Page 9 - NewsandViews Summer 2024

Reflections on an Inter-faith Conference David Brown

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Rosemary and I spent the weekend of March 15 to 17 at High Leigh conference centre in Hertfordshire
at a conference on the theme of ‘Working Together in Faith’ in the company of about 30 other Quakers
and a Bahai lady, Maureen Sier, director of Interfaith Scotland.

The conference was organised by QCCIR, the Quaker Committee for Christian and Interfaith Relations.
The QCCIR clerk, Elaine Green, was one of the speakers, and she comes from time to time to
Bournemouth on holiday and attends Bournemouth meeting when she does. Interfaith work in England is
unfortunately no longer being funded by government but is still alive and well in Scotland. Here is a photo
of faith leaders of different faiths in Scotland gathering happily together:

We heard many inspiring stories of people of different faiths and churches working together and I was
inspired by the conference to write a little poem:

‘Building bridges and reaching out
are good and proper we have no doubt.

We all agree we Quakers should
work together for the common good.
All we Quakers have made the decision
that working in harmony’s a sacred mission.
So this is a challenge we mustn’t shirk
‘cos Heaven on Earth will take some work!’

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