Pure Unbounded Love Thou Art

JOHN HICK (1922-2012)

2012-02-10T18:39:00.001Z

Perhaps one of the greatest Philosophers of Religion of the late 20th Century John Hick died yesterday. Probably best known for his controversial Philosophy of Religious Pluralism his work covered many other areas of philosophy and theology from Theodicy to Christology. This interview with his personal friend and theological adversary Gavin D'Costa, given at a recent event celebrating Hick's work at Birmingham University summarises his contribution well.

Fackenheim on the Holocaust

2012-01-27T23:49:00.000Z

Today was Holocaust Memorial Day. Last Sunday I attended the Birmingham Memorial Event at the Town Hall. Particularly moving was survivor Mindu Hornick's reflections upon Father Dubios' book Holocaust by Bullets. On Thursday I went to The Progressive Synagogue for an event and display that focussed particularly on the children of survivors

My own reflections on the Holocaust have been shaped by my recent reading of a group of Jewish philosophers and theologians who led from the mid sixties onwards a serious engagement with the reality of the Holocaust and the radical evil that it represented. Among these thinkers I have found myself drawn into and being moved, challenged, inspired, confused and provoked by the work of the late Emil Fackenheim. Fackenheim himself only just escaped Nazi Germany in the late 30s after having experienced a period in a concentration camp. This Guardian Obituary at the time of his death in 2003 captures the complexities and contradictions of the man I've encountered in his writing and memoirs as does this penetrating and critical exploration.

Below is a very powerful speech that Fackenheim made at a conference on 'Ethics after the Holocaust' in 1996

Clifton Road Invitation to Lectures

2012-01-12T21:52:00.000Z

Update: I managed to get to all three talks and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Thanks to all at KSIMC for their lovely hospitality and to Sayed Ali Abbas Razawi for a stimulating and thoughtful series as I tweeted after the first night 'experienced once again the beautiful gentle passion at the heart of Shi'a spirituality'

You can listen to the talks at
http://www.ksmnet.org/?p=2012/January&option=com_zina&Itemid=112

Sheikh Muhammed Amin Evans has sent out the following invitation from Clifton Road Mosque in Balsall Heath. I hope to attend on Saturday evening for the third talk

"The President of Clifton Road Mosque has asked me to convey an open invitation to organisations and individuals involved in interfaith, intra-faith or the City's life as a community to share three evenings with the members of KSIMC including three lectures on the life of Prophet Muhammad (saw) to mark the anniversary of his passing. It is appreciated that not everyone will wish or be able to attend on all three evenings but we hope that many people will be able to accept our invitation and attend at least one of our gatherings.

Visitors are invited to arrive at the gates 45 minutes prior to the event start time. Volunteers will then guide them to an assembly room for welcome drinks and conversation with Sayyid Razavi (the lecturer), President Br Shafik Hajji and I. We will attempt to connect the lectures and provide some background to the events to be discussed so that you may more fully engage with the event.

Thursday 19 January at 8.00pm- 'The Prophet (saw) before the declaration of Prophethood'

Friday 20 January at 8.00pm- 'The Prophet (saw) in Mecca- Life with polytheists.'

Saturday 21 January at 7.00pm- Dinner followed by, at a little after 8.00pm,- 'The Prophet (saw) in Medina- Islam with the People of the Book.'

Please contact me for further information.

Alaykum salam,
Shk Muhammad Amin Evans "
www.aminevans.co.uk

Christian - Muslim Relations in Pakistan and Egypt

2012-01-04T20:15:00.000Z

Two interesting stories from Pakistan and Egypt point to hopeful developments in Christian - Muslim relations in contexts that have often been seen as places where Christian minorities have been vulnerable to religiously motivated violence.

The first from Pakistan is of The Christian - Muslim Covenant of Non Violence in Pakistan

The second story is from Egypt where the Muslim Brotherhood has vowed to protect Coptic Churches that have in the past been attacked at the time of the Celebration of the Coptic Christmas in January.

BE BORN IN US TODAY - A Sermon for Midnight Mass

2011-12-25T11:02:00.000Z

We meet here on this night, this wonderful night in which we remember the story of the incarnation our hope rooted in our experience of the Christ story; that God is here, God is amongst us, God is with us.

And we gather here in the dark of night to worship that God; to gather around this crib and marvel at the truth of the Nativity — the truth that out of the warm nurturing darkness of a woman’s womb God chose the ultimate message of faith, hope and love to be born ; that
in the dark of night, God’s vision for the world became embodied in a human life, born of a woman and that in Jesus the truth that God IS present with God’s people was shown - the ancient message of the God of love and faithfulness and hope was revealed anew.

But as we meet to remember that night we are called to remain in this night here and now, to allow that story to affect our story, to allow that truth to lead us into the truth of the meaning of our own lives.

As Meister Eckhardt a Christian Mystic of medieval times said

Here in time we celebrate the eternal birth that God the Father bore and still bears constantly in eternity, and which is also now born in time, in human nature. St. Augustine says that this birth is happening continually. We should ask ourselves: If it doesn’t happen in me, what good is that birth after all? What ultimately matters is that God’s birth should happen in me.

We are all called to be Mothers of God

Mary’s story should become our story, we are all called to be Mothers of God to give birth to the Divine through our faith, hope and love.

I love Luke’s gospel because it tells us so much of Mary’s story. And we should read it as our story too - a story for each of us as God calls us to give birth to God’s vision for the world in our faith, our hope and our love.

Can we welcome as messengers of God’s hope strangers who speak to us of God? Mary welcomed the shepherds to the side of the manger, can we listen as she listened to their message and as the gospel says ‘treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart’? Can we also find God speaking to us in those unknown to us, who surprise us in their ability to speak of God? Can we allow them to become to us bearers of God’s word?

As Elizabeth embraced Mary and supported her in recognising the message of hope she carried for the world, can we embrace one another - be Elizabeth to each other’s Mary - can we be stirred in the depths of our hearts to be excited by the faith, hope and love of another and encourage them as they tentatively begin to recognise that they have a calling to birth God’s faith, hope and love into the world?

As the Angel comes to Mary at the annunciation - the Angel comes to us, calling us in this time and in this place to carry the hope of God in the depths of our being - to nurture fragile faith, to give ourselves to feeding hope and raising a vision of love in what can sometimes seem impossible circumstances.

In a world where faith, hope and love often look defeated and useless we are called to dare to take the risk as Mary in her embracing of her call took the risk; as a young Jew in a remote outpost of empire, facing the scorn and violence of a Roman authority confident
in its worship of power and wealth and dismissive of the beautiful vision of her people. She held onto that vision of a God of faithfulness, hope and love - the God of Abraham and Sarah, the God of the One Mary raised , the God of the One we follow, Jesus of Nazareth whom we proclaim as God's Annointed One.

As she put her hope in that God so are we called in our time despite the world’s scorn to join in daring to hope in the One God of faith hope and love.

Can we believe that in the backwaters of our lives our faith can really make a difference? Can we let God come to us in Jesus in what may seem to us all our insignificance? Can we hear the Angel as we are given our commission, to be people of the way and to give birth in our world to the truth of God's love and beauty?

O holy Child of Bethlehem!

Descend to us, we pray;
Cast out our sin and enter in,
Be born in us to-day.
We hear the Christmas angels
The great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us,
Our Lord Emmanuel!

Sermon preached at St Paul's Balsall Heath Birmingham Midnight Mass 2011

Chanukah Sameach!

2011-12-23T14:36:00.005Z

Nearly 100 Methodists from around the Birmingham District responded to the generous invitation of the local Jewish Community to attend a Chanukah celebration at Birmingham Central Synagogue on Thursday 22nd December.

The invitation was the idea of the local Methodist - Jewish Dialogue group established after the 2010 Methodist Conference to explore the Jewish Communities concerns in relation to the Justice for Palestine & Israel Report.

The evening began as Methodists arrived nice and early for a 7pm start with a tour of the synagogue led by the Chair of the Birmingham and West Midlands Jewish Representative Council Ruth Jacobs

Moving into the Synagogues Community Hall we joined 40-50 members of Birmingham's Jewish Community and a group of Muslim friends from the Birmingham Jewish - Muslim Dialogue group for the ceremony of lighting the Chanukah Menorah led by the Synagogues President Geoffrey Clements. We then watched film clips of reflections on the meaning of Chanukah by the Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks.

We finished off the evening with an hour eating Traditional Chanukah food and meeting and sharing with one another.

Ruth Jacobs co-facilitator of the Methodist - Jewish Dialogue group said in response to the event

'The Birmingham Jewish Community was delighted to welcome so many Methodists to a Chanukah event held at Birmingham's Central Synagogue. The local Jewish Methodist Dialogue group formed as a response to the Justice for Palestine and Israel Report enabled this event to happen and provided the opportunity for grass roots engagement to build bridges and gain greater understanding.'

Supernumerary Minister Revd Donald Sampson said it was:

'A most inspiring evening of great warmth and goodwill, with many insights being shared formally and informally.'

Organist Peter Harding who came with three generations of his family to the event said:

'A great evening. We all enjoyed it. Grandma had a long conversation with an elderly member of the Jewish community and my son Richard was delighted to be plied with food by many of our hosts. I had some really interesting discussions as well.'

Revd Ray Gaston Birmingham District’s Inter Faith Enabler and joint organiser of the event and co-facilitator of the Methodist - Jewish dialogue group said:

'I was very excited by the response from grassroots Methodists who turned out in such numbers for this event. The dialogue group which has now met for nearly 16 months has been a place where differences have been shared and it has not always been an easy place for any of us to be . However, those of us who have stayed with the process have found it challenging and difficult but also immensely enriching and real relationships have begun to be built. This event was the start of spreading that experience into our wider communities, there is much here to build on and hope for..'

BETH SHALOM AND HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL DAY

2011-12-22T00:01:00.004Z

As part of our Christian - Jewish Relations themed week for first year Ordination candidates, Queen's students took part, a couple of weeks ago, in a Council of Christians and Jews (CCJ) initiated and funded visit to Beth Shalom - The Holocaust Centre in Newark Lincolnshire.

For a report of the event see Fiona Hulbert's write up for CCJ at their web site.

January 27th is Holocaust Memorial Day and this years theme is 'Speak Up, Speak Out' and CCJ along with Churches Together in Britain and Ireland have produced a list of resources plus an excellent 20 page pack to help commemorate the day in Church services.

Mahayana Theology

2011-12-20T09:27:00.001Z

Jesus Meditating in a Forest

One of the most interesting and challenging dialogues between students and visiting speakers on the Christianity in Dialogue module last term at Queens was with Revd Dr Janet Williams who came to engage students with the question 'Can a Christian be a Buddhist?' Her answer was an affirmative yes, some of the students were not so sure! However, the interface between Christianity and Buddhism and the phenomenon of 'double-belonging' is a significant factor in Christian Inter Faith engagement today.

I've recently come across an interesting website run by Comparative Theologian John Keenan. Keenan has written widely on Christian - Buddhist encounter and is well known for bringing Buddhist - especially Mahayanan - concepts into dialogue with Christian revelation in order to explore how to articulate the truth of Christian understandings of God. He writes:

"Mahayana theology" is a Christian theology that is informed by the philosophical wisdom of Mahayana Buddhism. Just as the early Church Fathers first employed ancient Greek philosophy to articulate the Christian faith, one may employ this ancient Buddhist philosophy to restate that same faith and thereby come to new and somewhat different understandings.

The website has links to Keenan's books but also to free articles outlining his work and understandings. Check it out here

Faithful Neighbourhoods Centre - Upcoming Training Events

2011-12-19T18:27:00.002Z

The new Anglican led and government backed Faithful Neighbourhoods Centre in Birmingham has a series of interesting training events in the new year on Inter Faith engagement particularly related to the Near Neighbours Programme . For details click on the links below

Engaging with Muslims - An event for Christians

Engaging with Christians - An Event for Muslims

Faithful Conversations – talking about God in everyday situations

You can also find out how to apply for grants of £500-£2000 for local community led interfaith activity at Bringing People Together - Near Neighbours

Soul in the Machine - An Evening at The Hubb

2011-12-15T09:56:00.002Z

I had a great time yesterday spent lunchtime eating and sharing with Mohammed Ali at a cafe near his Arts Centre The Hubb just down the road from where I live on the Stratford Road. I was then back at the Hubb later that day for Soul in the Machine billed as 'A journey of the soul through a technological world / VISUAL ARTS EXHIBITION LAUNCH, as well as PERFORMANCE POETRY and LIVE PERCUSSION'.

Chris Shannahan has blogged about the event here. I like Chris' post he really catches the mood of the evening when he says 'It was a moment of shared spirituality in the city, a moment of clarity, shared journeying towards dialogue and justice, a witness to our common humanity and to the multiflavoured, multicoloured, multifaith, multicultural soul in the urban machine. No relgious 'leaders', no elected politicians, no academics absorbing 'data' for their next book but the people of the city exploring identity and hope together through.. art, dub poetry and drumming...' but I'm not sure I fully agree with Chris when he says "It wasn't a Muslim event or a Christian event or a Sikh event or a Hindu event or a Buddhist event or a Jewish event"

On the contrary, I think there is something positively Islamic about The Hubb. It is an expression of a dialogical Islam, an emerging Islam, engaging openly with a variety of spiritualities, cultures and art forms. I often feel when I am at the Hubb that Islam is my host, providing a space for a multicultural expression of a yearning for God, for depth and for beauty. That is what makes the Hubb unique, that is why it plays host to art forms that have an explicit spirituality at their centre, because it is infused with the spirit of Islam or perhaps islam; the idea of a universal surrender to the Divine that is held within - but also known beyond - the institutional form Islam. The Hubb offers a new form of multiculturalism, an emerging multiculturalism where those faith communities that were previously patronisingly seen as being ''hosted' by a 'tolerant' 'Christendom' now become the host and new forms of alliance, creativity, identity and intercultural dynamism are developing. A new dynamism that we 'People of the Way of the Annointed One' in all our post Christendom multicultural dynamism can, do and will play our part.

Jonathan Sacks on the Immorality of Capitalism

2011-12-13T17:07:00.000Z

The Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks in a recent address to European Roman Catholics in Rome said:

Capitalism is a sustained process of creative destruction. The market undermines the very values that gave rise to it in the first place. The consumer culture is profoundly antithetical to human dignity. It inflames desire, undermines happiness, weakens the capacity to defer instinctual gratification and blinds us to the vital distinction between the price of things and their value.

Read the whole address Has Europe lost its soul to the markets? published in The Times yesterday at the Chief Rabbi's website

Rowan Williams on 'The Future of Interfaith Dialogue'

2011-12-12T10:10:00.000Z

At a conference organised by the the Anglican Network for Inter Faith Concerns, the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams delivered an interesting lecture on 'The Future of Interfaith Dialogue' the lecture is available in text and audio from the Archbishops website (follow the link above) - well worth engaging with. Here is a snippet from the conclusion.

The Christian enters the dialogue relation ready to receive whatever of Christ the other’s relation with the Word makes possible; but s/he also enters the dialogue in order, in some sense, to speak and act for Christ, to be available for the enrichment of the other’s relation (acknowledged or not) with the Word. And that immediately lays upon the Christian participant in dialogue the imperative to Christlike action in the pursuance of the dialogue. The action of Christ can be thought about from two interrelated perspectives. First, it is the transmission of a gift, the gift of ‘life in its fulness’, as the Fourth Gospel has it; just as the Source, the Father, pours out the divine life and bliss into the eternal Word or Son, so the Word gives life to the universe, and, more specifically, gives the life of a son or daughter to human beings who are made for this destiny. If, then, we are to act in Christlike manner, we act so as to open up the possibility of receiving such a gift: life in its fullness, the dignity of the adult child of God.

And following on from that, the mode of the gift becomes all-important. That gift of filial life cannot be given by an act that compels or constrains: freedom in filial relation to God as Source cannot be generated or nourished by denying the ordinary freedom of the human agent. The gift is given in Christ in a way that refuses to compel and is therefore vulnerable to human violence. For it to be what it claims to be, it cannot rest its authority upon anything less than itself – it can’t therefore be associated with constraint or compulsion.

This theological framework... allows us, I believe, to think of the vocation to become sons and daughters of God in and through Jesus Christ as a universal possibility that has to be sought for and worked for in an uncompromisingly Christlike (Jesus-like) fashion, yet without expecting the specific reference to Jesus of Nazareth to be always brought to consciousness as the conversation unfolds with those of different families of faith. As I noted earlier, the degree to which a turning to the Word in the context of another faith corresponds to what the Christian associates with the gift of baptism is not susceptible to abstract analysis. But our engagement in dialogue, rooted in the uniqueness of the Word made flesh, may, by its fidelity to the mode of incarnation and self-emptying, invite responses and movements that neither we nor our partners can easily chart, but in which God may move – just as God may move in us as we receive what the partner has to share of the Word with us.

Challenging Islamophobia - A Christian Duty

2011-12-10T15:00:00.000Z

In the forthcoming edition of the Methodist theological Journal Epworth Review I have an article entitled Building trust, living the call to love – towards a Christian Praxis in Islamophobic times you can read a copy of the article here. More a work in progress than a polished proposal, the article argues for a Christian spirituality of resistance to Islamophobia rooted amongst other things in a radical application of 1 Corinthians 13.

ADVENT AND INTER FAITH RELATIONS

2011-11-28T08:58:00.001Z

I found myself in Church yesterday at St Paul's Balsall Heath for the Advent Sunday Eucharist. I love Advent full of the themes of hope, expectation longing...a real spiritual gift. Yesterday the first hymn was 'O Come O Come Emmanuel.' I love the tune, it's haunting melody fits the themes of longing and waiting that I associate with Advent. Unfortunately I find it difficult to affirm the words and yesterday I decided not to sing them. As the following commentary on the hymn from the Roman Catholic Boston College USA Centre for Jewish Christian Relations states:

One can look at the question of the theology conveyed by hymn lyrics both atomistically, i.e., is this word or phrase theologically sound or pastorally edifying? and also more globally, i.e., what is the theological orientation of the hymn in its entirety, including what is the progression of thought from verse to verse or what story does the entire lyric tell?
Globally speaking, O Come, O Come, Emmanuel's more-or-less traditional lyrics (though there are variations) pretty well summed up pre-Vatican II Catholic understanding of the relationship of the New Testament to the Old Testament, and therefore also of the Church to Israel: The Old Testament was understood to have spiritual validity only when read in reference to Christ and the Church, and Israel was spiritually valid only as the precursor to Christianity.
The "traditional" lyrics thus describe Israel as waiting in exile for its raison d'etre to come in the birth of Jesus and applies biblically-sounding titles (based on the "O-Antiphons") to petitions for Jesus to come.
The Second Vatican Council’s Declaration on the Relationship of the Church to Non-Christian Religions, Nostra Aetate, reversed prior predominant theologies of Judaism. The covenantal life between God and Israel was now recognized as eternal and not superseded by the establishment of the Church’s covenant with God through Christ. Official documents urged Catholics to respect Judaism’s self-understanding and to understand Jesus as a “faithful son of Israel ” (John Paul II) in continuity with, not the termination of, Israel ’s story.
The traditional lyrics suggest that Jews at the time of Jesus felt themselves to be in lonely exile, and awaiting the appearance of the Son of God. This not only contradicts Jewish self-understanding but historical evidence from written texts of the time.
In addition, since Vatican II, Catholic teaching has emphasized that Advent should ritualize three "comings" - the birth of Jesus, the coming of Jesus in the Church today, and the eschatological coming of Christ at the End of Days. The traditional lyrics do a poor job of this.

The same article offers a great alternative set of words here

There is also a good reflection on 'Some personal thoughts on singing “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel"'

Why not consider trying the alternative words in your church this Advent? And reflecting on the different theologies in the hymns? For further resources on this, particularly using liturgy and hymnody to challenge theologies of contempt and as an opportunity for teaching about Christinity's relationship to Judaism see Mary C Boys article Touching the Heart of Faith: Challenges of Christian-Jewish Dialogue where she also suggests alternative lyrics for some of the verses.

Israel - Palestine Debate at Birmingham University

2011-11-27T22:00:00.001Z

A very good Question Time style debate with prominent speakers was held at Birmingham University last week hosted by the University Union Debating Society and supported by the Union of Jewish Students and the Friends of Palestine Society. I didn't get to the debate, but by the looks of the videos that have been posted, it was a very well managed airing of the issues. You can watch the full debate below

Inter Faith Week 20 -26 November 2011

2011-11-18T17:33:00.000Z

For details of local events during Inter Faith Week download a diary produced by the Faith Encounter Programme here

PEACE MEAL FUNDRAISER FOR SPIRIT OF PEACE

2011-11-14T12:10:00.000Z

I have recently become asware of a small but growing organisation in UK called 'Spirit of Peace'. On 1st December they are holding a fundraising peace meal in Coventry. To find out about their work go to the Spirit of Peace website. Details of the meal are below and you can download a flyer for the event here. Annie and I hope to be there it's a great little organisation with some interesting ideas and links. Check out their emerging Pathways to Peace philosophy and the projects and partners they are working with in the UK and Israel/Palestine

Blue Bistro and Spirit of Peace warmly invite you to ‘Peace-Meal’, a charity evening of international cuisine and music in a beautiful medieval setting.

