July 2012 Blog Posts (17)

Here is a photo from last week of a young friend from Austria standing beside a road sign in Liverpool last week.…

There is something uniquely British about moaning. We are sceptics. As George Orwell once suggested, the reason no one ever goose-stepped down English streets is simply that everybody would laugh. There is a sense of distance that you don't see in the…

Just a quick note to say that we are now almost a week into Ramadan, the holy month of our Muslim brothers and sisters. I am full of admiration for the self-discipline and prayerfulness that this month brings (and am very aware of how badly my feeble attempts at giving up chocolate and overindulging in gossip websites for Lent compare!). It is a lovely time of the year to demonsrate solidarity by wishing your Muslim friends and acquaintances by wishing them a happy Ramadan (or, in the more…

A couple of days ago I visited a microbrewery in Keighley. The Old Bear Brewery produces a variety of beers and the one I have tasted was very good.

However, I didn't go there to sample the goods. I went to see the Bottle Rescue scheme run by the brewery and employing a number of people…

… is not only the title of a great Bruce Cockburn song (look it up on youtube…). It also describes this video which I picked up from Jeremy Vine on Twitter:

 …

I took this from a Premier Reports Article that crossed my twitter feed. It's an interesting article on the proposal to relax the UK's gambling laws. I know that this is an issue that divides and brings together Christian groups. I'd be interested to hear thoughts and view points - it could be something that the churches discuss through our Public Issues Network if there is a strong will about the points raised below.

Church groups are sending out a warning to the government…

What follows is the text of a presentation given at the National Meeting of the Inter Faith Network for the UK on the 12th July 2012:

"Professor Paul Fiddes in one of his books tells the story of an occasion when Archbishop William Temple was listening to a lecture when the person sitting next to him whispered “do you understand what he’s talking about?’ Temple replied ‘well, I understand perfectly what he is saying, but I don’t understand what he’s saying it…

Inter faith dialogue used to be a suspect activity for many Christians. Those who engaged in dialogue with people of other faiths were suspected of engaging in syncretism, of compromising their beliefs for fear of offending other religions. That attitude has disappeared in recent years with more and more Christians convinced of the importance to build good relations with other faiths.

However the old suspicion has recently started to re-emerge but in a different guise. Global…

Passed on to me by Anna Briggs

please pass this on to others for use this coming Sunday

Dear Friends in Christ

 

Sunday 22nd July - this coming Sunday - is the first anniversary of the terrible events which overtook Norway last year. Seven people were killed in a bomb attack on the Labour Party HQ in Oslo. The bomber. Anders Breivik, used the confusion caused by this first attack to make his way to the island of Utoya, where young people in the Labour…

Greetings to one and all

The CTE website www.cte.org.uk now carries a resource on the Golden Rule for volunteers (and others) in the context of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. It is about respect and love in a context of witness and dialogue.

Postcards are still available, free of charge, from the CTE office tel. 020 7529 8131or from me

celia.blackden@cte.org.uk

Best…

In July 2013, eight senior Muslim and eight senior Catholic participantswill meet to discuss the role of their religions in a world that is increasingly shaped by materialism. More information can be found here: http://www.news.va/en/news/next-catholic-muslim-meeting-to-look-at-materialis

Ramadan coincides, this year, with the Olympics in London, and a number of Muslim organisations are teaming up to make the most of this opportunity - there will be public iftars at mosques, mosque visits, and, maybe most interesting of all, dine@mine, where you can get matched with a Muslim family to host you for dinner during Ramadan (or, if you are Muslim, register your offer to host). I am sure that it is an excellent opportunity to get to know your neighbours, and maybe learn a bit more…

All keynote addresses from the conference have been made available online - in the context of interreligious dialogue, the most relevant one is the one by Professor Gavin da Costa on "New Evangelisation and Other Religions", in which he deals, in his usual entertaining and intellectual style, with perceived tensions between the two. This and all other talks can be found here: http://lanyrd.com/2012/vaticaniiconference/.

Last week I interviewed fourteen ordinands prior to their ordination as priest (yesterday evening) or deacon (this morning) in Bradford Cathedral. Since Thursday they have been on retreat at the gorgeous Parcevall Hall.

One of the questions I asked them (apart from: “Why should we ordain…

We're in Manchester and had a mini tour of the city- the hive of industry - which is illustrated by the images of bees on things as varied as bins and beer barrels.

The strength of the Christian Jewish friendships and active collaboration in this city is very edifying.  The helpfulness and care of the volunteers from the Manchester CCJ is fantastic.  Inputs have been excellent on the main theme of Multiculturalism and Social Responsibility. I attended two workshops - one on…

Interesting weekend:

Thursday evening met will some Muslim ladies & others organising a Women's Centre and faced with false accusations:

Saturday evening with a Black majority church  (woman pastor) for a fund raising event - lots of energy and enthusiasm, with great hospitality; great giving.

Sunday pm a Muslim organised Charity Dinner with fund…

I am attending this conference which has not been held in England for 21 years. It is the 70th anniversary year of the founding of the Council of Christians and Jews -  70 years of pioneering vision as Revd David Gifford, the Director of CCJ said.

There are about 180 people from all over the world. We have been welcomed by Christians and Jews from Manchester, where there is also a vibrant Jewish Muslim dialogue.

The title of this event is New Neighbours,…