FAITH GROUPS UNITE IN EVE-OF-PROTESTS VIGIL

This article is published in today's Leicester Mercury:

Faith groups unite in eve-of-protests vigil

A multi-faith service has celebrated the unity of Leicester's religions and ethnic groups ahead of today's protests.

The Vigil for Leicester, held at the cathedral last night, was attended by Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, atheists and members of the Bahá'í faith.

The congregation of about 400 lit candles, described by Canon Barry Naylor as "a sign of light and hope overcoming all that is dark and evil".Welcoming the congregation, the dean, Vivienne Faull, said: "This is a very significant event on the eve of a day when there are those who want to divide us.

"We come to reflect and pray and remember that we together affirm that good is better than evil, love better than hate."

Hindu assistant city mayor Manjula Sood, who is also chairman of Leicester Council of Faiths, said: "We work in the support of love and kinship.

"In our city and county different faiths exist and flourish.

"There is no room for evils like hatred and racism."

Members of other faiths and no faith took turns to speak before lighting a candle.

Eleanor Davidson, a humanist, said of English Defence League members: "We all have to try to work out ways of engaging with these people to help them tackling their prejudice without recourse to anger and violence.

"Politicians need to realise politics is not a game. They have a duty to foster harmony in society and soon."

Julian Harrison, who is Jewish, said: "An attack on one faith community is an attack on us all and a threat to the harmony and community cohesion of which this city and county are justifiably proud."

Leading Muslim Suleman Nagdi said Islam was the main target of the protest and thanked other faiths for their support.

"I thank those who open their doors and their hearts to the Muslim community," he said.

The congregation watched a slideshow of photographs of community events, the 2011 disturbances and sports and tourist spots in Leicestershire.

The congregation took it in turns to light their candles and the service ended with a blessing by the Bishop of Leicester, the Right Rev Tim Stevens.

MULTI-FAITH PEACE VIGIL IN LEICESTER CATHEDRAL THIS EVENING

There’s a multi-faith peace vigil in Leicester Cathedral this evening, starting at 1800. This morning, Barry Naylor spoke (by telephone) on BBC Radio Leicester shortly after 0800 this morning, telling Ben Jackson about this event. I transcribed the following short chunk of Ben’s programme from the BBC Radio Player:

Ben Jackson: “Tonight a vigil is being held at Leicester Cathedral, to bring peace and well-being to the city ahead of the marches. Now, earlier on this morning I heard from Barry Naylor (he’s the Urban Canon of the Diocese of Leicester) who told me that the vigil at the Cathedral last time the EDL and UAF were here, was such a success, they decided to do it again."

Barry Naylor: “We were really quite amazed at the Cathedral, we thought about 50 or 60 people might turn up, and the Cathedral was full. I think it was something that, on that occasion, people very much appreciated and valued and so we felt that it was appropriate and right to do the same thing this time as a statement that the people of faith in Leicester and other citizens of good will, of no particular faith, stand together and we value living in this city, we respect each other and that’s really what we’re trying to say this evening that that’s the way forward.”

Read my blog post about Leicester Cathedral's multi-faith vigil in October 2010, the evening before the first demo in Leicester city centre by the English Defence League.

CATHEDRAL AM, NOVEMBER 2011

At Cathedral AM this morning (the first one I've been able to attend in quite a while). The advertised speaker is Mayor of Leicester City, Sir Peter Soulsby, but his place is taken today by Assistant Mayor Councillor Ted Cassidy.

Our hosts are this morning, as at every one of these gatherings, are Julie Ann Heath (left, in photo above) and Barry Naylor (right). I'm always glad to see Barry, fine fellow that he is, but I'm especially pleased to see Julie Ann, so shortly after our exhibition in Highcross during Inter Faith Week. It as Julie Ann who first got us into Highcross and I still think of that as being her baby. She was unable to come and see the exhibition last week and we were both sorry about that.

We're meeting not in the usual venue of the Cathedral Visitor Centre, but in the neighbouring St Martins House. I've not yet been beyond the reception area of St Martins House before, so it's nice to get a little further into the building today. It's also nice to be able to mix and mingle without every conversation feeling like a promotion for Inter Faith Week!

Lord Mayor's service celebrates "all faiths"

From today's Leicester Mercury:

Lord Mayor's service celebrates "all faiths"

City's diverse religions highlighted at annual civic ceremony

By Tom Mack

The new Lord Mayor of Leicester put religion in the spotlight yesterday with a service that embraced all faiths.

During the civic service, held each year at Leicester Cathedral  to welcome the new Lord Mayor into his or her post, Robert Wann read a passage from the Bible, and past Lord Mayor Manjula Sood read a prayer that was relevant to all religions.

