience.

Tuesday evening I attended a consultation between representatives from groups in membership of the Inter Faith Network for the UK, and members of the British Humanist Association. The meeting was organised by the Inter Faith Network for the UK who together with the Department of Communities and Local Government co-sponsored Inter Faith Week, and held at Gresham College, London University. This was an important consultation and the first of its kind organised by the Inter Faith Network for the UK.

The member organisations of the Inter Faith Network include representative bodies from the Baha'i; Buddhist; Christian; Hindu; Jain; Jewish; Muslim; Sikh; and Zoroastrian communities; national and local inter faith bodies; and academic institutions and educational bodies concerned with inter faith issues. The consultation at Gresham College was an important opportunity for a meeting between people of faith and people of belief.

On the Wednesday I attended an event at the Zoroastrian Centre at Rayners Lane, Middlesex. I had previously been to other meetings at the Centre and the warm welcome and excellent food that I had experienced previously was replicated on this occasion. There were a variety of speakers, including Dr Harriet Crabtree, Director of the Inter Faith Network for the UK and Mr Warwick Hawkins who is a Civil Servant at the Department of Communities and Local Government. From the perspective of their different organisations, the success of Inter Faith Week owes much to the energy, enthusiasm and commitment of both Harriet Crabtree and Warwick Hawkins.

On the Thursday I attended an excellent evening for women at the Board of Deputies of British Jews. After some opening speeches, those present - about 100 people - went into groups considering different topics. I had previously decided to be a member of the group considering 'Women and Leadership'. It was a fascinating discussion as members from different faiths reflected on the concept of leadership in their own faiths. Some people were members of faiths that have an egalitarian theology while for others their faith had a clear hierarchy of leadership. Others present reflected on the difference between ordained and lay leaders in their faith. We also reflected on what we understood by 'leadership', and different kinds of leadership. Additionally, as women, we shared our experiences of leadership within our faiths and more widely. It was a fascinating evening that left me reflecting on several key issues that my group had raised, for example, situations where government organisations request a single representative from a faith which has an egalitarian theology and where congregations are independently organised.

On the Friday I had a new experience: I was a book! Warwick Hawkins had organised a 'Living Library' day at the Department for Communities and Local Government. [For further details of 'Living Libraries' see http://www.living-library.org//] There were 'books' who were members of the Baha'i, Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim and Zoroastrian faiths. Before the day each of the books were asked to provide a photograph and a short paragraph about themselves and what topics they would be willing to discuss. Throughout the day the books were reserved by members of the Department for Communities and Local Government who, instead of reading a paper book, had conversations with their living books. I found myself answering questions about early church history, theological issues such as inspiration of scripture, the Trinity and inter faith relations, as well as more personal issues concerning my own Christian faith and how I became involved in Inter Faith Relations. By the end of the day I was both exhilarated and totally exhausted.

For details of some of the activities other members participated in during Inter Faith Week click on 'Inter Faith News' in the menu on the right hand side of the Inter Faith Relations pages.