CITY PARISH IS LOOKING FORWARD TO RENAMING SERVICE

This letter appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

City parish is looking forward to renaming service

At a service of the Eucharist (Mass) on Sunday, September 5, at 4pm Bishop Christopher, Assistant Bishop of Leicester, will rename St Alban's Church, Weymouth Street, "The Church of the Resurrection" so that parish and parish church share the same dedication.

Bishop Christopher will also baptise new Christians and confirm those further along their faith journey.

This is a big and joyful day in the life of the people of the Parish of the Resurrection who seek to develop their work of Christian service throughout the parish, among all peoples without distinction, and for whom their parish church is the "power house" from which, in the growing company of Christians, they move into and among the communities that make up the parish witnessing to the love of God by active care and compassion.

For our developing Christian community this is a day and a celebration of "New Life": a confirmation of our confident looking forward in faith!

This change will not affect our community centre which will remain St Alban's Community Centre.

All friends of the parish and the parish church are welcome to join us for the celebration!

Rev Tony Coslett, team rector

CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE IN COMMUNITY COHESION: 1

Sheila Locke, Chief Executive at Leicester City Council, has called a meeting this afternoon on the topic of community cohesion. The meeting is in the CEO's Conference Room, seventh floor of B Block in the City Council's New Walk Centre. This is the latest step in an ongoing discussion, today moving on to consider the question, "What would a Centre of Excellence for Community Cohesion Look Like?" Representatives of the City Council, Federation of Muslim Organisations, Leicestershire Constabulary, Policy Research Centre, Sikh Cultural and Welfare Society, St Philip's Centre are also attending.

All of us here today have experience of people coming from different parts of the country - from different parts of the world - to find out how we do we do in Leicester. Some of them want to learn how to make it work where they live; some of them think they can pull aside the veil and be the one to expose some kind of chicanery at work underneath. I've seen plenty of attempts at both sides in my time in this post. Leicester has a positive reputation as a model, as a beacon for managing diversity. Can the Leicester experience be bottled and marketed? Is the "centre of excellence for community cohesion" the city itself, rather than some building to be occupied or institution yet to be created? It's a short meeting, lasting just an hour, by the end of which we've appointed a working group to address some specific points:

• to scope something that looks like a model
• to include some research capacity
• to take stock of major themes
• to log work already being done
• to list conversations ongoing across the city
• to identify new conversations required in the city
• to decide what could be sustained locally (existing and new work)
• to pick out stuff that we think we should just have a go at
• to see what we can market nationally and/or internationally
• to propose where we could introduce some innovation

This working group (of Dilwar Hussain, Jasbir Mann, Riaz Ravat, Resham Singh Sandhu and me) will meet in a week's time at St Philip's Centre. The bigger group will meet again in a month or so, which would allow this topic to be introduced into the autumn political cycle.

preparing for REDP Core Reference Group meeting

At Leicestershire Centre for Integrated Living (LCIL) this afternoon, for a meeting of the Core Partners of the Regional Equality and Diversity Partnership. We're preparing for the upcoming meeting of REDP's Core Reference Group this Wednesday. Present today are Dee martin of LCIL (which is the lead and accountable body for REDP), Ian Robson from Leicester Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Centre (LLGBT), myself for Leicester Council of Faiths and Laura Horton, Project Manager for REDP. Iris Lightfoote from The Race Equality Centre (TREC) would normally be chairing this meeting, but she's unwell today and has sent her apologies.

We discuss models of communication for the Partnership (internal and external) and how to pursue filling the remaining seats on the Core Reference Group. While we're not in a hurry to fill every seat just for the sake of it (and our funders agree on this), we don't want places to go a'begging forever. We consider the general criteria for membership and look at those Protected Characteristics whose places still need to be populated (the most significant gap being for gender equality organisations). The general criteria are as follows:

Organisations represented on the Core Reference Group need to demonstrate the following:

That they include, within their regular activities, campaigning for change and making appropriate challenge.

That they have experience of, or are willing and able to, work collaboratively across the East Midlands.

That they are open, honest and respectful in their dealings with other organisations, while holding their own ideas open to change so that all participants may benefit from shared learning and good practice.

