Download OWW Inter Faith Guidelines Booklet pdf | Download text only pdf  

"Building Bridges Together Locally to Address Shared Global Concerns"

Introduction

The OWW Local Inter Faith Development Project

One World Week (OWW) enables people from diverse backgrounds to come together to learn about global justice, to share that learning and to use it to take action locally and globally. OWW’s Local Inter Faith Development Project builds on this experience, focusing on sharing OWW groups’ experience of involving people of many faiths. OWW is based on the belief that when we understand each other’s perspectives, our lives can be transformed and enriched. There are many benefits, sometimes unexpected, of joining together across boundaries to tackle a common issue. These include increased networks, friendships, fun, a greater sense of belonging, a greater voice, achieving more together, sharing the workload, learning more. But it is worth bearing in mind that doing it together is not just more effective but may be, in cases like climate change and building peaceful societies, the ONLY way to do it.

The project was funded by the U.K. Government’s Faith Communities Capacity Building Fund, and forms the background to these guidelines. It built on the experiences of two previous OWW projects, Voices from the South and Reaching out and Reaching South. It was planned, facilitated and written up here by a team from a diverse range of faith backgrounds including various Muslim sects, Buddhist, and several Christian denominations. For a full list of those involved please see Appendix 3.

How the project worked:

The idea was for the organisers of OWW events who have had experience in engaging people of many faiths to share their experience with those who would like to. A series of events involving people from different faiths happened in four pilot regions during the project, with meetings between the organisers and regional facilitators, before and after, to share ideas and to evaluate the events and the process. The aim was for local OWW organisers and groups to develop better links with more communities, in order to organise more inclusive events on local and international issues, by engaging more with people of many faiths and cultures in their communities. The pilot areas were chosen to reflect the variety of areas where OWW activities happen: some, like Manchester, have diverse communities; other places like Worcester needed local knowledge and connections to bring a diverse range of people with different faiths and no faith together.

These learning experiences have been drawn together by a national team and shared here in these guidelines, to be made available more widely across the OWW network.

As well as the four pilots funded by the project, these guidelines draw on the experiences of other OWW events held in the past year, and that of OWW’s former projects. As these experiences and suggestions often reinforce what has come from the pilots they are integrated under the learning points coming out of the pilots, and in the top tips.

What these guidelines are and what they are not

These OWW guidelines contribute to the wealth of literature on engaging people of different faiths. They focus on people getting together at a local level across boundaries of many kinds and doing things together that make the local and global community a better place to live. OWW sees inter or multi faith activity as one important aspect of people coming together to celebrate, understand and make a difference. Shared values in people of faith can often be a binding force and a catalyst for action rather than faith being a divisive or aggressive influence as is often portrayed in the media.

These guidelines aim to give advice and encouragement, showing the value and impact of people from many faiths learning together, while also showing some of the difficulties and pitfalls. They are based on real practical experiences of those involved on the ground.

Context:

The importance of faith communities is increasingly recognised by the Government. They recognise the importance of faith communities:

•    changing views and values in society.

•    encouraging good citizenship through the values that they uphold.

•    as a channel of communication to the wider community.

Faith groups also have a perspective on global issues through their involvement in striving for global justice (for example campaigning against unfair debt and promoting Fairtrade or locally supporting overseas projects), in their engagement with alleviating world poverty and in contributing resources to developing countries. Many are involved with other members of their faith family in the international community, providing links with other places, a great source of information sharing and opportunities for learning about global issues. This gives great incentive and potential for OWW organisers to think about involving faith groups, to share in the process of developing local events to raise awareness of and take action on global justice issues.

Many public bodies and community organisations have recognised the need to have a better understanding of other cultures and religious beliefs. The Inter Faith Network for the UK was founded in 1987 to promote good relations between people of different faiths in this country. The Network works with its members and other networks to help improve the mutual understanding and respect between religions where all can practise their faith with integrity. The Network’s way of working, shared by One World Week, is firmly based on the principle that dialogue and cooperation can only prosper if they are rooted in respectful relationships which do not blur or undermine the distinctiveness of different religious traditions.

The Resources section [in Appendix 2] provides further information on the Inter Faith Network and other national initiatives and opportunities for faith groups and those working with them that may be relevant. These developments present great opportunities for members of faith communities to gain more strategic representation and a voice on issues of common concern, local and global, in their communities.