Category — Inter-faith

In introducing Face to Face and Side by Side: A Framework for Partnership in Our Multi Faith Society, Communities Secretary, Hazel Blears MP, spoke of the practical contribution made by faith communities to life in the UK and said she was proud to live in a country where faith groups were free to do this.

The new policy is not prescriptive, but is intended to facilitate and support the work of regional and local inter-faith bodies.

Three core principles

The document makes it clear that there are three core principles that underpin this new framework.

• Partnership: valuing the contributions made by partners
• Empowerment: people and government working together to make life better
• Choice: local communities deciding what’s best for them

Four building blocks of the Framework

• Developing the confidence and skills to “bridge” and “link”
• Share space for interaction
• Structures and processes which support dialogue and social action
• Opportunities for learning which build understanding

Faiths in Action fund

A new three-year fund of £7.5m has been launched to support local initiatives linked to one of the four building blocks. National, regional or local organizations in England will be able to apply.

Exciting new development

There’s no doubt that this is an exciting and valuable development in the relationship between our government and the faith communities in England. (I should explain that relationships between government and faith communities in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales are handled by their respective devolved governments.)

Risks

There are risks. The smell of money and the imbalance of power between government and religious organizations - particularly the smallish organizations at local and regional level - may distort the work of the faith organizations. these bodies may allow themselves to be driven entirely by the government’s agenda and run the risk of losing their critical independence.

One person with long and widely respected inter-faith experience has referred to this as the “governmentalization” of religion. Of course, one of the government’s major concerns is community cohesion, and faiths can either make a huge contribution to cohesion or they can seriously damage it. So it is understandable that the government would wish to encourage faith communities to work together. And so much the better if government and faith communities can understand and respect each other’s priorities. Neither should become assimilated in the other.

Having said that, I really must complement the team of officials in Communities and Local Government who handle faith issues on having produced a policy document that will open up all sorts of possibilities for faith communities and inter-faith bodies to contribute to the good of society. This is something of which the Bahá’í community can wholeheartedly approve.

Unity in diversity

One of the great thrills of being part of the audience of over 300 at the launch was the sense of being part of a diverse body of people who were united in welcoming the Government’s determination to build a good working relationship with the faith communities.

When I arrived at the launch I immediately found myself amongst many of my friends in the inter-faith world. One of the great bounties of being engaged in inter-faith work is the genuine fellowship that grows through working and dialoguing together. I always look forward to seeing my Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jain, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh and Zoroastrian friends.

Download it here

You can download Face to Face and Side by Side here.

Technorati Tags: Baha’i, Bahai, inter-faith, dialogue, Face to Face, government, Blears, Communities and Local Government

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Jaseep Singh Degun and Ushna Moghal of the Yorkshire and Humber Youth Interfaith Council addressing the IFN National Meeting

More and more people are doing it! Inter-faith dialogue is on the up here in the UK.

And this is not just amongst religious leaders and followers. Inter-faith increasingly prominent in the public realm in the UK. Following public consultation on its Face-to-Face and Side-by-Side: A Framework for Inter Faith Dialogue and Social Action document, the government is soon to launch its own inter-faith strategy with a focus on shared social action (i.e. faith communities working together side-by-side) at local and regional levels.

Of course, “side-by-side” shared social action is very important, but some faith practitioners are beginning to fear that the more traditional forms of “face-to-face” and, more importantly, “heart-to-heart” inter-faith dialogue are in danger of being washed away by the streams of funding that support the “side-by-side” work.

Why is “face-to-face” dialogue important?

More and more of us live in towns and cities, and those cities - London, New York, Sydney, Buenos Aires, and many others - are drawing in followers of all the world’s faiths and cultures.

If these increasingly diverse societies are to hang together, we have to learn to understand each other’s beliefs (whether religious or non-religious) and practices. Dialogue is a crucial way of building that understanding and is a foundation for mutual respect (even where we disagree with each other).

Inter Faith Network conference

This is why yesterday’s national meeting of the Inter Faith Network for the UK addressed the theme “Face to Face and Heart to Heart”: People of Faith in Dialogue.

Representatives of national, regional and local inter-faith bodies joined Baha’is, Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Jains, Jews, Muslims, Sikhs and Zoroastrians in Glaziers’ Hall, across the Thames from the City, hard by London Bridge, to discuss the role of inter-faith dialogue in the 21st century.

