Spiritual Capital - Cardiff

Support for traditional funeral custom

2012-01-19T01:30:00.000-08:00

Cardiff City Council responds to need of Muslim and Jewish communities to hold funeral services as close to the time of death - same day if possible or at least within 24 hours of death according to custom.

This improves on the existing fast track arrangement, which allowed for funerals at public cemeteries over weekends wherever practicable.

Read about it here - http://tinyurl.com/7zr9ug9

A non-religious civil funeral ceremony

2010-07-27T00:50:00.000-07:00

Wrexham Council have appointed and trained a council official to arrange and officiate at funerals where deceased or their family want to have a service but do not want to use either a minister of religion or a humanist as officiant.

Read about it here

A Spiritual Capital approach to values

2010-07-10T04:44:00.000-07:00

Although a philosophical rather than a religious approach is taken, American hotelier Chip Conley speaks on Ted.com about reappraising what we value and how we go about valuing things that matter to us most, and its an approach that may well give religious leaders something to think about.

Watch his lecture here

A Common Voice celebration

2010-06-17T15:18:00.000-07:00

Cardiff City Hall last night hosted a dinner to mark the tenth anniversary of top level Muslim and Christian regional leadership in dialogue, with guests from the Welsh Assembly and the City Council. There's a press release here describing the occasion.

Archbishop Peter Smith on the social aim of faith

2010-06-11T18:30:00.000-07:00

Former Archbishop of Cardiff, Peter Smith was enthroned yesterday in Southwark Roman Catholic Cathedral at the heart of Britain's capital city.

His sermon contained this concise and pertinent account of the role of faith in society.

“The historic, present, and future value of religion to the secular and spiritual life of the country has come under increasing criticism, and is often summarily dismissed as irrelevant and even dangerous… However, the reality is that the Church is not a threat to the legitimate independence and proper role of the secular State ... The ambition of the Church is to see every person flourish and achieve his or her full potential, irrespective of race, religion, colour or creed ...the Church has a clear vision of what religion and faith can offer to a confused and fragmented society and world.”

Faith groups have lost the simple confidence of a large proportion of the population, and all are now faced, together or individually, with earning public trust in the genuineness of this intent.

Archbishop's move

2010-04-30T21:30:00.000-07:00

The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Cardiff has been appointed by the Pope to be the next Archbishop of Southwark after eight and a half years here in Wales. For him it will be a return to the area in which he was born to become one of the Capital's senior faith community leaders. He will be enthroned this coming 10th June.

Read about it here

Secular Society to protest during Pope's visit

2010-02-03T07:08:00.000-08:00

The National Secular Society has launched and on-line petition as part of a campaign of protest against Pope Benedict's state visit.

This had been stimulated by the Pope's recent outspoken comments on the UK Equalities legislation.

Read about it here

Full coverage of responses to papal remarks are to be found on the Thinking Anglicans blog postings for Feb 1st,

Pope criticises UK Equalities legislation

2010-02-01T17:03:00.000-08:00

Pope Benedict speaks out about the impact on Catholics of the UK government's Equalities legislation. Controversy and contention surrounding his forthcoming visit is now guaranteed.

Read about it here

Inter-religious ignorance in KL

2010-01-08T02:41:00.000-08:00

Here's a news report illustrating what can happen in a multi-faith and multi-religious society if government is pressured not to be even handed and require of all faith groups an appropriate measure of mutual understanding, respect and tolerance. Similar issues can arise, no matter what religious majority predominates.

UK Government appoints panel of faith experts

2010-01-06T15:11:00.000-08:00

The UK government has appointed a panel of thirteen representative from faith communities, to act as a sounding board on effective engagement with faith communities. The press release is here

There is already a Faith Communities Consultative Council, but it appears that Minister John Denham is looking for a range of expert advisors. He says:

"This new panel brings together an unprecedented wealth of knowledge and experience that will help advise on the big issues facing society such as the economy, parenting, achieving social justice and tackling climate change."

A prophetic figure in troubled times

2010-01-05T09:05:00.000-08:00

Cardinal Cahal Daley who died last week was an important public figure in Northern Ireland at the time of the Troubles. He was a passionate, outspoken advocate of non-violent reconciliation, unafraid of controversy. His life is celebrated in this account of his funeral today.

Civil society and religion in dialogue

2010-01-02T02:18:00.000-08:00

The European Union's Lisbon treaty provided for "open transparent and regular dialogue with churches, religious associations and secular groups as part of the consultative processes at work within the life of the EU. This recognises the evolving role of religion in the diverse multi-cultural nature of the European population today. The same can also be said about developments in UK government policies of the past decade.

The growth of secular idealism envisaged the decline of religion as a major influence in the public domain and its retreat into the personal and domestic realm. The influx of Muslims into all the countries of the EU, sharing with Christians an understanding of the importance of citizenship in the life of faith, has led to a policy re-think, in the light of a desire to develop a more inclusive society, resistant to intolerance and internal conflict.

Reuters has posted a useful introductory article here

Archbishop Rowan's New Year message

2010-01-01T03:06:00.000-08:00

The Archbishop of Canterbury reflects on a decade of global crises and suffering, speaks about the need for global solidarity.

Read about it here

Find the video and the text here

Archbishop's anti-fascist stance

2009-12-26T23:23:00.000-08:00

Archbishop Barry Morgan denounces the claims of the British National Party leader Nick Griffin that its uphold Christian values in its scapegoating of Muslims living in Britain.

Read about it here

Archbishop of Wales' Christmas challenge

2009-12-22T22:13:00.000-08:00

Archbishop Barry Morgan's Christmas message challenges modern 'fundamentalisms' and attempts to diffuse or displace the Christian character and content of the festive season.

Read about it here

Earlier in December British Member of Parliament Mark Pritchard, also spoke out about what he calls 'Christianophobia', raising debate about the Christian character of the foundations of British society.

Read about this here

Spiritual Capital - Lambeth style

2009-11-17T02:56:00.000-08:00

The Archbishop of Canterbury hosts an interfaith gathering at Lambeth Palace, to launch 'Inter-faith Week', an initiative of the Interfaith trust aiming to highlight the contributions made by faith communities to benefit society as a whole.

A statement of common commitment was signed by religious leaders present to continue building good inter religious relations and to contribute to the common good from different religious perspectives. This builds on the precedent of the Millennium Act of Commitment, a shared act of reflection and commitment by the Faith Communities of the United Kingdom, in the year 2000.

Read about the event and see the statement here

BBC convenes faith forum on climate change

2009-11-11T15:04:00.000-08:00

In the run up to the Copenhagen Climate Change summit in December, BBC Wales is running a series of broadcasts on the environment - calling it their 'Green Season'. One of these features a live audience edition of the popular panel discussion series 'All things Considered', hosted by the Revd Roy Jenkins.

The broadcast, was recorded on November 3rd before an invited audience. It presented, Hindu Jewish, Muslim and Christian experts offering from the faith perspective views on climate change and related issues. It went out on 8th November, and can be accessed here

Vatican opens doors to dissidents

2009-10-24T16:00:00.000-07:00

This week the Pope has announced a scheme whereby Anglicans disaffected by the changes in their church may be received into communion with Rome and retain some aspects of their old identity and liturgical life. This is intended as a pastoral response to a situation in which may of conservative catholic persuasion within Anglicanism feel they are no longer at home in their own place. The details are far from clear, and the announcement has been made in a way that suggests that British Catholics and Anglicans were taken by suprise. Their commitment to ecumenical dialogue witness and action in the face of this news was re-affirmed.

Whilst this news has little bearing upon the participation of faith communities in the life of civil society, it does convey the impression that Christians have difficulties in relationships that could weaken the credibility of their common witness, especially as a key issue facing and dividing churches is the role of women in the ministerial leadership of the church - a matter which many in civil leadership find deeply distrubing in this egalitarian age.

Street Carers' pilot training evening

2009-10-06T22:10:00.000-07:00

In the year since the first conversations of Cardiff's street care volunteers, a nine strong group of representatives of the 200+ in volunteer teams has begun to meet bi monthly, and has organised a pilot training evening, which took place tonight.

Seventy people took part. The representative group hopes all volunteers, both well established and newcomers, will eventually undergo this shared induction and registration programme, aimed to equip them to serve better the city's homeless people, and bring them recognition as partners with social services in meeting the needs of all who suffer.

Street Care volunteer groups are drawn for the most part from church groups in the city and even neighbouring boroughs. They are organised in an all year round seven day a week rota called the 'Paradise Run' that has been developed by Cardiff's unique 'Rainbow of Hope' homeless charity over the past decade.

Pope to visit UK

2009-09-24T07:01:00.000-07:00

The first Papal visit since 1982 has been announced

Read an early BBC report here

Faith Groups and Climate Change in Cardiff

2009-09-22T22:02:00.000-07:00

A conference today at City Hall organised by Christian Aid, with City Churches Together and support from the United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, looked at the likley impact of climate change on life in Wales in General and Cardiff in particular. It also brought to a pitifully small assembly of thirty people present, witnesses to the impact of climate change from rising waters in Bangladesh and drought in northern Kenya.

An outline of Cardiff City's developing carbon lite strategy was presented, and questions raised about the social and economic impact that could be expected in the long run, when sustainability of faith community buildings, due to rising energy costs and carbon footprint restrictions begin to bite hard.

An evening session heard an environmental scientist's concern about unforeseen consequences for the biosphere of climate changes, and continued earlier reflection and discussion on what it would take to motive faith communities to address these issues more seriously. A strong lead is being given by many in civil society today, few are religious leaders, or else their voices are no longer taken seriously. Are faith communities any longer in a position to offer a lead on matters of this gravity, considered perhaps to be beyond its competence? Is this an era in which faith groups need to learn the humility to follow where others lead?

A report on this conference is to be found on the Cardiff Climate Concern website

Diversity Education

2009-05-12T21:25:00.000-07:00

A Europe wide social initiative has finally come to Cardiff. It's an EC funded training worshop under the Religious Diversity & Anti-Discrimination Training Programme. The Brussles based supporting network (CEJI) also runs trainings on Islamophobia and Anti-Semitism. These are aimed at people in secular public service organisations, and government agencies who may a limited knowledge of religious beliefs other than their own, or who may have excluded religion from their own personal conviction. The objective is to enable people to understand and respect each others convictions, especially as these may relate to issues to be dealt with at work, or in relation to public issues of current concern. The two day workshops seek to enable participants to start looking beyond their preconceptions and stereotypes regarding the beliefs of others.

In the eighties, tackling the endemic problems of institutional racism was the challenge in public life that had to be met with educational initiatives under the banner of 'racism awareness training'. Since then, development of greater awareness of gender inequality, the rights of people with disabilities and sexual orientation, has also led to consideration of how all people who are being discriminated against may be included socially. In most recent years this has led to the legislation of the 'Single Equalities Act' with a view to ensure the right treatment of all who have either been overlooked, persecuted or discriminated against. In this contect the need to develop awareneness of discrimination and how it can be countered through education has grown.

In a society marked by greater than ever religious diversity as a result of migration, and also grown seuclarity and widespread ignorance about religion and what it really represents for members of faith communities, education for diversity now embraces appreciating the wealth of different religious groups as well.

