Held in Common

Neighbours with Faith

We held a rather special event on Friday 28 March 2008 in Epsom, at St Joseph's Roman Catholic Church. With financial support via the Diocese of Guildford and the government's Faith Communities Capacity Building Fund, we were able to hold an event called Neighbours with Faith.

You can find a collection of photos of the event here.

The evening was planned and delivered jointly by the Epsom Anglican Group Ministry and the Epsom and Ewell Islamic Society.

We gathered together about 140 local Christians and Muslims (and a Rabbi!) and held a meal (Western and Eastern food) together. People naturally mingled, across gender and faith commitment. Our MP, Chris Grayling was present and spoke supportively, as did our Mayor, Cllr Jean Steer. Our keynote speaker was Rabbi Danny Rich, Chief Executive of Liberal Judaism, chair of the Kingston upon Thames Interfaith Forum, chair of the Dittons Branch of the Council of Christians and Jews, and a local magistrate. Local police Community Support Officers attended.

The aim was simply to encourage local Christians and Muslims to sit down, chat, eat together and enjoy each other's company. It was a great success, and it was vastly appreciated by all.

We don't know whether anything like this has been tried before, but it was certainly a first for Epsom!

We plan to hold another local event like this, perhaps in the summer - probably a barbecue across the Muslim and Christian faith communities.

Christianity and other beliefs

Becky, someone I know from outside the parish, has sent me an encouraging email, with some questions in it. Here's an excerpt (with her permission)...

I've been reading this blog, and I've found it very interesting. I don't currently consider myself to be a Christian, I have my own set of beliefs, but I've often thought that Christian spirituality isn't very far from my own. One of the main things that put me off Christianity was the idea that it was very 'set in stone' when it came to religious texts, and that it was very dogmatic. I admit I'm rather ignorant of the contents of the bible. I know the New Testament better than the Old, and what I do know is from my childhood. Anyway, its enlightening to find that my perceptions were short-sighted.  I always wondered what theologians studied.....

I can't say that I am a Christian, but definitely inspired to find out more. And so I have some questions:...