MEETINGS IN 2023
Please find below a summary of the events which we ran in the calendar year 2023.
Beneath the summary, in order to provide more detail about each meeting, we provide the invitations which was circulated to members in advance of each forum.
SUMMARY OF EVENTS
| Date in 2023 | Event |
| Wednesday 15th February 17.30-19.00 | Informal Gathering Costa King Edward St, Hull |
| Tuesday 14th March 17.30- 19.00 (refreshments from 17.00) | FORUM AT HULL GUILDHALL Theme – Exploring religious ideas Title – The nature of, and language used, to describe the Divine |
| Wednesday 17th May 17.30-19.00 | Informal gathering Costa King Edward St, Hull |
| Tuesday 13th June 17.30-19.00 (refreshments from 17.00) | FORUM AT HULL GUILDHALL Theme – Keynote address from a religious leader . |
| Wednesday 16th August 17.30-19.00 | Informal gathering Costa King Edward St, Hull |
| Tuesday 12th September 17.30-19.00 (refreshments from 17.00) | FORUM AT HULL GUILDHALL Theme – History of a particular faith community within Hull/East Riding |
| All week 12th– 19th November | INTER FAITH WEEK Activities still to be determined |
| Wednesday 15th November 17.30-19.00 | Informal gathering Costa King Edward St, Hull |
| Tuesday 12th December 17.30-19.00 (refreshments from 17.00) | FORUM AT HULL GUILDHALL Exploring themes of ‘Grace’ and ‘Forgiveness’: Why is it important to me? – a chance to explore these themes from a personal perspective (psychological, spiritual and theological) |
INVITATIONS CIRCULATED BEFORE THE FOUR FORUMS IN 2023
HULL AND EAST RIDING INTERFAITH (HERI) – FORUM
14TH MARCH 2023 AT HULL GUILDHALL FROM 17.00-19.00
Theme – Exploring religious ideas
Title – The nature of, and language used, to describe the Divine
Our first forum of 2023 will be taking place a week tomorrow on Tuesday, 14th March. We now have four speakers in place:
– Alamgeer Choudhury
– Arthur Spurr
– David Lewis
– Gerard Burns
This will give us perspectives from the perspective of individuals from Islam, Orthodox Judaism, Humanism and Roman Catholicism. Each speaker has been asked to talk for no more than ten minutes before the meeting is opened up to the floor. We are grateful to each of them for agreeing to speak
Following discussions at our last committee meeting and in an attempt to focus the forum we sent the following details with our invitation to the speakers……
‘In our thoughts, talks and prayers we often use words and images which are commonly applied to our human relationships – for example, Father, Lord, Sovereign. This forum gives us the opportunity to learn from each other how we use such words and images in our path to the Divine and how in turn these same words and images shape that journey.
In planning this meeting, we expected that the following, amongst other things, might usefully be explored in this forum;
– How different words and images correspondent to different aspects of the Divine – for example we could contrast the aspect of the Divine which is seen as so mighty as to be unknowable (and so in some sense remote) with aspect of the Divine, which is seen as immediate, intimate and personal.
– The impact in some traditions of prohibitions on naming the Divine and equally the impact of prohibitions on the production of images of the Divine
– The impact in other traditions of an embracing of names and images.
– The extent to which the particular and individual emotions which specific words carry for each of us help or hinder in our journey (e.g., how our feelings (if we have such feelings) towards our earthly father might impact on our feelings towards our Heavenly Father (should such a term be relevant to our particular faith/world view position)).
– How we might deal with the inherent limitation of our language and images in thinking about the Divine
HULL AND EAST RIDING INTERFAITH (HERI) – FORUM
13TH JUNE 2023 AT HULL GUILDHALL FROM 17.00-19.00
Theme – Keynote address from a religious leader
We designated the June forum for a keynote address from a local faith leader and we are delighted that the Reverend Canon Dr Dominic Black, Vicar of Hull Minster accepted our invitation to address us. The invitation was sent with an open brief allowing Dominic to choose the title of the address.
Dominic has chosen as his title: ‘ Presence and Engagement: The Church of England’s Approach to Interfaith relations.’
The Reverend Canon Dr Dominic Black has been Vicar and Lecturer of Hull Minster, the magnificent 700 year old church at the heart of the old town since July 2020. From 2004 – 2020 Dominic was Vicar of Holy Trinity, North Ormesby a religiously diverse inner urban community of Middlesbrough and Area Dean of Middlesbrough from 2011-2020. He has been a member of Hull and Middlesbrough SACREs and was a member of the Church of England’s Diocesan Interfaith Advisors network from 2006-2020.
