WHY NOT EVERYTHING IN THESE GARDENS IS LOVELY

This letter appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

An artist's impression of Cathedral Gardens

Why not everything in these gardens is lovely

As work starts on the removal of an ancient wall, the first stage of the controversial Cathedral Gardens scheme, a number of questions are raised about its funding in these times of recession.

The Diocese of Leicester seems quite happy to accept a £1.9 million grant from Leicester City Council, at a time when the council is proposing to cut £2.2 million from the single persons' homeless budget and almost £1 million from the homeless families budget.

All this at a time when those on benefits or low income are being further stretched by changes in housing benefits and council tax credit, as well as the so called "spare bedroom tax".

Of course, the diocese will argue that the £1.9 million is from a separate budget, but it comes from taxation, including from those who are really struggling at the moment on low incomes and benefits.

It should also be pointed out that accepting the grant puts the diocese in the position of not being able to speak out against the city council's cuts and the waste of money on projects such as Jubilee Square.

Of the remaining £1.1 million needed to complete Cathedral Gardens, through donations and grants, the question needs to be asked, why can't the diocese's Board of Finance find this, or even fund the project outright?

According the most recent accounts obtained from the Charities Commission, the diocese has in the region of £70 million of assets and investments, including £33 million in long-term investments.

The assets of the cathedral are not available, but are likely to be substantial.

With the removal of the ancient wall at the cathedral, perhaps now is the time for the removal of the wall of silence from the diocese,It should explain how public funding of Cathedral Gardens can be morally justified in these austere times and consider whether the project should be postponed.

RJ Bingham, Leicester

DIOCESE ASKING FOR LESS MONEY AND MOST GOES ON PRIESTS' PAY

This letter appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Diocese asking for less money and most goes on priests' pay

The Church of England in Leicestershire continues to serve the whole community through 365 local congregations that witness through worship and action.

Last year, 1,606 people joined or returned to our congregations, well in excess of those who left.

We have opened St Martins House at the heart of the city; refurbished Launde Abbey as a place of retreat, and only recently ordained deacons and priests who have entered their ministry with confidence and hope.This is a very different story to that depicted by John Burrows in his first person column (Mercury, July 15).

It is not about a diocesan bureaucracy seeking more and more money, but a family of Christian congregations mutually supporting this common commitment to all people in all places, not least the poor.

In fact, the diocese has been asking for less in real terms and most of that money is used to pay priests.

It is a remarkable story of generosity and vision on the part of many thousands of people, often those from the wider community who value their local church.

There are challenges, not least in places such as Humberstone, where the local church has been supported by the wider diocese so that the church can be sustained and in time once again take full responsibility for the costs of its ministry.

Venerable Richard Atkinson – Archdeacon of Leicester; Jonathan Kerry – Chief Executive and Diocesan Secretary

Pupils get an insight into beliefs at faith festival

Here's a positive article about faiths and young people on the local scene, from today's Leicester Mercury. This would appear to be a new initiative on the part of St Philip's Centre for Study and Engagement in a Multi-Faith Society. I'd not heard of it before, at least. Good on them for providing such a service.

Pupils get an insight into beliefs at faith festival 

Pupils had a chance to learn about seven religions in one day when their school held a faith festival.

Faith workers went into Mount Grace High School, Hinckley, to give the youngsters insights into the beliefs and customs of Bahá'í, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Sikhism.

The Religion and Belief Roadshow, organised by St Philip's Centre, in Leicester, gave youngsters the chance to try foods and henna and finger painting and try on clothing associated with the different faiths.

There were also stqalls showing relvant items, and opportunities to ask questions.

Assistant Head Teacher Tom Dunne said: "The whole school had been excited about this day for a long time.

"We want our children to have the broadest range of knowledge and understanding to become the active citizens of tomorrow."

Riaz Ravat, of St Philip's Centre, a multi-faith organisation run by the Anglican Diocese of Leicester, said: "Our main purpose is to generate fun on a subject which is often all too serious.

"We want to communicate the shared values of respect, acceptance and charity, which faith communities possess.

"This is a two-way process, however, so we have much to learn from the children."

Church helping bring in visitors

There's a nice article in the Leicester Mercury today about St Martin's House - which recently opened for business - and its contribution to the creation of a new "Heritage Quarter" for Leicester. This is an attractive part of the city centre, built up around the old Grammar School which has since relocated to Great Glen. It's a part of town that is largely unknown and underused. I know it pretty well because I lived in the West End of Leicester for four years and used to walk through this area into the city centre.

The pictutre above is a computer generated image, produced to raise interest in St Martin's House while it was still in development. I couldn't find a good "real" image of the building online that I could post here. This is an accurate rendering of how it looks now though.