Spirit of Peace is a rapidly developing UK based charity with a heartfelt vision to foster greater peace, understanding and equality in our global society, creating a culture of nonviolence and peace in our fractured world.

Thursday December 1st at Blue Bistro
21 Spon Street
Coventry
CV1 3BA
024 7622 9274

Advance Tickets Only £24.95
http://www.spiritofpeace.co.uk/

Registered Charity No. 1122834
Company No. 6339788
http://www.blue-bistro.com/

New Resources for Christian - Jewish relations

2011-11-13T13:43:00.000Z

Two excellent resources for Christian - Jewish relations came into my hands this week.

Firstly, when visiting Queen's to deliver a workshop on my Christianity in Dialogue course, Rabbi Debbie Young - Somers gave me a copy of The Lambeth - Jewish Forum's recent publication Jews and Christians: Perspectives on Mission. This is a great little resource that is available for download on line. Patrick Morrow's piece Christian Mission and Jewish Christian Particularities is a tour de force in it's summary and exploration of the issues involved. I understand that hard copies can be ordered from the Woolf Institute.

Secondly, after pre-ordering it a couple of months ago, it was great to have The Jewish Annotated New Testament arrive in my pigeon hole on Friday. This exciting new initiative looks likely to become a fascinating resource for Jews and Christians alike. See an initial review of it here. At first glance it looks well worth the investment at the great price you can get it for in UK

Birmingham Celebrates Diversity

2011-10-30T21:18:00.000Z

UNITY - LOVING THE DIFFERENCE IN BIRMINGHAM THIS SATURDAY

2011-10-25T22:56:00.006+01:00

Over the last week I've been involved with Muslim, Jewish Sikh and Christian colleagues in building a broad alliance as a positive response to the threat of the unwelcome visit of the English Defence League to our City. Below is a Press release we have issued this evening with quotes from supporting organisations and details of the event being held in Chamberlain Square from 12noon - 4pm. Come along and support it. You can download a flyer for the event here

You can read the press release by following this link

MODERN CHURCH CONFERENCE 2012 - an interfaith look at women & religious authority

2011-10-20T07:48:00.002+01:00

The Modern Church movement within the Church of England has organised and interesting looking conference for 16th -19th July 2012. By whose authority? An interfaith look at women and religious authority

Although clearly with the development towards Women Bishops in the CofE in mind, the conference brings a much broader perspective to the issue of women and religious authority with an excellent array of speakers from Christian, Muslim, Jewish and Baha'i perspectives. Details of the conference can be found here

A Theological Discussion of Kairos Palestine from ICCJ

2011-10-05T22:39:00.002+01:00

I've added Land of Israel and Universal Salvation in the New Testament -A theological discussion of the "Kairos Palestine Document” to the Resources for Reflecting on Justice for Palestine and Israel Report page

FAITH GUIDING COURSE IN BIRMINGHAM

2011-10-03T11:47:00.001+01:00

Tutors and students on a previous Faith Encounter course

From Ruth Tetlow Co-ordinator of Faith Encounter Programme

Faith Guiding Courses Nov 2011 in the West Midlands

The Faith Encounter Programme seeks to train people of all faiths in Birmingham as Faith Guides, so that places of worship are better equipped to offer high quality educational visits.

70 people of 8 different faiths in the West Midlands have successfully completed the course so far.

We are looking for participants from all the major religious traditions represented in Birmingham: Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, & Sikh.
Minor traditions are not excluded if they have a place of worship.
For further details and application forms check out Faith Encounter website

Previous posts about the Faith Encounter Programme can be accessed by using search facility on the left.

Faith and Festivals

2011-10-02T17:25:00.000+01:00

Mohammed Ali of Soul City Arts in Birmingham has asked me to advertise the above which looks very interesting including an appearance by Greenbelt's Paul Northup. For further information on the event check out the MAC website

'TODAY THE WORLD WAS BORN'

2011-09-28T10:20:00.000+01:00

Shana Tova!

Today is Rosh Hashanah the beginning of the High Holy Days of the month of Tishri in the Jewish calender. To find out more of about Rosh Hashanah and the period leading up to Yom Kippur - the day of atonement check out the videos by Reform Rabbis on the Movement for Reform Judaism website, they are all fascinating and informative but Rabbi Laura Jenner- Klausner on Teshuvah is particularly engaging. The Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks has an interesting short reflection on the unique nature of forgiveness and repentance in the Jewish tradition and its influence on Christian understandings here

Our friends over at Tikkun from within the Renewal tradition of North American Judaism have again - as they did last year - extended an invitation to friends of other faiths to step into the practice of Teshuvah in the ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. And have offered a High Holy Day Workbook to help with the process They write

Tikkun is not just for Jews—it is interfaith as well as Jewish. This High Holiday workbook is an invitation to all people to join with the Jewish people in using the period from September 28, the evening of Rosh Hashanah (the day of both celebrating the birthday of the Universe and of remembering who we have been this last year), until nightfall ten full days later on Yom Kippur (the Day of “At-one-ment” on October 8), to rethink our personal and communal reality and engage with the process of teshuva (returning to our highest selves and turning away from the ways we’ve missed the mark in this past year).

For a Torah commentary on Rosh Hashanah from a synagogue in the Renewal tradition see here

For further exploration Velveteen Rabbi has a list of resources for exploring Rosh Hashanah and the high holy days here

Pluralist Theologians at Carrs Lane this October

2011-09-25T15:05:00.001+01:00

Two leading North American theologians are coming to Birmingham in October to deliver four lectures at Carrs Lane Church Centre. Paul Knitter who I have blogged about previously here here and here is my favourite pluralist theologian of religions. I don't always agree with him, but I have enjoyed engaging with his work ever since I read his first major contribution to Christian theology of religions - No Other Name? back when I was a theology undergraduate in the early 90s. Since then he has published many books including Jesus and the Other Names and One Earth Many Religons developing his own particular liberationist theology of religions and most recently Without Budhha I could not be a Christian. He is giving two lectures one on 'Atonement' and one on 'Life after Death'. The other lecturer is Roger Haight whose monumental Jesus Symbol of God I am reading at the moment. This book caused a good degree of controversy not least for its attempt to work out a christology that engages with the reality of interreligious dialogue. He will be lecturing on 'Who is Jesus?' and 'What is the Trinity?' Check out the details for the talks on the Carrs Lane website. They will be well worth attending.

SYDNEY MORRIS MEMORIAL LECTURE

2011-09-24T17:28:00.003+01:00

The panel at the Sydney Morris Memorial Lecture: Rabbi Malcolm Wiseman, myself, Julie Siddiqui Executive Director of Islamic Society of Britain and Heather Farr Religious Education specialist. At the back Hifsa Haroon- Iqbal and Revd David Lingwood of Stoke Minster who hosted the dialogue.

I enjoyed myself last week as one of the speakers at the first Sydney Morris Memorial Lecture in Stoke. You can read about the back ground to the lecture and about Sydney Morris and his anti racist and interfaith work here. The event was of similar format to one I spoke at in Stafford last May and was organised again by Hifsa Haroon - Iqbal of North Staffordshire Faith Forum. Between 60-70 people from all three faith communities attended a lively and thoughtful dialogue on Abraham and wider interfaith issues. After the four inputs from speakers we had some great questions from the audience and we were able to address challenging issues from conversion, to our understanding of contemporary forms of idolatry and our views on debates in faith communities concerning sexuality. A great evening!

'I am my Beloved's and my Beloved is Mine'

2011-09-23T16:58:00.000+01:00

We are fast approaching the most important period in the Jewish Calender beginning with Rosh Hashanah followed by the ten days of awe and then Yom Kippur - The day of Atonement. Jews have been preparing for this through the month of Elul. In the video below my interfaith colleague Rabbi Debbie Young - Somers explores how Jews prepare for this important time in their spiritual life.

Debbie and I were participants in an inter faith visit to Israel and Palestine last November. She is leading a session on the Inter Faith Module at Queens in November and we are currently working together on Bible notes related to our visit in November for Words For Today 2013 edited by my Queens Colleague Nicola Slee.

FAITH STORYTELLING IN LOZELLS

2011-09-17T08:55:00.000+01:00

Faith Storytelling Event an evening of inspirational stories from the faith groups in North Birmingham.

Spiritual stories play an important role in all religions, traditions and cultures as they
help us to remember the wisdom transferred from one generation to another.

Date: Friday 23 September 2011
Time: 7.30 - 9.00pm (Refreshments 7.30pm)
Venue: Faizul Quran Jamia Mosque Lozells, 213-217 Lozells Road. B19 1RJ
Cost: This is a free event for all faith groups to attend
Please come prepared to share an encouraging story from your personal spiritual journey or your Holy Scriptures for 5-10 minutes.
It could be in the form of a thanksgiving for an answered prayer or blessings you have received from God's loving hands.You might want to share a short story from your Holy Book or a spiritual leader who has inspired you.
Please share freely with an open heart while respecting the faith of others present on the evening.

Organised by the 'Faith in Lozells' group in partnership with faith leaders in North Birmingham and the Lozells Project.

Being Good News to Muslim Neighbours - A Forthcoming Conference

2011-09-16T16:38:00.000+01:00

Pastor Alex Samy of Edward Road Baptist Church and I are becoming great intra Christian dialogue partners. Last Friday we spent the good part of the afternoon discussing what Christian Witness in a multi Faith society should be all about. We didn't agree but had a great discussion and I think both of us came away challenged and encouraged by the conversation. Pastor Samy has asked me to share details a conference they are holding at Edward Road Baptist Church on 'Being Good News to Muslim Neighbours'. I hope to attend and in the process continue the dialogue. The conference is on Saturday 15th October and details can be found here

Those interested might also like to take a look at a relatively new online journal that is published in the US with an international audience and panel of writers. Evangelical Interfaith Dialogue is available to download free.

NEW TERM AT QUEENS

2011-09-09T11:57:00.000+01:00

The new term begins at Queens next week with Induction. I am teaching this term on my own 10 week Christianity in Dialogue Module the handbook can be downloaded here I am also teaching on the Introduction to Christian Mission module on Congregational Mission in Multi Faith Contexts and on the Person of Jesus module on Jesus in the Qur'an. I am also teaching on the 1st year Preaching course on Preaching Without Contempt. Promises to be an interesting term!

Son of Babylon - The Forgotten Horror of Iraq's Missing

2011-08-31T12:53:00.005+01:00

I have just returned from the Greenbelt Festival at Cheltenham. As usual it was nice to bump into folk and meet old friends. However, I was not greatly inspired by this years theological talks line up, but plenty of others obviously were, as 100's packed in to see this years headliners - many again from the USA - including Phyllis Tickle, Brian McLaren and Rob Bell.

Hundreds of people also attended the different events associated with the Just Peace Campaign on Israel/Palestine highlighted by Greenbelt over the last 3 years - with many workshops and installations around the site sharing the Palestinian experience of the conflict.

Being free of the urge to attend the theological talks allowed me to enjoy the music this year and I spent more time listening to some passionate and beautiful music by singer songwriters both the well known and not so well known than ever before.

But the highlight of the festival for me was going to see the film Son of Babylon by the Iraqi filmmaker Mohamed Al-Daradji, tucked away in a small venue and attended by only 30 or so folk. The film tells the story of a boy and his grandmother looking for her missing son of 12 years - the boy's father- in post invasion Iraq. The compelling story highlights the forgotten reality of the thousands upon thousands (some say the numbers go over 1 million) of Iraq's missing who disappeared during the regime of Saddam Hussein and others since. The film took me right back to my own journey into Iraq in 2004. I was reminded of the amazing people I met then, the hospitality I received from people who often had very little and the stories I was told of lost relatives and their longing for information about where they were and what had happened to them.

At the end of the film the producer Isabelle Stead talked to the 15 of us who remained in the theatre about the film and the campaign that it has initiated into Iraq's Missing. I remember that at the time of the fall of Saddam there was a similar campaign to put resources into excavating the mass graves and finding the disappeared initiated by the Iraqi community in the UK. That campaign was met with a total lack of enthusiasm from the then Blair government and from the occupation forces whose priorities appeared to be elsewhere!

The Iraq's Missing Campaign is having similar problems in convincing both the present Iraqi authorities and the international community of the central importance of this endeavor to the healing of the peoples of Iraq. Check out the campaigns website, sign the petition and support it in any way you can. Also watch out for the screening of Son of Babylon on BBC 4 in the near future. Below are two interviews one with Mohamed Al-Daradji the film's Director and the other with Isabelle Stead the film's Producer -who also talks about the Iraq's Missing Campaign

'A steady stream of gentle people...' Reflections on a Funeral in the Park

2011-08-22T17:18:00.002+01:00

I was away on holiday in Wales during the riots. I was glad to have been back just in time to be able to attend the funeral of Haroon Jahan, Shazad Ali and his brother Abdul Musavir in Summerfield Park. This was a very moving and dignified occasion. The following post is a reflection on the event by Ramona Kauth who is the Chair of Birmingham Council of Faiths, a Buddhist, an Associate Tutor on my Inter Faith module at Queens and a local resident in the area where the 3 men lived:

It is hard to find words adequate to describe what happened today in the Park. I got there at about 2 pm. Lots of people were there earlier, and there had been prayers said earlier on the loud-speaker system. I could hear it from my house, as I was preparing to go.

When I got there I realised there was an area to one side that had been set aside for women. This was very comfortable for me, relieving me of feeling that I might be intruding.

As people were speaking from the stage, more and more people were arriving in streams, like a river flowing into the Park. At first I thought that this event might be smaller than the one on Sunday, but in the end there were many, many more people. On the news they have said there were 20,000 people.

There was such a strong feeling of quiet, of gentle presence and total focus on the purpose of the gathering. They were very still and moved carefully, with respect and regard for everyone around them. It was as if this area of the park had indeed become a mosque, an open-air mosque. We were there to honour these three young men as martyrs: martyrs for the peace and safety of the community, they are assured a place in history and in heaven.

Of all the speeches the words I remember most are the ones said by the Imam when he said that this day, this event, would be remembered in history. He said it marked a change, a turning point, a change in the perception of Muslims because it was such a clear commitment to the Islamic way of life, the peacefulness and dedication to community and following the teaching, praying five times a day and putting that into practice in ones daily life. And we will always remember this amazing gathering of Muslims to pray together at this event, to support the family and give respect to Haroon, Shazad and Musavir.

It would be very wonderful if some kind of memorial stone may be put up here in the park, to remember these young men, with the words of Tariq Jahan that he spoke so soon after his son's death: that no one should think to respond with violence but on the contrary because only more anger and violence comes from hatred and violence, that the only way to respond is with care and coming together. This was such a timely and powerful response. I think he must be a kind of saint, certainly someone worthy of our respect.

After the final prayers and the sight of the three hearses covered in flowers, everyone left in the way they had arrived, a steady stream of gentle people walking simply and peacefully on their way.

It was all very moving, very thought provoking. I am so glad I was able to be there.

.

PACKING AND POLYDOXY

2011-08-02T17:09:00.002+01:00

I'm off on holiday from the end of today. We are going in the camper van to Wales for a couple of weeks. I'm looking forward to the space - I get to walk and chill out in lovely countryside - but I can't stop reading and I can't stop reading theology, sad person that I am. This holiday I'm packing some exciting stuff . I'm concentrating on the work of three North American theologians - Catherine Keller, Laurel C Schneider and Beverly Lanzetta. I dipped into some of Keller's and Schneider's work earlier today and it looks wonderfully promising:

In recent years a discernable movement within theology has emerged around a triune intuition: the daunting differences of multiplicity, the evolutionary uncertainty it unfolds, and the relationality that it implies are not problems to be overcome in religious thought. They are starting points for it. Divinity understood in terms of multiplicity, open - endedness, and relationality now forms a matrix of revelation rather than a distortion, or evidence of its lack. The challenges and passions of theological creativity blossoming at the edges of tradition and at the margins of power have shown themselves, far from being distractions from doctrinal or doxological integrity, to be indispensible to its life. And this vitality belies at once the dreary prophecies of pure secularism and the hard grip of credulous certainty.

Really, given the venerable pronouncements of the death of God, theology at the start of this millenium should be worse off than it is. The undeniable atrophy of those denominations that still support educated clergy limit the resources for even discerning just which God it is that is presumed dead. The hard questions remain hard; the institutional fragilities remain unsparing. And so the buoyancy we see in theology right now is all the more remarkable. Its life and movement, which in this volume we are nicknaming "polydoxy", has multiple sources. Indeed multiplicity itself has become theology's resource. What had always seemed a liability for Christian theology - multiplicitous differences contending from within and competing from without - has miraculously turned into theology's friend. Indeed emergent commitment to the manifold of creation as it enfolds a multiplicity of wisdoms may be functioning as a baseline requirement for theological soundness. A responsible pluralism of interdependance and uncertainty now seems to facilitate deeper attention to ancient religious traditions as well as more robust engagement with serious critiques of religion. This is an approach that no longer needs to hide the internal fissures and complexities that riddle every Christian text or that wound and bless every theological legacy.

These intuitions and starting points find grounding in the Christian tradition not only because of the rich history of texts and practices therein that support doctrinal and ethical formulations of multiplicity, evolutionary openness, and relationality. But also, like other global religions, "Christianity" was never merely One to begin with. Internally multiple and complex, it has always required an agile and spirited approach to theological reflection. We sense that the current resilience of theology in its becoming multiplicity of relations is a sign and a gift of that Spirit.

Catherine Keller and Laurel C Schneider (Eds) Polydoxy : Theology of Multiplicity and Relation (Routledge 2011) p1

Hopefully, I'll be back posting towards the end of August with an interesting book review from Andi Smith Minister at Saltley Methodist Church in Birmingham who has been enjoying reading Allah : A Christian Response by Miroslav Volf

APPROACHING RAMADAN - CHRISTIANS READING THE QUR'AN

2011-07-27T12:09:00.017+01:00

With Ramadan fast approaching I thought I would repost this article I wrote last year on Christians reading the Qur'an

It was during the Ramadan fast of 2005 that I first seriously engaged with the Qur'an and haven't put it down for long since. And I have received much spiritual insight from reading the Qur'an.

What is the nature of the Qur'an for Christians willing to openly engage with it?

It has been argued that in the latter years of the last century three lines of explanation developed amongst Christian readers of the Qur'an - beyond the negative dismissals of simplistic Christian apologetics - on its value to Christians (1)

The first position recognises that the Qur'an is of spiritual benefit to Muslims but tends not to explore its possible spiritual benefit for Christians. It emphasises the differences between Qur'anic statements and Christian conviction. Jacques Jomier in The Bible and the Qur'an has said 'According to Islam, God's message has not been incarnated in a man, Jesus Christ, but rather delivered in a book, in the Qur'an. This book gives guidence to Muslims to follow the path of obedience to God's law, which they believe, leads to salvation. For Christians, public revelation is full. complete and concluded in Jesus Christ. And because the Incarnation and Redemption are denied in Islam, the whole idea of salvation is different in this religion'. For Jomier the benefit of reading the Qur'an for Christians is simply to help them better understand their Muslim neighbour.

The second position argues that the text is divinely inspired and can be read with spiritual benefit by Christians but tends to recruit the Qur'an as a Christian text. its proponents argue that Islamic tradition has misunderstood the Qur'anic revelation and emphasises a Christian influenced interpretation or appeals to a 'higher' level of truth/reading in which the differences between the Qur'anic and Christian revelation are overcome. Franciscan, Giulio Basetti - Sani's The Koran in the Light of Christ - Islam in the plan of History of Salvation (1977) is an example of such an approach.

The third and to my mind most interesting position takes a mediating path between these two, trying to respect the Qur'an as Islamic scripture and to respect Islamic traditions of interpretation, whilst showing how it might also function as spiritually beneficial to Christians.

Hans Kung has argued that the Qur'an can act as a 'prophetic corrective' for Christians to the overly 'high christology' of concilliar Christianity and aid the recovery of an earlier Jewish Christianity with a lower Christological perspective. Although I think there is some merit in this argument the way Kung goes about it appears a little too much like recruiting the Qur'an to his modernist Christian theological project.

On the other hand Kenneth Cragg seeks to work in the other direction to Kung. Whilst being steeped in a deeply appreciative understanding of the Islamic interpretation of the Qur'an Cragg argues that Christians can interpret the Qur'an from within the perspective of Christic revelation. Cragg arguesthat certain Quranic themes can be illuminated more fully through an engagement with the Christian gospel. Whilst Islamic scholar Fazlur Rahman was very appreciative of Cragg's encounter with the Qur'an, if not uncritical, other Muslims have argued more forcefully that he reveals an overly Christianizing and indeed orientalizing tendency in his approach.