The first workshop has now taken place with eighteen participants at the Jasmine Centre in Ely. Two more are planned for November, and more next year.

Welsh AM changes role - becomes humanist celebrant

2009-02-15T21:56:00.000-08:00

Welsh Assembly member Lorraine Barrett will not be seeking re-election but is to take on a new role as a Humanist celebrant and will officiate at wedding and funeral ceremonies.

Read about it here

Soup run convention

2008-10-08T22:58:00.000-07:00

Following some preliminary discussions with members of the Council's Housing and Neighbourhood Renewal programme, and City Centre Outreach team, concerning the work done by volunteers in caring for homeless people on the city's streets, a meeting of two dozen volunteers (hereafter to be called Street Carers) was held tonight at City United Reformed Church in Windsor Place, to share ideas about the work and see if there was any common ground on which to establish a common training, mutual support and a measure of public recognition that would make possible an effective partnership with the local authority's social services, for the benefit of people on the streets.

A new blog has been created to record further development as it happens. Cardiff Street Care Chronicle

Sikh right to display religious identity upheld

2008-07-29T11:03:00.000-07:00

The High Court has ruled that Sikh pupil Sarika Singh was discriminated against by being excluded from Aberdare Girls' Grammar School for wearing the kara - a bangle which is one of the five distinctive signs of Sikh identity.

The school governors will need to examine their position very carefully, in the light of such a judgement against their action. Perhaps if they had read more carefully the school's own statement of principles, with its encouragement of respect for individuals regardless of background, they would have thought twice about their action. Or, is it possible that they were simply ignorant of the significance of the five 'k' s to the Sikh faithful?

Spiritual Capital Cardiff Conference

2008-07-16T20:00:00.000-07:00

This afternoon the Spiritual Capital Cardiff research project report was launched at a conference in the Future inn Hotel Cardiff Bay, before a multi-faith audience.

It was due to gather in County Hall but the venue had to be changed at short notice because of industrial action. Deputy Leader Judith Woodman and Policy advisor Paul Orders were among the speakers.

The conference report illustrates the great variety of ways in which faith communities contribute to the social capital and well being of city life, and called for the establishment of a worker whose role would enable a much fuller partnership to be developed between voluntary faith community organisations and the work of the city council.

A full account of the work of the project, its report and the conference can be found at the Spiritual Capital Cardiff website.

Common Word follow through

2008-07-14T14:13:00.000-07:00

The Archbishop of Canterbury has today issued a very positive and detailed response to the 'Common Word' document issued recently by Muslim scholars, affirming the initiative and the grounds on which further dialogue should be pursued. A .pdf for the document is available for download with the title 'A Common Word for the Common Good'

With the Lambeth Conference due to start on Wednesday faced with contention, strife and the beginnings of schism on the part of the more conservative Anglicans of the world, this document shows how profoundly and patiently +Rowan is committed to reconcilaition through dialogue on every religious and spiritual direction. Which is more than can be said for his detractors.

Welsh Archbishop takes a stand

2008-07-13T22:28:00.000-07:00

Archbishop Barry Morgan declares that should a Welsh Electoral College knowing choose as the most suitable episcopal suitable candidate a gay person living in a committed partnership, he would have no problem about consecrating them. Read about it on the BBC news website and at Wales on-line

Apart from stating that he personally has no moral qualms about this, he is more importantly indicating that he would not use his 'apostolic' office to over-ride an electoral decision which was made with full knowledge and legality. Servant episcopate in place of the monarchical despotic kind with which the church is more familiar.

Groundbreaking Christian Muslim dialogue

2008-06-04T15:54:00.000-07:00

The Archbishop of Canterbury has brought together an international and ecumenical group of Christian theologians to discuss ways in which engagement in dialogue between Christians and Muslims might be strengthend. Read about it here

This is response to an historic open letter issued last year by the most comprehensive international group of Muslim Theologians ever to have deliberated together inviting dialogue with Christians on the subject of the great twofold love commandments. This was a follow up to a letter written to Pope Benedict after he had made some contentious remarks in a lecutre about Christinity and Islam a year ago.

A Jordanian website : www.acommonword.com gives an account of the work of the Muslim theologians, and a list of contributors.

Blair Faith Foundation Launched

2008-05-30T18:08:00.000-07:00

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair is launching his own Faith Foundation whose goals are :-

to promote respect and understanding between the major religions;

to make the case for faith as a force for good; and

to encourage inter-faith initiatives to tackle global poverty and conflict

Now that he is free of political office he is openly commiting himself to advocacy on behalf of Christianity's role in the public realm.

Information about this can be found on Blair's office website

Organised religion still needed in society

2008-04-21T13:06:00.000-07:00

Archbishop Rowan follows Tony Blair into the pulpit of Westminster Cathedral in the series "Faith and Life in Britain", to argue that society still needs organised religion to embody the Spiritual Capital which faith practice generates. A summary is to be found here and the full transcript here

Anglicans fight shy of woman bishops

2008-04-03T23:09:00.000-07:00

The Governing Body of the Church in Wales fails to agree the ordination of women as Bishops, failing to find a way to accommodate those who find this impossible to accept.

The BBC's report is here

Blair on faith in action

2008-04-03T23:03:00.000-07:00

Tony Blair talks about religion and politics in an address at Westminster Cathedral tonight.

Reported by the BBC here

Cardiff Legal Interfaith Network

2008-03-31T05:24:00.000-07:00

In November 2007 Cardiff University's Law School Centre for Law and Religion launched a new initiative - a Legal Inter Faith network

"Developed in response to the large number of recent high profile court cases involving religious symbolism, and the considerable challenges for faith groups by an increase in State law on religion, the Network invited advisers to the Jewish, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, Roman Catholic, Methodist, Orthodox, United Reformed Church, Church of England, Church of Scotland, Church in Wales, Quaker, Mormon and the Order of St Lazarus faiths."

Archbishop's Easter stab at usury

2008-03-22T17:01:00.000-07:00

The Archbishop of Wales denounces the immorality of lending money to those least able to pay it back.

Mixed message on resurrection

Read about it here

Archbishop of Cardiff joins embryo policy row

2008-03-22T10:08:00.001-07:00

Archbishop Peter Smith has added his voice of concern, calling for a free vote on stem cell research policy. Likewise Archbishop Vincent Nicholls of Birmingham.

Read about it here

Scottish Cardinal attacks embryo research policy

2008-03-21T18:15:00.000-07:00

Cardinal Keith O'Brien will use his Easter Sunday sermon to launch an attack on the government's stem cell research proposals. He will also call on Gordon Brown to allow Labour MPs a free vote on the issue at Westminster.

Read about it here

The value of faith schools

2008-03-19T14:26:00.000-07:00

Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks in a BBC radio 3 interview with Joan Bakewell recently stated

"Faith schools are giving kids what they are missing in the wider secular culture. The importance of responsibility as well as rights, the sanctity of marriage, the idea that sex is not to be undertaken without love, love is not to be undertaken without commitment, parenthood is not to be undertaken without responsibility. All these things which we found in the culture in which I was growing up all around us which have today disappeared from the public square. It's faith schools, of whatever faith that are putting them back. Without these values we shall implode as a society."

He attended Anglican schools at primary and secondary level, and is grateful for what he received.

"Church schools gave me an extraordinary lesson in life ... those teachers could understand the importance of faith in life."

In defence of different schools for diffferent religions he said that he advocated :

"... separate schools that teach us our heritage as a way of getting us to be responsible citizens, in a country in which we reach out a hand of friendship to people of all faiths, in fact, as I define Judaism, it's to be true to our faith and be a blessing to others, regardless of their faith."

Wales benefits £102m from faith community action

2008-03-12T10:00:00.000-07:00

Two years worth of research, carried out by Christian group Gweini, and the Wales Council for Voluntary Action, highlights the contribution of faith groups to Welsh society. Yesterday Gweini published its report called “Faith in Wales: Counting for Communities". It's the first of its kind in Wales – all Wales' faith community groups between them contribute £102 million to the economy through their voluntary activities. The figure is calculated by looking at accommodation provided in faith community buildings, faith tourism, voluntary work and paid work.

Read the Western Mail story here

Sarika Singh back at school - elsewhere

2008-03-02T14:54:00.000-08:00

The Sikh teenager excluded from Aberdare Girls Grammar School for wearing the Kara, reported previously is attending Mountain Ash Comprehensive pro tem until her case is reviewed by the High Court. The Western Mail update is here

Alcohol concerns - again

2008-02-22T20:28:00.000-08:00

Increasing concern is being expressed about the health impact of binge drinking, especially for younger abusers in the long term. In a week when Tesco has declared its willingness to co-operate with other big retailers on cheap booze special offers, another local licensing issue emerges with a letter from the chair of the Welsh Council on Alcohol and Other Drugs to the City Council Licensing committee over a new licensing application for a retailer called 'Bargain Booze' in Canton.

You can read the letter here

and remind yourself of the last time a church based objection to the proliferation of alcohol retailing in the city centre was voiced publicly

Archbishop's remarks a litmus test

2008-02-09T16:04:00.000-08:00

The 'Thinking Anglicans' blog is an encyclopaedia of news reports on the media induced controversy surrounding a serious attempt by the Archbishop of Canterbury to contribute to current discussions on social inclusion.

The whole affairs is an astonishing exposure of media over-reaction, deep seated racism, and reveals the disturbing inability of people in the so-called communication industry to follow, report or sustain an argument of more than one sentence. But bullying our spiritual leader is more their style. No matter how much more carefully everyone thinks he should have expressed his views, he has pointed to important issues in need of discussion.

Even more astonishing is the egotism of elected members of the English General Synod, calling for his resignation. How they square that with the idea/belief that the church has consecrated him to lead in the footsteps of the apostles as a Bishop defies imagination.

After the death of Benazir Bhutto, how a leading Times religious columnist, Ruth Gledhill can say with certainty that leadership and martyrdom are incompatible, and not be laughed out of a job shows how gullible and powerless the public is before media maifioso might.

Such a hostile climate in which to be part of the church, and seek truth.

Archbishop Rowan on just Wales

2008-02-04T02:36:00.001-08:00

The Archbishop of Canterbury, interviewed on returning to celebrated the restoration of Brecon Cathedral calls for the creation of a just society in his native Wales founded on values of co-operation. He expresses concern about a housing economy which makes it extremely difficult for young adults to acquire their own home. He also has some interesting things to say about the establishment of the Church of England.

Read about it here

Latest churchgoing statistics

2008-02-01T12:57:00.000-08:00

Decline has not been arrested across the U.K., but the picture is patchy, with some areas reporting growth, against the trend, according to the latest Anglican report.

The Church Times carries a an article on this.

Archbishop of Canterbury on booze and embryology

2008-01-30T18:13:00.000-08:00

The Archbishop of Canterbury expresses concern about the social impact 24 hour drinking laws. He also questions implications of current embryo research.

Read about it here

Armenian genocide denied forcibly

2008-01-28T03:33:00.000-08:00

The first memorial in Britain to the 1915 Armenian genocide in Turkey was vandalised the night before it was due to be dedicated. A sign that the long standing dispute over the interpretation of historical events is far from ended, and knows no boundaries.