That they can make active input not only to their own particular equality area, but also support the common work across equality strands. This is necessary so that the partnership is inclusive of all equality areas and does not operate according to an assumed hierarchy of protected characteristics.

Those individuals who sit on the Core Reference Group for the member organisations should be practitioners, working on the ground on a day-to-day basis (e.g. Chief Executive Officers, Chief Operating Officers, managers) rather than those bearing honorific titles (e.g. chairs, Presidents, directors, trustees). The intention is that the Core Reference Group should be practical in its focus and be able to respond immediately to challenges and opportunities.

Each of the Protected Characteristics and related topic areas has particular criteria (for the one related to religion and belief, see blog entry entitled "Take a Seat" (Wed 18 Jul).

AXIS BOLD AS LOVE

Shortly before midnight I receive an email from Manjula Sood (Chair of Leicester Council of Faiths) forwarding a message from British Hindu Voice - an organisation new to me. Their message is entitled "Insult to Hindu Faith - Hindu god images on shoes". At first sight this is utterly baffling - but after a moment's investigation, all becomes clear (if weirdly so).

18 September 2010 marks the 40th anniversary of the death of Jimi Hendrix, found dead in his flat at 22 Lansdowne Terrace, London. This anniversary is being commemorated in a variety of ways. Converse has produced a range of three special editions of its All Star training shoe, celebrating Hendrix in different ways. Two of them reproduce artwork from classic Hendrix albums ("Electric Ladyland and "Axis Bold as Love" respectively) while the other shows a detail from an iconic bandsman's jacket that Hendrix wore at some of his most memorable live performances.

Converse has made other shoes in honour of rock stars past and present, including the Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, and The Who. None of those, however, has the associations that comes with the cover artwork of the second album by the Jimi Hendrix Experience: "Axis Bold as Love" (released in the UK, Dec 1967).

According to Wikipedia, Track records art department had independently chosen to follow the contemporary fad for all things Indian to provide the album's cover, which has a photographed copy of a mass produced religious poster of the Hindu devotional painting known as Viraat Purushan-Vishnuroopam with a small, superimposed painting of the three members of the Jimi Hendrix Experience themselves by Roger Law (from a photo portrait by Karl Ferris) blended in.

It was 1967 after all; there was a fad for all things Indian; it was all part of the psychedelic mystical mix of the time. In more than four decades that have passed, Hendrix has, of course become one of the greatest icons of that whole period, adaptable to many diverse purposes - and the cover artwork from "Axis Bold as Love" has been one of the most popular images associated not only with Hendrix himself but with that whole cultural milieu. In poster form, it has adorned innumerable bedrooms, clubs and record shops for over 40 years. I hope that no one is going to go all retroactive and think any good could come from protesting about the album artwork at this remove! From the forwarded email, I don't get the impression that the correspondent from British Hindu Voice knows either the pop historical context or the cultural status of Jimi Hendrix (or, for that matter, the economic clout of Converse). But the least that can be said is that times have changed since 1967 and I think it only proper that something should be said about the reproduction of these images from this popular Hindu devotional painting - on a shoe, of all things.

take a seat

To Loughborough this afternoon, to meet Patrica Stoat, Chief Executive Officer of the Faiths Forum for the East Midlands. We're meeting to discuss how to fill a vacant seat for religion and belief on the Core Reference Group of the Regional Equality and Diversity Partnership (REDP). Each of the Protected Characteristics and related topic areas has its own particular criteria for membership. the one for religion and belief is as follows:

An inter-faith/multi-faith organisation or body with representation from a variety of faith/belief communities and not specifically identified with (or led by) one faith community.

Represented organisations should be actively involved (or willing and able to be involved) in promoting good relations

• between different communities identified with religion or belief

• between the general community identified with religion or belief and other communities of interest regarding issues of equality, diversity and human rights,

• between the wider community identified with religion or belief and society in general.

Pat and I spend a couple of hours considering who's around in the East Midlands and who might fit the bill. While we can't simply put our finger on one organisation who meets all the criteria, we come up with a proposal for filling that one remaining space that we'll put before the Core Partners at their next meeting, early September.