Perhaps the most interesting mediating perspective is found with the long term Muslim-Christian Research group - a European- North African initiative of the 1980s that brought together Christian and Islamic scholars to read the Qur'an and the Bible together over a number of years. The small but richly engaging book The Challenge of the Scriptures - The Bible and the Qur'an was one of the results of this dialogue. The Christians in the group, at the end of the process, when asked to reflect on the meaning of the Qur'an said:

'We see the Qur'an as an authentic Word of God, but one in part essentially different from the Word in Jesus Christ'

Peter Ford argues that ' these Christians have thus been willing to be drawn in into a certain spiritual tension, to live with a measure of paradox. it cannot be denied that their approach, at once honest and respectful, holds an excellent prospect for constructive dialogue with Muslims, and not least because such statements are formulated within such dialogue.'

The first decade of the 21st century has seen a new phenomenon the Scriptural Reasoning movement developing amongst Jews, Christians and Muslims. This movement may be said to share the same spirit as the earlier Muslim-Christian Research Group but this time including Jews. A very interesting film showing one such scriptural reasoning group in process can be found here.

Reading the Qur'an as a Christian and listening to and reading about how Muslims understand and interpret the Qur'an has been a challenging and enriching spiritual experience. I find myself drawn to the tension ridden paradoxical position of the Christians in the European - North African initiated dialogue of the 1980s.

Below I recommend some resources for any Christians who would also like to step out on a journey of their own into the Qur'an

(1) See F. Peter Ford Jnr 'The Qur'an as Sacred Scripture: An Assessment of Contemporary Christian Perspectives' in The Muslim World April 1993

Some resources for engaging with the Qur’an written by Muslims or taking an approach that is sensitive and knowledgeable about how Muslims engage with the Qur’anic revelation, that I have found helpful.

Books on the Qur’an by Muslims

Farid Esack, The Qur’an – A Users Guide (One World 2005)

A very good all round introduction from a Muslim committed to a faith activist and liberationist perspective but who also undertook traditionalist Islamic studies. Esack was a leading Muslim activist in the anti Apartheid struggle in South Africa and has been involved in activism on war, imperialism and Aids. Esack’s more academic earlier work based on his PhD thesis at Birmingham University and drawing particularly on his involvement in the anti-apartheid struggle is Qur’an, Liberation and Pluralism (One World 1997) and very much worth the effort.

Mona Siddiqui, How to Read the Qur’an (Granta 2007)

Muslim academic’s accessible introduction to the Qur’an. An interfaith practitioner who has featured in recent years as one of the main speakers at the Greenbelt Arts Festival

Fazlur Rahman, Major Themes of the Qur'an, (1989)
A modern classic probably better read after some time of engagement with the Qur'an.

Asma Barlas, Believing Women in Islam: Unreading Patriarchal Interpretations of the Qur'an (University of Texas Press 2002)
A brilliant reading of the Qur’an from a woman’s perspective emphasising the radically egalitarian and anti-patriarchal nature of its teachings. Asma Barlas is amongst a leading group of women scholars challenging readings of Islam based on western media stereotypes and cultural patriarchy.

Reading/Hearing the Qur’an

Approaching the Qur’an – The Early Revelations Michael Sells (White Cloud Press 2007)

This is an excellent starting place. The book goes through each of the Surahs - the shorter Meccan surahs of early Qur’anic revelation - that a young Muslim would learn as they first became familiar with the Qur’an. Sells translates these surahs and has a scholarly but accessible commentary on each. The book also contains a CD with recitations of some of surahs by world renowned reciters.

The Light of Dawn - Daily Readings from The Qur'an - Camille Helminski (Shambhala 2000)

A lovely accessible but scholarly translation of key parts of the Qur'an organised into daily readings

The Book of Revelations: A Sourcebook of Themes from the Holy Qur'an edited by Kabir Helminski (The Book Foundation 2005)

A good next step with commentaries by respected modern commentators on a large number of selected passages .

The Qur’an translated by M A S Abdel Haleem (Oxford World Classics 2008)

A good modern accessible translation of the whole Qur'an

The Message of the Qur'an (Book Foundation 2008)

The Arabic text with transliteration, translation and commentary by modern scholar Muhammad Asad - for deeper engagement.

Cambridge Inter Faith Summer School Visits Birmingham

2011-07-25T14:43:00.006+01:00

While the Feast were off in Istanbul meeting with folk from Beirut. I welcomed on Sunday morning a group of Muslims, Christians and Jews from USA, Middle East and Europe who are on the Cambridge Inter Faith Programme Summer School. The Group were visiting Birmingham for the day touring places of worship of the three faith traditions utilising the Faith Encounter Programme's Faith Guides.The above picture was taken outside their first port of call The Ghamkol Sharif Masjid in Small Heath. They went on to visit Birmingham Anglican Cathedral and Singers Hill Synagogue

QUESTIONS WITHOUT BORDERS - A VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY IN ISRAEL & PALESTINE

2011-07-23T00:34:00.001+01:00

Forum for Discussion of Israel & Palestine (FODIP) still have a few places available on their Autumn study tour. Click on link for details
A journey of dialogue and encounter in Israel and Palestine

BIRMINGHAM MEETS BEIRUT....IN ISTANBUL!

2011-07-22T00:01:00.002+01:00

The folks at THE FEAST have gone international!

Birmingham based interfaith youth project The Feast - who bring together Christian and Muslim teenagers to encourage dialogue and joint action in their communities, is taking a group of young people to Istanbul this weekend to meet up with Muslim and Christian youth from Beirut. Andrew Smith Chair of Feast Trustees who will be leading the trip said

The aim is to build some good relationships and to help the group from Beirut look at how we have faith conversations between Muslims and Christians. The trip promises to be both exciting and challenging for the leaders and the young people.

Check out the news story about the group here

You can follow the groups adventures on twitter at #brummeetsbeirut

METHODIST - JEWISH DIALOGUE DEEPENS AT CONFERENCE FRINGE

2011-07-21T09:58:00.001+01:00

One of the least reported on events at this years Methodist Conference held in Southport at the beginning of this month was the remarkable turn out for the Inter Faith fringe meeting which involved a visit to a synagogue and the experience of a Seder. In a guest post Revd Bruce Thompson, Chair Designate of the Lincoln and Grimsby District of The Methodist Church reports on the event and offers his own thoughts as to its significance for the developing relationship between Methodism and the Jewish Community.

Who’d have believed it? A year ago formal relations between the Methodist Church of Great Britain and the Jewish community sank to an all time low following the much-maligned Justice for Palestine and Israel Report. But at this year’s Conference more than a third of the representatives greatly enjoyed a demonstration Seder at a Southport Synagogue.

The event was originally conceived by a small group of Christians and Jews who wanted to do something to heal the hurts inflicted by the debate on Israel/Palestine at last year’s Conference. It had been hoped that 30-50 people might attend but more than 100 sat down to hear Rabbi Saunders of the Southport Hebrew Congregation give an introduction to the Seder. Following the meal constructive and very moving speeches were made by Jonathan Arkush, Senior Vice President of the Board of Deputies and Christine Elliott, Secretary for External Relationships at the Methodist Church. An upbeat and warm keynote address was made by Chair of the Liverpool District the Revd Jim Booth.

Birmingham District's Gareth Jones in dialogue at the Seder

So did we achieve our intentions? I believe we did. It was a real joy to have so many Methodists drawn from right across the Connexion coming together in a synagogue expressing their desire to know more about Judaism, seeking to build a better relationship and pledging to continue dialogue despite the obvious differences of opinion over all sorts of issues.

If you live within travelling distance of a Synagogue why not invite the rabbi and members of the community to demonstrate a Seder at your place of worship, or better still, if at all possible, at the synagogue. There is no more conducive way of developing a relationship than eating and drinking together around a table.

And what of next year’s Conference? Within minutes of the Southport Seder ending participants were asking what we are going to do when we next meet in Plymouth. Already suggestions are being made – one of them being Jewish festivals in an hour through song, comedy and texts! Let’s wait and see!

There was also a report in the Jewish Chronicle and the Methodist Recorder

'Always, always you alone are the One Reality' - Exploring Sikhism

2011-07-20T13:49:00.000+01:00

I recently enjoyed reading Nikky Guninder Kaur Singh's Sikhism: An Introduction. I had previously encountered her lovely translation of verses from the Sikh Gurus The Name of My Beloved. The book is a great introduction to Sikh tradition from someone who clearly loves and cherishes her faith but is also willing to caste a critical eye over some of its inherited practices. The writer is one of a number of interesting Sikh Scholars, Birmingham's Jagbir Jhutti-Johal and her book Sikhism Today is another, who are wanting to highlight the potentially egalitarian nature of the Sikh tradition and bring this into critical encounter with historical and contemporary patriarchal and discriminatory practice, as well as into dialogue with contemporary ethical and social issues. These writers also see immense resources within the Sikh tradition for making a particular Sikh contribution to an understanding of interreligious dialogue and religious plurality as Nikky Guninder points out:

"The Sikh monotheistic vision is different from that of the West. As a continuation of the Abrahamic traditions, Islam penetrated India with the concept of the 'One God', which conflicted with the polyphonic imagination of the diverse schools of the Hindus, Buddhists and Jains. In the Sikh belief, there is no opposition between the One and the many, nor is there any dualism between unity and plurality. The Guru Granth claims 'ikkasu te hoio ananta nanak ekasu mahi samae jio - from the One issue myriads and into the One they are ultimately assimilated' (GG:131). Unity becomes plurality, and plurality eventually becomes unity.........it is not an exclusivist monotheism, but rather an inclusive Oneness of Being that the Guru Granth reiterates over and over: 'Always, always you alone are the One Reality - sada sada tun eku hai' (GG: 139). Persian terminology is used to emphasize the unity of being: ' asti ek digari kui ek tui ek tui' - only the One is, who else could there be? Only you, you only' (GG:144). Again: 'hindu turk ka sahib ek - Hindus and Muslims share the One sovereign' (GG:1158). Since everything is a manifestation of that One being, every manifestation would be part of it. No god, no body and no thing is excluded from this all-pervasive being. The arc of the Oan flying off launches the imagination to intuit the unintuitable One, and everybody is welcome to perceive that One in their own way. Blotting out conventional icons and images that created divisions and animosities, the mathematical One embraces the Tao, Yahweh, Ram, Allah, Parvati...this numerical symbol has the potential to end conflicts over my god/ your god."

Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh An Introduction to Sikhism (I B Tauris 2011) p61

SALMA STEPS DOWN

2011-07-19T14:37:00.001+01:00

A good interview with Salma Yaqoob in last weeks Birmingham Mail. It's sad to see that Salma has had to resign as councillor due to ill health. I worked with Salma on a number of occasions including a Peace Vigil for Israel & Palestine, campaigning against the EDL, her campaign to become an MP and campaigns against the spycams and the closure of Sparkhill Baths. I was particularly pleased when Salma agreed to write the Forward for my book and then speak at the launch last year. Salma will be greatly missed in both local and national politics, her performances on BBC's Question Time ( see above) and BBC Radio 4 Any Questions were often outstanding, challenging the neo-liberal and pro war political consensus of the three main parties. It's good to see that she will not be totally leaving public life, on her own web site she says

For the time being, I have to take a step back and give myself the time and space to concentrate on regaining my health. However, I am not retiring from politics just yet! I still have things to say and - health permitting - I hope to continue with occasional media appearances, writing and public speaking.I may have been forced to resign as a councillor. But I remain as committed as ever to the struggle for a world free of war, racism and poverty.

CHRISTIAN WITNESS IN A MULTI RELIGIOUS WORLD

2011-07-18T17:02:00.003+01:00

The World Council of Churches along with the Pontical Council for Interreligious Dialogue and The World Evangelical Alliance have just issued a document called Christian Witness in a Multi-Religious World
- Recommendations for Conduct.

The opening preamble says

Mission belongs to the very being of the church. Proclaiming the word of God and witnessing to the world is essential for every Christian. At the same time, it is necessary to do so according to gospel principles, with full respect and love for all human beings.

Aware of the tensions between people and communities of different religious convictions and the varied interpretations of Christian witness, the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue (PCID), the World Council of Churches (WCC) and, at the invitation of the WCC, the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA), met during a period of 5 years to reflect and produce this document to serve as a set of recommendations for conduct on Christian witness around the world. This document does not intend to be a theological statement on mission but to address practical issues associated with Christian witness in a multi-religious world.

The purpose of this document is to encourage churches, church councils and mission agencies to reflect on their current practices and to use the recommendations in this document to prepare, where appropriate, their own guidelines for their witness and mission among those of different religions and among those who do not profess any particular religion. It is hoped that Christians across the world will study this document in the light of their own practices in witnessing to their faith in Christ, both by word and deed.

The full document can be downloaded here

FAITH STORYTELLING IN LOZELLS

2011-07-15T15:30:00.004+01:00

Faith Storytelling Event is an evening of inspirational stories from the faith groups in North Birmingham.

Spiritual stories play an important role in all religions, traditions and cultures as they help us to remember the wisdom transferred from one generation to another.

Date: Friday 23 Friday September 2011
Time: 7.45 - 9.00pm
Venue: Faizul Quran Jamia Mosque Lozells, 213-217 Lozells Road. B19 1RJ
Cost: This is a free event for all faith groups to attend

Please come and share an encouraging story from your personal spiritual journey or your Holy Scriptures for 5-10 minutes.

It could be in the form of a thanksgiving for an answered prayer or blessings you have received from God's loving hands.

You might want to share a short story from your Holy Books or a spiritual leader who has motivated you.

Please share freely with an open heart while respecting the faith of others present on the evening.

Organised by the 'Faith in Lozells' group in partnership with faith leaders in North Birmingham and the Lozells Project.
Pall Singh
Community Development Worker
Lozells Project
92 Lozells Road
Lozells Birmingham B19 2TB
0121 523 8726/ 0781 3038756
http://www.lozells.org.uk/

A SACRED OBLIGATION

2011-07-14T11:41:00.001+01:00

A version of the following article has appeared in today's Methodist Recorder

Methodist theologian Kendall Soulen points out that because Christianity is concerned with the God of the Hebrew Bible and because Jesus was a faithful Jew, ‘the question has never been whether Christians should speak and act with reference to the Jewish people. Rather the question has been how they should do so, and how what they would say and do would affect the existence of the Jewish people.’(1)

A Rabbi friend when first confronted with the passage in John’s Gospel, ‘the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews,’(2) reflected ‘How ironic, as for most of the last 2,000 years it has been Jews who have been hiding behind locked doors for fear of Christians’. The truth of Christian – Jewish relations for much of the church’s life has been a story of oppression and violence inflicted by Christians upon Jews. This violence was located within the very self -understanding of Christians in relation to their Jewish neighbours. It was built upon a theology of supersessionism that saw Christianity as having displaced the Jewish people in their covenant with God. This interpretation of Christianity is still widely preached in our churches.

Soulen outlines three types of supersessionism that have dominated the church's theology - punitive, economic and structural.(3) The first argues that the Jewish people rejected Jesus and are therefore being punished for this rejection, God has abrogated the covenant made with the Jewish people and has replaced Israel with the ‘New Israel’ of the Church, the Jews became a wandering people who in their homelessness witnessed to the consequences of disobedience to God. In the second version sometimes aligned to the first but not always, Israel is merely the preparation for the coming of Christ. Israel’s relationship with God based on ‘worldly’ limitations such as a specific people, land and way of life is replaced by a ‘superior’ more 'universal and spiritual' salvation brought in Christ. Finally, structural supersessionism is perhaps the most deeply ingrained in the Christian consciousness – it is the way we often read the biblical story in prayers, liturgy, lectionaries and preaching. Soulen calls it the Standard Canonical Narrative – a story in four movements -The creation, the fall, Christ’s redemption and the future consummation. All other characters and events of the diverse and complex biblical narrative are co-opted (or ignored) to fit this overarching narrative.

All these ways of reading our relationship with the Jewish people represent attempts to assert the superiority of Christianity. We tend to see the church as growing out of a moribund and degenerate second temple Judaism. The truth was quite different.(4) The Jesus movement was one of a number of movements associated with the diversity of Judaism in the 1st century of the Common Era (CE) – a pluralistic tradition that sought to survive and continue to stay true to the God of the covenant under the heel of a vicious Roman occupation of their land. Following the destruction of the temple in 70 CE and the later failed Jewish revolts it was the quietist siblings of the Jesus Movement and the embryonic Rabbis that survived the further brutal oppression of empire. In the events that followed these two movements developed different trajectories: the Rabbinical movement resourced the Jewish people - renewing the tradition after temple destruction and led to the Judaism we have today. On the other hand the Jesus Movement increasingly orientated itself as a missionary movement taking the God of Israel into the gentile world and became the Church. Where the two movements met there was theological conflict and the echoes of this often acrimonious intra Jewish debate can be heard in the gospels and the epistles. But when these largely Jewish texts became the Scripture of an exclusively gentile movement the nature of the conflict changed. An eventually powerful gentile church, allied to empire, sought to shame or destroy its weaker sibling and supersessionism became the theological rationale for the dismissal of the Jewish people and the preaching of contempt the norm. It was this continual message of contempt in varying degrees that filled the preaching of the early church fathers, the medieval church, the reformers, the 19th century liberal protestants and their later neo-orthodox detractors alike. This contributed to the rise of Nazi ideology in a culturally Christian Germany and the murder of 6 million Jews. So deeply rooted was the theology of supersessionism that the church stood by at best and joined in the Nazi obscenity at worst. The small organised Christian resistance to the Nazis was not because of their treatment of the Jews but because they sought to interfere with the Church.(6)

The reality of the Shoah has led to a re-examination of the theology of supersessionism in the churches of Europe and North America particularly(7) But despite many Church statements supersessionism remains embedded in the consciousness of Christians and is often at the heart of much of our preaching and worship. To challenge this we must continually ask ourselves the questions posed by Soulen above: How are we speaking of the people who gave us Jesus and whose scriptures we share and what are the implications of our speaking for the Jewish people today? As one group of Christians has argued it is A Sacred Obligation.

Ray Gaston is the Inter Faith Enabler of The Birmingham District of The Methodist Church and the Inter Faith Tutor at The Queen’s Foundation for Ecumenical Theological Education

Footnotes
1. R. Kendall Soulen The God of Israel and Christian Theology (Fortress Press 1996) p1
2. John 20:19 (NRSV)
3. Op Cit pp29-33
4. See for instance Mary C Boys Has God Only One Blessing? Judaism as a Source of Christian Self Understanding (Paulist Press 2000) pp83- 85
5. Robert P. Ericksen and Susannah Heschel Betrayal – The German Churches and the Holocaust (Fortress Press 1999)
6. An excellent and accessible ecumenical example is The Christian Scholars Group
‘A Sacred Obligation - Rethinking Christian Faith in Relation to Judaism and the Jewish People’ available at http://www.jcrelations.net/en/?id=986

LIFE OF MUHAMMAD ON BBC TWO

2011-07-13T00:19:00.002+01:00

I haven't had the chance to watch it yet but from the initial reviews BBC's Life of Muhammad presented by Rageh Omar (pictured left) looks worth watching. The Metro and The Daily Telegraph each in their own particular ways give the series an initial thumbs up! You can watch it on BBC Iplayer

2011-07-12T18:17:00.000+01:00

Ruth Tetlow reports on the recent Birmingham Peace Walk in Lozells

I was one of about 40 people who enjoyed taking part in the annual Birmingham Peace Walk on Saturday. Thanks to Lozells Project and the Faith in Lozells interfaith group, and to Pall Singh in particular, we visited four different places of worship within the morning. At each one we were welcomed and friendships were made and strengthened as we walked through the streets of Lozells together. The purpose was to recognise that all faiths have much in common, and that they can live and work together for peace.

The starting point was the Buddhist Maha Vihara in Hockley. Yann Lovelock, Secretary of the Vihara, told us the story of the Buddhist community in the area and how the Maha Vihara serves Buddhists from several different national origins. The Maha Vihara also serves the local community, under the able leadership of the Ven Kassapa. Although Buddhism is recognised as a faith, Buddhists do not worship God, but practise meditation to free themselves of worldly attachment. This enables them to live with compassion and selflessness.

We followed the Peace Walk banner on to St Mary’s Convent in Hunters Road, where we were welcomed by Sr Helen, the leader of the Roman Catholic community there. The Sisters of Mercy follow a long tradition of service to the poor, and are able to use their beautiful premises for conferences and retreats. At present they are trying to involve local young people in setting up a food bank, to serve the community. Sr Helen explained that they are following the way of Jesus Christ, who had a special empathy with those who are excluded.

We then went to the Faizul Quran Mosque in Lozells Rd. We were warmly welcomed by Matloob Hussein and also met Imam Shabraz Khan. They told us how they worked for 10 years to build the beautiful mosque they now have and about the prayers and classes that take place there. They also spoke about the effect of the riots in the area a few years ago and their efforts to prevent such disturbances happening again. We should have liked to have learnt more about the beliefs which motivate Muslims.

