Christian and Muslim together in the Springfield Centre

On 8th March around 60 Christian and Muslim women came together in the Springfield Centre, Birmingham, to celebrate International Women’s Day. The aim for the event was to form and build relationships as well as deepen understanding between women of the two faiths. The aspect of faith created a great interest in the event and, if the venue had been bigger we would have had many more women assembled! The evening started with refreshments, allowing the guests time to view a display representing Christian and Muslim faith and culture, created specifically for the evening.

This was very well received and created much conversation which greatly aided the mingling process.  The speakers Rehanah Sadiq and Pauline Anderson then set the tone for the rest of the evening by sharing personally and passionately about their faith. Rehanah, a hospital chaplain, spoke about her experience growing up in Sheffield in the 1980’s. She shared her personal story of exploring her Muslim identity and discovering God in prayer. Pauline, a counsellor and consultant, testified of a living and personal God who helped her through many difficulties in life and who inspires her to work as a Christian for the community.
Discussions continued in small groups as participants shared more about their own faith and life experiences.

Even at the end of the event many women stayed behind, still enjoying the atmosphere and conversing with each other, confirming it was indeed an inspirational and enjoyable evening. When asked to describe the evening some key words participants used were respect, understanding, sharing, laughter and friendship. Many expressed the hope that more meetings like this would follow, exploring topics such as:
Family values, Understanding teachings of Bible/Quran, sharing life/faith experiences, testimonies/personal stories and helping the community.
The grant given by the Christian Muslim forum helped to make it a special evening.