CHALLENGING RELIGIOUS EDUCATION: YOUTH SACRE CONFERENCE

At Holy Trinity Church, Regent Road, for "Challenging RE": a Religious Education conference for gifted and more able RE students, years 8-11. There are pupils and students from eleven city schools here today:

• Babbington Community College
• City of Leicester College
• Fullhurst Community College
• Leicester High School
• Madani High School
• Moat Community College
• New College
• Rushey Mead School
• Samworth Enterprise Academy
• Sir Jonathan North Community College
• Soar Valley College

Teachers from Hamilton Community College and Judgemeadow Community College are leading workshops today, though no students from either of those schools are attending the conference.

After the words of welcome from Jill Car (RE Consultant for Leicester City Council) and the introductory talk by Fiona Moss (Consultant for RE Today Services), attendees get to choose from a variety of seminars and workshops:

Visual RE: Breathe Breathe is a resource for exploring the themes of belief, journey and values. It is a large mat with 12 interactive and reflective activities. It is an imaginative way of asking some of life's big questions. (That's a photo of Breathe above.)

Ethical RE: Right and wrong? A multifaith perspective Examining the theme of good and evil and if religion can make a difference to life here in Leicester both now and in the future.

Reflective RE: A Buddhist perspective What does Buddhism teach about how should live our lives? Could we find inner peace by following the precepts of Buddhism?

Controversial RE: Early life issues, a multifaith perspective The Youth SACRE invites you to investigate arguments for and against abortion from a multifaith perspective? Whose life is it anyway?

Controversial RE: A Jewish perspective Wrestle with topical, ethical issues such as euthanasia, racism, genetic engineering and the Holocaust standing in the shoes of the Jewish community.

Enquiring RE: Persecuted for your faith? A Christian perspective Would you be prepared to die for what you believe in? Some Christians around the world are doing exactly that! True, harrowing stories from around the world.

Active RE: Euthanasia. A Hindu and Christian perspective Take part in an active workshop that uses drama, roleplay and reflection to allow you to truly understand the debate that surrounds this controversial issue!

Creative RE: A Sikh and Christian perspective on poverty RE invites you to reflect on all sorts of issues ... be challenged transfer your ideas and images onto glass and take away a reminder of the day.

Enquiring RE: using P4C (Philosophy for Children) to explore a topical RE issue Thinking aloud about RE: What do you really think about some of the "Big Issues" in contemporary society? Does religion help or hinder our thinking about such issues? Come along to ask some questions and think about some "answers" for yourself.

Extreme RE: Contentious issues from a multifaith perspective The death penalty? Homosexuality Islamophobia? Tackling some of today's taboos interactively.

Exciting RE: Religious Education and Community Cohesion Did the summer riots show that we are unable to work as a cohesive society? Are there lessons to be drawn from religion?

Creative RE: Green issues from a Humanist and Muslim perspective Live in this world as if you were going to live forever! How do the ethics of Humanism and Islam help us to preserve the planet? A creative workshop.

After lunch, I take part in a panel with six others:

• Kartar Singh (Sikh)
• Dave Smith (Christian, Youth Worker, Holy Trinity church)
• Sheila Markham (Leicester Progressive Jewish Congregation)
• Kishan Devani (Hindu: Swaminarayan School, Brent)
• Allan Hayes (Leicester Secular Society)
• Selma Ravat (Muslim)

A Buddhist was invited and accepted the invitation, but hasn't shown up.

The panel is introduced and chaired by Jill Carr (Secretary of SACRE), who pulls from a bag a number of questions submitted in writing by attendees.

1. "Why do Protestants and Catholics hate each other even though they believe in creation and in the same God?" Jill gave this question to Dave and Sheila (although I, with my background of having grown up in the blue half of Glasgow in the 1960s and 70s, couldn't help but wade in!)
2. "What makes you believe that God exists?" Jill gave this question to Selma and Allan (so the latter could tackle the question from the opposite end).
3. "What exactly is the Bahá'í Faith and who are Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá?" Jill gave this one to me - surprise, surprise - though I'd have liked to hear another member of the panel to try it on for size before I answered it. I can't help but think that Jill slipped this one in just for my benefit.
4. "From a Hindu perspective, if we have souls and go through the cycle of samsara - who are we? And when we die, will we know who we have been?" Jill gave this one to Kishan.
5. "Can God help with life?" Jill gave this one to Dave and Kishan.
6. "What do you find difficult about your faith?" Jill gave this one to Selma and Sheila.
7. "Is it right to abort a child if it has disabilities?" Jill gave this one to Allan and Kishan.
8. ""Why do Muslims agree with Halal meat which is not the most humane way of treating an animal, when the Qur’án teaches that animals should be treated with kindness? Jill gave this one to Selma and Sheila (and Kartar chips in).
9. "Is Jesus watching us?" Jill gives this one to Dave.

After these written questions, Jill opens the floor so that pupils and students can ask questions of the panellists directly.

• To Kishan: "What do you class as 'the soul'?"
• To Selma: "With Muslims teenagers and young adults, do you think it's hard for them to follow some of the rules, such as not having a boyfriend or girlfriend and not drinking alcohol?"
• To Dave: "If Christians believe that God is omnipotent, how come there's so much suffering in the world?"
• To Kishan: "You say that in Hinduism, all animals have atman. If that's true, why can't animals think and reason, like humans?"