HERI FORUM AT HULL GUILDHALL – Tuesday (12/09/23)
Theme – History of a particular faith community within Hull/East Riding
In this forum we will be looking at the history of the Muslim community here and seeking to understand more about the origins of this community, the way in which it has developed and also some of the problems and challenges which it has faced whilst here. It is envisaged that there will be similarities (as well, of course, as some substantial dissimilarities!) with other faith communities, not least with the Jewish community which recently celebrated 250 years of history in the city. We are fortunate to have Imam Abid Salik from the Berkeley Street Mosque lead the meeting, as well as David Lewis from the Jewish Orthodox Synagogue who is extremely knowledgeable about the history of the Jewish community. Imam Abid recently took over leadership at the Berkeley Street mosque after a period in York when he was very active with York Interfaith and we very much look forward to his help and involvement with HERI. Whilst we have two speakers to address the meeting we look forward to contributions from the floor and time will be allowed for such contributions. Times and location are as usual – Hull Guildhall, with refreshments from 17.00. The meeting proper starts at 17.30 and will finish no later than 19.00. Remote access will be possible and we hope to see or (if you attend remotely) ‘see’ you there!
HERI FORUM – Tuesday, 12th December 2023 – Hull Guildhall
Exploring themes of ‘Grace’ and ‘Forgiveness’: Why is it important to me? – a chance to explore these themes from a personal perspective (psychological, spiritual and theological)
The granting and receipt of forgiveness is seen as important in many contexts including
– inter personal relationships
– inter group relationships
– personal happiness/well being
– religious/spiritual practice.
In the context of all human relationships the lack of forgiveness is often associated with resentment which can prove highly corrosive to all types of human relationships. The initial impetus for this forum came from a committee member listening to a BBC Podcast in the series ‘Words of Wisdom’ (available at https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct2hds) exploring the granting of forgiveness by one individual to another.
In the context of religious/spiritual practice the forgiveness of sins both by the Divine and also by human beings, one to another, is at the centre of many prayers (eg The Lord’s Prayer – Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us) and ideas about atonement ( at one ment).
Associated with forgiveness is the concept of grace whereby the granting of forgiveness to the transgressor is seen largely or wholly outside the control of those seeking forgiveness. Rather the granting or withholding of forgiveness is the prerogative of the entity from whom forgiveness is sought. If it is granted, this can be seen as an act of grace.
This forum provides a chance to explore these themes from a personal perspective (psychological, spiritual and theological). Our chair, Martin Batstone, will explore further some of the themes touched upon above before inviting those present to share their experiences and learning.
footnote As well as the BBC podcast mentioned above, you can find other related podcast series on BBC Sounds. Search ‘forgiveness’ on BBC Sounds (https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/search?q=forgiveness) to access these.
MEETINGS IN 2022
Click on link for details of meetings in 2022
MEETINGS PRE PANDEMIC
Tuesday 17/3/20 – Proposed meeting on ‘Welcoming the Stranger’ was postponed due to the corona virus
Tuesday 1/1/2020 – What is the most precious thing about your personal set of beliefs/religious practices|- click here for further details
Tuesday, 12 November 2019 – Spirituality and the Environment – click here for further details
Tuesday, 17th September 2019 4.30 for 5.00 pm at Hull Guildhall – Addiction Recovery Through Faith-The event started with the showing of a (short) TED talk by Johann Hari entitled ‘Everything you think you know about addiction is wrong’. (The video is available online now – click here if you wish to view it). The TED talk was followed by several short testimonies from local people in recovery and then a general discussion.
Tuesday, 18th June 2019 Guildhall Hull, 4.30pm for 5.00 pm —The misuse of religion in ethnic conflict with particular reference to the Srebrenica massacre of 1995 – discussion led by Dr Catherine Baker .This meeting was in partnership with the national charity Remembering Srebrenica and forms part of the annual commemorations in the City for the men and boys who were killed during the Srebrenica genocide.
April Meeting – AGM followed by open discussion on How people express their sense of the sacred or the meaning of life
January 2019 meeting – Multiculturalism and Liberal Democracy: Striking A Just, Reasonable Balance
Past local news – Hull Advent Service at St Charles Borromeo, Jarrett St Hull 16/12/18
18th November – Celebration of UK Interfaith week
Meeting on 13th November – mental health and pastoral care
25/9/18 Forum on Faith Commission
September 2019 – forum exploring the role of faith in addiction recovery
Hull and East Riding Interfaith 