Read about it here

Analysis of decline

2008-01-18T15:29:00.000-08:00

Decline in the number of Roman Catholics born and baptised into the faith in England and Wales is reported in the first statistical analysis of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales to use financial data publicly available through the Charity Commission.

Data taken from 1958 to 2005 published by the independent Pastoral Research Centre Trust is at variance with recent reports that Roman Catholic numbers were surging ahead, largely because of immigration from Roman Catholic areas of Europe, and are now comparable to the number of practicing Anglicans.

The Church Times report can be read here

Senedd bangle protest

2008-01-15T16:01:00.000-08:00

The protests against the exclusion of Sarkia Singh from school were taken to the Senedd today.

The BBC report is here

Exclusion challenged legally

2008-01-04T15:49:00.000-08:00

The continued exclusion of Sarika Singh, from Aberdare Girls Grammar School, reported here on 6th November last has now been challenged legally in the High Court. Protest continues.

Read about it here

Archbishop of Wales on future of Welsh devolution

2008-01-02T09:22:00.000-08:00

THE Archbishop of Wales has demanded the findings of the 2004 Richard Commission be used as a “benchmark for what devolution for Wales should look like”.

Dr Barry Morgan has pledged that Tomorrow’s Wales – the organisation he founded to promote the Commission’s vision of a law-making body with 80 members elected by STV – will play an active role in the next chapter of devolution.

Read about it here

For 2008 - Building Spiritual Capital

2007-12-31T09:52:00.000-08:00

To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.

This is advice that organisations should consider in 2008 in building connections and looking selflessly outward and not inward at its structures . Church organisations will then have the confidence of the people and be connected.

Who is going to be at church this Christmas?

2007-12-24T09:30:00.000-08:00

The Times on-line declares that Anglican church attendance numbers are stable, meaning that the decline appears to have halted. Read about it here

Roman Catholic attendances are on a par with Anglican attendances now, and slightly ahead for the first time. This is attributed to the influx of immigrants from Catholic countries. The true extent of the decline in indigenous Catholic numbers is thereby masked.

Even so, only five per cent of the total population are now regular church attenders.

Church reminder to government

2007-12-17T21:31:00.000-08:00

The Church in Wales Bench of Bishops offers its social expertise as a resource to the Welsh Assembly government for furthering the development of a just and equal society in the Principality. See their press release here

Is this a gentlemanly way of reminding our elected representatives that to ignore what religious communities contribute to the common good is a way of sabotaging your own good intentions?

Jewish comment on the festive season

2007-12-08T10:00:00.000-08:00

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Two valuable contributions to debate between religion and secularism for the feast of Hannukah

Jewish writer Zaki Cooper in the Guardian's Face to Faith column

http://www.guardian.co.uk/religion/Story/0,,2224352,00.html

And another from Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks on Friday's 'Thought for the Day'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/programmes/thought/documents/t20071207.shtml

Here are two people belonging to a minority faith group, who not only respect the faiths of others but appreciate celebrations of faith other than their own in the public realm. Even the diluted consumer version of religious tradition, they argue, in its way supports binding family and social values.

Christianophobia?

2007-12-04T10:59:00.000-08:00

A member of Parliament attempts to raise debate about the secularising tendencies of the main political parties which in the interests of so-called neutrality towards the contribution of religion to public life and social education are contributing to the marginalisation of Britain's heritage of Christian culture and values. Read about it here on the BBC news website.

Triumph of moderation

2007-12-04T09:08:00.000-08:00

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The one noteworthy good thing about the prosecution and imprisonment of Gillian Gibbons in the Mohammed Teddy affair has been the widespread criticism of the unreasonableness of this move by the Sudanese judiciary by British Muslims.

Sending two Muslim peers as diplomatic envoys was a confident master stroke by Her Majesty's government. Her early release, despite attempts by Sudanese extremists to escalate the matter further, is a triumph for reason, good will, moderation and moral argument, delivered by two representatives of a faith community who happen also to be recognised for their public service, as peers of the realm.

It sends a serious message to those in the world abusing Islam as a cover for their political power games. See the BBC's Khartoum correspondent's report here

It also sends an equally strong message to the Islamophobes of British society, about trust and respect for people whose faith practice upholds the values which most people want to uphold and defend.

Protest noted

2007-11-27T23:01:00.000-08:00

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The 'night time economy' of Cardiff attracts media attention from time to time, although far less since Cardiff police got the measure of the public order problems, in a way that made their operations exemplary for other forces tackling similar issues. Binge drinking culture everywhere in Britain is now starting to attract media reports from medical specialists and others concerned about alcohol related illnesses caused by excess consumption. It's less frequent that ministers of religion critical of current morés get reported. Clerical objection to a new licensing application to sell alcohol in a convenience store on Cardiff's main thoroughfare, just outside the zone recently declared by City licensing policy as meriting a moratorium on further liquor licenses did however find modest cover in the 'South Wales Echo' this week.

What the article does not mention is the lack of consultation by the licensing policy drafting group with any faith groups or groups with alcohol related health concerns in shaping proposals. Anything up to one in ten of Cardiff citizens who might have something critical to say about the current state of affairs, impacting so seriously on the quality of life in the city were thereby excluded. Can this state of affairs continue when the new Equalities Act is implemented?

Faith and social cohesion

2007-11-15T14:49:00.000-08:00

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Opinion makers and politicians voice concern over the fragmentation of society, family breakdown increase in knife and gun crime, binge culture and the alienation of individuals leading to violent extremist acts. The Government believes that Faith Communities have an important role to play in propagating values that make for social cohesion. Through the agency of the C.D.F. it has shown itself willing to fund projects like this one, and more. Now a most important regulatory body, the Charity Commission has launched a dedicated unit to offer support to faith based communities.

Religious identity - right or threat?

2007-11-06T22:57:00.000-08:00

A 14-year-old girl has been excluded from Aberdare Girls Grammar School for wearing a Sikh bangle, or Kara. Sarika Singh refuses to remove her Kara, as it is a religious symbol, one of the five 'K's which identify devout Sikhs.

Sarika said of wearing the bangle : " It's very important to me. It constantly reminds me to do good and not to do bad, especially with my hands."

In the light of the governors' decision to exclude her, it is interesting to consider the school's prospectus statement of ethos and values.

Three select items from that statement ....

The basis of all our dealings with each pupil is that the pupil will receive care and respect.
The education our pupils receive will encourage the tolerance of other races, religions and ways of life.

The school rightly demands much of its students

We, as a school, are committed to setting and expecting the highest standards in all aspects of school life.

What place apart from 'tolerance' is accorded by the secular education system to standards and values upheld by those for whom a religious identity is the key priority in life?

How has exemplary 'tolerance' here lead to a pupil being excluded?

Shades of battles elsewhere over the hijab, and a chastity ring.

Read the full report here

Moral relativism - a timely critique

2007-10-31T22:36:00.000-07:00

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In a recent BBC Thought for the Day broadcast, Dr Alan Billings reflected upon the theme of Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks' new book 'To heal a fractured world' in which he states his belief that Britain is ceasing to be a cohesive society because it no longer has a shared moral code at its foundation. As so many people no longer believe in the possibility of achieving moral consensus, all that remains is personal opinion. In characteristically pithy fashion, Sachs declares that morality has been reduced to taste.

Billings finds plenty of evidence from his experience of adolescents that for many of them this may seem to be the case, although he overlooks the importance to many young 'relativists' of sticking to the 'rules of the game' where sport is concerned. He argues that things change once the age of parenthood is reached. Values start to matter more when you have responsibility for rearing a child, and need to think about bringing it up in the right way. In practice, at every level, morality concerns that which enables us to flourish, as opposed to that which harms us. Society coheres and thrives around values that enable people to flourish. This is true regardless of anyone's faith or culture.

Dr Billings's Thought for the Day can be read here

Chief Rabbi promotes value of churchgoing

2007-10-31T16:34:00.000-07:00

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From a radio interview given shortly after 9/11

Until 1996 in Britain, shops were shut on Sunday. And a great many Brits .... went to church. Now when Sunday was deregulated, a great many Brits go out but where do they go?
They go to the local supermarket or shopping centre.
What is the difference between a supermarket and a church?
Well I hope there is a difference, but the difference is this -
In a supermarket you are there for what you can buy, what you can afford, what you earn.
In a church you are valued, absolutely regardless of what you can afford or what your status is in society.
You are there as a community of people embracing all types and all social classes.
Secondly, you have no real contact with anyone else in the supermarket; you just pass by in the aisles.
There may be the same number of people in the supermarket as were once in the church but there's nothing that binds them to one another.
Whereas in the church you're consciously part of a community of shared values.
So I'm afraid what we have put in the place of religion, namely the market, is catastrophically unable to create what religious and other communities once did create.

Spiritual side of Wales’ capital - Western Mail article

2007-10-27T05:11:00.000-07:00

Read here in full the item on the icWales' Western Mail website

Spiritual side of Wales’ capital by Martin Shipton, Western Mail, Oct 27th, 2007

A MAJOR research project is being undertaken to demonstrate Cardiff’s status as a “spiritual capital”.
Priests, academics and religious activists have joined together to fight back against the image of the city as simply somewhere to shop and get drunk.
The project involves compiling a directory of all the religious organisations in Cardiff, including details of the good works they do.
Conceived by Rev Keith Kimber, Vicar of St John the Baptist church in Cardiff city centre, Spiritual Capital will produce a directory, a report and a conference.

Figures and food for thought about Cardiff

2007-10-19T14:34:00.000-07:00

The data here is taken from the recently published Cardiff Local Development Plan, which outlines the way the city can evolve in the next decade or so in the light of current trends.

2.17 Cardiff is the most populated local authority in Wales, with 317,500 people living in the county in 200613 - over 10% of the total population of Wales. Some 1.4 million people live within 45 minutes drive time of the city.

The very concentration of people in the south-east of Wales, within and not too far from the city makes for powerful economic growth potential. Cardiff planners are already talking about the 'city-region'. How do neighbouring local government areas perceive this? Are we on the way towards becoming a Metropolitan area, like Manchester or Birmingham, managed as one big super-authority, like London? The larger the population area, the greater its diversity, but is local government genuinely able to manage diversity as well as it (legally speaking) should?

2.18 Since 1981 the population of Cardiff has been steadily increasing at about 0.4% per annum. Birth and death rates have remained relatively stable over this period but migration has fluctuated considerably, with an overall trend of net in-migration of 300 persons per annum. More recently, between 2001 and 2006, Cardiff's population has increased by 1,500 per annum with net in-migration of around 600 persons per annum.

Net in-migration is certainly contributing towards greater diversity, with the arrival of Eastern European workers in their thousands over the past three years.

2.19 Compared with Wales and the UK, Cardiff has a higher percentage of population in age groups 15-39 years but a lower percentage in age groups from 40 upwards. The impact of the student population is particularly significant. According to the 2001 Census, the growing student population comprised around 11% of the city's total population.
2.20 Ethnic minorities comprise 8.4% of Cardiff's population, broadly similar to the average for England and Wales.