Local Democracy Week (2)

Following our conversation with Peter Bradley from Speakers' Corner Trust regarding Local Democracy Week (see blog entry Wed 28 Jul) there's a follow-up meeting lunchtime today at the Welcome Centre, involving a bigger group. Manjula Sood (our Chair) and Tony Nelson (our Vice Chair) who both attended the earlier meeting are here, along with former Chair Minou Cortazzi and former Secretary Angela Jagger. Ajay Aggarwal (our Co-ordinator) and I bring the Council of Faiths representation up to six. We're meeting Parmjit Basra, Leicester City Council officer who has been appointed Project Manager for the observance of Local Democracy Week in the city.

City Council has fixed the dates for Local Democracy Week in Leicester as Mon 11 - Sun 17 October. This is the week before Half Term in the city schools, which should make it possible for them to take part. Although the City Council can't offer financial support for activities in this week, it can give free use of any of its premises that are used for events. It will also create an events diary, posted online as a single resource base for the week and all organisations involved in Local Democracy Week can have their activities listed there. Parmjit told us that they'#re hoping for something more than the traditional meeting on the Town Hall steps to launch the week

A considerable number and variety of organisations, agencies and bodies around the city have been contacted and are planning their own contribution to Local Democracy Week. The Council of Faiths needs to focus on our own distinctive contribution and try to find some way of taking part that couldn't be done by anyone else and doesn't try to replicate something anyone else would try to do. A simple choice for us would be to organise dialogue meetings; perhaps we could give this a bit of a twist by organising such meetings by members of faith community groups who don't normally do dialogue together and perhaps in smaller meetings, with no more than a dozen attendees. lasting one hour at most. If we do that sort of thing, we could think about holding something small every day of the week, rather than try for one big single occasion. Maybe something like this could take place on Monday morning, Tuesday afternoon, Wednesday evening, Thursday afternoon, Friday morning. I don't know; these are just early ideas.

Ajay and I have been asked to represent the Council of Faiths on the organising committee, which meets for the first time on Wednesday 1 September.

INSPIRATION TO THE REST OF THE COUNTRY

This letter is published in today's Leicester Mercury:

Inspiration to the rest of the country

I agree with Allan Hayes' comments (First Person, August 7) about interfaith dialogue.

All should acknowledge that we are, in a non-judgmental way, trying to identify genuine theological differences in a way that is conducive to mutual respect.

A good example of one subject is the resurfacing of the subordination of women, but the biggest stumbling block must be the insight into the mystery of the Trinity.

Orthodox Jews and Muslims both believe in one eternal Creator as revealed in the Old Testament but reject Him as their Saviour, whereas Christians believe in a Triune God, three personae in one God, being the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Some religions assert vehemently that they are the only genuine religion and aim to convert the whole world. So religions and denominations must agree to differ and exercise considerable tolerance towards each other if we are to live harmoniously together.

The Council of Faiths in Leicester could be an inspiration to the rest of the country.

Patrick Trigg, Oadby

Caribbean Carnival

It's carnival today: Leicester Caribbean Carnival, the city's biggest public multicultural event. Victoria Park was rammed and the crowd were getting high on the atmosphere, or on the music - or just getting high! BBC Leicester's website next day credits Leicestershire Constabulary with stating that "early estimates indicated about 80,000 people attended the procession and entertainment in Victoria Park." The police also stated that, "the day had passed without serious incident and no crimes had so far been reported."

The parades that took several hours to pass through town were amazing, the costumes incredible, the dancing fantastic - even from the youngest artists on stage.

This is the 25th anniversary of the Leicester Caribbean Carnival (although the event was cancelled in 2006, when sufficent funding couldn't be found). It's the biggest event of its kind outside Notting Hill and attracts visitors and participants from all over the UK and even farther afield. The past few years, the day has been hit by heavy rain. It rained a bit today, off and on - but certainly not enough to dampen the enthusiasm of all taking part.

Photo from BBC Leicester website.

OUR COMMON HUMANITY CAN UNIFY OUR CITY

Our letter published in the Leicester Mercury (Mon 2 Aug) has elicited an interesting response from Dr Allan Hayes, Secular Huamnist Chaplain to the Lord Mayor and President of the Leicester Secular Society. This is published as the "First Person" column in today's paper, quoted in full below:

Our common humanity can unify our city

Humanist Allan Hayes looks at an area of hope – and where improvement is needed

Last Saturday I received a blessing from an Anglican priest in an Anglo-Catholic service; I sang those of the hymns that I knew from my choirboy days; I shook hands with those around me as we exchanged greetings of "peace be with you"; I enjoyed food and wine, music, meeting friends, and speeches; I was moved by the exchange of vows (it was a wedding).