IFN Director Harriet Crabtree opened the day by drawing a word-picture of what she called “the dialogical landscape”.

Five kinds of dialogue

Harriet listed five kinds of dialogue that are taking place in this country:

• Encounters and dialogue in everyday life: people from different faiths may, for example, find themselves working together and begin to talk to each other about their beliefs and their practices.
• Dialogue in local inter-faith bodies: this kind of dialogue may be more structured; people of different faiths may be invited to give short presentations about their religions.
• Dialogue in schools, colleges and universities.
• Formal dialogue between faith communities, supported by national faith leaders and often carried out at national level. Sometimes several faiths may be involved, sometimes three, sometimes two.
• Dialogue on social issues: this is happening increasingly between faith communities and central, regional and local government.

Dialogue - a pioneering business

“Dialogue is a risky, pioneering business,” said David Gifford, Chief Executive of the Council of Christians and Jews, an organization with more than 60 years of experience in inter-faith dialogue. “It is not easy.”

Dialogue, said Dr Gifford, is built on a foundation of relationships of trust and respect. We can achieve trusting and respectful relationships only if we meet reasonably often, if we start with the basics and break down misconceptions we may have about other faiths, and if we start from where we are, rather than trying to solve the big problems right at the outset.

And we need to learn some skills if we are to have a genuine dialogue, rather than a series of statements and counter-statements from people of different faiths. There has to be genuine engagement and a willingness to learn from each other. These skills are not always easy and one of the most essential and most challenging skills is listening.

“Dialogue is a journey, not a destination,” concluded Dr Gifford, “and we need to start with small steps.”

Experience from the faiths

Dr Nawal Prinja, Co-Chair of the Inter Faith Network, shared Hindu thoughts and experience of dialogue. “Sisters and Brothers of America,” the opening words of Swami Vivekananda’s speech to the World’s Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893 (where, incidentally, the Bahá’í Faith was publicly mentioned for the first time in the West), sum up the Hindu approach, said Dr Prinja. Hindu belief is that the earth is one family, he said, and he argued that the spiritual must be balanced with the practical and political if dialogue is to be effective.

Sughra Ahmed, Adviser on Women and Faith and a Research Fellow at the Islamic Foundation, gave a fascinating and inspiring presentation about a course she had developed and coordinated to help Muslim women engage in inter-faith initiatives. The women on the course learned more about Islam and about other faiths and non-religious beliefs; they also learned about existing inter-faith structures and organizations; and they worked on their personal and social skills.

The women had to make a considerable commitment to take part. One woman who travelled regularly from Cardiff to Leicester for the course had never driven on the motorway before and overcame her fear of this to get to Markfield. Sughra said that when this woman arrived for the first residential of the course, she gave Sughra a big hug and thanked her for empowering her to travel on her own in this way. “I didn’t do anything,” said Sughra, “I just set the conditions for the course and this woman was motivated to do something she’d never done before.”

Sadly the government funding for the course is no longer available, but the course led to the launch of the Women in Faith Network, which supports Muslim women as they engage in inter-faith dialogue.

By building a culture of encouragement and accompanimet, Sughra helped build skills and confidence in a group of people who might not otherwise think of inter-faith dialogue as something they could do.

Youth and inter-faith dialogue

Jaseep Singh Degun, a Sikh, and Ushan Moghal, a Roman Catholic (see picture above) spoke with great enthusiasm and excitement about the Yorkshire and Humber Youth Interfaith Council, which was launched last year and is linked to the work of the Yorkshire and Humber Faiths Forum.

Jasdeep, who is 16, is the Chair of the Youth Interfaith Council.

So much of the inter-faith work that is going on in the UK is undertaken by “mature” people (like me). It’s wonderful when young people take the lead and it is essential that they do so if dialogue is to continue and expand.

The landscape is changing

The dialogical landscape has changed a great deal in the last five years or so, certainly in the UK. We’ve seen the arrival of lots of new inter-faith initiatives. New people are getting involved. Some of these new initiatives are criss-crossing and overlapping in ways that can be quite confusing for those who are not familiar with the whole field. The smaller faith communities are anxious inequality in dialogue - they’re afraid that they’re being left out of the new initiatives. Dialogue between people with religious and non-religious beliefs is getting going. And government is becoming ever more involved in the whole scene.

