RE Council Chair open letter on RE - York



[pic]

York Interfaith Group (YIG)

Newsletter –September 2016

Editor’s Note

The wonderful Joyce Pickard is an edifying example to us all, of indefatigable industry and good cheer. And she is very soon to be 95!

So it wouldn't be right to not hold a birthday party in her honour!  Please feel warmly invited to come along! The format will be a 'Bring and Share' Meal, with Music and a Social Gathering:

The Music will be performed by several musicians including Sriharan (playing the Veena), Dennis Sharpe (electronic keyboard) and musicians of diverse faith and cultural backgrounds who are able to inspire and create a very special musical backdrop. Please let us know is you are able to bring something appropriate of a musically high quality to the evening.

There will be a birthday cake and a card for everyone to sign :-) Please don’t worry; Joyce doesn’t do emails so shouldn’t see this before the evening.

The venue is York Medical Society Rooms (23 Stonegate, York, YO18AW)

The time/date is 5.30-7.30pm, Tuesday the 6th of September 2016.

The York Interfaith Group monthly meeting will take place directly after the party (and will be 'What happens after death? An interfaith perspective'). Please also feel very welcome to stay/attend, as it will be a fascinating and stimulating set of presentations and discussion.

Contributions to our Monthly Newsletter

Thank you, to those who have sent contributions to yorkinterfaithgroup@ . We welcome your articles, thoughts, events, notices, poems, views and questions for publication and discussion. We hope that our group is open, inclusive, transparent, participative and responsive to your needs.

September York Interfaith Group Meeting

7.30pm Tuesday 6th September 2016

‘What happens after death’? Several faith perspectives

Chair: Joyce Pickard; Host: Sr Patricia Harriss

A Rabbi Explains the Expansive Nature of Divine Love

A passage from Rabbi Jonathan Sacks; a succinct sermon about the infinite nature of divine love: “We are each blessed by God, each precious in his sight, each with our role in his story, each with our own song in the music of humankind. To be a child of Abraham is to learn to respect the other children of Abraham even if their way is not ours. We know that we are loved. That must be enough. To insist that being loved entails that others be unloved is to fail to understand love itself.” 

York Interfaith Meeting the York MPs

In June York Central MP Rachael Maskell (Labour) asked to confer with members of York Interfaith Group to discuss topical issues where faith perspectives are helpful. A positive, constructive conversation took place at the City of York Council Station Rise offices with eight York Faith representatives putting their points in a spirit of mutual respect, civic participation and with caring for the society in which we live. Just a couple of items on the agenda included the ugly, sporadic rise of anti-semitism and the need for civility in political discourse. Engaging faith communities in political life and seeking contributions of religious leaders to public debates were also raised.

York Outer MP Julian Sturdy MP (Conservative) has subsequently also been contacted to provide the opportunity for the York MP from the other main party to hold a similar consultation and has agreed to do so. A date is being arranged for September. If anyone would like to participate please let Mark Cosens know on 07796095152.

Peace Pilgrimage

[pic]

The Empty Safety Pin Campaign

Since the Referendum decision to leave the EU police forces around the country are reporting a sharp increase in reported hate crimes.

This shocked one Twitter user so much, she decided to start a simple campaign using a safety pin to tackle the problem of racist abuse. She suggested that people simply wear an empty safety pin as a badge to symbolise solidarity against racism - and to allow any potential victims to spot a friendly face.

“I quite like the idea of just putting a safety pin, empty of anything else, on your coat. A literal SAFETY pin! A safe person to sit next to on a bus, walk next to on a street, or even have a conversation with.”

This campaign was mentioned at the York Interfaith Group’s last meeting--the planning meeting. Why is this an interfaith matter? One example from a faith perspective is that of the Methodist Church. The Methodist Conference, meeting in July, issued the following statement:

The Methodist Conference believes that the British Isles are enriched by diversity and celebrated the contribution made by those who have come from other parts of the world.

The Christian tradition calls for respect, tolerance, love of neighbour and hospitality to the stranger. All bear the responsibility of speaking and acting for healing, reconciliation, and mutual respect.

The Methodist Conference abhors and deeply regrets those actions and words which incite hatred and lead to the victimisation of groups within society and notes with concern that such actions and words have been normalised in recent public discourse.

Believing that racism is a denial of the gospel and that to stay silent when others are abused is to collude with those who seek to promote hatred and division, the Methodist Conference calls:

on the Methodist people to challenge racism and discrimination.

for a political debate which neither demonises any nor leaves the vulnerable (the foreigner, the immigrant and refugee) in danger of victimisation.

on political leaders to work together for the good of the whole community putting the needs of the nation before party politics.

on all those in positions of power and authority to hear the voices of those who have been marginalised and alienated and to respond to them in ways which offer real hope for the future.

The Conference encourages the Methodist people to join the campaign to wear an empty safety pin as a badge symbolising solidarity against racism.

