Towards a Culture of Dialogue 
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'Inter-faith dialogue - an evangelical's journey'
David Randolph-Horn shares his faith journey More ...
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Inter Faith Visit to Andalusia, Spain
A group of students from UCLAN visited the region of Andalusia to see where Jews, Christians and Muslims once coexisted for some 500 years. More ...
BUILDING BRIDGES - NOT WALLS - IN THE HOLY LAND
An inter-faith pilgrimage of 8 Christians and 13 Muslims spent a week in Jerusalem visiting and praying at the holy places. More ...
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The Elevenths
On the eleventh of each month people of different faiths in Bradford have gathered to pray for peace and share a meal. More ...
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 My Road to inter-religious Dialogue
A personal reflection by Alfred Agius More ...
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Seeking to understand the Holy Land
Some reflections following a recent Study Tour More ...
View of Jerusalem
Talking with Muslims
David Coffey More ...
From sectarianism to dialogue
Iain Frew is an elder in the URC in Birmingham and a member of the URC Interfaith Committee. More ...
Inter Faith officer visits Auschwitz
A short reflection on the Auschwitz Birkenau concentration camp More ...
Reflection by Ven. Dr. Michael Ipgrave
Michael Ipgrave shares his own experiences More ...

ClaudineMcCreadieExploring the roots of our involvement in inter faith

Claudine McCreadie, who works on a voluntary basis with the Christian Muslim Forum, tells: How I became interested in inter-faith.
 
 
Looking back, I think there are three roots to my interest:
 
The first is that in the early 1980s I was commissioned by the Family Service Units to write about the work of a school community worker on an estate in North Brixton.   I learnt from that something about what it felt like to be a member of a minority ethnic group. It changed how I saw the issue of race and I began to think with some passion that it was incumbent on those in the majority in UK society to take a more positive interest in minority groups and their culture. 
 
Not long after, I came across Christians Aware. The charity has just celebrated its 20th anniversary, but I first knew it when it was still a part of USPG. It had then, and continues to have, a philosophy that you ‘do not try to teach anyone anything until you have learnt something from them.’  I found that perspective immensely valuable.
 
Through Christians Aware, I became aware of Westminster Interfaith and wonderful Brother Daniel Faivre. No-one who met Brother Daniel, a stocky Frenchman with a wonderful smile, a large beard and an exceptional warmth of manner could forget him. He had taken seriously the injunction of Pope Paul VI in 1965 for Catholics to engage in inter-religious dialogue, he was sent to Southall and he wrote a classic text about Southall called Glimpses of a Holy City. 
 
In 1994, I joined the ninth annual multi-faith pilgrimage for peace, led by Brother Daniel. It was a remarkable experience for me. That morning started at 8.30am at the Gurdwara Sikh Sangat in Bow, went on to the East London Mosque, the Bevis Marks Synagogue, St Peter’s, the Italian Church, in Clerkenwell with lunch in their hall provided (as in other years) by the Sachkhand Nanak Dham – a most kind and loving group of people. Wherever we met people from other faiths, I was profoundly impressed by the kindness and hospitality of all the people who welcomed us and their courage and dignity in the face of racism, ignorance and misunderstanding impressed me very profoundly. 
 
I have continued to benefit from mailings and meetings organised by Christians Aware and Westminster Interfaith, and, after a visit to Israel, I am now taking a more focused interest in Islam and doing a little voluntary work for the Christian Muslim Forum. 
 
Claudine McCreadie
 
November 2009