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Exploring World Faiths
About the GroupFollowing the group's Inaugural Meeting in August 2018 the group continues to evolve with numbers such that our meetings will now normally be in the Centenary Lounge of the Village Hall. Participants are from a range of faith backgrounds, including some from currently practising (Catholic, Methodist, Anglican), a Buddhist involvement, through to some agnostic or no longer practising. What we all share in common is a respect for other people's faiths, and a wish to understand more about all the various world faiths.Our general approach is where possible to get people of a faith to come to tell us about it, or alternatively to research information ourselves and then discuss within the group. In due course we plan to arrange visits to places of faith (such as Sikh Gurdwaras, Synagogues, Mosques etc). We recognise that within most religions (including Christianity) there are sects, denominations and variants along with the mainstream of any one faith. We noted a possible framework to help us be consistent when exploring faiths – six headings of : - 'doctrinal' (major beliefs), 'ritual' (worship), 'ethical' (behaviour), 'experiential' (awareness), 'mythology' (stories or actual history), 'social' (how organised) Initial meetings with guest presenters on Quakerism and Nichiren Buddhism proved most interesting, and generated lively discussion, with Sikhism for our next one. All in all, the group has had a most encouraging start, and will no doubt continue to evolve in the time ahead. REPORT for 2019Following our group having started up in 2018, this has been our first full year of meeting. We comprise participants with a range of faith (and some non-faith) backgrounds but what we all have in common is a respect for other people's beliefs and a wish to understand more about all the various world faiths.Some of our monthly topics have been multi-faith, [a world religions overview, inter-faith religious education, creation stories], with some focussing on a particular faith [Sikhism, Islam, Gospel characteristics, Judaism]. We have had three visits – to a Sikh Gurdwara, to an Ahmadiyya Muslim Mosque, and to a Liberal Jewish Synagogue. It has been particularly pleasing that we have been most hospitably welcomed, with so much respect and willingness to share in positive discussion together the beliefs and practices of our various faiths. Some meetings were with visiting speakers, some from within ourselves. From the thirty or so on our contact list, there have typically been 15-20 of us getting along to meetings, with much interest and lively discussion. Robin Wilcockson December.2019 Meetings 2019- January – Sikhism- February – An Overview of World Religions - March – Religious Education in an Inter-Faith World - April – Visit to a Sikh Gurdwara (Lenton) - May – The Salvation Army - June - Islam (Ahmadiyya) - July - Visit to Ahmadiyya Mosque, (Sneinton) - September – What is a Gospel ? - October – Creation Stories in Various Faiths - November – Visit to Jewish Liberal Synagogue (Sherwood) Meetings 2018- June – Exploratory Meetings- Aug/Sept - Inaugural Meeting - October – Nichiren Buddhism - November – Quakerism |
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