Faiths in London

London is an incredibly diverse place, and it's one of the reasons I love it. I'm told by people born across Europe and elsewhere who now live here, they can't believe how tolerant it is relatively. That's not to say things are perfect, and there's always work to do!

In July, St John's Wood and Maida Vale communities will be coming together on an interfaith walk around the various faith communities in the area, in aid of the Salusbury World Refugee Centre - threatened with closure unless it can raise funds by August. It's not theological, it's not dialogue in the traditional sense of it, but it is an opening up of hearts and minds in a local community, so that the sanctuarys behind so many doors might be accessed, and so the people who pray in them better can be better understood. And just as importantly, they are coming together to do some real local 'tikkun olam' - repairing the world. WLS will be sending a group of walkers and is looking for volunteers to show people around on the day - drop me a line if you'd like to get involved!

I was also touched today by a video 'Inspiration through Faith' made for a competion run by Project Mosaic - a charity set up by a woman whose fire-fighter brother died at ground zero on 9/11. We are planning an interfaith event to mark 9/11 along with Westminster Faith Exchange, and the video reminds us of the diversity of London, and the goodness at the heart of each faith. We can always read what we want to into texts, for good or bad, so it's good to see us all finding the good and spreading the message! Hopefully it will help us to see the good in the other too!

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