Last Saturday

2009-10-27

Last Saturday (24 October) I went to a seminar hosted by an organisation called the Greater London PEN - the PEN stands for Presence and Engagement Network.  It's quite a mouthful but essentially what it does is to bring people together with an interest in interfaith issues to discuss ways of working together as people of faith, and also explore how we can all tell our 'faith stories'.

I was very impressed at the range of people at the meeting - coming from not only London but also parts of Kent and Essex.

I was particularly interested in the presentation by the Christian-Muslim Forum.  A look at their website - www.christianmuslimforum.org - has loads of information about how the forum came into being and about its work.

Here in Gravesend we enjoy sharing and dialogue with many of our neighbours from other faiths.  One event we're looking forward to on 21 November is a Festival of Light, showing how light is an important element in many faiths.  It's organised by the Thames Gateway Women's Multifaith Forum and you can ask for more details at info@stgeorgesgravesend.org.uk.

Another well-established initiative we heard about at the meeting was Faithful Friends and Faithful Friends Youth - run in Forest Gate in the east of London - which brings together adults and young people of different faiths to share with one another and to develop a friendship.

I hadn't realised how many interfaith projects and organsiations there are.  I came away from the day full of ideas and enthusiastic about learning more.

By the way, to find out more about the Greater London PEN, try their website at www.londonpen.org.