During 2022 we ran four meetings
- March – ‘Spirituality and the Pandemic’
- June – ‘Can faith help us make sense of the war in Ukraine’?
- September – ‘Does God Need Buildings: Buildings and their
significance in different faiths’
- December – ‘2022 Agreed Syllabus for Religion and Worldviews
which will be used in Hull and East Riding Schools’
We have not this year made notes of what was said at each meeting so in order to provide a bit more detail about the meetings I show below the invitations which was circulated to members in advance of each meeting. I have added some notes relating to what happened at the September meeting and the powerpoint slides where were used at the December meeting are also available
MARCH
Hull and East Riding Interfaith (HERI) meeting – Tuesday, 1st March 2022 19.00 by Zoom
The meeting will be an open forum (ie no formal speaker to lead the event, but all encouraged to participate). We have chosen a broad topic which we think will enable us to share our experiences since the start of the pandemic – and we are entitling the meeting ‘Spirituality and the Pandemic’. We are hoping this will give us a chance to share our experiences of how (if relevant) the events of the last two years have impacted on our faith/world view and how (if relevant) our faith/ world view has helped us through the crisis
JUNE
Tuesday, 14th June at The Guildhall, Hull with refreshments from 17.00 for a 17.30 start of the meeting. Hybrid meeting with option to attend virtually via Teams
‘Can faith help us make sense of the war in Ukraine’? This will be an open forum – i.e. there will not be a speaker but all will be encouraged to share their perspective on this. James Hargreave has kindly offered to chair the discussion. The committee gave some thought to the exact title and we hope the open nature of the title will allow a wide range of views to be shared and explored. For example, I envisage that some people will want to explore the challenge of finding a positive,maybe faith based, response to war. Others may wish to explore the role of religion in either fanning and or assuaging the flames of war. Others still might wish to explore how to come to terms with the more difficult aspects of human existence.
SEPTEMBER
Hull Guildhall on Tuesday, 6th September (17.30 start with refreshments from 17.00).
The forum will explore the differing role of buildings in different faith groups and is entitled ‘Does God Need Buildings’? The plan is for a number of speakers from different faith groups each to speak for a maximum of ten minutes before opening the discussion up to the floor. The meeting will be hybrid – ie you will be able to attend either in person or via Teams. At present we have speakers from Christian, Jewish, Islamic and Humanistic perspectives.
Notes from the committee meeting
Agreed Title
‘Does God Need Buildings: Buildings and their significance in different
faiths’
A bit more detail about the sort of issues which we thought we might explore… the view that buildings are a trap/distraction // the role of buildings in providing a place where the
community of a particular faith can be reached/encountered by those
outside the community // buildings as a ‘totem’ for the faith community
// an exploration of how the particular features of a faith are
reflected in the building of that faith // some historical precedents
(eg Jesus reported as ministering outside buildings but also as
preaching in synagogues and visiting the Temple) // different roles
played by buildings for different communities (social/meeting places,
location and aids to worship).
Time limit: It was agreed that a 10 minute limit on how long a speaker could talk would be helpful to the running of the session
link to ‘ Places of worship – Voices from Religion and Worldviews’
https://www.reonline.org.uk/teaching-resources/places-of-worship-voices-from-religion-and-worldviews/
Note as well as issues above speakers discussed their experiences of communal worship and gatherings in the absence of a building. Such circumstances provided an opportunity for close cooperation and commitment from community members. On some occasions the arrival of a specific building diverted focus from other matters and also led to reduction in community cohesion. There were some interesting divergences between the relationship between private and communal worship. In some cases the emphasis is on private worship at home supported by communal worship. In other cases this relationship is inverted.
DECEMBER
Hull Guildhall on Tuesday, 13th December with refreshments from 17.00, a start time of 17.30 for the meeting proper and a finish time of no later than 19.00.
2022 Agreed Syllabus for Religion and Worldviews which will be used in Hull and East Riding Schools and will be led by Marilyn Cowling and Sue Holmes who are advisers to the local Standing Advisory Committees on Religious Education for both Hull and East Riding schools.
By way of introduction to the forum Marilyn writes:
”Everyone has a Worldview’ or ‘Nobody Stands Nowhere’
The next HERI forum will provide an opportunity to hear about the2022 Agreed Syllabus for Religion and Worldviews for Hull and East Riding schools. This syllabus provides for a more inclusive approach to teaching about beliefs and practices in religious and non-religious lives; it explores diversity within a faith or denomination; it investigates similarities between beliefs; it offers consideration of concerns shared by many – whether religious or not – and their different responses to issues in the world around them.
We welcome the opportunity to share our syllabus with HERI and hope that members may see ways to share their own beliefs and personal worldview with pupils in our schools.’
powerpoint slides for december 2022 meeting
Hull and East Riding Interfaith 