Cardiff is an averagely 'young city'. A high proportion of its migrant workers are young, and come from places where religion is practised and is still a feature of public life. Whilst the same may also be true of many foreign students in Higher Education here, by way of contrast, the majority of students of British origin (possibly four out of five of them), will have been raised in a secularised social environment, and have little knowledge or experience of what it is to be part of a faith community or follow traditional religious practices. What will be the impact of the 'religious' minority upon the secular majority - and vice versa?

2.21 128,400 households resided in Cardiff in 2003 – representing 22% of all households in South East Wales. Average household size continues to fall in line with the national trend; in Cardiff it fell from 2.54 in 1991 to 2.37 in 2004.
2.22 The number of households in South East Wales is projected to increase by 108,900 (18.6%) between 2003 and 2021, reflecting the net effect of births, deaths, migration and the continuing trend towards smaller households.

The fall in average household occupancy is due to the growing number of people living alone, older people as well as young single professionals. With increased prosperity, demand for homes in Cardiff continues to rise, and the demand for consumer goods to equip them. This contributes to the above average 'carbon footprint' of the city, three times bigger than it should be for the population size. Whatever measures succeed in building carbon neutral dwellings for the years to come, only a radical change in lifestyles with increased sharing of energy consuming resources will produce the kind of reduction of carbon footprint to a just and sustainable level.

Who will challenge future citizens to share resources and live responsibly in relationship to the environment, when the social emphasis dwells so much on satisfying individual needs in ways that are hard to justify morally?

Faith communities of all kinds seek to generate and build on a sense of community and values that concern sharing and mutual support. Recognition of this social contribution is, or should be an important consideration in any sustainable long term development plan.

Archbishop of Canterbury | Sermons and Speeches

2007-10-14T00:18:00.000-07:00

Archbishop of Canterbury Sermons and Speeches

Faith Communities in a Civil Society – Christian Perspectives
King's College, Cambridge

On September 11th, 1906, Mohandas Gandhi addressed a meeting of some 3,000 people in the Empire Theatre in Johannesburg to protest against the introduction of registration and fingerprinting for all Indians in South Africa – part of the first wave in the terrible history of legal racism in South Africa which ended at last in the final decade of the last century. It was a Muslim in the audience, Haji Habib, who first proposed that the decision for non-violent resistance to the legislation should be taken ‘in the name of God’. Gandhi stressed the great solemnity of such a form of words, but the meeting rose to affirm this as their will. The satyagraha movement was born, the movement of ‘soul force’ whose central principle was that our behaviour must witness to truth whatever the cost – and that this witness to truth can never, of its very nature, involve violence or a response to oppression that simply mirrors what has been done by the oppressor. In Gandhi’s vision, Christ’s prohibition against retaliation came together with his own Hindu heritage to inspire a lifetime of absolutely consistent labour on behalf of this ‘soul power’; and on that day in Johannesburg, as at many other points in his life, Gandhi was wholeheartedly supported by his Muslim allies.

Tibetan Lama speaks in Cardiff church

2007-10-12T13:23:00.000-07:00

Always the marked man - no concealing his vocation

Lama Yeshe Losal Rinpoche, the Abbot of Samye Ling Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Scotland spoke this evening in Cardiff's city Parish Church of St John the Baptist to a quiet and thoughtful audience of over fifty people about the essence of Buddhist spiritual life.

Yesterday he spoke to three hundred young people in a session at Atlantic College. He told us how eager they were to ask questions, so many searching for a way to live and seeking how to find inner peace. His mainly adult audience tonight had fewer questions to ask. Most were practising Buddhists although half a dozen church members were also present. By comparison to his hungry young audience, this was like preaching to the choir, as they saying goes.

It was the first time in living memory that an invitation had been extended to a non-Christian spiritual teacher to speak in church. A witness to openness to other faiths and also of solidary between people of faith, all confronting the problem of the damage being done by unfettered materialism to people in today's world.

The number of adherents to the practice of Buddhism in different forms is increasing in Britain, particularly amongst those who have tried other kinds of religion and found them wanting. It's not that the external rituals are such a great attraction. It's rather that the determined focus on the inner life, opening the heart and mind to joy, seeking peace and harmony, with the simple practice of meditation and mindful compassionate living at the core of one's existence, speaks directly to the emptiness and hunger of our age.

Take off ‘dog collar’ to avoid attack, vicars advised

2007-10-08T06:19:00.000-07:00

icWales - Take off ‘dog collar’ to avoid attack, vicars advised

Take off ‘dog collar’ to avoid attack, vicars advised
Oct 8 2007
by David James, South Wales Echo
Cardiff

THE murder of a South Wales vicar has helped spark a warning to priests not to wear “dog collars” outside of work.
A national group for clergymen has advised that priests should make themselves less obvious targets by removing “dog collars” where possible.
The warning follows several attacks on religious figures, including the stabbing of Father Paul Bennett, 59, in the grounds of his vicarage at St Fagans Church, Trecynon, near Aberdare, in March.
Father Paul is one of five British vicars who have been murdered in the past decade.

Comment:
Society should be looking at itself very seriously if clergy cannot go about their daily lives. This is a slippery slope. So if you cover yourself up, you will be OK. Tell that to the monks in Burma whose bravery we admire and without such spirituality Burma's intolerable regime who not have received so much attention in the World.

The Bible on your mobile

2007-10-08T04:00:00.000-07:00

icWales - The Bible on your mobile

The Bible on your mobile

The word of God has entered the digital age with a new service allowing Christians to download the Bible directly to their mobile phones.
A company has launched a religious line of products for mobiles, giving users the chance to express their faith through their phone’s wallpaper and ringtones.
The service, Ecumen, can deliver daily prayers and the whole Bible can be downloaded to a mobile for just £6, marketed with the phrase: "The only Bible you can read in the dark."
Erik Fok, head of sales and marketing at Teimlo, the Monmouthshire company in charge of Ecumen, said he believed young people would appreciate the service.
Mr Fok, a committed Christian, said: "The market for Christian content on mobile phones hasn’t been well-served."

The power of remembrance

2007-10-04T14:25:00.000-07:00

Alexandra Gardens in Cathays Park, adjacent to the Welsh Assembly Government building houses Wales' national memorials to the dead of two World Wars. The national Falklands War memorial was also placed here recently, on the 25th anniversary of the re-capture of the Islands. In effect, the Capital City acts as custodian of these cenotaphs, and serves as host to the official ceremonies and acts of worship that take place here on several occasions every year.

War memorials commemorate people of all faiths and none at all. The six civilian laundrymen killed whilst serving on Her Majesty's Ships in the Falklands are listed simply as 'Chinese'. There'd be a one in a thousand chance that any of them were Christian. The lone Gurkha killed in the conflict would have been of Hindu religion. The Gurkha regiment has a Hindu chaplain. Jewish and Muslim military, hospital and prison chaplains are also appointed in recognition of the various faiths of people represented therein.

There is no established religion in Wales or Ireland, as there is in England or Scotland, but in all the nations of the British Isles, despite the dominance of Christian history and tradition, or maybe because of it, tolerance and even-handedness in respect of people's religious identity by those in Crown or public service grew during the twentieth century, starting with protestant - catholic relations, then extending towards people of other faiths, once these had established themselves in numbers. This was happening long before the emergence of today's somewhat different secularist tendency, striving for neutrality in respect of religion, finding the 'different' needs of religious groups as a problem.

The military has long recognised that serving the spiritual needs of their personnel is a vital component of both welfare and morale. There can be no doubt that the experience of wars involving large numbers of citizens in the twentieth century has played a part in retaining religious ritual in civic ceremonies, ritual in which it is possible for people of all declared faiths and none at all to make common cause in acts of public remembrance. Even our good First Minister, an agnostic who regards religion as 'a private affair', can stand alongside believers, wavering or convinced, to recognise and value those whose lives were sacrificed for the common good.

This will to persist in this cultural tradition represents an aspect of Spiritual Capital that remains at the heart of modern secular society, outside the domains of our varied religious communities as much, if not more than it remains within them.

Grave matters

2007-10-03T11:04:00.000-07:00

One major area of activity by the City Council touches upon people of all faiths and none at all - is bereavement services. Large areas of land, around Cardiff either owned, or managed by the Council on behalf of churches, are maintained in good order and kept open for burial of bodies or cremated remains, and visits by the bereaved.

Seven cemeteries are in use, plus Thornhill crematorium. This has two chapels and there are several other churches and cemetery chapels available for funeral ceremonies. Chinese, Muslim, Jewish and Greek Orthodox burial sections are available to members of those communities wishing to be buried together.

Everyone has the right to arrange funeral ceremonies according to their own wishes, or to have no ceremony at all. The City will make funeral arrangements on behalf of those who are destitute and without next of kin.

It is also possible to be buried on private land, although permission has to be obtained that involves consulting the City Planning Department, the Environment Agency and making an application to the Home Office.

On a darker note, the City’s action plan for managing a major emergency or disaster, such as would be implemented during a pandemic or an outbreak of war, caters not only for sick and injured, but also care of the bereaved, temporary storage of and disposal of the dead – a potentially difficult and complex operation. The best possible handling of a major crisis is vital for maintaining social cohesion and recovery.

Considering the thousands of people who die and are laid to rest each year in Cardiff, issues of contention arising to public awareness are few and far between. Any kind of mistake in the handling of dead bodies is extremely rare, due to the rigour of the administrative procedures involved. Occasionally regulations concerning memorials become a matter of controversy, largely due to changes in what the public regards as acceptable leaping ahead of convention.

Vandalism of memorials rightly makes the news whenever it happens. Given the cemeteries’ large land areas and boundaries, total security is almost impossible. The sanctity of a cemetery relies on public good-will, and suffers from a climate of indifference, as it would also suffer from neglect of maintenance. Churches whose graveyards are not Council maintained tend to suffer far more from neglect, because shrinking religious communities cannot afford their upkeep.

Difficulties in securing the funding to restore a dilapidated listed Victorian cemetery chapel in Cathays cemetery, may well reflect tension between conservation ideals and practical function in a full cemetery, with limited potential for additional interments.

It was designed for use in an era when the majority of the bereaved were Christian. What purpose does it serve in an age where only a fifth of the population as a whole has some sort of need to express any kind religious belief publicly? It’s doubtful that it would be worthwhile making it a faith-neutral sanctuary (like the renovated crematorium) in these change circumstances.

Altogether this is one area of excellence in public service which relies on sensitive partnership between local government, faith communities, and private enterprise – in this case companies providing funeral services and memorials. All together are challenged by social and cultural changes in practice that render the routine duty of disposing of the dead more complex than it has ever been.

Lewis Mumford’s master work 'The History of Cities' points out that when human beings were still nomadic, they established permanent places to house the bodies of their dead, and set up memorials to them. The necropolis, the city of the dead preceded cities of the living. But what is the role of the necropolis in this time of unprecedented mobility and the rise of the megalopolis? We are already seeing memorials to the dead speading far and wide in the form of roadside shrines, park benches, stone cairns on mountainsides. There are even memorial plaques mounted in the promenade decking of Penarth Pier, a venue also used for the unofficial disposal of cremated remains. Such changes challenge, not only religious communities, but also civil authorities charged with maintaining a social order which is acceptable to the majority of citizens.

