Christians and Muslims working togther to engage with the wider community

Every year in association with Balham and Tooting Community Association (BATCA) Gatton VA Primary School and St Augustine's Church in Tooting host a fun day which raises thousands of pounds for the local St George's hospital. It's always fun to close a road and drag a fire engine but this is a true celebration of how communities can come together for the greater good.

Pope's Senior Advisor on interreligious dialogue to visit London

All people of good will are cordially inviteed to join representatives of different religions, who are coming together on the occasion of teh visit to England of Cardinal Tauran, the Pope's senior advisor on interreligious dialogue, to offer prayres  for peace in tehir differnt traditions, and to bear witness to their longing for a more just and peaceful world.

Thursday 13th June 16.30 for 17.00
Westminster Cathedral Hall SW1P 1QH

May Update

NEWS

The International Imam Hussain Council has seen fit to honour the PEN Coordinator with an award for her contribution to Inter Faith relations. It was a real honour to attend the Syeda Fatima Interfaith Conference at the House of Lords and receive the award from Lord Ahmed. Friends and colleagues Zahra Imame (Christian Muslim Forum), Debbie Damon (Three Faiths Forum), Siriol Davies (Diocese of Southwark) and Zahra Haid, were also all honoured. The conference looked at the role of women in the Abrahamic traditions, hearing about Fatima herself, Mary (who appears in the Muslim and Christian traditions) and Miriam (from the Jewish tradition).

Theos has revamped its website. The bottom right hand corner has a useful tab to their Media Monitoring section – a really handy way to keep up with the most important religion stories in the media. Their latest report ‘Is there a Religious Right Emerging in Britain?’ is by The Contextual Theology Centre’s own Andy Walton. Watch that space for another CTC colleague, David Barclay’s research due out shortly.

Also watch for the new Contextual Theology Centre website.

Better off without them? Report of a pilot study into the proportion of voluntary sector welfare projects organised by churches and other faiths has recently been published. Written by Elizabeth Simon for the London Churches Group on Social Action it is available from their website or downloadable here


Last but by no means least; Congratulations to The Greenwich Peninsula Chaplaincy on its tenth birthday! Celebrations take place on 5th June. Read their latest news letter

EVENTS

Wednesday 15th May Sister P&E centre, Bradford Churches for Dialogue & Diversity, annual lecture. See separate blog for details


Wednesday 15th May 6.05pm St Mary-le-Bow EC2V 6AU the latest JustShare . Will Crouch, President of 80,000 hours, ‘Professional Philanthropy: How to save thousands of lives without leaving the City’.

Thursday 16th May 6.30 pm. Christian Values: Fact or Fiction? ; Are ‘Christian Values’ undermining Christianity? The Revd Nadim Nassar welcomes guests to the new home of the Awareness Foundation Lodge House 69 Beaufort Street London SW3 5AH

Thursday 16th May 7pm St Ethleburga’s The multifaith movement - global risks and cosmopolitan solutions Anna Halaf off on the role of multifaith work in countering terrorism. See their events page.

Sunday 19th May 6.00pm Text to Live by at the London Inter Faith Centre 125 Salusbury Road London NW6 6RG. Second in the latest series, the topic for this one is Conversion.

Tuesday 21st May 6.30pm St James’s Piccadilly Embrace the Middle East lecture Christians and Politics in Egypt – The transformation of a nation: an Egyptian perspective by Bishop Thomas of El-Quissia and Mair. The lecture is free but you must book
 
Wednesday 22nd May 6.00pm Peace begins with me St Ethelburga's new community gathering - a time for quiet reflection, sharing, nourishing relationships, eating see their events page.

Sunday 2nd June 1pm St Paul’s Cathedral last in the Sunday Forum series At the Heart of Faith: the Trinity as the Hope of Humanity, Revd Ian Mobsby, Priest Missioner at the Moot Community and author of God Unknown: the Trinity in contemporary Spirituality and Mission (2012)

Wednesday 5th June 6.05pm St Mary-le-Bow EC2V 6AU the next JustShare lecture. The Art of Shared Spaces: Where is the Social Value? Ben Quash, Professor of Christianity and the Arts at Kings College London

Monday 10th June 7.30pm Faithful Friends event at Woodgrange Baptist Church, Romford Road, Forest Gate London E7 8AA. Franciscans from Hillfield lead an evening of refection on health and the environment from a Christian perspective.

Wednesday 12th June 3.00pm Faith-based conflict resilience. A new style of event exploring the experience of conflict within different faith communities, and looking at how we can develop faith-based tools and approaches to improve our conflict resilience. Aimed at faith leaders, but also open to all. Another St Ethelburga’s event – see their events page

Monday 17th June 10.15am Council of Christian and Jews study day see separate blog

Thursday 27th June 6.30pm Jesus Message through the Eyes of the Vedic Tradition The Meditatio Centre St Marks, Myddelton Square, London EC1R 1XX First in a series on Christian Mysticism and other faiths. For other titels and dates see their website


ADVANCE NOTICE

1st – 7th July The Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations Aga Khan University (AKU-ISMC) and The Centre for the Comparative Study of Muslim Societies and Cultures Simon Fraser University (SFU-CCSMSC) present: International Summer Programme 2013 Music, Art and Architecture in Muslim Contexts AKU-ISMC, London Campus 210 Euston Road London NW1 2DA Application Deadline: May 24 Tuition Fees: £450/£375 (concession fee available) Details and booking here

11th October to 14th December To mark the 150th anniversary celebrations of the Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe (ZTFE) in 2011, the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), www.soas.ac.uk University of London is in 2013 organising “The Everlasting Flame Exhibition: Zoroastrianism in History and Imagination”. This is probably the first time there has been an exhibition on Zoroastrianism in the United Kingdom. Further information from

Jewish Christian Study Day

BCDD Annual lecture - Richard McCallum on Evangelicals responding to Muslims