“Soundings” programme

The Inter Faith Network needs to find ways of navigating the new scenery. To this end, Harriet Crabtree announced the launch of the “Soundings” programme, the Network’s new venture of discussions amongst invited individuals from different faiths about a number of the features of the changing landscape. These discussions will start in the autumn and continue over the next two or three years.

Reflections

I found much to think about from yesterday’s presentations and discussions. There’s no doubt that inter-faith dialogue is alive and healthy in the UK, but it will have to be nimble to deal with the changes and challenges that will face those involved in dialogue over the coming years.

Technorati Tags: inter-faith, dialogue, Inter Faith Network, Baha’is, Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Jains, Jews, Muslims, Sikhs, Zoroastrians, Council of Christians and Jews, Islamic Foundation

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The Australian Partnership of Religious Organisations has issued a strong statement calling on the Iranian authorities to release the Bahá’í leaders, who are currently being held in Evin prison in Tehran:

The Australian Partnership of Religious Organisations (APRO) welcomes the Australian Government’s statement of concern about the recent arrest of Baha’i leaders in Iran and the continuing discrimination and harassment of the Iranian Baha’is on the grounds of their religion.

APRO Convenor, Professor Abd Malak said APRO shared the Government’s deep concern for these Baha’i leaders, made in a recent public statement.

“Freedom of religion and belief is a right guaranteed to all people under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a state party,” Prof Malak said.

“Their detention is in clear breach of the rights to which they are entitled under international law,” he said.

“Members of APRO call on the Iranian authorities to release the Baha’i leaders, if they are not to be charged with a recognisable criminal offence and allowed a fair and prompt trial.”

This support is most welcome.

Technorati Tags: Baha’i, Bahai, Australia, APRO, religious organisations, Iran, religious freedom, human rights, inter-faith

Dalai Lama with senior faith representatives at Lambeth Palace [Photo: © Lambeth Palace]

Here’s a picture of the Dalai Lama with the religious representatives at Lambeth Palace on 23 May. You can find my post about this wonderful encounter here.

I’m in the back row on the left of the line-up, next to Cardinal Cormac Murpy-O’Connor.

Technorati Tags: Baha’i, Bahai, Buddhism, Barnabas Quotidianus, Dalai Lama, faith leaders, Archbishop of Canterbury

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Today has been the Bahá’í Holy Day known as the Declaration of the Báb. It marks the very beginning of the Bahá’í Faith in the Iranian city of Shiraz in 1844.

My great treat for the day was a trip to Lambeth Palace, the Archbishop of Canterbury’s historic residence in London, to take part in a private meeting of religious representatives with the Dalai Lama.

Demonstrators

Two small groups of demonstrators, penned by the police across Lambeth Palace Road from the palace gate, shouted the odds as I arrived (not, please note, because I arrived). One group wanted China out of Tibet and accused the Dalai Lama of betraying Tibet. The other group seemed to favour China’s remaining in Tibet.

Inside, as always, Lambeth Palace was a peaceful retreat from the constant noise of London traffic.

The Prime Minister, the Archbishop and the Dalai Lama

I was conducted across the courtyard from the main gate to the Atrium, an unusual informal space which subsequently proved to suit the nature and mood of the meeting very well. As the Buddhist monks and leading Christians, Hindus, Jews, a Jain, a Muslim, a Sikh, and a Zoroastrian gathered, conversations started. Some of us knew each other well, others were meeting for the first time.

Suddenly media teams arrived, quickly followed by the Prime Minister, the Dalai Lama and the Archbishop of Canterbury. Gordon Brown, not looking at all fazed by the result of the Crewe and Nantwich by-election, shook our hands and smiled (looking much more natural in this act than he does on TV), chatted with a few, and then left.

We took our seats in a circle with the Dalai Lama: Archbishop Rowan Williams, Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor in his scarlet skull-cap and scarlet edged cassock, the various Buddhists, the Sikh, the Jews, the Hindus, the Jain, the Bahá’í, the Zoroastrian, the Director of the Inter Faith Network, a panoply of spirituality. Archbishop Rowan welcomed all of us and invited the Dalai Lama to give a short meditation.

Actually, it was a short homily, simple but profound, as one has come to expect of the Dalai Lama.

Our common humanity

He relates to human beings, he said, on various levels. The foundation is the level of our common humanity, a level he referred to as “secular ethics”. In other words, all human beings have the same needs and can agree on common values, regardless of whether they have any religious beliefs or not. Everyone wants a happy life and wants to avoid suffering.