Best practice advocacy

2007-10-01T13:34:00.000-07:00

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The Spiritual Capital-Cardiff research project exists thanks to funding from the Community Development Foundation's Faith Community Capacity Building Fund, which aims to empower religious communities of all kinds to relate better to the institutions and organisations of a secular civil society in Britain. This is the outcome of the government's social inclusion policy - getting everyone involved in shaping society and the way it runs, making use of the best of the values and skills of its citizenry.

It's most encouraging to discover that the same government impulse is at work on the other side of the institutional fence, encouraging Local Authorities, Health, Police and other public bodies to establish 'best practice' in their relationships with faith-communities. An organisation known as the Consultation Institute, based in Orpington, Kent exists to train people working in public service and provide resources for those involved in public or stakeholder consultations. The organisation is offering a regional training day in Bristol on 10th October.

It's clear there are cultural divides between the way a modern society is run, and the way traditional religious institutions and communities run, even though most of the latter have experienced modernisation in many of the ways they operate. There are differences in philosophy, values and priorities which lead to mis-communication in both directions.

Spiritual Capital research highlights and promotes the treasury of human resources that are all too easily taken for granted or overlooked and undervalued by civil society. Inevitably it uncovers weaknesses and flaws that need to be remedied. It is equally important to value strengths and encourage high aspirations. This leads to much more vigorous participation, and partnership between agencies of civil society and faith communities. Each is enabled to challenge the other from a desire to include everyone and achieve the best for everyone.

An exemplary celebration

2007-09-22T22:10:00.000-07:00

Three thousand people of all ages from many parts of Britain gathered at City Hall today to make a procession of witness from there through the streets to the Sri Swaminarayan Mandir in Merches Gardens Grangetown, in celebration of the Temple's silver jubilee.

Go to BBC News webpage report here.

If there were any politicians or civic dignatories present, they were keeping quite a low profile. Nevertheless, the procession was led by a Police Silver Band, and several uniformed police officers from senior to junior ranks, who just happen to be Hindu, on duty or off, marched with the crowd. The procession was orderly, joyful and exuberant. It included people in prams and some in in wheelchairs or using sticks. Thousands of bottles of water were consumed (and collected), but that was all.

It was an example of community cohesion and festivity entirely devoid of alcohol consumption.

If only our great sporting organisations could take this lesson from their fellow citizens!

Cardiff Hindus celebrate

2007-09-15T18:05:00.000-07:00

The domes of a Hindu Temple decorated for festivity, resplendent in sunlight. Where are we? Merches Garden, Grangetown, Cardiff's Sri Swaminarayan Temple. Which celebration? The silver jubilee of the Hindu community in South Wales having its own place of worship in this city. This building is the first to accommodate Hindu worshippers. It has undergone renovation, and adaptation, not only for worhsip, but a wide range of social activities. The exterior, and local environment is greatly enhanced with the addition of domes to the building during the two year development programme. This reaches its climax in the week of 17-24 September, with a visit from the world head of the Sri Swaminarayan religious community, his holiness Acharaya Shree Koshalendraprasadji Maharaj, and a public procession from City Hall to Merches Gardens on Saturday 23rd September.

Members of the community at work decorating the Temple
in preparation for the arrival of their honoured guest.

These celebrations are a sign of the social as well as spiritual health and vitality of a well established religious community in the capital city. All that has been achieved here is the work of hundreds of volunteers offering their time, talents and money for the welfare of a Cardiff community as diverse as India, yet as present at the heart of its local setting as any church or chapel.

On Church and State

2007-09-15T03:14:00.000-07:00

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Rowan Williams has been forthright in his advocacy of the traditional role of the Monarch in relation to the establishment of the Church of England, through an interview for the Daily Telegraph, summarised by the BBC News website, reminding the world that the future King, as Head of State inherits the historic role of Defender of the (Christian) Faith, as Head of the Church of England.

The law of the land actually does quite a good job at defending believers' and faith communities' freedoms, even if implementation is patchy and can leave something to be desired. As Head of State the Monarch has an unique representative function in sustaining the rule of law. So why do the media much such a fuss, and strive to insist these two roles are in conflict?

Follow this link for a more extended personal view.

Ritual, time and the structure of meaning

2007-09-12T10:37:00.000-07:00

Another Thought for the Day extract from Chief Rabbi Dr Jonathan Sacks, one of the great apologists for religious faith in our secular age.

"Tonight is Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. For ten days, culminating in Yom Kippur, the day of atonement, we reflect on our lives, apologising for the wrongs we've done, and seeking forgiveness from God and our fellow human beings. It's a fixed time in the Jewish calendar for trying to put things right in our lives, and it involves an immensely powerful set of rituals and prayers.

I've been fascinated by the recent spate of books casting doubt on religious faith, as if religion meant believing six impossible things before breakfast. Well, religion is a matter of holding certain beliefs, but that's not the only or even the most important thing about it. Religion is also about ritual; and ritual is about taking certain beliefs and making them real in the way we behave.

Would my life be the same without the Jewish New Year? No. I might still believe that life has a purpose, that what matters is not how much we earn but the good we do. I might still be convinced that it's important to apologise for the wrong I do and try to make amends. But those beliefs would have no fixed date in my diary and I might never get round to acting on them at all.

Religion isn't the only way of thinking about ultimate questions. There are others, philosophy for example, or science. But philosophy and science never created rituals. And when you lose ritual you lose much else besides.

When people pray, they ritualise the sense that there is someone watching over what we do, and that creates internal restraints. When we lose that, we have to invent another form of watching, closed circuit video cameras, and that's the beginning of a loss of privacy.

When we have the Sabbath, we have dedicated family time. Lose the Sabbath and a generation later families begin to fracture. Ritual structures time the way music structures sound. It turns life into a work of art, giving it shape, proportion, grace and beauty.

In English the world secular comes from seculum meaning worldly, so religion signifies something other-worldly. But the Hebrew word for secular, chol, actually means sand. And that, without ritual, is what we can sometimes become: a grain of sand blown by the shifting winds of moment and mood. Rituals help us consecrate time, weaving into our lives the things that are important, not just urgent. And with that, may I wish you shanah tovah, a good new year."

Religion & Civil Society - a timely caution

2007-09-08T20:25:00.000-07:00

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On BBC Radio 4's Thought for the day this week Indarjit Singh, editor of the Sikh Messenger spoke some wise words, reproduced here with full and very grateful acknowledgement to the Beeb for providing a platform for some of the more sensible thinkers of our time.

"Religion has come in for a bit of a hammering in the last few days. According to an opinion poll published in the Sunday Times, nearly half of the people in this country feel that religion is harmful. And Guardian journalist Polly Toynbee, the newly appointed President of the British Humanist Association, speaking on the BBC Sunday Programme, expressed anger at the influence of religion on public life.

It's all pretty strong stuff, but I believe there's reason for the unease. The track record of religion in power or authority is not very good. It's been more about preserving or extending power than working for a just and peaceful society. Unthinking allegiance to power structures rather than teachings has often led, and still leads, followers to behave like fanatical supporters of a football team, bent on vocalising their inherent superiority

The problem is that ethical teachings of religion are easy to state but extremely difficult to live by. It's much easier to believe that we are simply the best and God on our side, no matter what we do.

As for the actual teachings of religion, we put them in ornate books; and set them to beautiful music. We build and adorn beautiful places of worship and engage in rituals to please God. It's all a bit silly really. As Sikh Scriptures remind us, God the creator of infinite universes and all that exists, is hardly likely to be impressed by such shallow flattery.

The Sikh Gurus were fully aware of the danger of the religion falling into the hands of those who put power before principle, so they decreed that the Sikh faith should have no priests, no hierarchy of religious leadership and no power structure, only the abiding guidance of the Sikh scriptures.

Like some teachings of other religions, our Scriptures remind us of core values for responsible living:

*to look beyond self to the needs of others;
*to work for social justice,
*to look after the weak and vulnerable,
*to put principle before expediency
*to stand up to injustice whatever the cost.

Sadly the word 'religion' today has been debased almost beyond repair, but I'm sure if an opinion poll were to ask if such values should influence public debate as well as our individual lives, the response, even from those who say they have no time for religion, would be far more positive."

Religion important in guiding nation's morals

2007-09-07T00:58:00.000-07:00

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BBC NEWS UK Most say UK is in 'moral decline' click

More than eight in 10 people believe that Britain is in moral decline, a survey has found.
The poll, for new BBC One show The Big Questions, found only 9% disagreed that moral standards were falling.
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Of 1,000 adults asked, 62% said religion was important in guiding the nation's morals, while 29% disagreed that faith had a role to play.
And people said they were more likely to help a stranger who had collapsed than try to stop anti-social behaviour.

The world's fastest growing faiths

2007-09-04T02:49:00.000-07:00

The world's fastest growing faiths
1. Islam:Growth rate 1.84 per cent* with 1.3 billion followers worldwide
2. Baha'i faith: Growth rate 1.70 per cent with 7.7 million followers worldwide
3. Sikhism: Growth rate 1.62 per cent with 25.8 million followers worldwide
4. Jainism: Growth rate 1.57 per cent with 5.9 million followers worldwide
5. Hinduism: Growth rate 1.52 per cent with 870 million followers worldwide
6. Christianity: Growth rate 1.38 per cent with 2.2 billion followers worldwide

*rate of change of adherants to this religion between 2000-2005 as a percentage per year

Atheism is growing at a rate of 1.39 per cent and Afghanistan has the fastest growing population of Atheists.

Where are faiths growing fastest?

Faith Where is it growing fastest?
Baha'i faith Qatar
Buddhism New Zealand
Chinese Universalism Finland
Protestantism Afghanistan
Roman Catholicism Sierra Leone
Confucianism Northern Mariana Islands
Ethnoreligion Afghanistan
Hinduism United Arab Emirates
Jainism Uganda
Jewish Uganda
Islam Soloman Island (followed by Norway)
Neo Religionism United Arab Emirates
Shintoism Singapore
Sikhism United Arab Emirates
Taoism Laos
Zoaroastrian Netherlands

Figures taken from the World Christian Database

In God we doubt - from Splott to the World

2007-09-04T01:39:00.000-07:00

A NEW VIEW FROM A CARDIFF MAN AND BOY

In God we doubt -Times Online

At 15 I left school to work on a local newspaper and then, two years later, left home to work for a bigger paper in the Welsh valleys. It was then that I stopped going to church. Saturday night was pub-crawl night, which meant that Sunday morning was spent recovering. But in any case I realised that going to church was a meaningless exercise. I was bored by the ritualised responses, by priests who seemed to have nothing to say, by my own failure to be genuinely moved by any of it.
Yet I continued to pray. I prayed every single night without fail for half a century. The problem was that I had absolutely no notion of the God to whom I was supposed to be praying or, for that matter, why I was praying. Did I really think my prayers would make any difference? I doubt it. So, if I was getting nothing out of it and neither were the people I was praying for, why was I bothering? Mostly, I wanted to believe. I envied friends with an apparently solid faith their certainties and the comfort their faith appeared to bring them.
My years as a reporter and foreign correspondent took their toll. I was not much more than a boy when I watched the miners of Aberfan digging for the bodies of their children after the coal tip crushed their school. A few years later I was watching weeping mothers trying to free the bodies of their children from the ruins of houses wrecked by an earthquake in Nicaragua. In various African countries I have seen children, all hope gone from their blank and staring eyes, slowly starving to death. In divided countries all over the world I have seen the bodies of young men horribly mutilated by other young men for no other reason than that they belonged to the wrong tribe or religion.
In war zones I have listened to soldiers – ordinary people like you and me, with their own children to love and care for – justify the slaughter of other entirely innocent human beings, other children.
And over and over again I was asking myself the other Big Question, one that would not have occurred to the innocent little boy on the aerodrome: where was God?