The day ends with a rousing performance by a choir, put together on the day.

ONE LEICESTER: FAITH FOR THE FUTURE

At Holy Trinity Church, Regent Road, for "One Leicester: Faith for the Future", an RE conference for gifted and talented children in Leicester schools. There are 135-140 pupils, from a dozen or so city schools (including Ash Field, Babbington, Beaumont Leys, City of Leicester, Fullhurst, Rushey Mead, Moat, Samworth, Sir Jonathan North, Soar Valley, St Paul's). I've been asked to put up a small display for the Council of Faiths. We're happy to do so and show our support for Leicester SACRE (Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education), which is behind this event. The day is activity-based and participatory, with pupils joining in a variety of workshops, each one offered a number of times in the morning and afternoon. Among the workshops and activities, some of the titles are:

• "Are You Committed?"
• "How Do We Know What is Right and Wrong?"
• "How Green Are You?" 
• "The Island"
• "A Sensory Experience"
• "The Trading Game"
• "Welcome to Leicester"

The biggest single activity is "Breathe" (in photo above), a multi-media presentation used by the Cathedral. I've heard a lot about it, but this is the first time I've seen it in action.

Teachers and pupils raid our display of leaflets. A few teachers stop and chat about what the Council of Faiths might be able to do for, or with them, such as adapting our leaflets to reflect the make-up of their school community.

BIG LUNCH

At St Mary's Triangle, Clarendon Park, for The Big Lunch – a local contribution to a national string of activities  inspired by The Eden Project. This local event was organised by a group of three women from Holy Trinity Church, on Regent Road. They (plus one bloke blowing up balloons) are the only ones there when Harry and I arrive shortly before 1300, but numbers soon swell. At its peak there are at least 30 people gathered on a fairly small patch of public land hiding in plain sight halfway down (or up) on Victoria Park Road: little known, little used green space, quiet and well preserved and just the other side of the road from one of the city's largest and most popular parks.

The food and drink everyone brings is pooled, tables are nicely laid out with proper china tea sets. Gazebos are dotted around, fun and games abound with a giant snakes and ladders, Frisbees and footballs. Props to Leon Charikar for services above and beyond the call of duty for keeping my children (especially Gracie) busy and entertained. If they sleep well tonight, it's largely down to him! Harry got to make a wallet out of a juice carton. Gracie struggled with learning how to cast on (knitting is a very popular activity today).

As always, when meeting a bunch of people for the first time (and there were many of those), I get to talk about my work, to some sympathetic ears. It's a weekend of diversity – but with a difference. Here's another lively example of what Leicester is good at, if not presented in a way that plays up to the stereotype of a multicultural city. the national organisers give a whole load of reasons for doing this, which I quote here:

To stoke up community spirit – we call it Human Warming.

To make the third of us who live alone feel happier, closer and friendlier.


To show how local people can change a neighbourhood for good, forever.


To conquer our natural shyness, to open our curtains, doors and minds and look out for one another the way we used to.


To share stories, skills and tools, so we all end up richer in every sense.


To discover common ground across age, class, faith, race and the garden fence, and to remind ourselves that charity begins at home, or at most, a couple of doors away.

Some people are doing it to promote a cause of common interest or to raise funds for an appropriate charitable purpose. We're not doing that as a group here today, although some attendees take the opportunity to spread the word and solicit opinion about issues of concern locally.

On The Big Lunch's own blog it says, "Today The Big Lunch has inspired an estimated one million people to participate in a lunch with their neighbours across the UK – a fantastic turn out and a big thank you to everyone who took part and organised their very own Big Lunch."

To find out how The Big Lunch went today – and in anticipation of The Big Lunch 2011, when you, faithful reader, might be able to join in if you haven't done so already –  visit their own blog, which is crammed full of entertaining, inspiring and interesting content.

SACRE AGM

At Holy Trinity Church, Regent Road this afternoon, for the Annual General Meeting of Leicester SACRE (Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education). The meeting is being held upstairs, in what appears to be the church's Sunday School.

Linda Bradshaw, Advanced Skills Teacher at Rushey Mead School, gives a presentation on "Training: What is a Secondary AST?" There are quite a lot of people in a very small room on a very warm day. I'm beginning to feel the effects of the heat at this point, and start gonking in the front row. Very disrespectful, of course, so I nip out for a few minutes to try and wake up a little, with some coffee in the room where refreshments were being served before the meeting started. I can follow Linda's presentation, which so am trying not to miss anything. As I pace the room slowly, listening to Linda's talk which comes through from the next room loud and clear, my eye is caught by some of the prayers by children from the Sunday School, which have been put up on the wall. Some are in the child's own hand, some written down by adults. Many of them are asking for health and healing for family members or friends. Some ask help directly: "Dear God, Please heal my baby tooth"; "Dear God, Please make my snot stop"; "Dear God, Please help me to find a friend at playtime". Some of the prayers are quite touching.

I get to make a small contribution when we discuss developments on our booklet project, "Engaging with Leicester's Faith Communities", especially in relation to our meeting at Leicester Tigers with representatives of the city's gurdwaras.

Stephanie Maud (who teaches at Leicester College) is elected Chair. I've known Stephanie for over 20 years and I'm sure she'll do a fine job in this position. A vote of thanks is proposed for Rosemary Stokes, who stands down as Chair.