Finally, we walked to the Sri Dashmesh Sikh Temple in Wheeler St. We all willingly covered our heads in accordance with Sikh practice. We were welcomed into a small prayer hall, with the Guru Granth Sahib as its focal point. This is the Sikh scriptures, which to them is a living Guru. We were addressed by two prominent Sikh community leaders, Dr Jagjit S. Taunque and Mr Sohal. We then experienced the famous Sikh hospitality of the langar, or community dining room, where home cooked vegetarian food is freely available to all comers.

At each place we read the famous prayer attributed to St Francis of Assisi:

Lord, make us an instrument of your peace
Where there is hatred, let us sow love,
Where there is injury, pardon,
Where there is doubt, faith,
Where there is despair, hope,
Where there is darkness, light,
Where there is sadness, joy.

We felt we had made another small step on behalf of harmony in Lozells, through praying for peace at each place, and encouraging places of worship to be open to others in the community. We were very aware of how much we still had to learn about our neighbours’ beliefs and customs.

Ruth Tetlow: Faith Encounter Programme

http://www.faithencounter.org.uk/

EVEN MORE RESOURCES FOR REFLECTING UPON 'JUSTICE FOR PALESTINE & ISRAEL' REPORT & INTER FAITH RELATIONS

2011-07-11T22:50:00.000+01:00

Added links to a debate between Uri Avnery and Ilan Pappe on Boycotts and One or Two State solutions to RESOURCES FOR REFLECTING UPON 'JUSTICE FOR PALESTINE & ISRAEL' REPORT & INTER FAITH RELATIONS

HAGEE HATE SPEECH COMING TO BIRMINGHAM

2011-07-07T15:54:00.000+01:00

John Hagee is coming to Birmingham this August to peddle his particularly perverse theology. If you don't know about this man it's worth consulting Rachel Tabachnick's very good article Saving Jews from John Hagee and her collection of articles on Hagee's particularly odious form of Christian fundamentalism that have been posted by the Jewish journal Zeek over the last few years. Hagee's vitriolic hate speech against Muslims is well known and documented. People might want to join one local politician and consider asking the Symphony Hall why they want to play host to such a man?

PLAYING WITH THE PLANET - A POSITIVE AND CREATIVE RESPONSE TO CLIMATE CHANGE

2011-07-05T14:40:00.001+01:00

An interfaith and interactive fun event this Sunday 2pm - 5pm with drama, art, poetry and music organised jointly by Birmingham Council of Faiths and sponsored by Oxfam. more details here

Pawlikowski Seminar at Queen's in October

2011-07-04T16:28:00.002+01:00

I've been asked by the Council of Christians and Jews to host a seminar at Queen's featuring one of the world's leading Christian Scholars on Christian - Jewish Relations. John Pawlikowski will be speaking on 19th October on the subject of 'The Continuing Israel - Palestine Conflict: is it now defining the relationship between Jews and Christians?' You can read about Pawlikowski's work here and read a recent article of his here and for a list of his publications see here

Full Details are

Wednesday 19th October 2011

11.00 am to 13.00 pm.

The Council of Christians Jews and Churches Together in Britain and Ireland

invite you to a special seminar by Dr John Pawlikowski.

If you wish to stay for lunch in the College refectory you are most welcome, but please indicate this with your RSVP, stating if you are vegetarian, RSVP by 30th September 2011.

Places are limited to 40 so book early.

Cost: The cost for lunch is £5, the seminar is free

For more information, contact:

Lindsay at CCJ

Telephone: 0207 015 5160

E-mail: mailto:cjrelations@ccj.org.uk

A BOUNTIFUL GOD BY ELIZABETH JOHNSON

2011-06-27T16:14:00.002+01:00

Thanks to Kim at Richard Hall's Connexions blog for this wonderful thought from Elizabeth Johnson

It is odd, when you think about it, that for centuries belief in Christ was used to obscure the work of God in other religions rather than to expand appreciation of it. An imperialist framework for christology made it appear that since the Word is incarnate in Jesus, then God is not present elsewhere, or at least not so truly and lovingly. A hierarchal pattern of thinking led to the conclusion that since Christ is number one, no other religion at all is worthy of attention. Not only was divine presence denied elsewhere, but Christ the Way, the Truth, and the Life was brandished triumphally like a stick to render others inferior. The God of Jesus Christ became a figure of closedness rather than openness.

Understanding Jesus Christ as the sacrament of God’s saving will enfleshed in history under the sign of kenosis and interpreting his universal significance in the light of his preaching the reign of God make possible a more generous view. Christians need not, indeed must not, abandon the faith that Jesus is in person Wisdom made flesh, whose advent holds saving significance for the whole of humankind, nor stop explaining to others the beauty of the gospel and its effect on our lives. This is the treasure entrusted to our hands in the living tradition of Christian faith. But in the midst of earth’s history, which limits every divine manifestation and human insight, this proclamation should be done in the spirit of the same humble self-emptying that we are talking about. As Joseph Hough put it, “It is essential for Christian faith that we know we have seen the face of God in the face of Jesus. It is not essential to believe that no one else has seen God and experienced redemption in another time and place.”…

Interreligious encounter leads to the praxis of sincere respect, careful dialogue, mutual learning, appreciation, and cooperation on a local and global scale to further the coming of God’s reign. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks proposes some arresting analogies to show the enrichment this praxis can bring. What would faith be like if we acknowledged the image of God in another, whose truth is not our truth? It is like feeling secure in one’s own home, yet moved by the beauty of foreign places, knowing they are someone else’s home, not mine, but still part of the glory of the world that is ours. It is like being fluent in Englsih, yet thrilled by the rhythms of an Italian sonnet. It is like realizing that your life is a sentence written in the story of your own faith, yet pleased to know that there are other stories of faith written in other lives, all part of the great narrative of God’s call and humanity’s response. Those who are confident in their faith are not threatened but elarged by the different ways of others. As we discover deeper truth than what we thought we possessed as a monopoly, the dignity of difference becomes a source of blessing.

Elizabeth A. Johnson, Quest for the Living God: Mapping the Frontiers in the Theology of God (New York/London: Continuum, 2007), pp. 176-79.

FOR 'ARMED FORCES DAY'

2011-06-25T17:46:00.014+01:00

My contribution to 'Armed Forces Day' - Native American singer/songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie talks about why she wrote the peace movement classic 'Universal Soldier' and then sings it.

Something smaller and less spectacular

2011-06-23T15:26:00.000+01:00

The following from The Methodist Church of The Philippines was given to me just as I became an ordinand some 18 years ago by the now Dean of Birmingham Cathedral The Very Revd Catherine Ogle, who was then Chaplain to BBC Radio Leeds and an associate Priest at All Hallows Leeds where I worshipped and later became Vicar. I have treasured it throughout my ordained ministry and offer it now as a prayer for all those being ordained by Methodist Conference in Southport and by Bishops in Cathedrals up and down the country in the next few weeks.

May God bless you and keep you.....

We are not ordaining you to ministry;
that happened at your baptism.
We are not ordaining you to serve the Church in committees,
activities, organisation; that is already implied in your membership.
We are not ordaining you to become involved in social issues,
in ecology, race, politics, and the search for justice and peace;
for that is laid on every Christian.

We are ordaining you
to something smaller and less spectacular;
to read and interpret those sacred stories of our community,
so that they speak a word to people today;
to remember and practice those rituals of meaning
that address people at the level where change takes place;
to foster in community, through word and sacrament,
that encounter with truth which will set people free
to minister as the Body of Christ.

We are ordaining you
to the ministry of the word and sacraments
and pastoral care.

God grant you grace not to betray but uphold it,
not to deny but to affirm it,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen

Islamophobia and The Politics of Fear

2011-06-19T11:04:00.000+01:00

Interesting talk by Scott Bayder Saye who explores Islamophobia within a broader and theological understanding of what he terms 'the politics of fear' and suggests resources within the three Abrahamic traditions for resisting this culture. Although the early part of the talk appears to be limited to North Amercan context don't let that put you off listening to the whole thing. The second half is particularly good,including a thoughtful theological reflection on fear drawing upon both Biblical and Qur'anic sources.

MORE RESOURCES FOR REFLECTING UPON 'JUSTICE FOR PALESTINE & ISRAEL' REPORT & INTER FAITH RELATIONS

2011-06-17T12:42:00.000+01:00

I've added a new section on 'Debating Boycotts' to a previous post RESOURCES FOR REFLECTING UPON 'JUSTICE FOR PALESTINE & ISRAEL' REPORT & INTER FAITH RELATIONS.

The Path Not Taken - Krister Stendahl and The Theology of Religions

2011-06-16T09:09:00.011+01:00

I came across this article the other day that has recently been published in Journal of Ecumenical Studies. It's Paul Knitter's 2009 Krister Stendahl memorial lecture, well worth a read. Knitter draws together some interesting snippets and reflections from Stendahl's work and teases us with Stendahl's explorations into theology of religions. However, I find his conclusion disappointing as he too easily recruits Stendahl to his own theological agenda of a pluralist liberationist theology of religions, drawing Stendahl, whose writing - as far as I know - does not engage with Alan Race's dominant typology of exclusivism, inclusivism and pluralism, into the pluralist camp.

I believe Stendahl's thoughts are not so easily categorised or in fact even interested in such categories.

Stendahl's reflections arose out of the longing to "sing my song to Jesus fully and with abandon without feeling it necessary to belittle the faith of others;" he sought to work with the particularity of the Jesus and the Pauline traditions of the Apostolic Witness, starting from these roots and imagining 'the path not taken', tentatively exploring a theology of religions from that work of excavation. This is different to the pluralist approach that starts with a universalist philosophy of religion and then asserts the necessity of a Christological accommodation to that theory. Stendahl's starting point as a biblical scholar and a participant in Jewish - Christian Dialogue ensures a qualitative difference between him and the pluralists. He begins by wanting to value particularity, something the early pluralists were less concerned about.

Was Stendahl's creative approach eclipsed by the more strident assertions of the pluralist theology of religions? Might it be more appropriate to see Stendahl as a forerunner for the developing theologies of dialogue that tend to eschew Race's paradigm in search of a different path in Christian theological engagement with religious plurality? Perhaps his was the 'path not taken' that is now being rediscovered.

An Excellent Resource

2011-06-15T10:44:00.010+01:00

I wrote the following review for the Methodist Theological Journal The Epworth Review it is appearing in this quarter's edition which has just come out

Edward Kessler

An Introduction to Jewish Christian Relations
(Cambridge University Press 2010 Paperback)
pp243
ISBN 978-0-521-70562-2

Despite predictions of an end to Methodist – Jewish relations, following the passage of the Report on Justice for Palestine & Israel at last year’s conference, much to everyone’s surprise there has been a mini renaissance of Methodist-Jewish encounter over the last year.

Those involved from the Methodist side would gain greatly from investing time and money in Ed Kessler’s excellent book. Kessler, who is the Jewish founder of a centre for Abrahamic dialogue in Cambridge, is a generous dialogue partner with a deep understanding and clear affection for Christianity. Easy to read, comprehensive in it’s sweep of the history of Jewish - Christian relations and nuanced in it’s presentation of contentious issues such as how to tackle the anti-Judaism of the New Testament and approaches to Zionism and the State of Israel, this book encourages a serious in depth exploration of the issues involved, through an accessible and engaging style.

Split into ten chapters that range from the New Testament context to the role of Jewish - Christian engagement in the wider interfaith movement today, Kessler has provided a valuable study resource that could easily be adapted for group use, perhaps combining the reading of a chapter each session with some primary documentation from the period or issue in question. An excellent bibliography and Kessler’s ability to summarise complex arguments simply and succinctly facilitate such an approach and enable further exploration.

For Christians who have not seriously engaged in Jewish – Christian dialogue this is an excellent place to start. For those already involved, Kessler’s presentation will refresh thoughts and reengage enthusiasm for a dialogue that is crucial for the creative development of Christian self understanding in a post Holocaust world and for constructive engagement with the cause of peace, justice and healing in the Middle East.

ON DIALOGUE

2011-06-14T14:57:00.010+01:00

A cardinal principle of dialogue states that one should strive to understand the other from within the other’s own terms of reference and then strive to respond accordingly. This means being sensitive to the cultural and theological barriers that lead easily to miscommunications. Rather than presuming similarities, one needs to be open to differences, subtle or not, and to learn how the other can operate with a different perspective on the world, with a different set of presuppositions and a differently nuanced set of values. Otherwise, we miss what is distinctive about our dialogue partners. This is particularly critical when we share so many aspects of culture that we become unaware of the need to translate, presuming that our words and ideas are received as we intend them.

Our brains can be compared to filing cabinets or hard drives. We humans tend to listen selectively, filing away that which fits into our preconceived constructs, that for which we already have folders, and either misfiling or ignoring the rest. In dialogue, we meet an other who frequently structures ideas and information differently, who organizes information into a different set of mental files. How do we achieve communication? Dialogue challenges us, on the one hand, to open new files for ourselves, to acquire new ways of organizing and integrating incoming information. On the other hand, it challenges us to discern how our partner has previously learned to organize information and to try to communicate in such a way that what is important to us fits as well as possible into the other’s preexisting file structure – to minimize our partner’s need for architectural reform to achieve understanding. By striving to maximize our own mental flexibility and to minimize our demands on our dialogue partner, we seek a maximally successful act of communication.

Ruth Langer

SONG OFFERINGS

2011-06-13T12:26:00.001+01:00

I've been a bit quiet on the blog front over the last couple of weeks trying to get a few commissioned writing pieces completed, along with contuinuing running a couple of training courses in the district and other activities. Last week saw me as Chair of the Faith Encounter Programme and examiner for the Walsall course at the awards ceremony in Walsall. Gareth Jones gave a great little talk to a packed room on the meaning of the Faith Encounter Programme as an inter faith experience. He finished with a lovely prayer from Rabindranath Tagore the Bengali poet. Introducing the reading Gareth said:

I’ve brought with me a poem by the great Bengali poet, philosopher, artist, novelist and more, Rabindranath Tagore. It’s from his book Gitanjali, meaning “Song Offerings”. It’s a prayer about friendship, and about finding God in unfamiliar places – God whose oneness is found in the many facets of life. And it captures much of what this evening is about.

Thou hast made me known to friends whom I knew not. Thou hast given me seats in homes not my own. Thou has brought the distant near and made a brother, a sister, of the stranger.

I am uneasy at heart when I have to leave my accustomed shelter; I forget that there abides the old in the new, and that there also thou abidest.

Through birth and death, in this world or in others, wherever thou leadest me it is thou, the same, the one companion of my endless life who ever linkest my heart with bonds of joy to the unfamiliar.

When one knows thee, then alien there is none, then no door is shut. Oh, grant me my prayer that I may never lose the bliss of the touch of the one in the play of the many

LOZELLS PEACE WALK 25 JUNE 2011

2011-06-10T14:13:00.001+01:00

The Lozells Project

Invites all faith groups in Birmingham to join one another on The Peace Walk
"Lord, make me a channel of your peace ......."
Saturday 25 June 2011
The most important thing about this day is that its purpose is to pray for God's peace as we walk and visit the various places of worship in Lozells.

10.00am - Buddhist Maha Vihara - 216 New John Street West. B19 3UA

10.45am - St Mary's Convent - 101 Hunters Road. B19 1EB

11.30am - Faizul Quran Jamia Mosque Lozells, 213-217 Lozells Road. B19 1RJ

12.15pm - Sri Dashmesh Sikh Temple - 305 Wheelers Street. B19 1HH

(times are approximate)

This is a great opportunity to meet other faith groups - to talk/ walk together and bless each other in prayer.
People from the West Midlands are encouraged to join or leave the group at any point.

Please bring a head covering, and in some places, arms and legs will also need to be covered.

We will begin with refreshments at 10am and conclude with lunch at the Sikh Temple. Donations towards the cost the of the peace walk are welcomed at the end after lunch.

Organised by the Lozells Project in partnership with 'Faith in Lozells' and faith groups in Birmingham.

Pall Singh
Community Development Worker
Lozells Project
92 Lozells Road
Lozells
Birmingham B19 2TB

0121 523 8726/ 0781 3038756

www.lozells.org.uk

Being Saved by Faith,Hope & Love exploring Reinhold Niebuhr

2011-05-27T12:43:00.002+01:00

I was listening last night to an excellent Public Broadcast Channel programme from the US called Speaking of Faith. The particular episode was a programme exploring the contemporary relevance of the twentieth century theologian Reinhold Niebuhr. We are off for a few days away in the van over the bank holiday week and while away I was hoping to read Elisabeth Sifton's reflection on her father, the said theologian, called 'The Serenity Prayer - Faith and Politics in Times of Peace & War' and so was getting myself in the mood. The Serenity Prayer is well known and was made famous by Alcoholics Anonymous.

Some see Niebuhrs' 'Christian Realism' as eclipsed by liberationist theologies or as simply a Christian endorsement of liberal democracy and are suspicious of its potential for conservative interpretation or preventing distinctive Christian witness. However a glance at Niebuhrs actions - support for Union organisation, early support for the Jewish people against Hitler, support for civil rights and speaking out against the Vietnam war, make it difficult to claim him for the right even though he supported nuclear deterrance and was anti-communist in post war US. It could be argued that his anti communism was for good reasons as a resistance to despotic Stalinism and that he was proved right on this against for instance fellow theologian Karl Barth who believed in a moral equivalence between the USA and USSR that ignored the gulags. But Niebuhr also cast a strongly critical eye on US imperialism, influenced the young Martin Luther King and has been radically interpreted by both James Cone and Cornel West, hardly therefore a conservative thinker. The argument about Christian distinctiveness is at root an argument about what the church is called to be and further work needs to be done on the implications of Christian realism for contemporary explorations of the relationship between a changing church and wider society.

I find myself increasingly intrigued by Niebuhr's call to embrace in our activism ambiguity, nuance and complexity. Living a faith based activism that acts in humility, recognises the sinfulness of all our human constructions and is open to change whilst engaging positively in a struggle for social justice. A Niebuhrian influenced activism also requires a neccessarily reflective approach to be aware of when we deceive ourselves into thinking that a particular cause is the true cause and descend into self righteousness. Perhaps Niebuhr may be a good resource for negotiating a more creative North American and European Christian engagement with the Israeli/Palestinian conflict beyond the increasingly unself-critical voices of 'Christian Zionism' and 'Palestinian Solidarity'

As Niebuhr said

Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope. Nothing which is true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore we must be saved by faith. Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore we are saved by love. No virtuous act is quite as virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as it is from our standpoint. Therefore we must be saved by the final form of love which is forgiveness

“Old Habits Die Hard: A Critique of Recent Christian Statements on Israel”

2011-05-25T15:12:00.002+01:00

This paper was given by Professor Amy Jill Levine at the Woolf Institute of Abrahamic Faiths in Cambridge earlier this month. I have posted on A J Levine's work before and have personally found her work very helpful and challenging. Levine is a Jewish Feminist Scholar of the New Testament someone long involved in Christian – Jewish Dialogue and an active supporter of the Israeli Peace Movement. I think her critique of the Methodist Report and other Christian perspectives on Israel & Palestine needs to be engaged with. As you can see from the paper she offers them in a spirit of dialogue and is NOT saying that we shouldn't critique Israel or the Occupation – something she herself campaigns on. Two quotes below from the beginning and end of the document give you a flavour of the piece. You may not agree with her on everything or anything but it will certainly help to sharpen your thinking, her work has certainly had that effect on me. She is a great dialogue partner. I've also put a link to the paper on a previous posting RESOURCES FOR REFLECTING UPON 'JUSTICE FOR PALESTINE & ISRAEL' REPORT & INTER FAITH RELATIONS

Our concern today is not with these positions in general. Our concern is with rhetoric and example. We shall explore how churches might preclude critique from Jewish groups and promote cooperation by attending not only to what is said, but also to how it is said, and to what is not said. To often rhetoric becomes the stumbling block to understanding, and so to strategic alliance……

The Methodist (2010) statement concludes that “a greater understanding of the theology needs developing to inform responses to differing attitudes and actions to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, in order that theological reflection and conversations may form the basis of the attitude of the Methodist Church and Methodist people” and it recommends that “wherever possible, the work of the Methodist Church and Methodists on this issue should be done in partnership with Christians of all denominations, with inter-faith groups and with the Jewish and Muslim communities” – Amen. If we can hear with each other’s ears, and avoid stumbling blocks that prevent alliances, we are all in a better position to work for the peace that Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all so highly value. I’ve listed several areas where caution is advised. There are no doubt more. I thank you for travelling with me on this difficult subject. The floor is now yours for comment and critique.