But there is a great deal of suffering in the world, despite the advances in science and technology. All spiritual traditions, he said, address suffering through love and compassion. All human beings come from one Source.

Human unity, religious diversity

However, when one relates to people at the level of religious doctrine, differences are infinite. Religions are either theistic or non-theistic. Within each broad category, there are many different beliefs and practices.

• And yet, despite these different approaches, all traditions have the same message of love and compassion.
• The theistic traditions see all humans and sons and daughters of one God.
• The non-theistic traditions cultivate right action towards all human beings.
• And at the level of our humanity, one can find common ethical ground with everyone, including those who have no particular religious belief or who are atheists.

Religion and ecology

To close his meditation, the Dalai Lama called on the religions to be more active in environmental protection, a call that was echoed by Archbishop Rowan.

Questions to the Dalai Lama

After the meditation, we were, one by one, introduced to the Dalai Lama, who made namaste to each of us. We then had some time for questions and discussion. Mostly questions, it has to be said. Who is going to engaged in debate with the Dalai Lama?

The first questioners asked about religious extremism and intolerance. One or two of the questions focused on ethics. What did he mean by “secular ethics”? What practical steps, asked an ayatollah in black robe and turban, can we take to put these ideas into practice?

Compassion and the motivation to act ethically

When my turn came, I said I thought religion provided an important motivation for people to follow an ethical path. The Archbishop nodded. How, I asked, did the Dalai Lama envisage people being motivated to follow secular ethics?

The Archbishop nodded again.

Compassion, said the Dalai Lama. Everyone has the capacity for compassion. Compassion is what motivates people to ethical acts.

Archbishop Rowan brought the meeting to a close, referring to compassion as a release from the prison of self. And, he said, one of our prisons is the prison of greed. He endorsed the Dalai Lama’s call for greater religious involvement in the environment.

Once again the Dalai Lama made namaste to each of us.

Photographs and farewells

Afterwards we went outside into the warm and rather humid sunshine for photographs and farewells. Archbishop Rowan said he wished the meeting could have gone on much longer. We had been touching on some really interesting questions, especially in the field of ethics.

This is how the Archbishop’s own news release described the meeting:

The religious leaders who had gathered to welcome His Holiness the Dalai Lama listened with great appreciation to what he had to say about the priority of compassion in all our religious traditions. He also spoke about the need for all of us to engage with our culture not only in the vocabulary of our specific convictions but out of a recognition of a common humanity – a ’secular ethics’ alongside the doctrines and disciplines of faith. A warm and searching discussion took place, and the meeting ended with a time of shared silence. It was a privilege to have this opportunity of engaging with a great spiritual teacher.

Reflections

In some ways, what the Dalai Lama said seemed obvious. In saying that, I do not mean to denigrated it (or him) in any way. My guess is that it was obvious because he was drawing on the common spiritual heritage of humankind and citing wisdom that is to be found in every genuine spiritual tradition.

It was undoubtedly a great honour to spend some 90 minutes in the presence of one of the world’s great spiritual presences. What I love about the Dalai Lama is that he manages to combine this great spirituality with humility and humour, delicious and down-to-earth.

As I emerged from the gate of Lambeth Palace onto the noise and bustle of the street, the protesters were packing up their banners and heading off towards Waterloo.

Technorati Tags: Baha’i, Bahai, Dalai Lama, Archbishop of Canterbury, religion, spirituality, wisdom, common humanity

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I’m slow off the mark on this one.

In June this year Liverpool Hope University is hosting The Big Hope. The university’s website describes this as

a Congress for future leaders and young people of all faiths and life stances; meeting together and listening to the experience and wisdom of the leaders of today

“Towards the creation of a more humane global society, with integrity in public life and respect for faith: a society in which every individual has the right to participate and to which every individual has the responsibility to contribute.”

A Congress of listening, learning, discussion and sharing; action, performance, service and prayer; with young people from many cultures, many countries and every continent: young people of faith, vision and humanity, who will shape the global society in the 21st Century.

So, if you feel you qualify as a “future leader” or as a young person, why not visit The Big Hope?

