revmusings

Every so often I am invited onto a faith panel of Christian ministers who work in multi-faith areas. Its always a challanging time as you never quite know what questions you will be asked, either by the chair or by the particpants on the course who sometimes come from all over the world.

Today we reflected on the way our churches react to be set in such diiferent and challenging communtites and the response from the Methodist minster got me thinking...

Is it my job to get involved in the community and interact with people of other faiths or is it my to to equip my congregation to do it? Or indseed to do both?

If it is the second how does that work when most live outside a multi-faith area and so have little or no day to day contact with people of other faiths and it seems irrelevant to them?

And when, oh when, will the BU appoint an interfaith advisor in the way it has a Racial Justice post to help all those who find themselves in this kind of area? Other denominations have regional people as well as national - or are we just going to withdraw from such areas? Its in the 5 year startegy to work on this issue so I pray progress will be swift!