I'm sure that this new development will be good for this area. But I have one question: what happened to the possessive apostrophe in "St Martin's"? It's in this article from the Mercury alright, but it's nowhere to be seen on the new building!

Church helping bring in visitors

In the latest in his series on Leicester's regeneration, Ian Griffin looks at work to create a Heritage Quarter

One of the most historic parts of Leicester is undergoing a renaissance.

St Martin's House, in Peacock Lane, opened this year after the £7 million renovation of the former grammar school site.

The office and conference complex has helped attract hundreds more visitors to the area – including the 14th century Guildhall and 11th century cathedral – which has been dubbed "the heritage quarter".

Now, the site's owner, the Anglican Diocese of Leicester, is looking to spend an additional £2 million revamping the ground near to the building.

But, like other developers in the city, it is being forced to find alternative ways of raising the cash after Government spending cuts.

Half of the funding for the second phase of the project was due to have come from East Midlands Development Agency (EMDA). However, this was lost following the announcement that EMDA was to close.

Rev Pete Hobson, director of St Martin's House, said: "We see it as a flagship project which can kick-start regeneration of the heritage quarter.

"This is a project costing some £7 million, which has come from benefactors, not the public sector.

"In terms of regeneration, it's a good story, but it's early days."

About £3 million of the funding for St Martin's came from millionaire businessmen David Wilson and David Samworth, with the rest coming from the diocese and fund-raising schemes.

Office rent and conference rooms and grand hall bookings mean St Martin's House will generate income for the diocese within two years.

In the second phase of the development project, the diocese is also planning to make the school playground and cathedral precincts into Cathedral Square.

Mr Hobson said he was looking at ways of raising cash, including approaching other potential benefactors.

Businesses said the new venue was a valuable addition to the area.

Celine Issitt, corporate account manager at Hotel Maiyango, in nearby St Nicholas Place, which runs corporate and wedding events at St Martin's House, said couples could get married at the historic Guildhall, before moving on to the former school for the reception.

"I think the regeneration of St Martin's House has contributed hugely to putting the stamp of 'heritage quarter' on this part of the city," she said.

"Obviously, the Guildhall and the cathedral have always been here.

"However, the attraction of St Martin's House has really brought an increased footfall to the area.

"It's a beautiful backdrop. People come in and see the grand hall at St Martin's and their jaw drops."

Stuart Bailey, chairman of Leicester Civic Society, said: "There's a tremendous amount of historic buildings in that area.

"Anything that attracts people into it is only going to be good. It will boost the economy of the area. This, in turn, will help further development."

Read this article on the Leicester Mercury website, along with reader comments:
http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/news/Church-helping-bring-visitors/article-3348822-detail/article.html

Find out more about St Martin's House and Cathedral Square:
http://cathedralsquare.dioceseofleicester.com/

Near Neighbours comes to Leicester

Here's the text of a press release from the St Philip's Centre for Study and Engagement in a Multi Faith Society that's being circulated today. Rev. Dr Alan Race brought this to the Council of Faiths Board meeting last night, though there wasn't time to do much more than acknowledge it. Clearly it's something to which we should give greater attention.

The Government has today announced a £5 million grant to help bring people who are near neighbours together. Those living in communities that are diverse are encouraged to get to know each other better, build relationships and collaborate together on initiatives that will improve their local community.

To deliver the Near Neighbours programme, the Church Urban Fund and the Church of England are setting up a new charity providing national oversight, called Near Neighbours, who will administer the scheme. Locally, the programme will make use of the parish network of the Diocese of Leicester, and administer the programme through the St Philip’s Centre (other parts of the programme will focus on centres in Bradford, Birmingham and London).

Near Neighbours has two key objectives:

1. social interaction – to develop positive relationships in multi-faith areas
2. social action – to encourage people of different faiths, or no faith, to come together to act for the improvement of their local neighbourhood

The programme will see grants from £250-£5,000 being made available to groups from the Christian faith and other faiths, and those from no faith, who meet the programmes objectives in bringing people together to build relationships and strengthen local communities. The first grants will be released towards the end of 2011.

In announcing the programme in a press release today, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Eric Pickles, said “religious organisations play an enormous pastoral role in our neighbourhoods and have excellent networks within our communities – no more so than the Church of England … Near Neighbours will build on this and bring folks from different backgrounds together for the good of the community that surrounds them – be it a sports event or working together to improve a local park.2

In welcoming the news that Leicester will be a focus for this new work, the Bishop of Leicester, the Right Reverend Tim Stevens, said, “I am very glad that Leicester has been chosen to be part of the Near Neighbours project. We have a long track record of working together as faith communities to strengthen our community. With partners right across the city and county, we will now be able to continue this work, and ensure we all work together for the common good.”