Also check out her forthcoming Rabbi Tann Memorial lecture here in Birmingham

Project Champion Cameras Going at Last

2011-05-25T09:19:00.001+01:00

We recently had a leaflet posted through our door from the West Midlands Police telling us that the cameras, locally known as 'spy-cams', installed under Project Champion were now actually being removed. This final move announced at the beginning of the month is a great victory for local community action. The police agreed last December to remove them following a critical review. There was a great local campaign last year to get rid of the cameras that had been installed without consultation and were aimed not at tackling street crime but about monitoring the local Muslim community for 'security' purposes. I blogged about this campaign earlier here and here. A notable absence in the leaflet that came through our door was any reference to an apology made to the local community. I am aware that such an apology was made by senior police following the critical review - it would have been good to have had it published in the leaflets.

ISLAMOPHOBIA GOES MAINSTREAM - THE BIG QUESTIONS

2011-05-18T17:19:00.001+01:00

Islamophobia Watch have a good analysis of the BBC's Big Questions programme on Sunday

They say

"The Big Questions on BBC TV was devoted to the issue "Does Britain have a problem with Muslims?" The very title illustrates how Islamophobic discourse has entered the mainstream. Can anyone imagine the BBC broadcasting a programme that addressed the question "Does Britain have a problem with Jews?" or "Does Britain have a problem with Blacks?" Read more

CHRISTIAN & MUSLIM WOMEN PRAY FOR PEACE

2011-05-18T11:22:00.005+01:00

Just heard from an old friend of mine Veronica Whitty about a great initiative in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle. Check out

Christian and Muslim Women pray for Peace at Marian Shrine

Rabbi Tann Memorial Lecture 2011 - Jesus & Judaism - Why the Connection Matters

2011-05-16T08:40:00.002+01:00

One certainly worth putting in the diary..........

I was introduced to Levine's work last year by Rabbi Debbie Young- Somers and love her engaging style and challenging dialogical approach

Prof. Amy-Jill Levine, University Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies at Vanderbilt University Divinity School, will deliver the 3rd Annual Rabbi Tann Memorial Lecture on Thursday 2 June 2011 at 5pm University of Birmingham in European Research Institute Room G51 followed by a Drinks Reception. Her books include The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus. A self-described Yankee Jewish feminist who teaches in a predominantly Christian divinity school in the buckle of the Bible Belt, Professor Levine combines historical-critical rigour, literary-critical sensitivity, and a frequent dash of humour with a commitment to eliminating anti-Jewish, sexist, and homophobic theologies.

For information contact Charlotte Hempel at c.hempel@bham.ac.uk or Isabel Wollaston i.l.wollaston@bham.ac.uk

An earlier posting on Prof Levine can be found here

Check out a short interview with Prof Levine below

More Resources for Israel/Palestine & Inter Faith Relations

2011-05-15T14:28:00.002+01:00

I've added some new resources to RESOURCES FOR REFLECTING UPON 'JUSTICE FOR PALESTINE & ISRAEL' REPORT & INTER FAITH RELATIONS

WEBSITE OF THE WEEK

2011-05-13T17:50:00.002+01:00

Nice recommendation from Kingston University Chaplaincy where PULTA is 'Website of the Week'

Blogspot of Ray Gaston, a very remarkable Christain interfaith, peace and justice activisit. Ray's book on experiencing Christian - Muslim relationships "A Heart Broken Open" is important and highly recomended reading for anyone involved in interfaith relationships.

THANKS!

EXPLORING ABRAHAM IN STAFFORD

2011-05-10T12:33:00.007+01:00

Last week I blogged about a meeting I was speaking at in Stafford on 'Children of Abraham' below The Curate of St Mary's Stafford Revd Mandy Walker offers us her reflections on the meeting.

On Tuesday 3 May seventy or so of us from Stafford and the surrounding area gathered at the Collegiate Church of St Mary’s in Stafford, hosted by Rev Prebendary Graham Fowell. We were people from Jewish, Muslim and Christian faith. The programme was entitled, “The Children of Abraham Common Beliefs, Common Values”

The evening was introduced by Hisfa Haroon-Iqbal, Chair of Stafford and District Friends of Faith based at Staffordshire University. Each of the four speakers was asked to address the following three questions; what is the core belief of your religious tradition? What about Abraham then? And how can you uphold your core beliefs, without undermining the distinction of your own tradition?

First to speak was Rachel Berkson from the Jewish Faith, a leader in the Hebrew Congregation of Stoke on Trent, Rev Ray Gaston from the Queen’s Foundation followed representing Christianity, Dr Musharaf Hussain from the Karimia Institute Nottingham represented Islam. Finally Heather Farr, an educationalist spoke on the importance of Religious Education in a secular society. A lively question and answer session followed and concluded with each faith leader leading a short prayer.

Some reflections: There was a great richness in bringing together people of faith, common to all was a desire to be faithful and wholly committed to God and to work out what their faith means in their lives, seeking to be distinct form those around them. Each faith pointed to a life of prayer to a monotheistic God who loved and cared for creation. I found it very moving and helpful be lead in prayer by those who hold a faith different to mine.

Abraham is figure shared by Jewish, Islamic and Christian people; each upheld Abraham as a man of faith who sought to follow God in his daily life. Differences in faith focussed on the personal nature of faith in God and whilst each faith recognises the historical Jesus, the answer to who Jesus is the key difference for each faith.

Common to each speaker was a sense of journeying in faith, this raises the possibility and hope for all people of faith to learn and grow both in their own faith and of others. I was reminded of the picture in the Christian scriptures in Luke 24 of the two disciples bewildered and disillusioned after Jesus’ death; who were met on the road by a stranger who walked with them, listened and then opened up and explained the scriptures.

Heather Farr spoke convincingly of the importance of educating our young people in all faiths so that we can journey together in life without prejudice and fear of difference. Two people from the audience, both over 60, admitted they knew very little about other faiths and would like to learn more about the people they share their community with. This struck me as being very important; an openness to travel together, to celebrate difference whilst still being free and able to speak and act confidently in our faith. As Ray reminded us; it is in acting out our faith in love that we draw nearer to God as God journeys with us.

The picture above is Abraham by Louis S. Glanzman

4 Mandirs, a Gurdwara and 4 churches - a day with the Faith Encounter Programme in Walsall

2011-05-09T16:53:00.004+01:00

I had a lovely day on Saturday examining for the Faith Encounter Programme's Faith Guide programme in Walsall. You can read about FEP's work here and here.

It was lovely for me because with 4 of the guides being from different Mandirs it gave me an opportunity to reaquaint myself with the traditions of Hinduism that I first engaged with when I studied in my first degree at Leeds University. Alongside the Hindu guides and places of worship we had a Sikh guide and therefore the opportunity to visit a Gurdwara in Smethwick and four Christian guides including Anglicans, a Baptist and a Methodist - a real ecumenical variety and some interesting church stories.

All in all a great day and a lovely way to spend my birthday!

CHILDREN OF ABRAHAM

2011-05-02T21:58:00.002+01:00

I am speaking at a meeting tomorrow evening in Stafford with Musharaf Hussain former Chair of the Christian - Muslim Forum and Rachel Berkson of Stoke-on-Trent & North Staffordshire Hebrew Congregation on Children of Abraham Common Beliefs Common Values. It has been organised by an alliance of The University of Staffordshire, St Mary's Church Stafford and Stafford and District Friends of Faith. Details can be found here

Each of the speakers has been asked to address the following questions in their 15 minutes allotted time

I. What is the core belief of your religious tradition?

II. What about Abraham then?

III. How can you uphold your core beliefs whilst at the same time value and respect the traditions of the other two religions, without undermining the distinction of your own tradition?

Quite a challenge!

On the killing of Osama bin Laden

2011-05-02T14:12:00.005+01:00

Three thoughtful responses to the news of the killing of Osama bin Laden.

Rabbi Debbie Young - Somers finds inspiration from the Talmud to help her reflect on people's reactions in Mourning and Celebrating.

Whilst Revd Angela Shier Jones is horrified by the jubilation over his death and questions whether justice has been done

And Councillor Salma Yaqoob offers a political analysis and a view on the 'war on terror' that is unlikely to be expressed on our TV news screens today.

PAUL & RESURRECTION FAITH

2011-04-24T07:48:00.005+01:00

I am really pleased to be heading off later this morning to preach and preside at the Easter Communion Service of a local Methodist Church in a neighbouring circuit. One of the disadvantages of not being in Parish or Circuit ministry is that it is easy to end up not preaching and presiding at Easter. The last few years have seen me either running the biannual inter faith studies Easter residential at Queens or celebrating Easter whilst taking a holiday break. The local Methodists asked me some months ago if I would step in and preach on Easter Sunday as their own minister will be on Sabbatical. It wasn't until I started reflecting on what I wanted to say that I realised I hadn't led an Easter Sunday service since I left All Hallows in 2007!

As part of my preparation I reviewed what I had said in the last two years of my Easter preaching. All Hallows has a web site and at that time rudimentary recordings were made of sermons and posted for people to listen to. So I revisited them and rediscovered that in 2006 I had preached an Easter series on 1 Corinthians 15 called 'Paul and Resurrection Faith.' The series was part of a wider series on 'Reclaiming Paul' based on some study on Paul that I had been engaged upon and the sermons drew heavily upon the work of Neil Elliot in his Liberating Paul, Richard Horsley's Commentary on 1 Corinthians and his work on Paul and Empire and John Dominic Crossan's book In Search of Paul all of which had been part of my exploration.

The semons can be listened to here.

A GOOD FRIDAY REFLECTION

2011-04-22T12:07:00.006+01:00

Marc Chagalls 'White Crucifixion' read an excellent reflection on this at The Spiritual Drawing Board

I am leading the Good Friday reflections at the foot of the cross at St Paul's Church Balsall Heath this afternoon between 2-3pm. The following is my introduction to the service

Good Friday is the most solemn day of the Church year as we come together to reflect on the death of Jesus. Over the centuries, Good Friday and the other holy days of this week leading up to and including Easter, have seen terrible vilification of and violence towards Jews, as Christians carried along by the gospel narratives, pinned blame for Jesus’s death not on the Romans who tortured and killed him, but on his own people.

The gospel writers, remember, were writing at a politically sensitive and dangerous time, when the Roman empire had already destroyed Jerusalem and seemed poised ready to stamp out a fragile Christianity, a time when Christianity and Rabbinical Judaism were forming their own separate identities with all the relationship tensions of close siblings – tensions aired for all to see in the writings of the New Testament.

This was not a clever time to flag up the fact of the Roman execution of Jesus – we will hear today what great lengths the gentile writer Luke goes to exonerate the Roman. But a while later, in a more secure environment - for Christians at least - the Apostles Creed, that anchor of our faith, is formulated to declare that Christ died ‘under Pontius Pilate,’ a military governor in a cruel empire, who was eventually removed by that empire from office for being too cruel.

In this post-Holocaust world, we know to our shame that the violence inflicted upon Jews by Christians down the ages is something for which we Christians need to repent. We who are called to love our neighbour need to learn to love ever more deeply, the people who gave us Jesus and the Scriptures.

Roman Catholic theologian John Pawlikowski has written

'The Jewish historian Ellis Rivkin has often said that the question "who crucified Jesus?" should be replaced by "what crucified Jesus?" The change in emphasis is crucial, because what crucified Jesus were certain entrenched political forces that always want to rid society of those who present new ideas, question entrenched power that has gone awry and denounce exploitation.

It is wrong to present the events of Good Friday as involving wholesale Jewish opposition to Jesus. At best, Jesus' struggle was against the entrenched occupying powers which some Jewish leaders in the Temple aided and abetted for personal gain. So despite the history of Good Friday in terms of Christian-Jewish relations, I believe it is possible to understand it as a time for reconciliation between the two faith communities. For Jesus on Calvary symbolizes not only the sufferings of all humankind but, in particular, the sufferings which his brother and sister Jews were experiencing in occupied Palestine. Jesus' death represents the suffering, the trials, the aspirations of many ordinary Jewish people of the time. Certainly there is a long history to overcome in transforming Good Friday into a period of Christian-Jewish reconciliation. But if we better understand the concrete political dynamics that brought Jesus to Calvary, we will be well under way towards beginning that process of transformation.' (1)

So my sisters and brothers in focussing our attention on 'What Killed Jesus' we draw alongside this story not as distant observers pointing the finger at protagonists of the past but as open pilgrims longing to become more whole and holy, longing to be people who act and live the gospel values of love, justice and truth. We come alongside this story bringing our story and allowing it through the conviction of the Holy Spirit to challenge us and comfort us as we allow the paschal mystery to penetrate our own lives.

So we bring the realities of our own experience of and participation in betrayal, our compliance with or oppression by, unjust structures, our experiences of awe and wonder and of brokenness and despair and in the silence and the moment let ourselves be open to experience God touching us with healing love - for as the Apostolic Witness attests by his wounds we shall be healed (2)

(1) From Developments in the liturgy of Holy Week by John Pawlikowski at http://www.jcrelations.net/en/?item=948

(2) 1 Peter 2: 24b

FAITH HOPE & LOVE CONFERENCE - 'A real milestone on the ecumenical & inter faith journey'

2011-04-13T08:49:00.016+01:00

Particpants listening to Bishop Joe Aldred of the Church of God of Prophecy & Roman Catholic Archbishop of Birmingham Bernard Longley opening the conference with a plenary on 'Sharing our Stories'

Nearly 100 Christians (and one Sikh) poured into Mount Zion Community Church in Aston on Saturday for the Faith Hope & Love - Christian Witness in a Multi Faith Society Conference. Pentecostals, Catholics, Baptists, Methodists and Anglicans provided a real ecumenical flaviour to the conference ; which was also diverse in its theological representation with charismatics and evangelicals sitting alongside liberals and radicals as we explored together the meaning of living faithfully, hopefully and lovingly as Christians in todays multi faith world.

A workshop on Evangelicals and Inter faith Dialogue

Celia Blackden Inter faith Officer for Churches Together in England described the conference as 'a real milestone on the ecumenical and inter faith journey'. Whilst visiting workshop leader Richard Reddie said 'I really enjoyed the conference which was stimulating, educational and challenging'.

Natasha Griffith of The Feast leading a workshop on inter faith work with young people

The organising team will be meeting in early May and looking in detail at feedback from participants and where we may go forward from this initial success. Meanwhile Christians in Birmingham and elsewhere in the country who came to the conference will be considering how to engage in fresh and creative ways within their own multi faith contexts, encouraged by a conference that has resourced and inspired them to more faithfully, hopefully and lovingly walk as people of the way of Christ in a multi faith society.

A group from Aston churches action planning in the final session of the day

PROCLAIMING THE 'LORDSHIP' OF CHRIST? WHY THE CONFESSING CHURCH IS NOT A MODEL OF CHRISTIAN RESISTANCE

2011-04-07T11:12:00.020+01:00

At the Birmingham District Synod of the Methodist Church last weekend we were presented with a motion in support of the UK UNCUT protestors who were arrested at the TUC demonstration the other week. The motion wanted to make a distinction between the nonviolent direct action of the UK UNCUT group and the violent activities of a smaller number of protesters and to condemn the mistreatment of the former by the police and courts. The motion was carried by a significant majority.

The most interesting part of the discussion was perhaps unrelated to the motion’s subject. The only 'objection' raised was by one of our brethren of the Hauerwasian persuasion who chided the motion’s proposers because of its lack of theological content. We needed, he said, to proclaim as the Barmen Declaration had done 'the Lordship of Christ'in our resistance. Whilst I agreed with the sentiment and the frustration - that much of what passes for liberation theology on the Christian Left in the UK is unfortunately often indistinguishable from a secular left wing opinion column in the Guardian, Peace News or the Socialist Worker - I was not so enamoured with my brother's recruiting of the founding statement of the Confessing Church in Nazi Germany to this cause.

This is often done in Church circles and the idea of both the declaration and the Confessing Church as a model of theological resistance to the Nazis is a myth that lives strongly, particularly in post evangelical and counter cultural Christian movements as well as some more fundamentalist reactionary tendencies with whom I have less sympathy. However, the truth about Barmen and the Confessing Church is not so noble.

The Barmen Declaration was solely concerned with the Church's right to control its own polity and to protect the right of baptised 'Jewish Christians' within it. As Alice Eckardt has pointed out in her analysis of what is often termed 'the Church Struggle' in Nazi Germany,

Essentially it was a struggle by the institutional churches to preserve for themselves an area that was separate from the state and national life, an area in the sacraments, and care for those in need of solace...The churches and their hierarchies did not raise objections…to the government's repudiation of democracy, persecution of Communists and Socialists, the concentration camps, the multitude of anti-Jewish decrees and violent actions, the wars of aggression, oppressive occupation policies, use of foreign slave labour or the "Final Solution" itself. (1)

The Barmen Declaration and the Confessing Church were deeply problematic for two reasons.

Firstly a Lutheran two kingdoms theology dominated the churches and had led to a deep subservience to the political authority of the state and the church's submission to it as long as it had authority in things 'spiritual'.

Secondly, the Barmen declaration and The Confessing Church were deeply embedded in a culture of antisemitism which Christian theology had given birth to and continued to support. Even on the theological 'Left' of the Church, in 1933 the year before the declaration - Dietrich Bonhoeffer - a modern Christian saint to many because of his later direct resistance to the Nazi regime - was writing on "The Church and The Jewish Question" in a way that has led Post Holocaust Christian theologian Clark Williamson to reflect

Hitler and Bonhoeffer were united in seeking a world without Jews. One would extinguish them physically, the other would convert them - eliminate them religiously. The choice was between spiritual and physical genocide. (2)

The Barmen Declaration does not then show us how to resist unjust powers and proclaim the 'Lordship of Christ' in our times, it demonstrates to us how deeply implicated the Church has been - and IS - in the structures of power and oppression not least the evil of anti-Semitism and anti- Judaism - which is the hatred, seeking the theological or physical obliteration or casual dismissal of the right to particularity; of the Jewish peoples.

1) Alice L Eckardt, The Holocaust, the Church Struggle, and Some Christian Reflections" in Faith and Freedom: A Tribute to Franklin H Littell Edited by Richard Libowitz ( Pergamon 1987) quoted in Stephen R Haynes, The Bonhoeffer Legacy - Post Holocaust Reflections (Fortress 2006) p13-14 (2) Clark Williamson, Has God Rejected His People? Anti-Judaism in the Christian Church (Abingdon 1983) quoted in Haynes p44

MORE RESOURCES ON ISRAEL/PALESTINE AND INTER FAITH RELATIONS

2011-04-06T16:59:00.002+01:00

I have added Peter Pettit's Christian Zionism from a Perspective of Jewish-Christian Relations and his joint article with Biblical Scholar Bruce Chilton on Assessing a Moment of Truth to my earlier posting RESOURCES FOR REFLECTING UPON 'JUSTICE FOR PALESTINE & ISRAEL' REPORT & INTER FAITH RELATIONS

CHALLENGING HABITUAL ANTI JUDAISM

2011-04-06T08:15:00.002+01:00

THE MISUNDERSTOOD JEW: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus

Amy-Jill Levine

A Book Review by Annie Heppenstall

Reading this book has the same effect as if the person you have been talking about for years, presuming you know all about them, suddenly walks into the room and catches you at it. It would be utterly disconcerting, except that Amy Levine is so likeable. She has an intimate and affectionate knowledge of Christianity, Christian scriptures and the church and communicates in a highly engaging, easy-to-read way, but does not spare us Christians from some hard truths. I thought, having ingested Geza Vermes as a Theology student at the end of the 80’s, that I was quite good on ‘Jesus the Jew.’ Levine refers reassuringly to my former hero several times, but while Vermes as a historian keeps Jesus well within the context of 1st Century CE Judaism, Levine insists on bringing him out and making him – the whole issue – relevant to today, in the uncomfortable light of Christianity’s history.

Levine seems to leave no stone unturned. The pace combined with the challenge she presents, I felt needed to be counterbalanced by pauses for breath, to consider the far-reaching implications for Christian faith and attitude, and at times enquiry from more detailed information sources to rectify my own ignorance on some subjects. In many instances I would have welcomed the opportunity to challenge her back, particularly regarding the interpretation of some Gospel texts and Christian concepts, which naturally are dear to my heart. But in wishing to do so, I find my own defensiveness exposed and my emotional maturity tested and I have to ask myself whether I could display as much good grace as she does, in our imaginary interfaith conversation. In each case her stance is valid, whether I like what she is saying or not; she is a formidable dialogue partner and if we are serious about presenting Christianity sensitively and meaningfully in this post-Holocaust world then we cannot afford to ignore her.

The book needs to be read, but let me try to summarise a key point as far as I understand it. Despite recent theological and ecclesiastical advice to the contrary, Christian spokespeople persistently present Judaism as a negative foil for Jesus and the emerging church, and this continues to be a habitual way of reading scripture, despite all protestations, however genuine, that we abhor anti-Semitism and respect Jews and Judaism. It is an unjustifiable habit stemming from ignorance, and if followed through, does result, even unintentionally, in anti-Judaic sentiments. What is troubling, is the extent of this habit – we (or most of us ) do it frequently, unconsciously, despite our best intentions. It spreads from pulpit and publication, out into Christian community and occurs largely because of a misguided assumption that we can know Judaism because we read the ‘Old Testament.’ This is, as Levine points out, as ridiculous as somebody assuming they know us 21^st Century Westernised Christians, because they have read the Epistles. The only way to know someone is to spend time with them, in person, and let them talk about themselves and reveal their own humanity and their own take on life; it is a process that requires some humility and willingness to listen and have our preconceptions dismantled. In this interfaith world, there is no longer an excuse for talking about another faith tradition without inviting them in to speak for themselves, and we should welcome Amy-Jill Levine for doing just that.