On Sunday I took part in a Hindu festival. Along with the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress, I helped pull a chariot from Humberstone Gate to a local park, where I enjoyed more hospitality and friendship, an explanation of the religion – and more food.

These were significant religious events, but I have no belief in the supernatural basis of the religions, so how could I take part? I might reply that I was at the second event as chaplain to the Lord Mayor and at the first as a friend, but there is more: as a humanist I start from a regard for humanity. The offering and receiving of goodwill is important, and religions are important to me because they are important to people. We do not need to share beliefs to share humanity, but we must certainly share humanity – we must get on together.

How can the sharing of humanity be encouraged? Mutual recognition is surely needed, and, here I have to say that we are still lacking. Councillor Sood has referred to the good work that the Council of Faiths has been doing in bringing religions together. She describes it as "fostering a climate of respect in which debate can flourish among those who are able to speak – and to listen – on behalf of their communities. Members of the Council of Faiths... respect and learn from each other's beliefs, cultures, practices and traditions. We try to find ways for all to move forward together and we aim to uphold the rights and dignity of all".

This is certainly valuable work, but those who are not in the principal religions need recognition too. An opportunity for this will come in November with the third [sic] National Interfaith Week. If humanists and secularists are to take part as they did last year then they must be more fully provided for – we had no representation or display facilities at the main public and civic events. I look forward to a reply from the Council of Faiths, which seems to have played a major part in setting things up last year.

We also need an event that brings us together as One Leicester. A celebration of the city for all to enjoy on the occasion of the election of the Lord Mayor would be a splendid combination of tradition, achievement and vision for the future – we should start planning it now.

First Step

I was glad to attend this event this evening. I've replaced my own description of it with the article published in the Leicester Mercury, Saturday 7 August, which is reproduced in full below.

Thanks for your work, Tony

A counsellor who has helped thousands of men come to terms with sexual abuse has stepped down from the charity he founded 13 years ago.
A ceremony to acknowledge the work of Tony Magee, who set up the First Step charity, was held at Laat Saab, Narborough Road, Leicester.

More than 100 friends and co-workers celebrated over a decade of his work.

He was also joined by Lord Mayor Councillor Colin Hall, who described his years of charity work in the city as "invaluable".

Mr Magee resigned as chairman of First Step – a Leicestershire organisation which deals with male sexual abuse and rape – in July, after falling ill.

However, despite battling a lung condition, he still plans to continue promoting the charity.

He said: "I love this organisation and it's something that has been a part of my life for so long.

"I feel upset but I know it's the right thing to do because of my health. I've got a fantastic team and I've got every faith that they'll be able to take this charity to the next level.

"I'm a survivor of male sexual abuse myself, so I know how the guys who contact us feel.

"If I talk to someone who calls in, I can tell them straight away that I'm a survivor too, and most of the time it helps them open up. I remember how difficult it was, and how terrified I was, when I first told someone about it, so I try to remember that whenever I speak to someone new."

First Step was founded in 1997 and has helped 6,000 people in that time.

Linda Slawson joined the self-funded charity, which has annual running costs of £40,000, four years ago and has taken over the role as chairman.

She said: "We have to work very hard to raise the money to keep going, it's only because of people like Tony, who are so passionate about the work we do, that we've managed to keep going for so long."

The police, prisons and the probation service regularly refer cases of male sexual abuse when they arise to First Step.

Vice-chairman Julie Hewitt has spent eight years with the organisation. She said: "First Step plays a vital role in helping thousands of men open up and come to terms with some very difficult situations."

Coun Hall said: "It's tribute to Tony that so many people have come along to wish him well. The world would be a much better place with more people like Tony around."

If you would like to contact First Step, call 0116 254 8535

In the photo: Tony Magee (in the pink shirt) with colleagues, friends and supporters of First Step at the dinner in Laat Saab. Guest of Honour, the Lord Mayor of Leicester, Cllr Colin Hall, far left. Photo courtesy of Ian Davies.