Category Archives: UK

Sheffield gathering for local practitioners

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IFN headerNot in London, but a chance to get together with local practitioners from across the country: a day conference on Thursday 26 March at St Mary’s Conference Centre, Bramall Lane, Sheffield S2 4QZ, organised by the Inter Faith Network for the UK.

Bessie White (Hounslow Friends of Faith), a long standing member of LBFN and our peace-building social lab, is one of the speakers.  Download the full programme here.  There are three workshops:

  • getting the message across (communications)
  • funding and resourcing local work
  • developing and maintaining programmes that work well for your area

The event is free and is open to all local inter faith groups.  Book a place by emailing IFN’s Hannah Cassidy with a booking form.  Download the booking form here.

Church of England Synod

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cmeacLBFN’s Convener is speaking at a fringe meeting “Mind The Gap: how to bring a radical new approach to local community involvement: transforming outcomes of historically excluded communities” at the Church of England’s General Synod this weekend.

The panel has been organised by the Committee for Minority Ethnic Concerns.  Speakers include Wandsworth Community Empowerment Network’s Malik Gul and Lankelly Chase CEO Julian Corner.  It will follow a Synod debate on the Common Good, including a talk by Jim Wallis from Sojourners, USA.

If you are in York this weekend, please join us!  Download the flyer here.

Inter Faith Network news | International Day of Peace

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IFN logoHere is the Inter Faith Network’s August bulletin, which includes plenty of local news & opportunities in London, including

  • World Congress of Faiths’ annual Younghusband Lecture (19 August)
  • South London Inter Faith Group’s lunch (29 August)
  • Faiths Together in Lambeth interfaith walk (7 September)
  • Westminster Cathedral Inter Faith Group visit to the Jain Temple in Potters Bar (10 September)
  • Churches Together in Britain & Ireland conference on 12 September
  • Ride & Stride (Heritage of London) on 14 September
  • European Days of Jewish Culture and Heritage15-29 September
  • Hounslow Friends of Faith women’s discussion on wealth on 25 September
  • Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe and the School for Oriental & African Studies’ exhibition The Everlasting Flame: Zoroastrianism in History and Imagination from 11 October
  • One World Week 20-27 October
  • Mitzvah Day 17 November
  • Inter Faith Week 17-23 November
  • and opportunities at 3FF and MUJU

There are also items on Multi Faith Spaces and the International Day of Peace.

Remember to keep 6 November 4pm free for LBFN’s theology for practitioners event on Multi Faith Spaces.

Plans for peace-building activities on 20 & 21 September are gathering pace, building on the pioneering Olympic Truce work of the London Peace Network last year.

If your local mosque (on Friday 20 September) or synagogue (on Saturday 21 September, which falls within the Feast of Sukkot) would like to take part this year, inviting in visitors to share messages of peace, please contact LBFN. Equally, if you would like an invitation to a mosque or synagogue in your borough on those days, please let us, or your local faith forum, know.  Flights for Peace across the Thames are also a possibility . .

September 21st falls in a Sunday next year, so it will be the churches’ opportunity to open their doors.  Sermon notes for all three religious traditions are being prepared this year.

If you are planning activities which are open to people across London, just let LBFN know and they will be added to the blog.

Street grooming

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caase photoAmidst the concern of many of us about organised street grooming and the sexual exploitation of vulnerable children and young adults, a new coalition has been launched.

The Community Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation brings together religious and human rights groups, including the Muslim Council of Britain, Church of England, City Sikhs Network and the Christian Muslim Forum and is led by the Islamic Society of Britain and HOPE not hate. 

“CAASE believes that local and national grassroots and faith organisations are often best-placed to reach out into the communities most beset by this problem. 

Working across child protection services, with local authorities, schools, faith communities and the police, CAASE will develop a proactive response to the growing problem of on-street grooming, raising awareness, educating and developing community-led responses.”

There is more information on the London Peace Network website, but please contact CAASE to see how your religious group or faith forum can support this important work.

Pakistan Calling

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vimeoEnjoy watching the short film we made in Pakistan – the last of our Olympic Truce projects funded by the Foreign & Commonwealth Office.

We’re delighted it’s been included in the Royal Society of Arts Pakistan Calling programme.

Pakistan Calling is a platform for films showing links between civil and cultural organisations and communities in Pakistan and the UK.  Pakistan Calling aims to build community trust in the UK, and to support the creativity and energy of the British Pakistani diaspora and others working between Britain and Pakistan.

pkcalling_flagsThe film is on LBFN’s vimeo site as well.  You’re welcome to download it to use as a discussion starter or just to show local communities and religious leaders in Pakistan in ways not often portrayed in the popular media.

We’ll be following up our 2012 work with the FCO and with the Department for International Development, linking local religious and community organisations with the public sector in smart and strategic ways.  The London event was inspiring and threw up a number of possibilities which could include diaspora links with several other countries – let LBFN know if you have ideas to contribute on this.

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Rt Hon Justine Greening MP (centre) being presented with a World Peace Tartan scarf at the London event of LBFN’s Minority-Majority UK-Pakistan project last month, hosted by the Wandsworth Community Empowerment Network. The Bishop of Lahore is on the right of the picture.  Sadiq Khan MP also spoke at the event.

FridaySaturdaySunday

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Here’s something for those who enjoyed our Multi Faith Spaces event in July.

Three architects (Christian, Jewish, Muslim) who designed a beautiful and practical space to be used separately by the three religious communities – and open to the public at other times – have made a short film.  It is currently showing at Three Faiths Forum’s Urban Dialogues show (closes 1st December).

Could a temporary version be part of a festival, they ask – Greenbelt?  Limmud?

 

Countering extremism

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A new booklet, Our Faiths and Our Shared Futures, has been produced by Faith Matters and may interest people working in community safety &/or concerned about violent extremism.

It’s been researched locally, in Derby, and supported by Derby’s Community Safety Partnership and the University’s Multi-Faith Centre.

Citizenship – European Jews, Christian & Muslims

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Jews, Christians and Muslims in Contemporary Europe – virtual course from Cambridge starts January 2010.

Focusing on the historical and cultural background and issues of citizenship, this course will give you a deeper understanding of relations between Jews, Christians and Muslims and their social and political impact in contemporary Europe. You will take three modules (history, culture, citizenship) taught online at an academic level equivalent to that of final-year undergraduate study.

Only covers Abrahamic traditions, but looks like a fascinating course for people interested in citizenship, participation and ‘engagement’.  It costs £650 and the deadline for applications is 30th November.