PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT GROUP

Meeting with my Personnel Management Group this morning in the Welcome Centre. Leicester Council of Faiths has a lot on its plate just now - and mine is stacked especially high! We have a very focused couple of hours, concentrating on some of the activities, events and opportunities coming our way over the next few months, e.g.

• Our Leicester Day (Sun 11 Sep)
• Leicester University International Students Fair (Wed 28 Sep)
• De Montfort University Student Community Fair (Thu 29 Sep)
• Everybody’s Reading Week (Sat 1 – Sun 9 Oct)
• Leicester University Faiths Trail launch (Fri 7 Oct)
• Leicester Speaks: AKA Local Democracy Week (Wed 12 – Wed 19 Oct)
• International Hate Crime Day (Fri 28 Oct)
• Community Media Week (Wed 2 – Tue 8 Nov)
• National Inter Faith Week (Sat 20 – Sun 26 Nov)

PHILOSOPHY IN PUBS

At the Swan & Rushes, Infirmary Square this evening, for Philosophy in Pubs (PIPS) which takes place here the first Wednesday of each month.

The discussion at each meeting revolves around a stimulus, which is normally provided by the person facilitating the group. Our stimulus this evening is the statement, "All friendships are imaginary."

There are seventeen of us gathered here this evening, one of the largest groups we've ever had. Judging by this evening's experience, we may have outgrown the venue and might be meeting somewhere else next month.

AN HOUR AT THE TOWERS

A brief meeting this afternoon at The Towers with Abida Hussein (Equality & Human Rights Officer, Integrated Equality Service, Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust).

Hopefully, we've fixed dates for a week-long series of briefings for staff on the new printed and intranet resources on faith communities in Leicester, as well as the establishment of an inter-faith staff forum. The first part of these sessions should take about half an hour, then another half hour shared with new and existing staff forums (e.g. BME, LGBT, carers).

WORLD FAITHS ADVISORY GROUP AT LEICESTER UNIVERSITY

 

At the University of Leicester's Chaplaincy Centre (The Gatehouse, University Road) for a meeting of the World Faiths Advisory Group (WFAG). Present today are Dr Stephen Forster (Coordinating Chaplain), Dr Ian Snaith (Chair, WFAG), Clive Sutton (Quaker contact, WFAG), Clare Taylor (Head of Student Welfare Service).

Most of our discussion relates to the upcoming Freshers Week and International Students Fair. The Council of Faiths will be taking part in the latter but not the former, as exhibitors have to pay a rather prohibitive amount per diem to take part in Freshers Week. The International Chaplaincy has asked to use our exhibition banners for three days in the International Students Fair (Monday 26 - Wednesday 28 October). They also want to use them for another three days (Wednesday 12 - Friday 14 October) as part of activities on campus to mark their 20th anniversary, an occasion which goes under the title, "Striding in the Spirit". The International Chaplaincy will be having a marquee on campus and hosting a number of activities in there and other sites nearby.

CREATIVECOFFEE CLUB, 7 SEPTEMBER 2011

At Phoenix Square Film & Digital Media Centre this morning, for the start of a new series of CreativeCoffee Club. This is the first one under the aegis of the new management committee, which has taken over from Jayne Childs, who coordinated these networking meetings for the past couple of years, since we moved to Phoenix Square from the Graduate Bar at De Montfort University. It's also the first meeting run directly by Phoenix Square, as ties with DMU have now been cut due to changes in the funding regime.

We had the first meeting of the management committee last week to agree on how this meeting should go and how we can develop in future. We agreed then that I'd give a brief introduction, reassuring old hands, welcoming new attendees and signposting our direction of travel. Other members of the management committee here today get the chance to identify themselves, say a little about why they're involved and what they hope to contribute to CreativeCoffee Club. There's a good turnout, with at least 25 people here (I know because I'm in charge of the register today).

A few of my own highlights this morning include people laughing at my jokes during my brief talk; confirming that I'm now the sole survivor from the old Graduate Bar sessions; meeting Rosie Clarke and finding out about her social enterprise, Virtuous Bread (and discussing how she might be able to do something with Leicester Council of Faiths related to our 25th anniversary); Carmen Gilfillan (of Stimulus Life Coaching) and I expending fruitless amounts of mental energy trying to figure out where we'd met before; talking with Rhiannon Dalton, Inclusion Development Worker at Leicester City Council, about possibilities for involving people with long term mental health issues.

In the photo above: Rahat Ahmed (left) with Rosie Clarke of Virtuous Bread.

COMPULSORY RELIGION IS OUT OF DATE

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Compulsory religion is out of date

The findings of a survey suggest many schools are failing to meet their legal obligation to provide pupils with a daily act of worship.

This is not surprising as an Ofsted report a few years ago found only one quarter of schools comply with the requirement. The new survey also found that the majority of respondents – 60 per cent – did not believe a daily act of worship should be enforced.

Given that the law is being widely ignored and most people do not care, is it not time to change it and drop this requirement?

And while we are on the subject, could the same not be said for the obligation placed upon schools to provide religious education?

We have the greatest respect for those who regard religious faith as important. However, that increasingly does not apply to a large proportion of the population who would regard themselves as agnostic, if not atheist.

It would therefore make more sense for schools to make their own decisions, based on the background of their pupils and their own ethos, over issues such as daily acts of worship and whether to teach religious education.

Clearly, religious schools, and the number of these are growing, would want to do these things. Other schools in areas where there are large numbers of religious families might want to do so also.

That would allow parents for whom faith is important to choose accordingly.

However, in an increasingly secular society where many people clearly regard religion as having little or no importance to them, it is surely pointless to tell all schools to have daily acts of worship and teach religious education.