By way of illustration, let me finish with a short extract where Levine points out implications in a well-known and much-used quotation from the Epistle to the Galatians. It had simply not occurred to me that this passage could cause offence, until I read the following comment, but now it stares me in the face and calls me to find a different way of hearing the scriptures, ‘with the ears of my neighbour,’ as Levine puts it.

It is [therefore] pastorally helpful to imagine how the words of some New Testament passages can sound to people who are not Christian. For example, Galatians 3:28 proclaims, ‘There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female … in Christ Jesus.’ This verse may be very good news to the gentile men in Galatia, who now have the assurance that circumcision is neither warranted nor wanted. It might be good news to slaves …But to state that in the ideal world, or even in the purview of Christ, ‘there is no longer Jew or Greek,’ sounds like the erasure of Jewish (and Greek) identity. Christian universalism thus entails the erasure of anything distinctly Jewish. Those who seek to promote multiculturalism might wish to rephrase Paul’s language to celebrate ‘both Jew and Greek, both male and female, and all, who should be free.’ (p. 114)

Ray adds I learnt recently that Amy Jill Levine is coming to Birmingham to give the Rabbi Tann Memorial Lecture in June details can be found below

The Third Annual Rabbi Tann Memorial Lecture: Jesus and Judasim - The Connection Matters Prof. Amy-Jill Levine, University Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies at Vanderbilt University Divinity School, will deliver the 3rd Annual Rabbi Tann Memorial Lecture on Thursday 2 June 2011 at 5pm in ERI Room G51 followed by a Drinks Reception. Her books include The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus (HarperOne). A self-described “Yankee Jewish feminist who teaches in a predominantly Christian divinity school in the buckle of the Bible Belt,” Professor Levine combines historical-critical rigour, literary-critical sensitivity, and a frequent dash of humour with a commitment to eliminating anti-Jewish, sexist, and homophobic theologies. For information contact Charlotte Hempel at c.hempel@bham.ac.uk or Isabel Wollaston i.l.wollaston@bham.ac.uk

CULTIVATING A COMPASSIONATE LIFE

2011-04-03T18:12:00.032+01:00

In a couple of recent talks I have been speaking about Catherine Cornille's book ' The Im-Possibility of Interreligious Dialogue.' Cornille argues for an approach to interreligious dialogue that is concerned with practising five virtues and cultivating these virtues from within the resources of one's own faith tradition in dialogue with others. The virtues of humility, commitment, interconnection, empathy and hospitality are explored in depth in her book always through engagement with the experience of finding both common ground (possibility) and the reality of radical difference (impossibility) in our engagement with the religious 'other'. In her understanding of interreligious dialogue both poles of experience are embraced as creative and dynamic realities needing to be held in tension. Cornille has also argued, elsewhere, for developing an understanding of witness based on this model. She encounters a process of 'inter-witnessing' taking place between practitioners in interreligious encounter. My talks have focussed on this through the telling of stories about being witnessed to by people of other faith traditions into a deeper engagement with the virtues that she outlines and in the process of opening myself to being 'witnessed to,' finding that I have 'witnessed' in return.

I was reminded of this when looking at material this weekend on the internet about Golden Rule Day which has been called by the United Nations for tomorrow 5th April 2011. At first glance the Golden Rule appears as one of those initiatives that too easily and quickly seeks common ground whilst eliding the realities of significant difference, failing to maintain Cornille's tension. However in incorporating the Golden Rule into her Charter of Compassion Karen Armstrong begins to engage a mass audience with a spirituality that is not unlike the practices Cornille calls for through her virtues. What is common to both approaches is a necessity to prioritise practice over doctrinal belief. This is emphasised in Cornille by her call to 'doctrinal humility' and in Armstrong with her finding compassion as a commonality that opens up a true love of the 'other' as 'other' and therefore loving them in their difference. This correlates in turn, with Cornille's perspective of being hospitable to 'difference' and 'commonality' and being empathetic in relation to the religious other and through this maintaining the creative tension outlined above.

Whilst developing 'doctrinal humility' there is also a necessity to recognise the traditioned nature of our engagement with such practices as compassion. Hence Cornille emphasises commitment to tradition and Armstrong calls for us to dig deep into our own traditions for the resources to live the compassionate life.

Despite this call to dig deep into our traditions Armstrong is always in danger with her 'independent monotheism' of pulling towards the construction of a new space outside and beyond tradition rather than a meeting point for those committed to a tradition therefore risking the construction of a bland and oppressive universalism that downplays the wonder of particularity. This is a pitfall Cornille is well aware of when she includes in her virtues the necessity of being committed to a tradition. However there is an exciting development that is being attested to by these two women's approaches that calls us all to a deeper engagement with the practices of our traditions that help to cultivate compassion. In the speech below given at the launch of the Charter of Compassion three years ago Armstrong movingly articulates such a vision

As I reflect upon Armstrong's talk and Cornille's book I find myself once more returning to those amazing words of Paul the apostle in his first letter to the Corinthians, for there I find a scriptural affirmation of doctrinal and spiritual humility and a call to a compassionate life through a commitment to the Christian understanding of the nature of Divine Love.

If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogantor rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. For now we see in a mirror, dimly,but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.

'SEEK JUSTICE, CORRECT OPPRESSION' - RABBIS & REV'S AGAINST THE CUTS

2011-04-02T16:34:00.004+01:00

Rabbi Dr Margaret Jacobi of Birmingham Progressive Synagogue has initiated a joint Jewish - Christian protest against the cuts. A letter to The Times signed by 56 Rabbis and Christian ministers says

The prophet Isaiah proclaims: ‘Cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.’ We urge the Government to rethink its programme of cuts to ensure that those most able to withstand the effect of cuts bear the brunt of them and the poor and weak are cared for. This is what our faiths demand of a just society.

The letter and the list of signatories - including myself - is reproduced below along with a recently produced False Economy/TUC video on an alternative to cuts.

Dear Editor,

We have become increasingly concerned about the nature of the cuts proposed by the Government and now having to be implemented by local authorities. Our religious traditions teach that we should care for the poor, the weak and the vulnerable. Yet these are the people who are being disproportionately affected by the cuts. The Government is making it harder to claim sickness and unemployment benefits. Local authority savings, forced on them by reduced Government funding, have resulted in, for example, the closure of a brain injury rehabilitation unit in Edgware, care homes in the Wirral and a crime prevention project for young people in Cornwall and severe cutbacks in a rape crisis centre in Glasgow. These are just a few of many examples of the most vulnerable members of society being denied the support they rely on. On the other hand, the wealthiest members of our society are relatively unaffected.

We call on all like-minded people, of all religions and none, to join in monitoring the effect of the cuts and raising awareness of how they are affecting the most vulnerable in our society.

Rabbi Dr. Margaret Jacobi Birmingham Progressive Synagogue
Rabbi Danny Rich Chief Executive, Liberal Judaism
Neville Kenyon President, the Unitarian General Assembly
Rabbi Pete Tobias Chairman, Liberal Judaism Rabbinic Conference.
Revd. Toby Howarth Interfaith Advisor to the Bishop of Birmingham

Rabbi Mark Solomon Interfaith Consultant, Liberal Judaism
Sue Amer Deanery Reader, Kidderminster
Rabbi Hillel Athias-Robles
Rabbi Charley Baginsky
Revd. Stephen Barton
Rabbi Francis Ronald Berry
Rabbi Barbara Borts Newcastle Reform Synagogue
The Rev Andy Braunston Metropolitan Community Church

Rabbi Douglas Charing Jewish Education Bureau
Rabbi Howard Cooper
Revd. Diana Cullum-Hall United Reformed Church
Rabbi Janet Darley
Revd. Bob Day United Reformed Church
Revd. Jonathan Dean United Reformed Minister, Hampstead
Geoffrey Duncan Thames North Synod, United Reformed Church
Rabbi Colin Eimer Sha’arei Tzedek, North London Reform Synagogue
Rabbi Warren Elf Southend and District Reform Synagogue
Rabbi Paul Freedman Radlett & Bushey Reform Synagogue
Rabbi Ariel J. Friedlander
Revd. Ray Gaston Inter Faith Tutor & Enabler Queens Foundation for Ecumenical Theological Education
Lee Gerrard
Revd Gary P Hall  Methodist Tutor (Practical Theology) The Queens Foundation for Ecumenical Theological Education
Rabbi Michael Hilton Kol Chai Hatch End Jewish Community
Rev'd Mandy Hodgson 
Father Jeremy Howard Roman Catholic Chaplain
Revd Henrietta Howarth
Rabbi Richard Jacobi
Paul Keeble, BD Urban Presence
Rev Charles Kwaku-Odoi
Rabbi Professor Jonathan Magonet
Rabbi Monique Mayer Liverpool Reform Synagogue
Rabbi Maurice Michaels Senior Rabbi, SWESRS
Rabbi David Mitchell Radlett and Bushey Reform Synagogue
Revd. Peter Neale Clarence Road Baptist Church and Chairman of Southend Faith's Forum
Rabbi Jeffrey Newman
PastorWerner Oder Tuckton Christian Centre
Revd. Shaun O'Rourke
Rabbi Rebecca Qassin
Dr. David Rees Catholic lay minister
Rabbi Judith Rosen-Berry
Rabbi Sylvia Rothschild
Rabbi Elizabeth Tikvah Sarah
Rabbi Dr. Michael Shire Vice Principal, Leo Baeck College
Rabbi Sheila Shulman
Ailsa Smith The Monastery, Manchester
Revd. Richard Tetlow
Rabbi Daniela Thau
Revd Andrew Wakefield
Rabbi Alexandra Wright
Rabbi Roderick Young
Rabbi Debbie Young-Somers West London Synagogue

(56 signatories)

Cuts Are Not The Cure from Unionfilms on Vimeo.

WOMEN OF FAITH PART EIGHT - STRENGTH & CONFIDENCE IN WOMEN'S LEADERSHIP

2011-03-31T17:14:00.006+01:00

To mark Women's History Month PULTA has asked women who are faith inspired activists or leaders to share a stories of women who have inspired them as a person of faith. In the final reflection in our series Amra Bone (pictured left) who is Chair of Coventry City Circle and an Executive member of West Midlands Faiths Forum, and sits on the Birmingham Shariah Council reflects on the inspiration she recieves from the Qur'anic model of women's leadership expressed in the story of the Queen of Sheba

In the name of God the most merciful, the most compassionate……

I am inspired by the Queen of Sheba (known as Bilqis in the Arabic literature) in the Quran. I hear every now and then women cannot be leaders, as men are more suitable for the position of leadership. Those who support this opinion cite some Hadiths to back up their view. The Quran holds the uppermost authority as well as being the most authentic source of knowledge and the hadiths cannot and must not contradict its message. Hadiths come in various forms of categories-authentic, correct, good, weak and forged etc.

I am particularly inspired by Bilqis's wisdom in dealing with the Prophet Solomon. She shows her leadership qualities by not making a hasty decision. When she receives the letter from the Prophet Solomon,

[When the Queen had read Solomon's letter,] she said: "O you nobles! A truly distinguished letter has been conveyed unto me. (27:30) Behold, it is from Solomon, and it says, 'In the name of God, The Most Gracious, the Dispenser of Grace: (27:31) [God says:] Exalt not yourselves against Me, but come unto Me in willing surrender!'"23

Quran chapter 27: verse 29-31( Muhammad Asad-The message of the Quran)

and consults her courtiers for advice before she proceeds to make a decision,

She added: "O you nobles! Give me your opinion on the problem with which I am now faced; 24 I would never make a [weighty] decision unless you are present with me." (26:33) They answered: "We are endowed with power and with mighty prowess in war - but the command is thine; consider, then, what thou wouldst command."

Said she: "Verily, whenever kings enter a country they corrupt it,25 and turn the noblest of its people into the most abject. And this is the way they (always] behave.26 (27:35) Hence, behold, I am going to send a gift to those (people], and await whatever [answer] the envoys bring back."

Quran chapter 27: verse 32-35( Muhammad Asad-The message of the Quran)

She contemplates and reasons that should she take an action showing her strength that may lead to a disastrous consequences. She buys time by sending Prophet Solomon a gift and waits to see how he reacts. Besides her wisdom she is also honest and sincere in her actions as shown later in the story and when shown the truth she submits herself to God.

Above are some of the qualities of a leader, which is not an exclusive right one sex over another, clearly displayed in the story of the queen of Sheba. She is an example of a good leader who acts with patience, wisdom and seeks advice before making a decision.

The more I have contemplated on the example of Biliqis the more I treasure it. Her example gives me strength and confidence in the leadership of women. Should a woman choose to be a leader displaying such qualities no one should stand in her way. There are plenty of male leaders who lack her wisdom, strength and spirituality and I hope they can show humility and learn from the leadership of a woman from the Quranic story of the Queen of Sheba.

LEARNING TOGETHER WITH MUSLIMS AND JEWS - DEVELOPMENTS AT QUEEN'S

2011-03-30T09:53:00.004+01:00

Last week saw the end of the teaching term at Queen's and the end of the first of a new venture - a seminar course that had our students studying alongside Muslim students recruited through our friends The Al Mahdi Institute. The inspiration for the course came from Richard Sudworth who did an extended placement at Al Mahdi as part of his ordination training in 2009 and we have been working to bring it to fruition since then.

It was small beginnings with 4 students from Queens being joined by 3 students recruited from Al Mahdi. The course' The Common Good in Christianity and Islam' looked at how both traditions have engaged with notions of the 'Common Good' and looking at the diversity of approaches in each tradition to contemporary issues that relate to 'The Common Good' such as Economics, Reconciliation & Conflict, Human Rights and Governance etc. Richard and myself were joined in facilitating the course by Dr Ian Williams who works for the Markfield Institute.

Much of the course involved exploring Qur'anic and Biblical texts together, drawing upon but not limited by, the methodology of Scriptural Reasoning.

We hope to expand the course next year and are developing our links with both established and developing Islamic educational institutions in the Birmingham and Midlands area.

We are also in discussions with the Council of Christians & Jews about building into our first year Inter Faith Studies theme week a day long Encounter Workshop where our students and Biblical Studies tutors will be joined with recently ordained Rabbis and Rabbinical students and a Jewish scholar to explore together the Tanakh/Old Testament/Hebrew Bible

WOMEN OF FAITH PART SEVEN - REVELATIONS OF DIVINE LOVE

2011-03-30T09:00:00.001+01:00

To mark Women's History Month PULTA has asked women who are faith inspired activists or leaders to share a stories of women who have inspired them as a person of faith. In the seventh of the series Deb Buckley (pictured left) who is an ordained Anglican Minister serving in Balsall Heath Birmingham tells us about the 14th Century contemplative Julian of Norwich

When I reflected on which women from history have had an influence on my faith journey one woman, in particular, came to the fore; Julian of Norwich the 14th century English mystic. For the past 30 years, the Anglican Church is a place I have felt ‘called’ to be. However, much of what I heard about the nature and purposes of God, the language used and the ideas explored, was predominantly expressed in masculine terms. Traditional male roles were employed to describe God’s activity in the world, for example judge, king, ruler, master and army commander. Much of this served to reinforce a patriarchal culture. As a consequence I struggled to locate myself as a woman within the church. That is, until I was introduced to writings of Julian of Norwich. Julian’s writings include accounts of the visions of Jesus Christ she experienced when she was severely ill and her subsequent theological reflections. Her visions embodied feminine and masculine characteristics, with specific emphasis being placed upon the feminine. She explicitly and vividly depicts Christ as a feminine and maternal divine figure who shares in our full humanity; women are seen has holding a sacred place, sharing the creative and the life sustaining power of the Godhead. Reading, and digesting, Julian’s work enabled me to begin to locate myself as a woman and to embody my faith for the first time. It loosened the grip of patriarchy which enabled me to break into what had previously seemed impenetrable, within my church experience. This opened a very important door for me; it began a process of liberation. Overtime, I have grown to appreciate the egalitarian nature of Julian’s imagery; that is a feminine and masculine balance and fluidity. Although there is much debate about whether Julian can be described as a feminist, for me, it was this thinking that led me to pursue, and develop, my feminist Christian identity. Through this, I have increasingly embraced a God in whose image I am truly created; the one whose very life blood I share. I was ordained Deacon in 2010 and am due to be ordained Priest in July of this year. This journey of discovery and liberation has had, and I know will continue to have, a profound influence on my understanding of ministry within the church. It affects the way I hear, and tell, the stories of women whether historical or current and whether ordinary or exceptional. It affects the ways I relate to others, the ways I challenge oppression and it affects the way I preach and the way I pray.

PULTA adds Thanks to Deb for that lovely reflection. Below is one of my favourite canticles based on words from Julian's Revelations of Divine Love and found in the Franciscan Daily Office book Celebrating Common Prayer

A SONG OF TRUE MOTHERHOOD
From Celebrating Common Prayer

Refrain:

Christ came in our poor flesh*
to share a mother’s care.

God chose to be our mother in all things*
and so made the foundation of his work,
most humbly and most pure,
in the Virgin’s womb.

God, the perfect wisdom of all,*
arrayed himself in this humble place.

Christ came in our poor flesh*
to share a mother’s care.

Our mothers bear us for pain and for death;*
our true mother, Jesus,
bears us for joy and endless life.

Christ carried us within him in love and travail,*
until the full time of his passion.

And when all was completed
and he had carried us so for joy,*
still all this could not satisfy
the power of his wonderful love.

All that we owe is redeemed in truly loving God,*
for the love of Christ works in us;
Christ is the one whom we love.

Glory . . .

Julian of Norwich

Christ came in our poor flesh*
to share a mother’s care.

WOMEN OF FAITH PART SIX- IN PRAISE OF BUDDHIST WOMEN

2011-03-27T12:25:00.004+01:00

To mark Women's History Month PULTA has asked women who are faith inspired activists or leaders to share a stories of women who have inspired them as a person of faith. In the sixth of our series Ramona Kauth (pictured left) speaks out 'In praise of Buddhist women'. Ramona, a Buddhist practitioner for 35 years is a meditation teacher, counsellor, art therapist and inter faith activist she is the Chair of Birmingham Council of Faiths and is involved in the womens interfaith group Sacred Space, the Ladywood Interfaith Education Project and Faith Encounter Programme

In praise of some significant Buddhist women

This is just a brief introduction to several women important in the history of Buddhism and its establishment.

In the Therigatha, the oldest book of Buddhist scripture, the enlightenment of some of the women followers of the Buddha is narrated. From the beginning there were ordained women amongst the Buddha’s earliest followers. They were enlightened and teachers in their own right during the Buddha’s lifetime (around 5^th century BCE). Patacara was such a woman, her tragic life and her encounter with the Buddha is very moving. She had a very large following of women disciples. In a very Zen-like episode, the moment of her awakening was told: The breaking of a jug, spilling the water, then putting out the light marked the moment of her realisation. In time-honoured tradition, she recites a poem of realisation:

“I’ve done everything right and followed the rule of my teacher.
I’m not lazy or proud, why haven’t I found peace?^{^{i

Bathing my feet}}

I watched the bathwater

Spill down the slope.

I concentrated my mind

The way you train a good horse.

Then I took my lamp

And went into my cell,

Checked the bed,

And sat down on it.

I took a needle

And put the lamp wick down.

When the lamp went out

My mind was freed.”