My spiritual journey – if that’s not too high-falutin’ a notion – took me from my childish Big Questions to my ultimate failure to find any corresponding Big Answers. I have ended up – so far, at any rate – as a doubter. It’s clear that I’m far from alone.

Copyright John Humphrys extracted from In God We Doubt to be published on 6th of September 2007 - Permission obtained

Neither seen nor heard - licensing laws in the Capital

2007-08-31T10:56:00.000-07:00

Under the 2003 Licensing Act, the City government is obliged to review and revise its licensing policy, touching upon the activities of all pubs, clubs, restaurants, and other places of entertainment and shops where alcoholic drinks are bought and sold. The City Council website has made the draft policy document available for examination from for a consultation period running from 1st August to 1st October 2007, before it is adopted by the City Council.

This is not a controversial document. It is well thought out, and addresses many common concerns arising from the culture of excess and debauchery on which both day and night-time city centre economy appears to thrive today. If it has any short-comings, these may indeed come out during the consultation period, or they may not.

The deliberations that went into producing fifteen pages of the document reflect the wide range of organisations with responsibilities touching upon the safe and effective running of every aspect of entertainment, leisure and public order in the City.

However, the list of consultation partners doesn't extend to other retailers or people who habitually worship in one or other of the churches of the area affected in central Cardiff, or indeed those of different cultures who take issue with the levels of alcohol products being sold.

The views of retailers will certainly have found representation through contributions by the police and Community Safety Partnership. But it is less certain that churches' views will have been represented, any more than those of voluntary agencies dealing with problems of alcohol and drug abuse. These organisations do have an opportunity to comment on the draft policy document, but have played no part in its formation. Whether or not they could have made a constructive contribution to policy formation remains unknown, because they were not asked or, if asked, not listed. People with potentially critical perspectives cannot be presumed to be obstructive in their contribution to shaping a policy, but they do offer a perspective all too readily overlooked, and may be able to offer helpful insights on the containment of social problems arising. But only if asked.

Community rooted ecumenism - a profile

2007-08-30T09:41:00.000-07:00

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Canton Uniting Church is a Baptist/URC Ecumenical Project of about 100 members, on Cowbridge Road East. It was formed in 1995 on the site of New Trinity (URC) and rebuilt with monies from the sale of Llandaff road chapel (Baptist), sold to the Chinese Christian Church. The new church and suite was designed to express the new church’s mission statement to be open to the community by both being accessible and contributing actively to the life of the community around. This has been pursued in numerous ways, affecting some hundreds of people per week:

1. The buildings, both the church and the extensive halls at the rear, are regularly let out to community groups on a regular and one off basis. This includes Weight Watchers, choirs, keep-fit and a counselling service, from any faith and none.

2. Alcoholics Anonymous occupy exclusively a designated suite, including their emergency call line.

3. A Play Group, registered and fully equipped, has met for many years for four mornings a week.

4. A Day Centre for the elderly meets every Wednesday for lunch and recreation.

5. A shopper’s Coffee Morning most Saturdays for the passers-by.

6. Uniformed organisations, long established, Guides, Brownies, Rainbows and Boys Brigade are based here.

7. ‘United by Lights’ is an annual interfaith/cultural evening in November, in co-operation with the Gurdwara in Riverside.

8. One World Week events are put on with the Canton and Riverside Churches Together in October.

9. The Treganna Family Centre is a major initiative, made possible by a generous legacy, in partnership with Spurgeons (a UK wide children and family organisation), started in 2006. With a full-time manager, a fully qualified social worker and nursery nurse, a rapidly growing programme of courses and groups for young, often single, parents and their babies, and others, together with an advice service, which is increasingly being used by incomers to Cardiff from all over the world, is building up. This is done in collaboration with statutory and voluntary groups from Canton and also the adjoining Community One areas of Riverside, Ely and Caerau.

10. Congregational life provides care and support not only for members, but also their families and friends and many strangers at key points in life such as birth, marriage and bereavement as well as at time of crisis. There are also meetings that provide a wider range of people opportunities for social contact. The community embraces those with various disabilities.

11. Charitable donations are raised regularly, in different ways, for international and local causes which can amount to several hundreds of pounds per annum.

Organ donation religious viewpoints- case study

2007-08-24T04:25:00.000-07:00

General leaflet on religious viewpoints

Cardiff has been home to the debate on organ donation with leading organisations such as the BMA leading the way recently. The Institute of Nephrology in the UHW Heath leads on kidney research. The Kidney Wales Foundation is based in Cardiff. See http://www.kidneywales.com/

Some people in Cardiff are not sure whether their religion would prevent them from agreeing to donate their organs after their death – yet all the major religions in Cardiff support the principles of organ donation and transplantation.

It is important that people from all backgrounds donate organs, as there is a much better success rate when transplants are carried out within the same ethnic group.

Black and Asian people are three times as likely to need a kidney transplant than white people, so there is an even greater need for more black and Asian donors.

This information has been written by the NHS with the support of religious leaders of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Sikhism.

Kidney Wales in Cardiff leads on the cross cultural issues that arise from organ donation.

Processions of faith (2)

2007-08-23T01:18:00.000-07:00

In February this year, a proposal was made by Ely Churches Together to arrange a Palm Sunday afternoon Walk of Witness with an open air service in the City Centre. Other Cardiff ecumenical groups were invited to take part.

The organiser approached the Police, and an (un-named) senior officer happily granted permission for this to take place. The organiser was advised to check if the City Centre Management team had been informed by the Police that the march was taking place, since the day-to-day organisation and safe running of every kind of activity in the pedestrian area is their concern. The team takes pride in being a 'can-do' organisation. As it turned out, they had not been informed of this decision by the police. As it also turned out, the Walk organisers had also not been informed by the Police that there was a major sporting event on in the Millennium Stadium, involving some road closures and inevitably high demand on parking space within a couple of miles of the centre.

The City Centre Management team considered that despite the crowds expected for the match, there was no reason why the Walk, and open air service should not be able to take place, since a large proportion of the crowd would be in the stadium at the proposed time, and there would probably be fewer shoppers than a normal Sunday afternoon. While big sporting events attract accompanying spouses to go shopping during the match (if they are not otherwise attending it), many more people in South Wales are deterred from Sunday shopping on match days, on account of the noise, mess and crowds and inaccessibility before and after the match, so retailers (apart from fast food and souvenir merchants, also hoteliers) don't generally benefit from Big Match days. City Centre management knows its constituency!

In the event, the Walk organisers, although they had gone to the trouble of publicising it, felt obliged to cancel in the week before, aware that many older people, or parents with young children, who may want to take part, would equally be deterred by the thought of it being a Match Day, and the possibility of having to walk a long way from their parked cars. Public transport is not great on Sundays at the best of times, and gets disrupted by Stadium events. The majority of participants, living 3-4 miles out, would need transport to get within range of the city centre, or else would not have been able to manage to arrive at the rendezvous point for the Walk in good time.

Sunday sporting and leisure activities involving either the demands of large crowds or road closures in the city centre, disrupt 15-20% of regular Sunday commercial and religious activity in the heart of the city each year. There is no shortage of good-will on the ground to allow all activities to co-exist. Any and every major event involves collaboration by a wide range of organisations to ensure smooth running. However, the fact that both commerce and religion both suffer from the disruption, despite representations and protests about not being taken into consideration, suggests that consultation and 'partnership working' in the city is not as effective as it should be.

Discuss religion with young people in Cardiff

2007-08-20T17:21:00.000-07:00

Archbishop goes to the nightclub to discuss religion with young people

THE Archbishop of Wales met drinkers in a city centre bar for a debate on the pros and cons of religion.
Dr Barry Morgan led the debate, Is Religion Bad? at Dempsey’s Bar, Castle Street, Cardiff, last night at Solace, the church in a bar.

CARDIFF - MOST DIVERSE PLACE IN WALES

2007-08-20T16:49:00.000-07:00

The 2001 Census collected information about ethnicity and, for the first time, religious identity. Religious and ethnic minorities in Wales formed a larger than expected proportion of the population and Cardiff was considerably more diverse.

National Statistics Online

Nearly three quarters of the Welsh population described their religion as Christian (72 per cent). The White group contained the highest proportion of Christians (73 per cent), and majorities of Black Caribbeans and people from Mixed ethnic backgrounds also identified as Christians (70 and 51 per cent respectively). After Christianity, Islam was the next most common faith. Cardiff had the largest Muslim population (4 per cent of the local population) but in the country overall Muslims accounted for less than 1 per cent of the population (22,000 people). Most Muslims were from Asian backgrounds, including 7,000 Pakistani Muslims and 5,000 Bangladeshi Muslims, although nearly 3,000 White people also described themselves as Muslim.Among other faiths the next largest groups were Indian Hindus (over 4,000) and White Buddhists (3,000), followed by White Jews and Indian Sikhs (both about 2,000).Age structures of the different religious groups reflected their ethnic composition and the secular trend among the White population. Between 5 and 6 per cent of Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs were pensioners, compared with 24 per cent of Christians and 30 per cent of Jews.Across Wales 19 per cent reported they had no religion and a further 8 per cent did not record an answer.

Muslim Scouts- A surprise to some even after 30 years

2007-08-20T13:25:00.000-07:00

Welsh, Muslim and Scouts

CARDIFF PROUD OF FIRST MUSLIM SCOUT GROUP

The Scout Association set up its first Muslim group in Wales in Cardiff.

It is not a surprise that Islam integrates with the principles of Scouting and the activities and ideals that the group promotes enhances the young that that have joined.

The Cardiff-based troop is the 10th Muslim Scout group to be formed in the UK and although it has taken seven years to reach that figure, it is expected soon the number will have doubled as more and more Muslims turn to Scouting.

It isn't generally known, but the Scout Association has a long record of working within the Islamic community and there have been individual Scouts from a Muslim background for more than 30 years, which may come as a surprise to those that thought Scouting was securely tied to Christianity.

New perceptions

Mark Waghorn, programme and development adviser to the Scout Association, says the general perception that the movement is for Christians only is wide of the mark. "Scouting is not a Christian-based movement," he says.

"As with many of the world's faiths, Christianity encompasses the main aims of Scouting."
As does Islam, according to Nazeed Rahman, leader of the 1st Cathays al Huda group. The Cardiff-based group was officially launched in March 2006 but has actually been operating for a year and has 90 Beavers, Cubs and Scouts.