THOUSANDS VISIT STATUE OF HINDU GOD GANESH

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Thousands visit statue of Hindu god Ganesh 

Worshippers have until Saturday to pay tribute at a 20ft-high statue of the Hindu god Ganesh. 

Organisers of the Ganesha Chaturthi festival said the statue – which is on display at Soar Valley Netball Centre, in Leicester, after being shipped over from India – is believed to be the biggest of its kind in Europe. 

Vinod Patel, one of the organisers, said: "It is a fine creation. This is a very important festival. 

"We believe this statue is the biggest of its kind in Europe and is truly a sight to behold. 

"The festival brings luck to the thousands who pray to Ganesh." 

The 10-day festival marks the birthday of Ganesh, god of wisdom, prosperity and good fortune. 

The statue will be on show at the netball centre, in Gleneagles Avenue, Rushey Mead, until Saturday. 

Mr Patel said: "We expect up to 60,000 people to have seen the statue by Saturday. 

"After Saturday, it will be taken to Liverpool, where it will be immersed in the River Mersey as a symbolic act." 

Lord Ganesh is worshipped in the Hindu, Buddhist and Jain religions.

That may be a wee bit of a theological simplification at the end there, but an interesting article nonetheless - and an impressive-looking statue, I'm sure you'll agree.

COMPULSORY RELIGION IS OUT OF DATE

This opinion editorial is published in today's Leicester Mercury:

Compulsory religion is out of date 

The findings of a survey suggest many schools are failing to meet their legal obligation to provide pupils with a daily act of worship. This is not surprising as an Ofsted report a few years ago found only one quarter of schools comply with the requirement. The new survey also found that the majority of respondents – 60 per cent – did not believe a daily act of worship should be enforced. 

Given that the law is being widely ignored and most people do not care, is it not time to change it and drop this requirement? 

And while we are on the subject, could the same not be said for the obligation placed upon schools to provide religious education? 

We have the greatest respect for those who regard religious faith as important. However, that increasingly does not apply to a large proportion of the population who would regard themselves as agnostic, if not atheist. 

It would therefore make more sense for schools to make their own decisions, based on the background of their pupils and their own ethos, over issues such as daily acts of worship and whether to teach religious education. 

Clearly, religious schools, and the number of these are growing, would want to do these things. Other schools in areas where there are large numbers of religious families might want to do so also. That would allow parents for whom faith is important to choose accordingly. 

However, in an increasingly secular society where many people clearly regard religion as having little or no importance to them, it is surely pointless to tell all schools to have daily acts of worship and teach religious education.

LEICESTERSHIRE HEAD TEACHERS WANT RETHINK ON SCHOOLS' DAILY WORSHIP

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Leicestershire head teachers want rethink on schools' daily worship 

Some schools in Leicestershire are calling on the Government to change the wording of a law which says they should provide collective Christian worship every day. 

Head teachers said that while a daily assembly was an important part of school life, the requirement for it to focus on the Christian faith did not reflect today's multi-cultural society. 

They spoke after a national BBC survey suggested many state schools are ignoring their duty to provide a daily act of worship. 

While all of the heads who spoke to the Mercury yesterday said they did provide daily worship, some said they interpreted the legislation in ways that fitted the multi-cultural nature of their schools. 

Carolyn Robson is executive head at Rushey Mead School, Leicester, where 95 per cent of pupils are not Christian. 

She said that thought should be given to rewording the law so it better reflected today's society.
"The highest percentage of pupils at Rushey Mead School are of Hindu faith, followed closely by Sikh faith," said Ms Robson. "We interpret the law, like many schools, in a way that fits our school, and it is a way that has always pleased Ofsted. 

"We will learn about and celebrate a whole range of festivals – whether it be Eid, Diwali or a Christian festival. We have a daily assembly for all our pupils in groups of around 300 which will have a moral theme – sometimes religious, sometimes not. 

"It would be highly inappropriate for us to just look at Christian faith. I think some thought should be given to rewording the law so it fits with our multi-cultural society." 

Christopher Hassall is head of Taylor Road Primary School, in St Matthew's, Leicester, where 95 per cent of the 600 pupils are Muslim. 

He said: "The law could do with looking at because we are a multi-faith society now, and particularly in Leicester, where there are large school populations where the children are not Christians." 

Mr Hassall said there were ways of interpreting the law which meant the legal demands of daily worship were still met. 

"What you might call broadly Christian could be called broadly Islamic, broadly Hindu and so on, in that there are certain values, moral values specifically, that different faiths all share, such as telling the truth, helping people who are less fortunate than us," he said. 

The law requires all state schools to provide a daily act of collective worship for their pupils, such as a prayer or hymns, which must be wholly or mainly of a Christian character. 

The only exception is where a school has an affiliation with a different faith. 

Two-thirds of parents questioned in the BBC survey said their child did not attend a daily act of collective worship at school. 

Leicestershire County Council said that it was not involved in monitoring whether schools adhered to the law. 

Leicester City Council did not comment.

WORKING ON THE WORLD FAITHS ADVISORY GROUP WEBSITE

This afternoon I'm with Clive Sutton at the Quaker Meeting House, Queens Road. We get together for an hour or so to discuss the new website for the University of Leicester International Chaplaincy's World Faiths Advisory Group, in advance of a scheduled meeting of WFAG tomorrow lunchtime. Clive's been developing this website for a while now and is hoping that WFAG can draw on the assistance of the Council of Faiths in relation to content and contacts.

In keeping with Council of Faiths practice, I ask Clive to ensure that all our eight member faith communities are represented on the website (currently there's nothing there about Bahá'ís or Jains). We also agree that the website can link to the electronic versions of our leaflets.

Clive has a (literally) cut'n'paste list of places of worship in Leicester which is the most up to date version I've seen lately - in hard copy at least. Actually he has two copies and offers one to me, which I'm only too happy to accept.