Much later, in eighth century Tibet, a young woman rejected the offers of her many suitors and fled her parents’ home to seek a teacher in the wilderness of the Himalaya. She found the heroic, charismatic teacher called Guru Rinpoche, Padmasambhava, “the Lotus Born”, the teacher that firmly established Buddhism in Tibet. She became his chief disciple and a powerful Guru in her own right. She carried on his mission after him to spread and maintain the teaching of the Buddha. Her name was Yeshe Tsogyal. Her story is contained in Lady of the Lotus Born.^ⁱⁱ

Today, in the wilderness of Wales, Lama Shenpen Hookham works to communicate the teachings of Tibetan Buddhism. In India in the 1960’s she became a Buddhist nun in the Karma Kagyu School of Tibetan Buddhism, the first English woman to do so. Having completed all the very challenging preliminary practices required she is recognised as a Lama. She has written Buddha Within^ⁱⁱⁱ, an introduction to the philosophy of mind in Buddhism (the book of her Oxford PhD). Recently has written There is more to dying than death^{^iv} as well as contributing to Meeting Buddhists ^{^v}among other publications. She has established a community called the Awakened Heart Sangha^{^vi} and between teaching and advising her students, spends a good part of her time in retreat

i The First Buddhist Women, translations and commentary on the Therigatha by Susan Murcott, Parallax Press, California, 1991

ii Lady of the Lotus-Born, The Life and Enlightenment of Yeshe Tsogyal by Gyalwa Changchub and Namkhai Nyingpo, translated by the Padmakara Translation Group, Shambala, Boston and London, 1999

iii Buddha Within, Tathagatagarbha Doctrine According to the Shentong
Interpretation of the Ratnagotravibhaga By: Hookham S.K.

see also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddha-dhatu

iv There is more to dying than death, a Buddhist perspective, Lama Shenpen Hookham, Windhorse Publications, Birmingham, 2006

v Meeting Buddhists. Ed by Elizabeth Harris and Ramona Kauth, Leicester: Christians Aware. 2004

vi http://www.buddhism-connect.org/meet-the-students/awakened-heart-sangha/

HEARTS STOLEN AT INTER FAITH CELEBRATION

2011-03-25T09:52:00.008Z

Last night I attended a celebration evening for the Faith Encounter Programme (FEP) - of which I have recently become the Chair - at Birmingham Progressive Synagogue. Over the last 3/4 years the FEP has trained over 40 faith guides for places of worship in Birmingham. Last nights' gathering included guides, tutors and steering committee members from Muslim, Sikh, Hindu, Jewish and Christian traditions. We ate some lovely food , shared memories about the programme and looked forward to the next stage of development - seeking funding to produce training materials that can help export the course further afield. The highlight of the evening was at the end when Beant Singh Sidhu, a Faith Guide from the Guru Nanak Nishkam Sewak Jatha Gurdwara in Handsworth, played the Dilruba, a beautiful stringed instrument whose name means 'heart stealer' - you can get a sense of the beauty of the instrument from the recording I made of Beant's performance on my iphone, which I have posted below...

You can read an earlier posting on PULTA about FEP and the Faith Guides training here

WOMEN OF FAITH PART FIVE - MANY IMPRINTS ON HISTORY

2011-03-24T08:46:00.000Z

To mark Women's History Month PULTA has asked women who are faith inspired activists or leaders to share a story of one women from history who has inspired them as a person of faith. In the fifth of our series Kerry Smith refuses to select one women 's story and shares with us instead some unacknowledged 'imprints on history', Kerry is a Deacon in The Methodist Church whose role includes helping churches to respond to issues related to human trafficking and she acts as Secretary for West Midlands Regional Anti Trafficking Network she is also a member of a multi faith workplace chaplaincy team.

I’ve struggled with how to choose just one woman of history from my own faith tradition who has inspired my own faith.

I’m sorry if this seems like a cop out, but it just seems impossible.

It’s not from want of choice: there are so many women within my own tradition that I could choose; but their stories have often been told for them, and I find myself longing to be able to meet them and ask; what was it really like, for you? Did you have days when you were tired or frustrated or just not sure? Tell me about the good times, when you knew that you were growing to be more of the woman God created you to be?

So, I find myself looking to women I have met.

Women like my Nan, a tiny little woman from West Belfast, whose most loved Bible passage was Matthew 6, and who wasn’t afraid to speak up if she felt something was wrong. Family used to recount how she once confronted some men making abusive, racist comments, reminding them that ‘we are all God’s children, you should be ashamed’...and they were.

My own mum struggled with cancer for many years, but in that time lived out the struggle and the joy of finding God’s healing and reconciliation in the midst of pain, and suffering, and uncertainty.

There are others who probably don’t even remember meeting me, but they have fundamentally challenged the way that I live out my faith.

Like Sister Noreen, a Catholic nun, who lived on the Protestant side of the peace wall in Belfast, just round the corner from us. Who commanded respect from her neighbours and all she met because of her courage. Who would deliberately go out through the gate in the wall and walk up and down the road on the summer nights when things would grow tense and the young people from either side gathered to throw missiles at each other.

‘Well’, she would say, ‘they won’t throw things at an old woman’. ...she was right. Her presence often had a calming effect. Young people would pause; sometimes order would briefly be restored.

And there are other women who I’ve met only very briefly, but will never forget. When I was on placement in North Carolina, I spent a day at Calvary United Methodist Church, where Laurie Hays Coffman is Pastor. It is a Reconciling UMC congregation, where ‘God’s love and justice are offered to all’. It’s one of those places where you feel the presence of God so strongly it almost overwhelms you. Here, because all really know they are welcome, all come, and out of this amazing diverse church community, amazing things happen. But it hasn’t been, and I’m sure still isn’t, easy.

There are many more I could write about. Women who I am glad to call colleagues, friends, tutors, mentors. No-one has written books about any of them (yet!), but their faith journeys have influenced mine, and leave imprints on history all the same.

WOMEN OF FAITH PART FOUR - 'THE LEADER OF WOMEN' - FATIMA

2011-03-23T18:00:00.005Z

To mark Women's History Month PULTA has asked women who are faith inspired activists or leaders to share a story of one women from history who has inspired them as a person of faith. In the fourth of the series Shabana Bibi (pictured left) who is a Faith Guide at the Mehfil-e-Abbas Mosque and is on the Steering Commitee of The Faith Encounter Programme shares the Story of Fatima daughter of the Prophet Muhammed.

When thinking of Role models one of the many Muslim women who spring to mind is none other than the great personality that is Lady Fatima az-Zahra (PBUH), the Lady of light and the beloved daughter of the Holy Prophet Muhammed (PBUH). For Muslims, Lady Fatima has a tremendous status in Islam not just for the fact of her relation to the Prophet but because of her own merits, hence she is given the honour of being the leader of all women not just in this world but in Paradise.

At a time when society viewed women as objects which were to be abused rather than respected and treasured, Fatima showed women were true intellectuals who were equals with men. She demonstrated how it is possible to carry out the roles of being a supportive and loving wife and mother but at the same time she spend her time educating both women and men on not just the fundamentals of Islam but many other academic fields. Fatima in her own right was not just the first female Islamic scholar but one of the very first scholars in Islam, who inherited the knowledge of her father. She made sure that women had firmly established themselves as having a pivotal role in Islamic society.

A homeless person came to the house, so she gave away one third of the food they had to eat, then a captive came to the door for which she gave away another third finally an orphan came to her door and she gave away the remaining food away. It was her overwhelming faith and devotion to God and His creation which made Fatima the truly inspirational woman that she is. A woman who always gave when she had nothing for herself, knowing that what is hers is there to share. Through her character Fatima demonstrates to us the true mercy and generosity of the creator and what it is to be a godly human being.

The true strength of this tremendous lady is best demonstrated by the incident of Fadak, where Fatima defended her right of ownership of her land which was taken away from her and the leadership of her husband which were both usurped by the leader at the time. It was here that Fatima broke all the taboos of society to stand up for the truth. At a time when women were hardly seen and never heard Fatima went into the mosque of her father and confronted all those males who had wronged her, defending her rights and the rights of her husband in such a powerful speech, that till this day scholars are astounded to the sheer power of her words. She stood up against all those who were deemed to have the power and status in society, who were her senior in age and were all males, proving that standing up for your rights and the truth is something which should be a embedded in the hearts and minds of every human regardless of barriers which are placed in our way, as it is our principles and beliefs that define us. It was characteristics like these which allowed this Lady of light to raise children like Imam Husayn who sacrificed everything in this world to fight tyranny and oppression and the likes of Lady Zaynab, who after watching the greatest tragedy this world will ever see in Karbala, had the strength to rise against her oppressor and became the torch bearer of the message of not just her brother but her mother before him. It is woman like Lady Fatima who truly empower all woman of this world and show us how liberating religion is, giving all women a platform and the strength to change this world and impact it for eternity.

WOMEN OF FAITH PART THREE - 'MISS JANE'

2011-03-20T12:08:00.010Z

To mark Women's History Month PULTA has asked women who are faith inspired activists or leaders to share a story of one women from history who has inspired them as a person of faith. In the third of our series Gale Richards (pictured left) shares the impact upon her faith of the simple and faithful witness to the love of God of her own Jamaican grandma - 'Miss Jane'. Gale grew up in inner city Birmingham, has a background in youth & community work in South London and now works as Project Development Officer & Regional Tutor for Heart of England Baptist Association and the Northern Baptist Learning Community and is a member of the organising team for the Faith Hope & Love - Christian Witness in a Multi Faith Society Conference in April.

Jamaica is one of the most beautiful islands you could ever hope to visit. Blue sky, sandy beaches, juicy mangoes, I could go on and on…Yet for me, the thing I looked forward to seeing each time I visited the beautiful island, more than anything else was my beloved grandma.

My grandma affectionately known as ‘Miss Jane,’ to date remains the most inspirational Christian woman I have ever met. She was a Christian for longer than I’d been alive. Miss Jane was a very slim, softly spoken lady, without any impressive qualifications, who blessed so many with her simple ability to quote bible-based proverbs to young and old, just when and how it was needed. Two of her favourite proverbs; ‘you will reap what you sow’ and ‘the Lord will never give you more than you can bear.’

I used to lose count of just how many locals, from the very young to the very old, popped around to her house each night, to hear her words of wisdom or for food and shelter, when falling on hard times. It was captivating stuff. The irony being that she was by no means financially well off herself, in fact quite the opposite. Yet what little she had, she shared. As fast as she accumulated material possessions she distributed them to those in need. Buy her two new dresses, she’d give one away, buy her three new pairs of shoes, she’d give two pairs away. After all she’d say; ‘you can only wear one at a time!’

I was fortunate to be by her bedside when she passed away just a few days before her 90^th birthday in 2008. She went just as she would have liked, in her own bed on her own terms, with her family around her. Having the very hymns and bible verses she had used over the years to inspire and comfort so many, being sung and read back to her, which she visibly drew comfort from, in her last days.

Fittingly, she had the most joyful funeral I’ve ever attended in my life. The hundreds of people (including me) both young and old whose lives had been transformed by the wisdom she shared and her acts of kindness, paid their tributes to her and the amazing God she served…

DEFENDING AND PROMOTING MULTICULTURALISM - IN SUPPORT OF UAF'S RESPONSE TO 'FEAR & HOPE'

2011-03-19T08:56:00.011Z

With a flurry of media interest the Fear & Hope Report was published by The Searchlight Educational Trust a few weeks ago. SET who are part of the alliance that forms the Hope not Hate campaign are a longstanding anti fascist organisation with a long history of exposing racists and fascists since the 1970s. The Hope not Hate campaign with its networked forms of organising, its ability to mobilise hundreds of young volunteers in constituencies where the BNP has taken a hold has been instrumental in defeating the BNP electorally and building a broad coalition in the process. It has also played a significant role in exposing the EDL and developing tactics on the ground that attempt to build a local consensus of opposition to the EDL and organising events that attempt to draw in the widest possible participation over and against direct confrontation. However, I read the report with considerable unease and felt that it appeared to be giving far too much ground to the agenda of the far right particularly in it's espousal of a 'plague on both your houses' referring to an apparent equal disdain amongst those polled for 'Muslim extremists' and 'extreme nationalists'; this form of questioning it appeared to me, was seriously in danger of feeding rather than challenging the continuing rise of Islamophobia in our society and the media that fuel it, it's pandering to a nationalist agenda with it's emphasis on a 'crisis of English identity' also appeared to me mistaken and giving ground to the right on the argument about Multiculturalism.

Unite Against Fascism are an organisation that tend to conflict with HnH in attitudes to how to confront the BNP electorally and how to organise against the EDL on the ground in the local communities the EDL invades. Sometimes their tactics in relation to the EDL have been frankly disastrous - as in the first EDL invasion of Birmingham in August 2009 and in Bolton in March 2010. However at other times when they have been willing to genuinely cooperate with a lead taken by local faith communities as in Dudley and to a certain extent in Leeds and Bradford they have played a more positive role. I wasn't well received when I spoke at the West Midlands UAF conference last year and outlined some of my concerns with what I saw as mistaken and outdated modes of organising.

However, I have to admit that UAF have come out with an excellent critique of the Fear and Hope report. Sabby Dhalu, who I understand was instrumental in changing the tactics of the UAF in Dudley following the debacle of Bolton, has written a thorough and well argued defence of the necessity of holding fast to an argument for a genuine Multiculturalism and to making sure responsibility for the economic crisis that gives rise to people's fears and concerns is firmly placed on the shoulders of those responsible and not deflected onto Multiculturalism, Islam or immigration. Below is her conclusion but the article 'Celebrate & Defend Our Multi Cultural Society' is well worth reading in its entirety:

The assault on multiculturalism launched by Cameron, and praised by this report for addressing real concerns, in fact feeds these misconceptions and undermines the understanding of the reality of England and Britain today. There is a real danger of rising racism in Britain today, but not because of a crisis of English identity or a failure to confront ‘Islamic extremism’.

The real danger comes from attempts by mainstream politicians to deflect public anger about the impact of the economic crisis, falling living standards and cuts in services, on to innocent scapegoats – immigrants, Muslims, multiculturalism.

Many sections of the population most definitely do feel under attack. This is not because they are ‘English’ or suffering a national identity crisis, but because their living standards really are suffering as a result of austerity, inflation and cuts. It is all too easy to direct people towards a soft target on the basis of racism and an alleged discrimination against the English, when economic and political alternatives seem unavailable.

The launch of this report now, and the participation of key figures on the right of the Labour Party, clearly indicates that one aim is to apply pressure to the Labour Party to adopt this approach.

Much of the discussion around why Labour lost the last election has drifted on to this ground. But this is simply avoiding a more fundamental discussion on how the impact of the previous Labour government’s economic policies and military interventions undermined its support. It is to be hoped that the present Labour leadership rejects this pressure and continues to make the case for diversity and multiculturalism.

WOMEN OF FAITH PART TWO "God has placed abilities and callings in our hearts, without regard to gender"

2011-03-16T08:20:00.000Z

To mark Women's History Month PULTA has asked women who are faith inspired activists or leaders to share a story of one women from history who has inspired them as a person of faith. In the second of the series Rabbi Debbie Young Somers (pictured left) who is Associate Rabbi at West London Synagogue and an activist in the Inter Faith movement introduces to us the remarkable story of Rabbi Regina Jonas 1902 -1944

“God has placed abilities and callings in our hearts, without regard to gender. Thus each of us has the duty, whether man or woman, to realise those gifts God has given.” Regina Jonas, C.-V.-Zeitung, June 23, 1938[1]

It is often a surprise to people to discover that women can be Rabbis at all, let alone that there was one in the first half of the twentieth century: Regina Jonas. Even as a child Regina talked about becoming a Rabbi, and it seems from reflections of her classmates that it didn’t even occur to them that this would be difficult for a woman. . She began her career teaching in a Jewish continuing to teach even through her studies at Der Wissenschaft Des Judentum – the Academy for the Science of Judaism, one of only two institutes (the other in Breslau) that trained Rabbis and would admit women to studies (but not rabbinic ordination). She submitted her thesis there in 1930, a halachic (Jewish legal) treatise entitled “Can Women Serve as Rabbis?”

“[…] because I personally love this profession and would love to practice it if it were ever possible,”[2]

Perhaps surprisingly, Jonas’s thesis reveals that she was personally, theologically and ritually rather orthodox. I wonder how many of my colleagues would today argue the case in the way Jonas does.

These tensions meant that Jonas’s vision of a female rabbinate didn’t necessarily look like ours today. For example she didn’t wear a tallit (prayer shawl), although she showed in her thesis that women could, and she believed in the separation of genders in services, but showed this was no obstacle as the Rabbi tended to have their own entrance via the vestry. She also argues that women Rabbis must make a choice between being a wife and mother or a Rabbi.

Eduard Baneth (1855-1930), her Talmud professor, was responsible for ordaining candidates at the Academy. He awarded her a grade of good on her thesis. He sadly died shortly after Jonas’s thesis was marked, and his successor, Chanoch Albeck, was not prepared to ordain her. But Jonas didn’t give up the fight for ordination. On December the twenty sixth 1935, Rabbi Dr Max Dienemann (1898-1948), the manager of Liberaler Rabbiner-Verband (the Liberal Rabbis Association) invited her to his home in Offenbach to be interviewed for ordination. He ordained her the next day.

The fact that she had been ordained by one individual Rabbi, and not a Rabbinic institution, meant that there was no official support behind her. Today this is the case for a small number of Orthodox women who have been granted s’michah, (ordination) by individual Rabbis, but who have generally not found employment with a community as a Rabbi, and have no movement or institutions to support and endorse their roles. It is a sad twist of history that Jonas was only able to take up Rabbinic roles when her male colleagues began to leave Germany in fear for their safety, and then began to be deported, leaving beleaguered communities with no Rabbis.
On November the 6th, 1942, Jonas was herself deported to Theresienstadt. She continued her rabbinic work there, both pastorally and intellectually. She was a part of Victor Frankl’s team offering support to people as they first arrived at the camp, and she also delivered twenty four lectures on biblical, Talmudic and religious themes which demonstrated the diverse topics she could turn her hand to. A list of these lectures can be found in the Theresienstadt archives entitled “Lectures by the Only Female Rabbi: Regina Jonas”[3]

On October twelfth 1944 one of the last transfers from Theresienstadt to Auschwitz left with Regina Jonas and her mum on board. It seems likely that they were murdered upon their arrival there. This was the tragic ending of the story of the first woman Rabbi, and it remained the end until 1991, when Jonas’s documents, which had lain undisturbed for over 45 years in Coswig, east of Berlin, were discovered by Katharina von Kellerman who was researching Protestant and Jewish women seeking ordination in 1930’s Germany. The packet she discovered included newspaper clippings, lecture cards, 2 photographs, and many letters.

Why wasn’t her story told before 1991? This has remained a mystery that we can only speculate about. Leo Baeck who was her teacher, supporter and co-prisoner in Theresienstadt did not perish in the Holocaust and came to London where he helped found a Rabbinic College after the war. Viktor Frankl whose team of carers in Theresienstadt Jonas worked in, wrote about his experiences in the camps and never mentioned her as far as we know. Considering the controversy that Jonas must have ignited in the German Jewish community makes it even more surprising that her story was not told. Today, much continues in honour of Jonas, and what she stands for in our imaginations as a pioneer in Jewish women’s rights and rabbinic ordination. She won’t be forgotten or ignored again.

[1] Cited by Klapheck, Elisa. "Regina Jonas." Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia. 1 March 2009. Jewish Women's Archive. July 14, 2010 .
[2] Thesis translated by Toby Axelrod from the German and found in Klapheck, Elisa “Fraulein Rabbiner Jonas”, Jossey-Bass, 2004
[3] Memorial Archive of Theresienstadt, Památekník Terezín, Ustredni Jartoteka, collection of Karl Hermann, cited in ibid. p.79

CELEBRATING WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH - WOMEN OF FAITH PART ONE

2011-03-11T16:20:00.015Z

To mark Women's History Month PULTA has asked Women who are faith inspired activists or leaders to share a story of one women from history who has inspired them as a person of faith. Our first offering is from Afshaan Henna (pictured left) a Human Rights Activist with REPRIEVE and Caseworker with the Citizen's Advice Bureau. Afshaan tells us "When asked to write about how a woman in my faith has influenced me, as a Muslim I knew I was spoilt for choice." From that choice she offers us the inspiring story of Zainab granddaughter of the Prophet Muhammad.

When working in cosmopolitan London I remember talking to a colleague socially about significant women in Islam. He looked at me with surprise and said he did not realise there were any significant women in Islam! This is far from the reality. When asked to write about how a woman in my faith has influenced me, as a Muslim I knew I was spoilt for choice. After all there is Maryam mother of Jesus who has a chapter in the Qur’an named after her, Khadija the wife of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) a renowned business woman, the only daughter of the Prophet, Fatima whose status was such that the Prophet would always stand when she entered a room and give up his seat for her. These are but a few examples. But one woman in particular who always evokes tears when I think of her courage and dedication to justice is Zainab daughter of Imam Ali (as) and the granddaughter of the Prophet. When the city of Kerbala in Iraq is mentioned instantly it is synonymous with Imam Hussain (as) who was killed by the armies of Ummayad ruler Yazid. But he himself said that of all those in Kerbala no-one suffered more than Zainab. She witnessed the death of not only of her own two young children but almost all of her family. As a captive she was put in chains and her hijab ripped off her, despite the assaults she defended all the remaining children and women, who looked to her as their leader. As a prisoner she was bought before those men in power responsible for the deaths of her family, she remained resolute and addressed the Ummayad Court with such resolution and courage. Despite the abuse and torture she experienced she did not falter once when addressing the Court:"What you consider today as spoils of war will become ruins for you tomorrow and on that day you will find what you have sent from before. Allah (SWT) does not oppress his servants. I express my complaint only to Allah (SWT) and have trust in Him. You may therefore do any treachery that you have, make all your attempts, and try all you can. By Allah (SWT), you cannot remove us from the minds (of people), and you cannot fade our message. You will never reach our glory and can never wash the stain of this crime from your hands. Your decisions will not be stable, your period of ruling will be short, and your population will scatter.”