Interfaith Week 2016

Please remember this year’s Interfaith Week dates are the 13th to 20th of November. If you have any events or activities that you haven’t yet told the York Interfaith Group Committee about then please let Dr Avijit Datta know via yorkinterfaithgroup@ . If you know of any young people/ groups who might like to participate in tree planting on Saturday the 19th please let Mark Cosens know on 07796095152 or via yorkinterfaithgroup@

Religious Festivals in September 2016

York Interfaith Group

2 29 August - 5 September - Paryushan means ‘coming together’ and is said to have been initiated by Lord Mahavira, founder of Jainism. It’s a 10 day festival when religious ascetics settle in communities for the monsoon season. For the first 9 days Jains follow a strict regime of fasting and meditating. An important aspect of Paryushan is asking forgiveness for any breach of the Five Great Vows. Jains are also required to pardon others during this period. The final day of Payushan is celebrated with a community banquet.

3 1 September Guru Granth Sahib On 1 September Sikhs celebrate the installation of the Guru Granth Sahib (Sikh Scripture) in the Golden Temple in Amritsar in 1604. The Guru Granth Sabib is the focus of Sikh worship and devotion at the Golden Temple. In the early morning it's placed on the Singhasan (throne) in the centre of the Temple's sanctum, and at night it's ceremoniously returned to the Akal Takhat (another building in the Amritsar complex). During the day passages are read from the Granth and people pay their respects.

4 5 September Ganesh Charurthi celebrates the birth of Ganesh, Hindu god of wisdom and prosperity. It falls in the Hindu month of Bhadrapada (August/September). Ganesh Chaturthi lasts for 10 - 11 days, with the biggest celebrations taking place on the last day, Ananta Chaturdasi. On the first day, statues of Ganesh are installed in homes and temples and ceremonies are performed to invoke his presence. Prayers are offered to Ganesh every day during the festival. At Ananta Chaturdasi the statues are paraded through the streets, accompanied by much singing and dancing, and then immersed in the ocean or other bodies of water.

5 11 September Eid-al-Adha

[pic]

Muslim pilgrims circumambulating the Kabbah in Mecca during Hajj.

Eid-al-Adha is one of the most important Islamic holidays of the year and commemorates Ibrahim’s (Abraham's) willingness to sacrifice his son to God. According to Islamic tradition, God ordered Ibrahim to sacrifice his son, Ishmael, as a test of his faith. However, just as Ibrahim was about to kill Ishmael, God instructed him to sacrifice a ram in his place. At Eid-al-Adha Muslims celebrate Ibrahim's obedience to God and vow to be like him. Eid-al-Adha also marks the end of Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, which begins 9 September.

[pic]

IFN - The National Body As members of the National Inter Faith Network (IFN) for the UK,

York Interfaith Group sets out to bring its aims to the local level. For more information please see…. .uk Plus, readers may wish to remain abreast of events and developments on the national level. To do so, please see: which links to the latest IfN e-bulletin.

The Website A big thank you, to Jan Jauncey for looking after the York Interfaith Group

website. By-gum (that’s Yorkshire for those who may not know) we are with the digital age! Please see the website for an introduction to the group’s activities and for ongoing events and updates…

Subscriptions The group welcomes new members and Michelle Wagstaff, York Interfaith

Group Treasurer, welcomes any subscriptions (£15 Standard Fee, Minimum £6 for Concessions, Free for full time students)

"Inter faith understanding and cooperation are of year-round and ever growing importance but national Inter Faith Week (13th-20th of November 2016) provides a special time in the year when the spotlight falls on these issues. It is a time when people in communities around the country highlight the significance of faith and the contribution that faith communities make to society. Young and old of all backgrounds get the chance to find out more about their neighbours’ faiths and beliefs and to discuss, debate, learn, contribute together to projects and celebrate their diversity. Finding commonalities, sharing what matters most deeply to us, asking questions, exploring differences of view – these are all part of the Week. We hope that as many people as possible will take the opportunity to join in one of the hundreds of events happening."

Rt Revd Richard Atkinson and Mr Vivian Wineman, Co-Chairs of IFN

-----------------------

|York Racial Equality Network |

|(YREN) |

|Friendship Project |

| |

|‘Let’s Have Food! |

| |

|Wednesday 31st August 2016 |

|The next meeting of our Friendship Project will take place on Wednesday 31st August 2016 at Tang Hall Community Centre, Fifth Avenue, York YO31 0UG |

|from 1.30pm to 3.30pm. |

|The main theme will be “Let’s Have Food!”  This meeting will provide an opportunity for you to actively take part in a cookery lesson.  You will be given the |

|opportunity to taste a variety of authentic Asian snacks and YREN will provide a friendly, informal opportunity for everyone to take part, or to simply watch and |

|enjoy each other’s company while smelling the beautiful aromas. |

|We hope to see you there, and if you know anybody else who would like to come along please do encourage them to do so - no booking necessary. |

|The Friendship Project provides regular monthly community activities aimed at people from all communities and ages, with the aim of reducing social isolation and |

|providing a constructive, safe and supportive environment in which people can develop new friendships and build links to the wider York community.  |

|Although open to all, the project particularly aims to benefit older Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) people and those new to the City of York, including refugees, |

|for whom social exclusion and loneliness are known to present a particular challenge. |

|Project activities are based on participants' needs and interests, with a strong focus on sharing and valuing the skills and experiences that different individuals|

|bring to the group. |

|                                                                                                     |

-----------------------

6

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download