Interested in the emerging European Network on Religion & Belief?  You’re in excellent company.

Frugal lunch but sparkling company at Europe House

People from over 30 organisations met at LBFN’s Interfaith Week event at Europe House yesterday.  Those who stayed on to network were pleased to meet Michael Shackleton, Head of the European Parliament Information Office, who was showing a visitor a striking portrait of Churchill.

Here are some photos – the programme can be downloaded here, you can see the clip from Plain Tales of the Hijab here and the Limmud film is here.

Navleen Kaur & Rachel Heilbron

Phil Rosenberg & Arzoo Ahmed

Catriona Robertson, Mansoor Habib, Jon Dal Din (hidden), Hannah Wallace & Steve Miller

Revd David Rayner, Revd Andrew Moughtin-Mumby & Tarsem Bhogal

Rabbi Larry Becker, Revd Richard Jones & Canon Giles Goddard

Suggestions for the new network and launch next year include:

• local-to-local links
• tackle racial and religious hatred
• marketplace so that Europe-based groups can find each other
• improve the competence of government institutions in dealing with religion & belief (explanation of terms)
• model effective ways of bringing people of different traditions together
• involve young people & youth groups
• promote effective education on religion & belief
• ensure a proper space for women
• facilitate conversations between social justice work and academic & theological research
• concern about the far right
• acknowledge complexity and the different historical contexts across Europe
• celebrate the wide variety of religion & belief traditions in Europe today
• a convivial evening event at the launch, bringing together people of all faiths and none

If you have any suggestions or ideas, please let us know asap.  The next planning meeting in Brussels is on 8th December – LBFN and All Faiths And None will be present.