Blog

A lot has happened, and I’m sorry I haven’t kept the blog up to date. First, many congratulations to all involved in our Mitzvah Day last November. This is always a good event, and this year surpassed all previous! Yvonne and Melanie deserve a medal!

Then came Holocaust Memorial Day, and our speaker, Natalie Cumming, was superb. She told the story of her aunt’s violin: her aunt played in the Auschwitz Women’s Orchestra, and that probably saved her life. The violin itself has been passed down the family, has featured on “The repair shop”, and now is on loan to the Yehudi Menuhin school, where it is played by talented students. Natalie held her audience: a very mixed bunch at Worcester Guildhall, and then a group of teenagers at Droitwich High School. Fascinating!

The exhibition on Pilgrimage, which debuted last October, has been round 2 schools and a couple of other venues – it is now a travelling exhibition, which is exciting to have such a resource. If anyone would like to host it, for a day, or longer, please do get in touch.

Then at our AGM, Chris Giles, of RE-Hubs, gave us a fascinating insight into AI – friend or foe?

Members of the forum, and others, took part in the conference held at the cathedral in February, for secondary students doing RE at GCSE – as ever this was challenging and fun.

On Friday 11^th July there was an event to mark “Remembering Srebrenica”. This took a different form from usual. It was held outsidethe Guildhall, Worcester. The Mayor led proceedings, Catherine contributed a prayer and led the Act of commitment, and this was followed by refreshments. It was good to have something different – maybe different again next year?

We are also looking at doing more with Cheltenham and Herefordshire – it is a challenging time for interfaith, while the need remains huge, probably growing in today’s troubled world.

It’s been a bit busy this autumn, so apologies for not writing the blog more often! Our
Mitzvah Day in November was AMAZING! More volunteers than ever before – it
seems to get busier each year. If you missed it this year – sorry! Come next year.
Alexandra Hospital Redditch. 5 faiths represented, and I think 38 volunteers,
including some dignitaries (Mayor of Redditch, Deputy Lieutenant among others).

Pilgrimage exhibition: has been to Colwall & to Bredon. It is due to visit Eckington in
January. Bredon Hancocks School visited, and the results are brilliant.
During Interfaith Week I attended a “Midlands Interfaith Conference” held in
Coventry. It was a hope-filled event. After the closing of the national Interfaith
Network we were all a bit down-hearted, but there are plenty of people wanting to
engage in interfaith work, and the United Religions Initiative, or URI, who organised
this conference, have taken on quite a lot of it.

We had 2 talks in the autumn: John Chesworth on Faiths in Worcestershire, basing
some of his data on that found in the Census of 2021, and building on that; followed
by Paul & Farahnaz Mahony, and friends, talking about the Baha’i faith. Most of us
don’t know much about it, but I for one feel much better informed now.

In October we had a joint event with Herefordshire & Cheltenham Interfaith. The
theme was Pilgrimage, and Worcestershire’s main contribution was the exhibition,
which was well-received. It was held at Colwall Village Hall, and about 30 people
attended. It’s good to work together on these events.

Monday this week we had an excellent workshop, led by Aida Salkic Haughton MBE, a Srebrenica survivor. It was an excellent event, and all participants, from the school students & staff to the Mayor and Deputy Lieutenant (not to mention the Chair of WIFF!) learned a lot, and had a good time. It was very different from previous events for this anniversary, and well worthwhile. Sorry if you missed it – you missed an excellent and thought-provoking event.

The previous blog entry was a while ago, and lots has been happening since then.

At the AGM this year we had a fascinating & illuminating presentation from Kashmir Garton, the national faith lead for the probation service. How many of us knew about the religious origins of the probation service? And what a good job many faith communities do with those coming out of prison. “Preventing victims by changing lives” is their ethos. Faith groups interested in welcoming offenders can join the “Welcome Directory”.

With the closure of the national Interfaith Network (IFN) due to the withdrawal of government funding, it is vital that local groups and initiatives continue – but it is hard work. We continue to work and to pray for peace in our very troubled world.

We were very sad with the death of one of our most active members: Becky Davidge. We pray for her family in these sad times.

In the autumn, after a few discussions on how to diversify the membership, we are planning a series of talks, some on Zoom and others in person, on different faiths and the way they impact this country and the world today. I hope you will join us for some…

Not much happening… but it’s really busy!
How many of us say that at regular intervals? We’ve just had the Christmas break –
yes, our national calendar is based around Christian festivals – and we are now
preparing for Holocaust Memorial Day, the AGM, and everything else likely to
happen in the next year. It’s been a good year: the whole world recovering from
Covid, gradually coming back to life. Let’s see what the new year brings…

Although the website has been quiet recently, the work of WIFF has continued.

The meeting in June was held at the Buddhist Temple in Malvern, and proved a good social occasion. The views over Worcestershire from the Temple are stunning. As well as the business part of the meeting, we had a quiz on how much we know about the different faiths represented. Can you identify all the religious symbols on our logo? And do you know where is the oldest Mormon chapel in the world? (Answers below…)

Many of us have been writing to our MPs to ask for the government to reconsider its decision to cease funding the (national) Interfaith Network (IFN). Members will be aware that some funding has been forthcoming, so the work for this year can be continued, but its future is in doubt, and it is looking to become sustainable with funding from elsewhere… In our view this is a crazy time to even consider stopping funding: the new king has made his interest & enthusiasm clear, the need for people of different faiths to communicate and work together is more important than ever. So there is limited good news on this, and we need to keep praying and working for the future.

