HARMONY ACROSS BOUNDARIES OF DIFFERENT BELIEFS

Here's Bishop Tim's First Person column from today's Leicester mercury:

Harmony across boundaries of different beliefs 

The Bishop of Leicester says people will be reaching out to others during Inter Faith Week 

Tomorrow afternoon I shall be standing outside Asda supermarket in Oadby. It will be part of Mitzvah Day – the Jewish community's outreach to those of other faiths in the city. All around us next week will be signs of people of faith reaching out to those who are different from themselves as part of Inter Faith Week. 

There will be an exhibition in Highcross, a film festival at Phoenix Square, special lectures and talks and a Faiths Roadshow at Gateway College. 

In Leicester we are used to a tradition of building bridges between faiths established by Leicester Council of Faiths 25 years ago. This quarter century anniversary is something to be really proud of. 

Although there are similar Councils of Faiths in other cities, it was Leicester which was a pioneer in developing this work and now, 25 years later we can see the fruits of it. That is why people come to Leicester from other parts of the country and from around the world to see how we have enabled and encouraged relations between faiths to deepen and grow. 

At the heart of Inter Faith Week will be the St Philip's Centre in Evington which was established five years ago as a Christian centre for study and engagement with other faiths. This week we launched the Near Neighbours project at St Philip's, a national programme providing small grants for neighbourhood projects to build relationships between people of different faiths in their local communities. 

I can well remember when I was first ordained in East London over 35 years ago, how important it was to get to know our Muslim neighbours in East Ham. The exchange of conversation and indeed of food across the garden fence meant a great deal to us in those days. 

All of us need good neighbours and in so many cases here in Leicester our neighbours are those who come from other traditions, other countries, other faith communities. 

Yet in the 25 years since the Council of Faiths was founded, we have learned that having neighbours who are different is not a problem but an enrichment to our lives. All the greatest cities in the world are multi-cultural and multi-religious. I am proud that Leicester is one of them and that it is showing the way in how to build harmonious and strong communities across boundaries of different beliefs, languages and cultures. 

Next week's Inter Faith Week will, I hope, touch the lives of everyone in the city in one way or another. And I hope we shall feel proud to be celebrating a quarter of a century of effective work which changes lives, changes the reputation of the city and gives hope to so many.