In his sermon, Bishop of Leicester the Rt Rev Tim Stevens described Leicester as a city where "temples, mosques and gurdwaras punctuate the skyline, reminding us of the sacred links and shared aspirations of tens of thousands of its citizens".

He concluded by asking for God's blessing for Councillor Wann's work. Speaking after the event, Coun Wann said: "I thought it was an excellent service and the readings were very poignant. I'd been looking forward to it for a long time."

The Sikh High Sheriff of Leicestershire, Resham Singh Sandu, also attended.

He said: "It was a service for all faiths and people are here from all faiths – that's what Leicester is all about."

He added that he was planning to start a new tradition of the High Sheriff also having an annual service at Leicester Cathedral, and hoped to have one in September this year.

Councillor Sood, who is the chairman of the Leicester Council of Faiths, said: "The service was very moving and meaningful for the city. It was nice to have something for all the different faiths.

"The civic service is about everyone being together."

During his year in office, Coun Wann will be assisted by his chaplain, Canon Barry Naylor, who led yesterday's service with the Dean of Leicester Cathedral, Vivienne Faull.

Among the congregation were Ken and Eileen Coulson, from Glenfield.

Mr Coulson, 91, said: "It was great. I've been to a lot of the civic services because I'm in the Royal Marines Association and it's a very nice event."

Mrs Coulson, 88, said: "It was excellent. It was a different service because it was for the whole city, not just the people who were in the cathedral."

The previous Lord Mayor, Colin Hall, did not attend the civic service held for him last year.

He also banned the saying of prayers before full council meetings because he said it was outdated, but Coun Wann has revived the tradition.

Read this article, along with reader comments (and the opportunity to make your own) on the Leicester Mercury website: http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/news/Lord-Mayor-s-service-celebrates-faiths/article-3607069-detail/article.html

LEICESTER'S NEW LORD MAYOR PUTS PRAYERS BACK ON AGENDA AT COUNCIL'S MEETINGS

From today's Leicester Mercury:

Leicester's new Lord Mayor puts prayers back on agenda at council's meetings

By David Maclean, Political Correspondent

Prayers before Leicester City Council's monthly meetings are back on the agenda.

New Lord Mayor Rob Wann has revived the tradition of prayer before the city's main full council meeting.

A short prayer has been said at the start of the meetings since 1997, with a year's gap between 2005-06 when Mary Draycott was Lord Mayor.

However, Colin Hall, on taking up the role last May, said the practice was "outdated, unnecessary and intrusive" and would not continue during his year of office.

He selected Allan Hayes, a humanist, to be his chaplain during the civic year.

This week Coun Wann selected a religious chaplain – Canon Barry Naylor – for his term of office, and brought back prayer before meetings.

At Thursday's annual meeting councillors and guests were asked to rise for prayer, led by Canon Naylor, for the first time in 12 months.

Coun Wann said: "Each mayor can decide how to do things during their year of office and Colin Hall had every right to remove prayers during his term of office.

"However, I thought it was important to bring prayers back. It's a moment of reflection before council business.

"It's a recent tradition but one that could be lost if we're not careful. The history of the Lord Mayor's position goes back hundreds of years and I think it's important to respect the history that is tied to the role.

"It's for future Lord Mayors to decide whether they stick with tradition or make changes again."

Canon Naylor said: "Spirituality, in whatever form, plays a part in civic life.

"Even though the prayers will come from a Christian perspective I will be selecting prayers which people from all faiths can relate to.

"I have served as chaplain to Robert for the past year when he was deputy Lord Mayor, and I'm looking forward to the year ahead."

Last year, Mr Hall declined to attend the city cathedral service which traditionally welcomes Lord Mayors into the new role.

Coun Wann deputised last year and said he would be taking part in the service when it is held on Sunday.

He has adopted the Royal Anglian Regiment Benevolent Fund for Leicestershire as his charity during the Mayoral year.

It helps serving and former members of the regiment and their dependents who are in need.

He said: "Soldiers and their families deserve more support than they currently get and I hope my appeal helps provide some of this in Leicester.

"I've made sure that the money is ring-fenced for people in this area, because I've always believed that charity begins at home."

For more information on the appeal, visit: www.leicester.gov.uk/lordmayor

hot cross buns! hot cross buns!

This morning, during the BBC World Service live broadcast at Guru Tegh Bahadur Gurdwara, Urban Canon Barry Naylor mentioned he'd be involved in an Easter activity at lunchtime in the city centre, handing out hot cross buns in Leicester Market.