Technorati Tags: Liverpool, The Big Hope, youth, leaders, faith

A Jew (man), a Christian (woman), a Muslim (woman), a Hindu (man) and a Baha’i (man) were interviewing candidates for the post of Assistant Director of the Inter Faith Network for the UK. Sounds like the opening line of one of those jokes, but it isn’t. This is exactly what happened today - and I was the Baha’i on the interviewing panel.

The candidates were from four different faiths.

Of course, knowing the religious affiliations of the candidates told us very little about them as people. Religious affiliation says nothing about their wide range of skills, nothing about their personalities, nothing about their moral and spiritual lives, nothing about their vulnerability as they grappled with the questions put to them by us the interviewers, nothing about the impact they had on us. Words descriptive of their religions might conjure up some stereotypical pictures in your mind, but I can guarantee that none of the individuals we interviewed today would come anywhere near any of your stereotypes.

Despite the fact that we were interviewing people for an inter-faith post, the panel’s focus was very little on their formal religious identity and much more on their human qualities.

And I could say the same about the interviewers.

It was a fascinating day and, despite the interviewers’ cultural and religious diversity, our perceptions of the four candidates were very similar. And we all agreed that we had learned a great deal in the process.

Oh, and the fact that I was in the middle of the Baha’i fast provoked a great deal of discussion about fasting, about the different practices of the different faiths represented there.

Technorati Tags: Baha’i, Bahai, Christian, Hindu, Jew, Muslim, Sikh, religion, faith, inter-faith, fasting

Yes, I’m back from Oslo, where I spent the weekend running a training course for local Baha’i representatives in the mystic arts of external affairs in the beautiful Baha’i Centre.

We covered a range of subjects, from how to arrange and conduct a meeting with your MP to dealing with the media.

I stayed here with Britt and Lasse Thoresen:

Amongst other things, I went to see the excellent Centre for Studies of Holocaust and Religious Minorities, which is housed in this castle, formerly the home of the notorious Vidkun Quisling, fascist Minister President of German-occupied Norway during the Second World War. The castle (actually called Villa Grande) has been beautifully refurbished inside and out, and the exhibition about the Holocaust is designed in such a way that it touches the heart as well as the head.

I found myself in helpless tears in the basement room whose walls were covered with the names of the Jews deported from Norway by the Nazis. There are many, many names on the walls of that room, but one hit me with great force: it was the name of one of my Jewish friends in London. For a second I thought, No, how can that be? And then I understood. All these were the names of people’s mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, cousins, aunties, friends. All these were the names of persons, members of the human race, who had been carted off to some of the most inhumane places on the planet and cruelly killed or allowed to die.

Relief from the oppression of that place came from the view from a small balcony high up the tower of Villa Grande, the view in the evening twilight over Oslofjord and the departing Copehagen ferry.

No doubt Quisling and his wife enjoyed this view, while the Jews of Norway were deported to their deaths in cattle trucks.

Technorati Tags: Baha’i, Bahai, Lasse Thoresen, Norway, Oslo, Holocaust, Jews, Quisling

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The Dean’s Yard, Westminster Abbey © Mirsasha under a Creative Commons licence.

I should start by saying I’d intended to post this some days ago, but found myself overtaken by pressure of work.

On 14th February the Faith Communities Forum (which is part of the Inter Faith Network for the UK) met in Church House at the invitation of the Bishop of Bradford and the General Synod of the Church of England.

© Greycap under a Creative Commons licence.

After learning about the complex arrangements for the governance of the Church of England, those present at the FCCC meeting (a Baha’i, Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, a Jain, a Jew, Muslims, a Sikh, and a Zoroastrian) trooped up into the gallery of the Assembly Hall in Church House to attend a session of the General Synod of the Church of England.

(Synod = an assembly of the clergy and sometimes also the laity in a diocese or other division of a particular church. ORIGIN late Middle English : via late Latin from Greek sunodos “meeting”, from sun- “together” + hodos “way”.)

Simply put, the Synod is the Church of England’s deliberative body, made up of three “houses”, the House of Bishops, the House of Clergy and the House of Laity. Some of its debates are about internal Church affairs, but some are about public issues, and today - after the Archbishop of Canterbury had made speeches bidding farewell to two retiring bishops - we were able to listen to a debate about detention without trial and our government’s proposal to extend the current 28-day limit for detention without trial in cases of people suspected of committing or preparing to commit acts of terrorism to 42 days.