"There were four or five of us that had been in the Scouting movement." he says. "We thought it would be good for our youngsters to be involved as well. The movement teaches much of what is central to Islam, such as discipline. We wanted something other than a youth club to occupy our young people's time and we thought setting up a Scout group would work well."

The Scout movement has always been welcoming of different faiths, says Waghorn, with an emphasis on the exploration of all faiths and general spirituality. "Part of this is about respecting and working with these identities," he explains. "There is always room for cultural and religious differences in the Scouting movement. When young people from other groups meet at activities, as they do regularly, they are able to explore their differences."

Rahman stresses that although the present members of 1st Cathays al Huda are all Muslims, the group is open to boys and girls from any religious background and the language spoken is English. "Obviously there will be times when we are apart from the rest, such as with prayers and only eating halal food, but this is a group for all."

Indeed, relatively few activities are specialist to any particular Scout group, according to Waghorn. "A group in a predominantly Muslim area would fundraise for Islamic Aid, or would help tidy the grounds of the mosque," he says. "But the majority of activities would be the same because young people enjoy discovering new things."

A broad base was the trigger for 1st Cathays al Huda. Rahman says: "We were attracted to being part of a large youth organisation, one that is open to everyone and sets high standards. It offers a range of skills and disciplines and being out in the countryside is brilliant as it offers a new experience for many young people."

BILAL DISCOVERS SCOUTING

Bilal Hussein is 13 and joined 1st Cathays al Huda when it was originally formed. "At present we are all Muslims," he says. "And we have the opportunity to discuss our religion. Scouting fits in very well because it teaches good manners and to be kind to your friends. It also says there is great quality in teamwork and that is very Islamic." There is a serious side, says Bilal, but the emphasis is on playing games and taking part in other activities such as tying knots. "We will soon be going for our badges and that will be more fun," he says. "And I can't wait to go away to camp again."

Public, private, and religious social space

2007-08-18T11:38:00.000-07:00

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Churches, Chapels, Mosques, Temples - if they're lucky, there'll be more to their domains than just a building. It'll be a forecourt, a parking area, a garden, and in the case of Christian communities perhaps even a cemetery. In some cases graveyards around churches are managed by the City Council, as subjects of long standing formal agreements, though not always.

Any religious building with a modicum of open space around it will at some time or another, if not constantly, suffer from the problem of casual litter dropping, sometimes even dumping of larger kinds of rubbish - chairs, sofas, old bikes, and so on. This is inevitable when, for the most part, caretakers no longer live on site. Rather than take stuff to the tip or ring the Council to come and take unwanted things away, the prevailing anti-social habit is to leave them in the nearest unattended open space, public or private.

When a religious building is adjacent to a pub, or in the case of the city centre, set in the very heart of party-land, the amount of rubbish discarded daily, can be huge - packaging, bottles, cans, fast food wrappers (and uneaten food), publicity flyers, plastic bags, condoms, discarded clothing, shoes, syringes are all commonplace items needing to be picked up, especially after Friday-Saturday nights, and after Big Match days.

It's clear that the consumers are responsible for the mess, fuelled by the lack of expectation on the part of vendors that they have a responsibility to manage the rubbish their trade generates outside their premesis. However, it's those responsible for religious buildings that have the task and pay for the cost of clearing up other people's mess.

Sometimes, the sheer good will and pride of local council bin men and street sweepers leads to a rubbish strewn area around a religious building being cleared unofficially. If the amount of rubbish cleared and put out in bin bags by community members exceeds what officials presume and expect, charges can be imposed. The rubbish is often very mixed, and there have been occasions when fines have been threatened for not sorting waste material in the prescribed manner. Volunteers are bearing responsibility for clearing up mess which is a direct result of the city's social and economic development policy, and bearing costs which are nothing to do with the activities of their membership.

But when the Council's Cleansing department is approached at senior management level, the dogma is simple and fundamental. 'The Council is responsible for cleansing the public realm. If an area is not in the public realm, it's in the private realm and cleaning it up is the responsibility of its owners. Therefore, your problem is not our problem.'

A large corporation working in the city with economic muscle is able to negotiate and get the results it desires. If it doesn't get what it wants, it has the resources to sue the Council for having policies, which compromise the corporate bodies' domain. But religious communities, even large denominations, don't have that kind of resource, or at least are not prepared to use it in that way. The source of the problem lies in the depths of the philosophy on which city governance rests.

According to the dogma, there is the public realm which the City Council manages, everything else is private. Religious communities, great and small are neither private bodies, nor are they businesses. The vast majority are registered charities. They are governed and managed for the most part by volunteers, and their paid workers are supported by voluntary subscription. Their realm of operation is the public domain, and they are subject to legislation regarding health and safety, fire, insurance, child protection for public bodies, just like businesses. However, they are not 'owned' by shareholders and directors who benefit from an economic activity. They are sui generis.

Ownership of religious organisations passes from one set of elected trustees to another. They are responsible for the properties belonging to them which are located in the public realm, and are open to the public. Religious organisation trustees are not-for-profit office holders in bodies collectively 'owned' by volunteers in a way that distinguishes them from private households and commercial enterprises. But this fact is not recognised by city government or its administration as being significant, despite the large contribution made by religious bodies to the social weath and welfare of the city.

The major exception is where religious bodies own and run schools -around 28% of those run by Cardiff LEA have Church Aided status, and there is a well run working partnership between religious and local government officers which manages these. There is a Council for Voluntary Action which has recognition and partnership agreements with the local authority which operate in other specific areas, like community safety, sport and leisure, health education and youth work. Indeed, particular religious community projects participate and benefit from this arrangement like others. But, when it comes to public religious buildings, owned and used for sacred, cultural and social purposes by voluntary led communities, there is a serious policy blind-spot. Not only in the area of cleansing. Also in the realm of public accessibility.

Many religious buildings are rendered increasingly difficult to access due to traffic controls and parking regulations. Issues of crowd management in the city centre on weekend Big Match days and other leisure and sporting events can bring major disruption to ordinary citizens attending worship, or weddings, or just socialising. Rights of access are not infrequently suspended, with sketchy and sometimes disparate public information available, and there is no proper discussion of principle or practice. Only those who are skilled and experienced at negotiating access to religious places are able to arrive at their destination easily.

Good will is rarely lacking on the part of the people on the ground following orders, but leadership and management is often fragmented and hard to communicate with for anyone who is an 'outsider' to those in control. This generates feelings of frustration and resentment, as many in religious communities feel the Council did not consult them, or advise them properly, or if they did, found their wishes ignored.

Local government officers close to the situation are often not unsympathetic to the problems. It's at the level of executive leadership (elected and employed), that decisions are made which lead to a sense of alienation from public life on the part of some religious communities. Even if City leadership is sympathetic, when the matter is passed down the chain of command to be dealt with, implementation proves to be inadequate, as service managers are accountable for budgets and year-end balance sheets. This is used as an alibi for refusing to re-visit plans and priorities.

Secularisation is a widespread process in which religious life and institutions disappear from the public domain and are regarded as only belonging in the private realm. In some critical aspects, Cardiff City Government's world-view enforces this by a policy that has crept in without public consent. It is not an issue on which political campaigns are yet fought in Britain today, although Welsh church disestablishment in the early decades of the 20th century was indicative of things to come, and open hostility to 'faith schooling' on the part of militant Humanists increases in its vehemence. Whilst independence of church and state is mutually beneficial, the weakening of religious community participation in public life has come about as many established religious communities have defaulted upon their civic responsibilities, being preoccupied with their own decline. As a result, the City does not benefit as much as it could from the kind of creative moral and spiritual input that can enhance public life.

Meanwhile the welfare of the City is not well served by the crude public-private dichotomy which holds sway in the Local Government official's mind-set. Anti-discrimination and social inclusion legislation won't make much difference. It will just extend the playing field upon which major issues can remain avoided. A change of philosophy is needed that will result in a change of culture amonst those who are paid to serve the needs of the whole community of communities that is the Capital City.

Compromised Cathedrals

2007-08-17T13:44:00.000-07:00

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In 2004, a plan to improve the public realm in the 'city' which is Llandaff village, was brought to residents by the City Government. This involved stopping through traffic, by extending the grassed area of Cathedral Green. This diminished available parking a little, and meant that those living on the north side of the green, and the south side would henceforth only be able to access their properties from one direction instead of two. The aesthetic improvement is noticeable, but this is totally offset by the added congestion caused by the elimination of through traffic.

At the end of school during term times, the reasonably adequate existing car park overflows into the High Street and around the adjacent parts of the Green with the vehicles of parents picking up children. The main through road, Cardiff Road, is a commuter route in and out of the city which has seen its traffic multiply exponentially as a result of recent satellite housing development, so the junction of High Street and Cardiff Road is a major traffic jam blackspot.

This is everyday normality, when there is not a wedding and funeral or other big ceremony involving hundreds of people going to the Cathedral.Whenever there is a Cathedral event, the chaos and delay, not to mention distress caused when a cortège has a crematorium rendezvous to make after a service, are the cause of complaint. All who live in or visit Llandaff City are affected by this and remark upon it. At a time when Cardiff tourism has undergone major expansion, its fine ancient Cathedral has seen no increase in visitors. Despite the proliferation of brown and white tourism traffic signs, coach companies know all to well the difficulties of taking people within short walking distance of the Cathedral. Things are worse, since 'improvements' to the Green were imposed by the City Council. And imposed they were, against the wishes of local residents, the Dean and Chapter.

There were consultation meetings at which the plans were explained. The Llandaff Society and the Cathedral Chapter and its Council registered strong objections and warned the impact of these measures would have on the village. Nevertheless, the measures were voted through by the City Council, and implemented with surprising haste, thereby rendering objections futile. The Cathedral and village is not lacking in skilled and expert people to engage in policy debate or help formulate plans that from the outset are bound to have consequences for all residents as well as visitors. There is no evidence to suggest that this resource was enlisted to help shape an improvement plan that would genuinely make the village more accessible to locals and visitors, and enhance its environment.

Meanwhile, St David's Roman Catholic Metropolitan Cathedral in the city centre cul-de-sac of Charles Street is seeing significant growth in attendance due to recently arrived Eastern European and Asian immigrants. It suffers problems of traffic congestion at service times caused by the conflicting needs of worshippers who need to arrive by car, and shoppers displaced from recently demolished multi-storey car parks, wanting to pick up goods from the neighbouring Queen Street pedestrian area shops. Existing provisions to regulate parking are frequently flouted, making it impossible for vehicles to turn around or pass each other. Traffic wardens, if there are any to be found are prone to penalise worshippers and shoppers with complete impartiality.

Plans to 'improve' the situation on the street, as a key gateway to new shopping developments and pedestrian areas, will affect businesses in Charles Street as well as the Cathedral and Ebeneser Chapel opposite. The Cathedral is working on a development plan for its ancilliary buildings to serve better the expanding social and cultural programme. Any 'improvements' to Charles Street could either be the kiss of death to these ambitions or the breath of life. At the moment, disruption caused by commercial re-development means an inevitable struggle for both local authorities and the Cathedral to cope. It is not yet apparent whether there is sufficient will to ensure future 'improvements' will work to everyone's benefit.

One thing seems certain - the functioning of two major religious institutions of the City Borough of Cardiff, with throughput of at least a thousand people every week, has been seriously compromised by local government in action.