There's a gazebo in the market, with a number of folk from the church under it, offering freshly warmed (and buttered) hot cross buns to passers by. I recognise Revd Pete Hobson and Bishop Tim exercising generosity to the passing shoppers.

I know this isn't exactly on the scale of Leicester's celebration of Diwali or Vaisakhi, but I've heard a lot of ill-informed comment over the past few weeks that the prominence of other faith communities in Leicester has meant the downgrading of the place of the church in the public life of our city. I just wanted to put this in to show that that's not necessarilly the case. Chatting with Barry earlier today, I expressed my thoughts that one could look on what's going on at Leicester Cathedral as being the church's innovation unit - by which I mean Cathedral AM, Street Pastors, the Workplace Chaplaincy (add to that the forthcoming development of the old Grammar School). These are ways of serving the whole community with practical acts of love, compassion and kindness.

And I recently heard someone say that if the traditional song is correct ("Hot cross buns! Hot cross buns! One a penny, two a penny, hot cross buns!") then they were the first recorded BOGOF promotion: Buy One Get One Free.

BBC WORLD SERVICE LIVE BROADCAST FROM GURU TEGH BAHADUR GURDWARA

An early start today at Guru Tegh Bahadur Gurdwara, East Park Road, where BBC World Service is broadcasting live. The World Today is running a feature in which presenter Kumla Dumar is travelling up the M1, stopping off at cities and towns on the way and considering issues to do with identity - encompassing a variety of aspects such as culture, language, faith, values, loyalties, parochialism and nationality. Their first stop was Luton, next is Leeds and today they're in Leicester (with some recorded inserts glancing eastward to Peterborough).

Knowing that Guru Nanak called the time before dawn "the ambrosial hour" and that it has a special sweetness and significance in the devotional life of Sikhs, I eschew the easy option of going by taxi and resolve to walk from home to the Gurdwara. I reckon it should take about an hour to do so, tweeting merrily as I go, along with the dawn chorus. But the curse of Googde Maps strikes again and I arrive with only a few minutes to spare before we go live on air. We start at 0600 (although BBC World Service abides by Greenwich Mean Time, so the programme is going out at 0500 GMT). Already seated around the small table in the vestibule of the Gurdwara are Kumla, his producer, Mr M. S. Sangha (President of Guru Tegh Bahadur Gurdwara - to the right of me in the photo below) and Cllr Manjula Sood (Deputy Lord Mayor of Leicester and Chair of the Council of Faiths).

The main part of the show is broadcast live from London and it cuts to us every few minutes. In our first segment, Kumla announces that he's on a quest to investigate the meaning of Englishness. Then he points the mike at me to ask my opinion. Well he's come to the right guy to answer that question, obviously!

Manjula and I feel obliged to challenge the assumption that as the fortunes of one of the city's communities (whether defined by faith, culture, language, heritage, geographical origin or something as basic as the colour of their skin) rise, it means the fortunes of another inevitably sink. That's certainly not the way it happens in Leicester. We've never been hostage to the crazy world of political correctness, where Christmas is replaced by "Winterval" (I could go on, but surely you, faithful reader, will know your own examples). It is possible and practical for all to rise together. As Leicester's celebrations of Diwali, Eid or Vaisakhi have grown year by year, so there is also greater prominence given to Christmas and Easter (see later blog entries today for more on public celebration of Easter). Leicester just had its first ever St Patrick's Day parade and in a couple of weeks there's a St George's festival lasting several days (nothing much for St Andrew yet though). I mention a few of these when I'm asked to comment on an insert of three young white women recorded at a bingo session, saying that there's nothing for the white community in Leicester, that they're forgotten and neglected in favour of more recent arrivals and incomers.

By the end of the first hour of the show, we've attracted a small crowd round our table. As worshippers begin to arrive at the gurdwara in number and the main door behind us is left open, it becomes rather chilly. We're offered cups of sweet milky tea to keep warm. I got up very early to come here today, leaving home to walk halfway across the city before dawn. Guru Nanak's writings describe the time before sunrise as "the ambrosial hour" and Sikhs are urged to rise early, pray and listen to the hymns of the Guru Granth Sahib at this special time each day. I wanted to get in the spirit and be a wee bit more attuned to this place rather than rushing here by taxi. It was lovely to hear the dawn chorus on the way here, with very little traffic to drown it out. I haven't eaten anything yet, so pick up a piece of pakora from one of the plates left for us on the table. We're not on air at this moment, the show has cut back to London for the news on the hour. Something spicy goes down the wrong way and all of sudden I have hiccups! I haven't had hiccups since I was 12 and here they are, when I'm about to go live on the World Service - broadcasting to the entire planet! Thankfully, a few gulps of tea and panic's over as the hiccups subside.