The Church’s style of decision-making is a considerable contrast to what Baha’is are used to. “Baha’i consultation” is a much more informal process. There are no formal speeches for and against the motion, no proposition and opposition. There may be a paper setting out such facts as are known and the issues that need decision; or the setting out of facts and issues could be done by one or more individuals. Everyone is free to speak to the matter under consultation, adding further facts and information and voicing their opinions. Members of the consultative body are free to speak without having to give advance notice; all they need to do is to indicate to the chair of the meeting that they wish to speak and take their turns when given permission.

When it works well, Baha’i consultation is a creative and exciting process. There comes a time when it feels as if a decision has emerged from the exchange of views. A good chair will be able to articulate what she/he thinks the decision is and members of the consultative body can help fine-tune the decision. Consensus is the ideal, but failing consensus a show of hands will identify the majority position. Once the decision has been made, all those who took part in the consultation are committed to it, whether they voted for or against.

Unlike an adversarial decision-making process (such as a debate), there’s no stacking up of votes, no attempt to persuade people to take one position or another. Those consulting set out the truth as they understand it. Others listen carefully; they may or may not be persuaded by what is said, but the decision (whether by consensus or by vote) is a matter of conscience, not of loyalty to a party or a position.

Of course, Baha’i consultation works well only when those involved are not trying to push through some agenda. Their interest has to be the good of humanity. However, done with self-seeking motives or in bad faith, Baha’i consultation can be a painfully negative, even destructive, experience. It absolutely depends on the personal virtues of those who consult.

The Church of England’s General Synod is a quasi-parliamentary body with 467 members and clearly cannot use an informal process such as the Baha’i community (whose elected consultative bodies generally have nine members) uses. However, it is clearly not a nimble body. It can take years before a decision may be finally confirmed - and if the decision is a “Measure”, it will have to go to a parliamentary committee for approval and submission to the Queen for Royal Assent.

I am fascinated by the way organizations govern themselves. The structure of the Church of England’s governance is complex - even those involved can find it difficult to understand. The structure of the Baha’i community’s governance is relatively simple and has a clear logic and is bound together by Covenant. Of course, as the Baha’i community grows, its system of governance is becoming more elaborate, but the principles that underpin it are those given in the Baha’i Sacred Texts.

Technorati Tags: Baha’i, Bahai, Church of England, Christianity, government, governance, synod, Church House, Inter Faith Network, faith communities

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I spent a lovely couple of hours yesterday afternoon at the Sion Centre for Dialogue and Enounter just north of Notting Hill Gate in London. I’d been asked to speak to the monthly dialogue group that meets at the Sion Centre about how the Baha’i scriptures have influenced my life.

The group included some Sisters of Sion, who are truly delightful and spiritual, with warm hearts and open minds. It also included some who had been educated at schools run by the order, as well as others, mostly Catholic and one Jewish friend.

The subject was a challenging one, not because it is controversial or “difficult” in any way, but because there is just so much that I could have said in the relatively short time available. I’m afraid I made it all too abstract in the first part of the meeting. I read passages from the Writings of Baha’u'llah and told some of the story of Baha’u'llah’s life. I emphasized the individual spiritual life. But I made it too “out there”, too distanced, I think.

What the group wanted was the story of my spiritual journey and how the Baha’i scriptures had influenced that. So, in the second half of the meeting (after chatting and answering questions over a cup of tea) I spoke about my spiritual journey and answered all sorts of interesting (and interested) questions about different aspects of the Baha’i Faith.

A number of people had heard of the Faith or had Baha’i connections. In fact, the way I had been identified as a possible speaker for this meeting illustrates some of the curious links that our lives are full of. One of the Sisters, Tessa, has a sister who is a Baha’i. Tessa’s sister had served for four years at the Baha’i World Centre, working with Carolyn Wade in the Finance Office. Carolyn is a long-standing friend - we served together on the UK National Spiritual Assembly for several years and had known each other for quite a time before that. Anyway, Tessa asked her sister to suggest a Baha’i in the UK who might be invited to speak. Tessa’s sister had asked Carolyn, and Carolyn had suggested this humble servant.

The meeting was warm-hearted and generous in receiving what I was able to offer them. They were open to genuine dialogue and learning. This was rather a different experience from my recent participation in a studio discussion on Premier Christian Radio. (I may write about this at some point.)

Technorati Tags: Baha’i, Bahai, Sisters of Sion, interfaith dialogue, scriptures, spirituality

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