And answers to the quiz: Most of us can probably identify the Christian cross; the Jewish Star of David; and the Muslim Star & Crescent. But did you get the Om or Aum – symbol of Hindu religion. It is a mantra, uttered by many Hindus at the start of every day, and commonly written in the head of letters. It consists of 3 Sanskrit letters, a, u, and m. The syllables come together to make the sound “Om”, meaning Brahman, the supreme God of Hinduism.   And what about the Khanda, symbol of Sikhism. The Khanda is made up of 3 important symbols: the double-edged sword, a circle (the Chakkar), and 2 crossed kirpans (curved swords).  Our group did better with the nine-pointed star, symbol of the Baha’i faith. The number 9 is very significant to Baha’is for numerous reasons ranging from numerology to patterns in their theology, and the architecture of their temples.  And let’s not forget The Wheel of Dharma, also called the Dharmachakra, a common symbol of Buddhism. The wheel can have 8, 24, or 31 spokes. The circle represents the perfection of the teaching of Dharma. The spokes represent different teachings, rules, or laws of Buddhism. The hub symbolises discipline, and the rim mindfulness, or Samadhi, which holds everything together.

And where is the oldest Mormon chapel in the world? Not only is it in the UK, it is actually in Worcestershire! Having discovered it at Gadfield Elm, not far from Pendock, and the M50 Junction 2, I went to visit. Originally built by the United Brethren in 1836, it served as a centre for the rapidly growing congregation of “Mormons” from 1840 to 1842. Among others who preached here was Brigham Young, later to become the second president of the Church. The new converts all emigrated to America, and the chapel fell into ruin. Over 150 years later, local church members purchased the chapel and restored it. Fascinating!

Much of our energy in the next few months will go towards an exhibition on Pilgrimage, to be held in Worcester Cathedral during Interfaith Week. We are currently talking with people local & national to ask for stories, artefacts, ideas. We are exploring partnerships with different organisations. All ideas welcome! It’s an exciting project – and one which can only be worthwhile if everyone contributes.

Holocaust Memorial Day dawned on Friday 27^th January. The event in Worcester was well-attended, and everyone participating was amazing. The theme “Ordinary people” – as victims, as perpetrators, as bystanders, witnesses and rescuers, clearly caught the imagination of all present.

After a welcome from the Lord Mayor, the Deputy Lieutenant, and the MP for Worcester, students from 7 schools had speaking roles: Christopher Whitehead, King’s, Nunnery Wood, Bishop Perowne, Tudor Grange, Blessed Edward Oldcorne, and New College. These touched on more recent genocides as well as WWII. In addition, Royal Grammar School exhibited some of the artwork they had been working on: the pictures of “Ordinary people” exhibited in a suitcase – memory of what they took to the camps – were especially moving. RGS also gave us a wonderful musical contribution: the song “Schlof mein Fegele”, arranged by their Musical Director.

One attendee said this:

Today’s Memorial event was, I think, the most thoughtful and profound I have attended in Worcester. The contribution of the youngsters from all the schools was very remarkable indeed, and few can have been unmoved by the musical contribution of the students from RGS.

The speaker was Dr Mindu Hornick, who was taken to Auschwitz at the age of 12. It is very moving to hear from someone who was there. We kept 2 minutes silence together, and the Statement of Commitment was led by 3 members of the community with all joining in the final paragraph:

            “We commit ourselves, in a spirit of friendship and cooperation, to work alongside all who share our values and ideals, to help bring about a better world now and for generations to come.”

A powerful and moving event indeed! We are grateful to the Lord Mayor and the Guildhall for hosting us. It was a privilege for the Interfaith Forum to be leading on this event.

Forum members were involved in two main events: Market place event at Worcester University and Mitzvah Day at
Alexandra Hospital, Redditch. Both were amazing!

Volunteers from 5 different faiths serve free tea, coffee, cakes at Alexandra Hospital

Ever fancied trying on a turban? Playing a Sikh musical instrument? We all enjoyed
ourselves, as did students & staff. Another chance next year maybe.

A great market place event at Worcester University

As I write this we are reflecting on a fascinating visit to Acorns Children’s Hospice, Worcester, and the wonderful work they do. Quite rightly, they are a non-religious organisation, but equally rightly, they want to keep in touch with faith communities, who can be called on when families ask for prayers, from whatever faith (or none). So we’re glad to be there.

Next week is Interfaith week, and here in Worcestershire we are looking forward to two events: one a “marketplace” event at the University of Worcester, and the other a Mitzvah Day at Redditch Hospital. There are other events happening in Worcestershire which we’d love to hear about – please do let us know.

The October meeting of WIFF took place at Redditch Hospital, and included a fascinating presentation from the chaplains there, and how they work to meet the spiritual needs of all the patients and staff there. What a wonderful job they do. We then tackled a huge amount of business, including planning for next week’s events, future school visits, and the question of the structure of WIFF… All food for thought.

Lastly, Remembrance Sunday always marks the beginning of Interfaith Week. What a relevant coincidence. Because Remembrance includes all those amazing people who gave their lives, or their health, in service of their country.