It is the lessons learnt from Kerbala and my absolute love and admiration of Zainab that I work in the field of Human Rights and became wholeheartedly committed to Reprieve’s Pakistan Police Torture Project. Without her strength, faith and sacrifice I would not have followed this path and would not have experienced the privilege of helping some of the most vulnerable people of society. Whenever I’m faced with addressing an audience my prayer is always to be as strong and eloquent as Zainab. My work at Reprieve is largely influenced by her life.

RESOURCES FOR REFLECTING UPON 'JUSTICE FOR PALESTINE & ISRAEL' REPORT & INTER FAITH RELATIONS

2011-03-08T09:30:00.014Z

We had our second meeting the other week between representatives of the Birmingham Methodist District and the local Jewish Representative Council, on The Methodist Report to last year's Methodist Conference on 'Justice for Palestine & Israel'. Both meetings have been useful and a further meeting has been arranged. We are one of a number of such ongoing dialogues in different parts of the country. Plans are also afoot for separate meetings between the local Methodist reps in Birmingham and representatives of the local Muslim community to discuss the report. Meanwhile at a national level discussions have been taking place between representatives of the Methodist Church and The Board of Deputies on the report. Some who were involved in the drafting of the report have argued that this engagement is a diversionary tactic taking us away from the thrust of the report which was to campaign for Christian solidarity with the Palestinian cause. I strongly disagree. As someone who publically supported the report against calls for its withdrawl before conference, I see these activities are an integral part of the resolutions passed by conference that included calling on the Methodist people to dialogue with Jews and Muslims on this issue.

Despite doom laden prophecies heralding an end to Jewish - Methodist relations immediately following conference - the report has actually been a catalyst for what could be the beginning of a renaissance in Methodist inter faith engagement and Methodist - Jewish relations in particular. The fact that this is centred around some honest talking on one of the most divisive issues in the inter faith world - the traditional 'elephant in the room' - is even more encouraging.

Below I've suggested some resources to help folk engage positively (mostly available on the internet). Alongside the obvious reading material such as the report & Kairos Palestine - I've added some 'dialogue partners' particularly from the Jewish community and those involved in Christian - Jewish dialogue about both Zionism ( a topic we were encouraged to explore by conference resolutions ) and material that highlights the necessity to be aware of long standing European Christian anti Judaism when engaging with this issue. The latter of these two is not in order that Christian voices critical of the actions of the state of Israel will feel silenced from speaking out against injustice and oppression, but to help us develop a truly liberative theology and spirituality of engagement & hope.

The Kairos Document - 'A Moment of Truth'

You can download a copy of the Kairos document and other materials including study guides from the Kairos Palestine website. The writers - a group Palestinian Christian activists and theologians state:

As Palestinian Christians we hope that this document will provide the turning point to focus the efforts of all peace-loving peoples in the world, especially our Christian sisters and brothers. We hope also that it will be welcomed positively and will receive strong support, as was the South Africa Kairos document launched in 1985, which, at that time proved to be a tool in the struggle against oppression and occupation. We believe that liberation from occupation is in the interest of all peoples in the region because the problem is not just a political one, but one in which human beings are destroyed .

The International Council for Christians and Jews has responded to Kairos with a document called "Let Us Have Mercy upon Words" following a presentation on Kairos at their conference last year from one of the authors Fr Jamal Khader. Kairos Palestine has since responded to ICCJ The Board of Deputies of British Jews published a pamphlet in response to Kairos called 'Zionism - A Communal Response'. The BOD on their website describe the pamphlet as follows

(It) comprises essays from Rabbi Dr Tony Bayfield, the Head of the Movement for Reform Judaism, Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg, the Senior Rabbi of the Assembly of Masorti Synagogues, Rabbi Danny Rich, the Chief Executive of Liberal Judaism and leading Orthodox thinker, Dan Rickman, as well as a foreword by the President of the Board of Deputies, Vivian Wineman. In it, they argue that both Jews and Christians – including Palestinian Christians – need to acknowledge the depth of each others’ historic and religious connections with the land of Israel if progress is to be made towards peace.

Jewish - Christian Relations Scholar Peter Pettit joined with Biblical Scholar Bruce Chilton to write a critical Christian reponse to Kairos called 'Assessing A Moment of Truth'

On 1st September 2011 ICCJ added a detailed critique of Kairos to their website from German Theologian Klaus Wengst entitled Land of Israel and Universal Salvation in the New Testament -A theological discussion of the "Kairos Palestine Document”

The British Methodist Report Justice for Palestine and Israel
Although the theological section of this report is weak the historical narrative is very strong on presenting the Palestinian case articulately and passionately with the section on the occupation being particularly good at presenting the Palestinian experience to a wider audience. It is inspired and informed by the thinking of Palestinian Liberation Theology especially that of the Sabeel Ecumenical Centre in Jerusalem and the Kairos Palestine document in particular. A more detailed exploration of Sabeel's theology in relation to inter faith exploration can be found in their Autumn 2010 Newsletter.

To compliment the historical sections of the British Methodist report it might be worth looking at the UK centre of the supporters of the coexistence project in Israel called Neve Shalom ~ Wahat al- Salam or Oasis of Peace in English. They have a downloadable resource that includes a historical survey of Palestine with a commentary presenting both 'Palestinian' and 'Israeli' perspectives on particular events, see also the website of the PRIME project in Israel & Palestine for another initiativve that develops this approach. This is known as the dual narratives approach popular with some peace & reconciliation groups but critiqued by others from both left and right of the political spectrum. In Two Stories No "Truth" Svi Shapiro reflects upon his own personal engagement with the 'two narratives'.

The newly relaunched web version of the Jewish and Inter Faith Magazine Tikkun has an interesting section of archives on Israel/Palestine - it's 'Healing Israel/Palestine' approach is interesting in it's exploration of a critical valuing of the two narratives approach but with an emphasis on resistance to injustice in the present and a recognition of the necessity to engage with the healing of the traumas of the past.

"Breaking Down the Walls" Presbyterian Church USA Report

This report came out around the same time as The Methodist Report and is influenced again by engagement with Palestinian Christian liberation theology, but is considerably more theologically literate than its British Methodist sister. Some, however, have argued that there exists a subtle anti-Judaism in it's theological approach (see below). The above version was eventually amended by The General Assembly of PCUSA 2010 Amy Jill Levine an Orthodox Jewish Feminist and Biblical scholar has written a general critique of Western Christian approaches to Palestine & Israel including the British Methodist report and with a Presbyterian colleague Ted A Smith a detailed critique of what they see as the subtle anti -Judaism in the theology of the original PCUSA report in particular. Levine is also an active member of the liberal Zionist Americans for Peace Now Movement and wonders why there is so little engagement between the Churches and the Israeli Peace movement. She and her colleague conclude their article

We do not wish to muzzle Christian critics of Israeli policy. We have criticisms of our own. We rather seek to foster conversations that can consider Middle East politics without being overwhelmed by old habits of anti-Judaism.

Check out this posting on a recent paper (May 2011) that Levine gave at Woolf Institute of Abrahamic faiths

An earlier document from the same Church's Office of Inter Faith Relations raises similar questions about a previous debate in 2008 see Vigilance against anti-Jewish ideas and bias

For the history of development of Christian - Jewish relations see the ICCJ document A Time for Recommitment and the commentary on the document by Jesper Swartvik Why is this Light Different from all Other Lights? For an excellent resource that explores issues in relation to Christianity and anti-Judaism see Bearing Faithful Witness from the United Church of Canada.

On the differences between Christian Zionism as a Fundamentalist trend in Christianity and Jewish Zionism as a diverse political and religious movement in Judaism and amongst the Jewish people as a whole, have a listen to Israeli Orthodox Jewish Commentator and writer Gershom Gorenberg who describes himself as a "left-wing, skeptical Orthodox Zionist Jew" Similarly on the differences between Christian Zionism and genuine Christian respect for Judaism and indeed for Israel see Peter Pettit's Christian Zionism from a Perspective of Jewish - Christian Relations

For a positive approach to Jewish Zionism that takes a Christian theological perspective that is not 'Christian Zionist' see biblical scholar Gary Anderson's How to Think about Zionism a shorter version of this article with responses from critics and a reply from Anderson is available on the Christian Century archive January 13th 2009 but you need a subscription, Queen's folk can access through Online Journals in the library.

For a Jewish Critique of Zionism from a Progressive Jewish perspective see the blog of the former co-ordinator of the US support group for the Israeli Rabbis for Human Rights Rabbi Brian Wait's Beyond Liberal Zionism. Rabbi Wait now co-ordinates Ta'anit Tzedek - Jewish Fast For Gaza.

Finally an interesting developing resource is the Oxford based Forum for The Discussion of Israel & Palestine they have published TEN PRINCIPLES OF DIALOGUE ON ISRAEL/PALESTINE they are also bringing out a discussion paper on Christian theological approaches to Israel/Palestine called Talking of Conflict: Christian Reflections on Israel and Palestine. Watch this space for details.

Debating Boycotts

The Methodist Conference voted to Boycott Israeli Settlement produce. There is a growing debate about what has been termed the Global BDS - Boycott Disinvestment & Sanctions. A Minority of the report committee wanted this to be part of the original resolution to conference but settled for the very different strategy of boycotting settlements. I include some articles below principally from Jewish voices in Israel and the diaspora that support two state solution on 67 borders - the position of the Israeli Peace Movement -debating the tactic of boycott and also analysing from their own perspectives the differences within the movement for total boycott of Israel.

Naomi Chazen of the New Israel Fund argues against Boycotts in The Quest for a Two State Solution
Meretz USA part of the liberal Zionist J Street movement in USA argues for a Boycott of Settlements around the slogan 'Buy Israeli Products - Don't Buy Settlement Products (They're not the Same)' Sarah Strnad reflects on To BDS or not to BDS. Phillip Mendes critiques the Left's anti Zionism that he sees straying into anti - semitism in some BDS campaigns. Whilst Jewish Voice for Peace in USA - a similar group to the UK Jews for Justice for Palestinians - support settlement boycotts and in this statement say they "have vigorously defended the right of others to engage in full BDS campaigns. We reject the claim that these are inherently anti-Semitic. We see them as a non-violent response to the daily violence of the Israeli occupation"

Check out debate between long term Israeli Peace activist Uri Avnery and Israeli 'revisionist' historian Ilan Pappe on Boycotts and one and two state solutions

LIBYAN RELIGIOUS LEADERS ADDRESS THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY

2011-02-27T14:17:00.003Z

The Following statement from a group of Islamic Leaders in Libya calling themselves the Network of Free Ulema is being posted on the web note that they ask for help - NOT sanctions. This statement follows an earlier one from the same group calling upon people in Libya to rise against the Gadaffi regime

statement from The Network of Free Ulema – Libya: “To the religious leaders of all faiths, to the political leaders of all countries, to the heads of all international organizations, and to all men and women of good will. As servants of the brave and dignified Libyan people, the Muslim Scholars and Tribal Leaders of Libya are united in informing you of the following:

We are grateful for all the great efforts that are now being made to stop the massacre of our people. However, we urge you to please hurry and redouble your efforts. We have already lost thousands of our brave youth, and the injured are now in the many thousands.
Please urgently send into Libya as much medical and humanitarian aid as possible. The Egyptian-Libyan border, Benghazi Port, and Misrata Port are now open, and we urge Libyans inside and outside the country to help in every way they can with logistics and distribution. We very much appreciate the early response from Turkey and from the International Red Cross/Red Crescent in this regard.
Internationally, we expect all punitive actions and measures to be directed and applied to Gaddafi personally, his family, close associates, and their mercenaries, and any other complicit parties.
We do not support ‘sanctions against Libya’ or anything against Libya. All actions and measures should be against Gaddafi himself, his family, their close associates, and their mercenaries. Judicially these criminals have no official governmental positions, and D0 NOT constitute the Libyan government. They have N0 immunity. The approach that should be taken by all who are trying to help us is that of urgently issuing and applying International Arrest Warrants for clearly committing crimes against humanity, to be pursued in the International Criminal Court.

The brave Libyan people will endure and are now more unified than ever, through the grace of God and the blood of our martyrs. We are certain of, and look forward to, the inevitable victory, promised by God to the oppressed of the earth.”

MUSLIMS & CHRISTIANS AND THE EGYPTIAN REVOLUTION

2011-02-19T12:13:00.010Z

One of the interesting and underreported elements of the Egyptian revolt has been the cooperation between young Christians and Muslims. The following article is originally from the Common Ground News website and I discovered it posted on the website Bikya Masr

By Yasser Khalil

CAIRO: The recent protests in Egypt that led to the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak, and their political ramifications, have been covered extensively in the media. But stories of Christian-Muslim solidarity have not been broadcast as widely, and they deserve to be.

During the protests, Christians stood in a circle around Muslims during their Friday prayers to protect them from police. And last Monday, Muslims stood around Christians in Tahrir Square as they conducted mass, and joined them in prayer for those who were injured or died in the protests.

Prior to the demonstrations, there was a growing fear in Egypt that tensions between Muslims and Christians would escalate and culminate in violence, especially in light of recent attacks that targeted Christians in the region, the latest of which was the bombing of a church in Alexandria on New Year’s Eve that killed 23 people.

To prevent such violence from reoccurring, Egyptians began to mobilise through a new online initiative called “An Internet Free of Sectarian Strife”, launched by Amr Khaled, who is described by The New York Times as “the world’s most famous and influential Muslim television preacher.” He began the initiative in January after he saw how the Internet was being used to disseminate rumors and agitate tensions between Muslims and Christians in the country.

Word of the initiative spread quickly, and it has proven very popular among Egyptian youth primarily because of Khaled’s huge following in the country. The roots of this initiative began with his lectures in 1998, after years of terrorist incidents claimed the lives of innocent people and religious bigotry began spreading among groups that were adopting extremist interpretations of Islam.

Many have found messages of balance and harmony in the young, dynamic preacher’s rhetoric, which are all too rare in other speakers’ lectures. Between 2000 and 2002, his lectures – mainly about tolerance in Islam – were being attended by audiences of 35,000. Today, his Facebook page has around two million friends and his lectures are watched by millions across the Muslim world.

It is clear that youth are playing a key role in the initiative’s implementation and development.

The “Internet Free of Sectarian Strife” initiative features prominently on Khaled’s website (amrkhaled.net), which receives around two million visitors every month. Many Egyptian youth have replaced their Facebook profile photo with the initiative’s logo, a cross within a crescent. Other websites and forums from around the region have also included the logo on their websites to promote the campaign.

The initiative’s main partners are influential media outlets in Egypt and the Arab world, including the Egyptian OTV television station and the news outlet Seventh Day, both owned by a leading Copt businessman, Naguib Sawiris; the United Copts website, which is managed by a group of Copts living in the United States and has an influential presence in Egypt; and the OnIslam.net website, which is managed by IslamOnline.net, a well-known Islam-focused outlet; as well as many youth-oriented Egyptian websites.

These partners identified ten basic items that they hope will become “rules for internet users and a code of honour for Internet media outlets to abide by.” The rules are to not use the following: blanket generalisations, foul language; rumours without credible sources, sarcasm, videos that could enflame tensions and violent or hateful fatwas (non-binding legal opinions). The rules also encourage words of peace and compassion, respect for others’ faith and disagreement with ideas, but respect for individuals. Finally, partners have agreed that users should never post their opinions while angry.

This initiative is promising and could lead to improved Muslim-Christian relations in Egypt. However, the core solution lies in addressing the problems that create such tension in the first place.

Some solutions that can be enacted on the national level include: allowing all citizens the right to build houses of worship, amending school curricula to promote religious freedom, ensuring that authorities handle conflicts between members of different religions according to the law as opposed to bias based on political alliances and ensuring equal opportunity in the workplace regardless of a person’s religious beliefs.

Khaled’s positive initiative is an important first step to address the core causes of extremism that lead to sectarian tension. The solidarity amongst Muslims and Christians during the recent protests shows that both groups can overcome divisions, and offers new hope that coexistence and religious equality can be the foundation of a new Egypt.

###

* Yasser Khalil is an Egyptian researcher and journalist. This article was written for the Common Ground News Service (CGNews).

FAITH, HOPE & LOVE - CHRISTIAN WITNESS IN A MULTI FAITH SOCIETY - CONFERENCE 9TH APRIL 2011

2011-02-14T16:23:00.006Z

Today I had the third meeting of a planning group that is organising a conference on Christianity and other faiths supported by The Council of Black Led Churches, Queen's, Churches Together in England and Birmingham Churches Together. The details of the conference are below. It's been a long time in gestation with a couple of us trying to find ways of getting it started for about 18 months. Now after having pulled together a diverse and truly ecumenical organising team our plans are fully underway. Check out the details below - come to the conference and book early - places limited!

SATURDAY APRIL 9th

10am- 4.30pm

Mount Zion Community Church Birmingham B6 4TN

Faith, Hope & Love - Christian Witness in a Multi Faith Society.

An exciting day conference organised by an alliance of Christian Churches in
Birmingham and Churches Together in England that will tackle the difficult
but exciting question of how to be a Christian disciple in a multi faith
world.

The Conference through a variety of inputs, dialogues and workshops will
seek to
help Christians become more confident as part of a multi faith society
share stories that empower others
gather Church leaders and members who are new to inter faith engagement
act as a catalyst for further developments
create a safe environment where people can share their stories and ask the
difficult questions.

Workshops include:

Natasha & Jenni from The Feast on Christian and Muslim young people working and sharing faith together

Richard Reddie author of 'Black Muslims in Britain : Why are a Growing Number of Young Black Men Converting to Islam?' on Black Muslims and Black Culture

Andrew Smith of Scripture Union on Evangelicals and Inter Faith Dialogue

Pall Singh of The Sanctuary and The Lozells Project on Who is our Neighbour ? - increasing our awareness of those we live alongside.

Ray Gaston author of 'A Heart Broken Open - Radical Faith in an Age of Fear' exploring Living Faithfully, Hopefully & Lovingly in a multi faith society

Sharing our stories sessions with Bishop Joe Aldred, Archbishop Bernard Longley and Pall Singh of The Sanctuary & The Lozells Project talking about their own experience of working with other faith communities.

For more information go to www.faithhopeandloveconference.blogspot.com

Or contact either:
Revd Ray Gaston at Queens Foundation 0121 452 2623
Pastor Peter Pennant Council for Black Led Churches admin@cblcuk.com
Gale Richards Heart of England Baptist Association 07765931348
Bishop Basil Richards Church of God of Prophecy 07738241710

Cost £5 in advance £8 on day
Discounts for advance group bookings 5 for £20 10 for £35
To get a booking form for the conference email Birmingham Churches Together at
office@birminghamchurches.org.uk or download booking form from
www.faithhopeandloveconference.blogspot.com

Conference is supported by Birmingham Churches Together, the Council of
Black Led Churches, Queen's Foundation for Ecumenical Theological Education
and Churches Together in England.

REASSESSING JEWISH-CHRISTIAN RELATIONS

2011-02-12T18:11:00.003Z

An excellent lecture by Jewish Feminist scholar of the New Testament Amy-Jill Levine. It's challenging, humorous, provocative and engaging - Inter faith encounter as it should be!

There is also a good interview with Levine at Explore Faith

AN EXAMPLE OF MORAL COURAGE AND PRINCIPLE

2011-02-04T12:08:00.009Z

The news that broke in yesterdays's Birmingham Mail about local councillors Salma Yaqoob and Mohammed Ishtiaq's refusal to join in a standing ovation for a decorated soldier has led to a flurry of comment in the national dailies and on blogs, much of it of the usual vitriolic Islamophobic flavour. For what it's worth I have sent the following to the letters page of the Birmingham Mail

Well done Cllrs Yaqoob and Ishtiaq for remaining true to your principles despite enormous pressure to do otherwise.
The increasing weight upon us all to conform to supporting the government's invasions in Afghanistan and Iraq by exerting emotional pressure through the parading of 'national' heroes in the public space ( council meetings, football matches) is to be resisted; not out of a disrespect to an individual act of human courage like that of Matt Croucher, but out of a deep conviction that we should resist attempts to use Matt's example of human selflessness to legitimate a war that is so widely questioned both here and internationally. While Matt's action in falling upon a grenade to save his friends demonstrates the best of our humanity, the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan remain examples of the worst of human endeavours. Salma Yaqoob's and Mohammed Ishtiaq's refusal to rise is directed against the latter and is commendable as an act of moral courage based upon conscience and principle and I for one respect and applaud them for remaining in their seats.

Rev'd Ray Gaston
Interfaith Enabler
Birmingham District of The Methodist Church

Addition on 12/2/11 - Great to see that my letter got published in Wednesday's edition of the Birmingham Mail

GARDENS WATERED BY RUNNING STREAMS

2011-01-29T21:10:00.003Z

A great ten minute talk from journalist and writer Lesley Hazleton on reading the Qur'an as an 'outsider'. She debunks many of the Islamophobic myths about what is in the Qur'an and demonstrates a real engagement with the text that is sensitive to Islamic understanding. Well worth watching. Lesley Hazleton blogs at The Accidental Theologist