The project has support from the Inter faith Network for the UK, the Christian Muslim Forum, the Council for Christians and Jews and the Hindu Christian Forum. Dr Musharraf Hussain of the Christian Muslim Forum said, ‘We are hugely grateful to the Department of Communities and Local Government for supporting this work’, and Ramesh Pattni, of the Hindu Christian Forum echoed this message with support of his own, "The Near Neighbours project has a real resonance with the Hindu ethos of the Universal family… We are confident of the positive outcome of greater understanding and local change with the implementation of this project."

Rev. Canon Dr John Hall, Director of the St Philip’s Centre, said, "After several months of careful planning and conversations behind the scenes, it is excellent news that from today we can go public and begin further strengthening the bridges already in place between different faiths and neighbours in Leicester. To be able to have funds to facilitate this will mean a great deal to local people who want to strengthen the association and relationships locally, and of course give practical expression to this through social action. This will enable the Good Samaritan story to live time and time again!"

Read an article on the Near Neighbours project from The Guardian's website:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/feb/20/church-of-england-community-cohesion

Find out more about St Philip's Centre for Study & Engagement in a Multi Faith Society:
http://stphilipscentre.dioceseofleicester.com/

SACRED SPACES TRAINING: 1

At Church House, next to Leicester Cathedral this morning, for the first of two "Sacred Spaces" training sessions. This has been organised by Leicester SACRE (Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education) and by Leicester Diocese, to help improve the quality of school visits to local places of worship, community centres or any other venues in the city considered to be "Sacred Spaces".

The session is led by Jill Carr (RE Adviser to Leicester City Council and Secretary of SACRE) and Janet Ingram (Religious Education Officer, Leicester Diocese). Before the session proper gets underway, Jill asks me to introduce myself, the Council of Faiths and our relevant services. Ajay Aggarwal (our Co-ordinator) is also here today, as is Smita Shah, President of Jain Samaj Europe (and our Treasurer). I'm always glad when members of the Council of Faiths (especially officers or directors) are able to join in an activity like this.

All eight religions on Leicester Council of Faiths are represented here today. Leicester Secular Society is also represented. Secular Hall (the first - and oldest continuously used - such meeting place in the world) should be more frequently visited by school parties. There are two dozen people attending (not including Jill and Janet) in a fairly small room together. Some are experienced hosts for visitors to their communities' sacred spaces; others are newcomers to this sort of thing. Some feel comfortable with this sort of work, others feel daunted by the idea of addressing groups of children. The session focuses on practical matters, emphasising good two-way communication: Janet talks about effective planning and organisation for schools visiting sacred spaces; Jill speaks on what the hosts at sacred spaces need to know from visiting schools before they come.

After an hour, we take a short step to the Cathedral. The photo above shows Janet speaking to the group before we enter the Cathedral, the one below when everyone is gathered in one of the chapels. In the Cathedral, Janet presents a couple of activities of the kind that would be done with children visiting in a school party. One of these activities is "Godly Play", telling the story of the Israelites' captivity in Egypt and their escape from bondage. This is played out on the floor before the font, using a blanket full of sand, wooden figures and two blue cloths to represent the sea. Although I found much of this captivating (as I tried to imagine how my eight-year old daughter would take to it) there were points which troubled some of the attendees: the appropriateness for young children of recounting the slaying of the firstborn in each Egyptian household by the Angel of Death; likewise, the smearing of blood on the doorposts by the Israelite families; the use of the phrase, "People of God"; and the celebration of the "People of God" after they had crossed the Red Sea (Jews don't follow this historical example in full as they don't wish to glory in the death of anyone, which is how that can come across). For some not born and brought up in the Abrahamic tradition, it may be hard to understand why, in a Christian setting, they're being told a story about Jews; and this may be even more confusing for children.

Two unexpected thing happen to me while we're in the Cathedral. I've written about these in a separate blog entry as they're out of keeping with what's being described here.

As we walk back to Church House, I enjoy a chat with David Hurwich from the Leicester Orthodox Jewish Congregation, who has some Scots family history. And for those who haven't seen it before, we pass by the recently opened Nagarjuna Makpada Buddhist Centre (the next day, I'm told that a load of the people from our training session went over there for lunch!)

This is a very useful session: fairly low-key, positive, non-stressful. As it ends, Ajay and I hand out our set of introductory leaflets to those who don't already have a copy. We get to keep our "generic" banner up in the reception area of Church House till I come back to help out at the second session tomorrow.