Schooling story

2007-08-16T21:24:00.000-07:00

A decade ago St Monica’s Church Aided Primary School in Cathays struggled to stay open in a rotten old building with half its capacity of children. A new head teacher invigorated the staff and developed the activities of the school in such a way that it soon commended itself anew to local families, and the intake grew back up to its normal size.

The problems of a century old building in need of repair proved to be insurmountable. This did nothing to prevent high standards of teaching and pastoral care being maintained at great cost to the well-being of teachers and support staff who sacrificed themselves for the children. The head and governors worked for several years without success to raise funds for renovation. The Church in Wales could not afford the 25% of capital costs outlay on repairing or rebuilding on the site, running to an estimated total of two million pounds which was its statutory obligation to provide.

Meanwhile, pupil numbers of enrolled in other local schools began to fall, for demographic reasons, although numbers at St Monica’s did not fall away, because the school’s socially inclusive and multi-cultural policy rooted in Christian understanding of justice and hospitality motivated parents from a much wider area to seek admission for their children to a school in which they had confidence. The school includes children of all learning abilities and special needs, children of several different cultural and language minority groups. It has pupils of Muslim and Hindu backgrounds, as well as a non-Anglican majority.

Finally an acceptable solution emerged, a proposal was put forward to re-locate the school in the buildings of neighbouring Gladstone Primary School’s Infant block. Numbers there had reduced to the point where it was possible to consolidate all school activities in the Junior building and divide the playground and out-houses. This plan offered St Monica’s significantly more space in a better building, and was gladly accepted by staff, governors and parents.

It was not well received by the Gladstone School community, worried about its falling rolls. Some its members conducted a local political campaign opposing the proposal. Despite the excellent reputation of St Monica’s, some elected political representatives were unsupportive, reluctant to challenge or criticise this negativity. One cited difficulties around the poor reputation of church schools in other parts of England to justify reservations about the plan and reactions to it, deliberately ignoring the success and good repute of a church school in their own area.
The decision, supported tactfully by the LEA officers involved survived the Council Scrutiny committee process, and was finally implemented after more delays in the summer of 2005. St Monica’s re-opened in its new buildings for the Autumn Team and continues to flourish in its new home, receiving an ‘outstanding’ citation in the 2006 OFSTED inspection.

Local people were apprehensive about the fate of the old school buildings, lest they be demolished to make way for more student residences or be turned into yet another pub. However, the buildings weren’t empty for long. They were bought from the Diocese of Llandaff by the Cardiff Muslim Education Trust, for use as a special primary school for Muslim children, and apprehension turned to bewilderment on the part of some. The building’s entire roof was replaced before the school was opened.
The local Islamic community was able to raise funds to cover both the costs of repairs the Diocese could not afford, plus costs of purchase, due to aid from the Muslim community in the Middle East. It is not a state aided religious school, as is St Monica’s, but a private foundation. The two schools enjoy cordial relationships with each other.

Muslim pupils have not moved away from St Monica's to the new school. The private school is catering for a different range of children, some of whom need to retain strong connections with their parental country of origin and its language and religious cultural traditions. The confidence shown by parents of other faiths and none at all in the quality of education provided by St Monica's church school is as high as it ever was.

Persuasion

2007-08-15T11:38:00.000-07:00

It's night on an oil rig in the Persian gulf. The three engineers on duty are up on the top desk enjoying the clear night sky. There's a Brit, and Egyptian Coptic Christian and a Jordanian Muslim. "Glory to God for the beauty of the heavens." says the the Copt, "Indeed, praise to Allah", says the Muslim, and to the silent Brit he says, "Well, don't you think it's wonderful, worthy of praise to the Almighty?" Well, says the Brit, "I'm not too sure about any of that stuff, whether there's anything apart from what we can see for ourselves and investigate."

Then begins a conversation until dawn in which the Christian and the Muslim together earnestly and warmly strive to persuade the Brit to open his heart and mind to 'things unseen' (or unseeable) . It was the Brit who told me the story, some years later, after church one Sunday afternoon, still in search of 'things unseen', persuaded at least on a previous night, that it was worth the effort.

Processions of Faith

2007-08-11T18:37:00.000-07:00

March edition 2007 of the 'Capital Times' free news issued by the City Council carries a brief article on the local history exhibition running in the Old Library entitled 'Roots ot Cardiff. There's photograph of the 1911 Corpus Christi procession passing in front of the Castle, no doubt under the patronage of Lord Bute, a prominent Roman Catholic. Many of those processing through the streets then would have been Irish immigrants.

Today, another summer day religious procession passed by the castle. Hindu monks usually seen in small numbers singing and dancing their way along Queen Street or Working Street, singing 'Hare Krishna'. On this occasion they were surrounded by supporters, and pulling a large handcart with a tall and ornate tower shrine on it. This is the Rathayatra or chariot festival, originating 2000 years ago in Jagannatha Puri in Orissa, on India's East coast, and brought to the West in 1967 by the founder of the movement His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.

They include devotees of both Western and Indian origin. As well as practising their worship on the streets, they are keen to explain and publicise their faith like any of the groups of Christian evangelists which appear. There are even Muslim preachers on Cardiff streets nowadays. All find a measure of public acceptance and tolerance. Public Corpus Christi processions moved off the streets into the Arms Park stadium in the 1980s, then into the Cardiff International Arena before ending for lack of support.

Sunday School Whitsun walks of witness amongst protestants fizzled out for lack of support in the seventies, in line with the phenomenal decline in Sunday School and church attendance. Around this time the slow erosion of religious contribution to life in the civic realm also began. When the administration of law and order was re-structured, Quarter Sessions were no longer marked with a procession from the Law Courts to a service in the Parish Church or anywhere else.

The Mayor, however, still has an honorary Chaplain to say prayers before Council meetings and devise services for special occasions - nowadays Interfaith occasions, sensitively assembled. Capital Times, March 2007 also reports on January's Holocaust Memorial Day ceremony in City Hall. No matter how much some politicians and civil servants might find such religious and inter-religious occasions a personal imposition, they express a need for rituals that bind citizens and their representatives together. Events of this nature have evolved in the light of social change, but don't fit comfortably with some perceptions of modernity. Tradition is something to be negotiated with.

Spiritual Capital - Cardiff

2007-08-07T09:38:00.001-07:00

This new project to be launched officially in September 2007 in the Capital City of Wales Cardiff aims to promote the contribution that faith makes to the City.

Objectives of the Project

Provide up to date research, a directory and details of organisations and case studies of how religions and cultural groups work with institutions and governments across civic life in Cardiff.

Provide a setting for a vision to establish interactive networks within the City of Cardiff and project the advantages of living in a City with intimate cultural and religious diversity.

Convene and hold a landmark conference in 2008 which focuses on key matters arising from the research together with the emerging themes for the future.

What is Spiritual Capital?

The effects of spiritual , cultural and religious practices, beliefs, networks and institutions have a measurable impact on individuals, communities and societies. Cardiff is developing as City and the emphasis must be on how its inhabitants live and work together as the City develops . This Project is about what spiritual resources Cardiff can draw upon in 2007 and its aim is to help indicate how it should look to the future for communal prosperity.

Why is it important?

The concept of spiritual capital builds on recent research on social capital, which shows that religion and cultures are a major factor in the formation of social networks and trust. In addition, the impetus for focusing specifically on spiritual capital draws on the growing recognition in economics and other social sciences that religion is not an epiphenomena, nor is it fading from public significance in the 21 st century, and the importance to social/economic dynamics of human economic intangibles. Recent developments in the social sciences suggest a growing openness to non material factors, such as the radius of trust, behavioral norms, and religion as having profound economic, political, and social consequences (Source the Metanexus Institute).

Who is involved? Funding and Delivery Framework

The Community Development Foundation in Cambridge funds the Project and will monitor the progress.

A Steering Group, appointed by project sponsors, Cardiff City Centre Churches Together and the City Parish of St John the Baptist, is led by the Project initiator, the Rev. Keith Kimber, Vicar of St John's.

The Public Trust Partnership (PTP) through Roy J. Thomas, manages the Project .

Cardiff University -Regeneration Institute Dr Robert Smith and Rebecca Edwards will provide the research and will write the Report with PTP.

The Steering Group members are Professor Paul Ballard; Rev. Monica Mills; Malcolm Thomas; Chris Daley; Dr Keshav Singhal; Mohammed Jabbar and one other member who has been extended an invitation.

The work undertaken should be placed in the context of what is currently happening in the City such as the re-development of the City Centre and other parts of Cardiff, the emergence of a new private/public company Cardiff & Co. to promote the City and the economic and the community plans of Cardiff Council.

"It is my belief that no greater good has ever befallen you in this city than my service to my God; for I spend all my time going about trying to persuade you, young and old, to make your first and chief concern not for your bodies or for your possessions, but the highest welfare of your souls, proclaiming as I go, ‘Wealth does not bring goodness, but goodness brings wealth and every other blessing, both to the individual and to the state.”

—Plato, The Apology

Birmingham sets the tone

2007-08-06T20:30:00.000-07:00

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British Universities do well at catering for the welfare of staff and students. Despite the secularity of their modern constitutions, spiritual needs are catered for by the establishment of group of pastoral and spiritual advisors drawn from the full range of world religious backgrounds. They are known as 'Recognised Chaplains'. As staff and students have come to be drawn increasingly from all over the world, representatives of all great faiths have been recognised as University Chaplains. Cardiff, and the other Welsh Universities have their lists of 'Recognised Chaplains'. Usually, religious communities provide their own base for their chaplain.

In Cardiff, Anglican, Methodist and Roman Catholic churches have special Chaplaincy buildings. In some institutions, Chaplains are offered use of an office on campus, in a way that avoids compromising its secular constitution, often related to general 'welfare' provision, as a service to students.

Birmingham University is exceptional in having a Chaplaincy Centre on campus, right next to the Students' Union. St Francis Hall (pictured left) was a gift from Quaker philanthropist Edward Cadbury, a mid twentieth century multi-culturalist. His vision was that the place should be welcoming to people of all faiths. Thus, for the past seventy years, regular meetings for worship of Jewish, Muslim, and different Christian groups have taken place there.

A cross is fixed to the wall in the rooms used for prayer, but curtains can be drawn in front of it, when other faith groups use it. It's a statement about the Christian venture of hospitality this building represents. While this willingness to conceal the symbol of faith offends some zealots, it is generally understood to be an act of courtesy, in the spirit of the the original gift.

Pass from here to Edgbaston Crematorium, and you find in the lobby of the Ministers' Vestry a small selection of exchangeable religious symbols, cross, crucifix, crescent, wheel of life, which the officiant can ask to be placed in the funeral chapel for the ceremony in question. It's an indication of the religious variety found in a great city. Although it's also a secular institution, the City welcomes and accepts its spiritual diversity, and understands it as part of its strength, not as a quirk to be ignored or at best tolerated.

How fares Cardiff?

Telling the story

2007-08-06T09:11:00.000-07:00

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This blog will focus on telling stories about religious communities in Cardiff in their somewhat complex relationship to civic society in all its varied manifestations. For better and for worse !