Our annual meeting with our Patron, The Most Rev Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury took place today in the beautiful gardens of Lambeth Palace.
Archbishop Justin offered a very warm welcome to Christians and Muslims to Lambeth Palace where we gathered to discuss salient issues arising from national debates on migration, refugees, Islamophobia and the challenge of the far right.
It’s been a tumultuous few months, at home and abroad, with regional conflicts, elections and social unrest unsettling many societies. In the aftermath of the race riots in Britain this summer, the importance of purposeful interfaith dialogue and fostering social cohesion in a plural society has never been more timely.
Joined by our guest speakers this year Revd Dr Helen Paynter, Director of Theological Education at Bristol Baptist College and Executive Director of the Centre for the Study of Bible and Violence, Dr Maria Power, Fellow of Blackfriars Hall and Senior Research Fellow in Human Dignity at the Las Casas Institute for Social Justice, and Dr Ed Kessler, Founder President of the Woolf Institute, Fellow of St Edmund’s College, Cambridge and Chair of the Commission on the Integration of Refugees, we heard presentations on ‘The Church, The Far Right and the Claim to Christianity’ and the report of the Commission on the Integration of Refugees.
Participants shared conversations about engaging in dialogue in difficult times, addressing the far right’s deliberate abuse of Christian symbols to incite hatred of others, the role of social media in amplifying conflict and division and the challenge of attracting younger people to interfaith dialogue.
We ended our meeting with tea and a slice of delicious cake this year baked by the chef at Lambeth Palace!