LET'S BURY THE IDEA THAT FAITH DIVIDES PEOPLE

The Rt Revd Tim Stevens, Bishop of Leicester, writes the First Person column in the Leicester Mercury every Saturday. Here's his piece in today's paper.

Let's bury the idea that faith divides people 

The Bishop of Leicester looks forward to a positive legacy from the terrible events of 9/11 

Taking a break from writing this column during the summer has meant missing some of the key news stories of the year. The riots or disturbances across the cities of England are now past and the prospect of further economic recession seems to be growing. 

But the big story of this weekend is the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. In the Cathedral on Sunday some of us will be remembering those events and lighting candles in honour of those who died, were injured or bereaved. We shall be recalling the horror of it all and the consequent wars and conflicts which are still with us 10 years later. Many friends and relatives of those who died or who still suffer from post traumatic stress will find this weekend a particular trial and strain. 

But in the Cathedral we have felt it right also to include an act of thanksgiving. We want to give thanks for the many hidden acts of kindness, courage and friendship which have grown and developed in this city and indeed in cities around the world as people have come to see the need for deeper understanding and relationship between peoples of different faiths. 

I have said many times that we often take for granted the good relationships which have on the whole developed here in Leicester. Our best memorial to the 9/11 disaster is to ensure that we never become complacent. We must move beyond peaceful coexistence to ever deeper levels of understanding and engagement. We cannot afford to settle happily for communities living parallel lives in the same city with little connection. 

And yet this work of relationship building and understanding takes a long time. It is inter-generational work. And we need to be developing the next generation of leaders who will drive it forward with more imagination and more vigour than ever. 

That's why I am proud that we were able to establish the St Philip's Centre six years ago as a Christian centre for the study of other faiths and for engagement with other faiths. Out of that initiative is now being born the Near Neighbours Scheme which will provide small grants for local initiatives in relationship building at neighbourhood level. I hope that scheme will grow and develop here and around the country and show the world that people of faith are good at relationship building and understand what community is all about. 

The true memorial to 9/11 would be to bury once and for all the idea that faith creates conflict and divides people. While that has been true in parts of our human history and struggle, there is another truth, namely that people of faith have been able to build bridges, heal wounds and grow communities. We have made our contribution to that in this city. This weekend, in spite of the tragedy that was 9/11, we have much to give thanks for.

I'll let others, for the moment, reflect and comment on the central thesis of this piece. Its most interesting aspect, from the point of view of this blog and my post, is the authoritative definition of the St Philip's Centre as "a Christian centre for the study of other faiths and for engagement with other faiths." That's the clearest statement of its nature and purpose. I'm often asked the difference between Leicester Council of Faiths and the St Philip's Centre. When asked that question in future, I'll adduce the Bishop's words as reproduced here.

The Bishop of Leicester is Patron of Leicester Council of Faiths. I'm sorry to see that he does not mention the Council of Faiths in this article.