At seven, we're joined by Barry Naylor, Urban Canon at Leicester Cathedral, who speaks about some of the innovative work being done there. A little later, Baz Kanabar (from the Cooke e-learning Foundation) arrives to talk about teaching English language and Citizenship to adult learners in the city. The show also features an interview with one Sikh who gives all his time in service to the gurdwara as a Seva Dar. He describes a typical day in the life of the gurdwara and gives an introduction to its varied services.

Kumla puts me on air four times in all, Manjula a few times more. She is asked to speak about her own story arc in Leicester, of how she rose to become first Asian female Lord Mayor of any English city (even if she's not given sufficient time to do it justice for those of us who have heard her tell it before). I'm there till eight, when I make way for the first in a new wave of guests for the last half hour on air.

Involvement with the media is a mixed blessing. On the upside, they give you and your cause a prominence that it would be impossible to achieve on your own. It's a good thing to have one's profile raised - if that's a good thing for one's profile. On the downside, the media may approach you with assumptions and preconceptions (even prejudices) about who you are, what you're doing and how the rest of the world looks upon you. On the whole, it's a good thing Manjula and I were able to get this opportunity to talk about the diverse nature of Leicester, even if we weren't able to say much about the Council of Faiths itself. We're glad that Barry Naylor was with us; while not a member of the Council of Faiths himself, Barry is certainly one of our most supportive fellow travellers. Since this occasion was all about diversity, I'll sign off this entry by saying that it's always instructive (in the words of Robert Burns) "to see ourselves as others see us!" Mind you, if folk see me like I am in the photo below, I don't know what they'd make of me. Am I having a stroke there or something?

Cathedral AM (2)

At Leicester Cathedral Visitor Centre for Cathedral AM, starting 0730. This is a bi-monthly networking event, bringing together people working in, living in, or otherwise concerned with the city centre. We have breakfast together (assuming we arrive in good time!) get the chance to listen to a relevant guest speaker for half an hour or so, then quiz them. This morning we get two for the price of one, with Julie-Ann Heath and Barry Naylor. Julie-Ann and Barry have been organising these meetings since the start. Attendees at Cathedral AM have often asked Julie-Ann and Barry about their own work; they thought it time to present something direct about that today.

Julie-Ann's background is in retail management; she was ordained four years ago, Barry was ordained in 1976 and had several months' experience as a monk. She's given up the Mercedes, he's given up giving things up! There's definitely a pilot for a sitcom in there. "She's an ex-barmaid; he used to be a monk. Together they walked the streets of Leicester city centre - with hilarious consequences!" Or an offbeat detective pairing, maybe ...

They spoke to us about the Workplace Chaplaincy and about Street Pastors. Both these ministries are prayer-based; both have, at their core, the establishing, maintaining and furthering of partnerships. Julie-Ann and Barry describe how this involves them going out with love, care and compassion - going out to encounter people where they are, going through whatever it is they're going through at that time, with whatever they have in their heads and hearts, who want to share whatever is on their minds or in their hearts, whether it's good or bad. They tell us that their chaplaincy is all about active listening. They listen to people tell their stories, express their thoughts, to someone independent of their workplace. They give time to listening to people who often have no one to speak to in their dialy lives. People's work in the city centre has become more target-focused; the Workplace Chaplaincy is spirit-focused, working with the whole person.

The Workplace Chaplaincy (which is more Julie-Ann's sphere of influence) has a distinct multi-faith dimension to it (for which, it has the support of the Council of Faiths). Street Pastors, on the other hand, is identified as a more overtly Christian ministry. Neither is conducted with the intention of seeking to convert anyone though. Many of the people they meet in the city centre can't believe that they are Christian, let alone that they are Christian clergy! Most young people have an image of the church - and of church people - as being aloof and disinterested in them.

There is the possibility of extending Street Pastors sometime within the next year or so, with appropriate training. The possibility was raised from the floor that city centre businesses could sponsor the work of Street Pastors. If 100 such businesses pledged just £5 per month, it would free them from having to raise funds and allow them to just get on with their work.

Today is Julie-Ann's birthday. There's a nice-looking cake that gets cut up and passed around.

Find out more about Leicester Cathedral Visitor Centre:
http://www.cathedral.leicester.anglican.org/visitor_centre.html

Find out more about Leicester City Centre Street Pastors:
http://www.streetpastors.co.uk/ProjectArea/Midlands/LeicesterCentre/tabid/425/Default.aspx