The World Congress of Faiths seeks to bridge the almost unbridgeable: to make bonds of friendship based on knowledge and understanding and to celebrate the differences between different religions. While accepting that the differences of history and belief between faith communities, we affirm and support each of the faith groups represented at our gatherings. We seek to bring together those who are firm adherents of their own faiths, and who wish to learn from others in a non judgemental and supportive fashion. In this way, hopefully, we work towards ending the destructive enmity that so tragically dogs the relationships between so many people of faith.

When I attend interfaith gatherings, there are one or two faces that I search for in the crowd, and when I find them I relax. I know I have come to the right place!

One of those faces belongs to our friend, our mentor, our President, Marcus Braybrooke. From the first moment of my involvement in the World Congress I have been conscious of his quiet but vital presence. With his immense knowledge and his great understanding of the different peoples involved he has led this movement for so many years. Always helpful, with a ready smile and

laugh. Ready to turn out to address groups far and wide. Able to write informative and exciting books for a wide readership. Accomplished at stemming the fear of the unknown in those new to the task and yet also able to challenge those who have been involved for many years to rise to greater heights of action and knowledge, to reach true fellowship.

at 7.00 p.m. for 7.30 p.m.

at the London Inter Faith Centre

125 Salusbury Road, NW6

Suggested donation: £5.00

Be a member of the jury and voice your feelings and thoughts on the topic of debate:

I have often found myself in the position of introducing Marcus Braybrooke to one gathering or another and have on each occasion said something to the effect that Marcus is more knowledgeable about and has contributed more to the global interfaith movement than any other person. That’s rather a sweeping statement but one that his colleagues and admirers know to be perfectly true.

When Sir Francis Younghusband first turned his heart and hand to nurturing better understanding and warmer relations between peoples of different faiths, he could scarcely have imagined the strides that would be taken by the young interfaith movement over the course of the 20^th century. Nor could he have envisioned the obstacles to interreligious and intercultural harmony that would be thrown up in the early 21^st. Today, however, those who truly grasp the import of interfaith work at this extraordinary moment in human history are very likely to know the name of Marcus Braybrooke. His gentle bridge-building and wise counsel have been instrumental in bringing about a new era of common cause among those individuals and groups most deeply involved in the interfaith movement.

Marcus has long been a wise companion to all who cherish cultural and religious variety as the very richest stuff of life. As priest and counsellor, scholar and author, teacher, organizer, celebrant of diversity, and worker for peace, he has touched and been touched by the lives of countless people from every culture imaginable.

Those who have known and worked with Marcus on a wide range of interfaith efforts over the years esteem him for his deep learning, his dialogical openness, his commitment to justice and peace, and his wonderful humanness. It is, however, as a hopeful pilgrim on a shared spiritual quest that we perhaps know him best, as one who fully understands (as he himself so nicely put it at a recent interfaith youth retreat) that "the inner spiritual journey and the practical concern for the healing of the world belong together."

As we celebrate his 50 years of involvement in interfaith work, Marcus Braybrooke embodies Younghusband’s invocation, so familiar to members and friends of the World Congress of Faiths, "May the spirit of fellowship quicken within us and abound among all peoples."

To join WCF and receive Interreligious Insight and One Family, the annual payment is £30.

If you do not want to join WCF, but want to receive the journal Interreligious Insight, the annual payment is £24.

Remember: For UK taxpayers, payments may be made under Gift Aid.

Contact the WCF office at our new address: 125 Salusbury Road, London NW6 6RS

After I had given a talk about the 1893 World’s Parliament of Religions in Chicago, someone asked me, "Were you there yourself?" I didn’t think I looked quite that old! But it was forty years ago that I joined the World Congress of Faiths, thanks to a little advertisement in The Times, which mentioned the library at Younghusband House in Norfolk Square, near Paddington Station.

I had recently returned from a year in India, spent at Madras Christian College, where I was glad to be part of the then recently united Church of South India. As I learned something about Hindu religion and philosophy, particularly the devotional literature of the Tamil saints, and met holy Hindu and Muslim teachers, I became convinced that the generous love of God was not confined to the Christian church. The early writings of Fr. Bede Griffiths and Raimundo Panikkar were already suggesting a "cosmic revelation." I discovered also that the mystical tradition in various religions pointed to a spiritual meeting beyond our particular creeds and rituals. I also saw examples of people of different faiths working together to serve the poor, and with other college students, of different faiths, I helped at a Clinic for People suffering from Leprosy.

I quickly realised that Hinduism was often misunderstood and misrepresented by Western Christian writers. Some of my writing has been to counter misrepresentations of other religions, especially Judaism and Islam. I have also argued for a more open theology, suggesting that Christians should rejoice at evidence of God’s grace in the lives of people of many faiths and welcome God’s revealing presence in other faith traditions. I hope the anthologies, which I have edited, will introduce readers to the spiritual treasures of the world religions to which we are all now heirs.

organisations to explore areas of co-operation. Several then came together at Bangalore to mark the centenary of the World’s Parliament of Religions and subsequently to the establishment of the International Interfaith Centre at Oxford.

"Jesus, thou son of the Eternal God, have mercy upon me." These were the last words of Michael Servetus as he was burned alive in Geneva, 27 Oct 1553. In autumn 2003, the 450^th Anniversary of his death, Servetus Conferences were held in Spain, Geneva, Paris, and Budapest.

On the 15^th of November, a full day Servetus conference was held at Croydon. Speakers ranging from Imam Abduljalil Sajid to Professor John H. Brooke found lessons from the life of Servetus that could be applied to our own efforts to reconcile religions and science. Born in Spain in 1511, Servetus was Physician, Scientist, Geographer, and Theologian.

David Williams, Emeritus Perren Professor of Astronomy, University College, London contrasted "Servetus: an holistic view of knowledge," with the fragmentation that characterizes university departments today. John H. Brooke, Andreas Idreos Professor of Science and Religion, Oxford, begin his talk by pointing out that 16^th and 17^th century thinkers did not differentiate sharply between their science and their religion. "Servetus is a prime example: a radical innovator in his theology and a reformer of Galen’s physiology, these seeming disparate elements were unified by his understanding of divine immanence in the world: ‘The vital spirit of Galen was identified with the Holy Ghost.’" Richard Boeke, Secretary of the World Congress of Faiths, focused on breath, the Ruach Hagofen, as a link to the holy in every religion. He linked "the breath of God" and Servetus to the "Elan Vital" of Philosopher Henri Bergson. He responded to Andrew Hill’s paper with reference to Bergson’s book "Two Sources of Morality and Religion." In religion there are the priests, like Calvin, who maintain the institution and the society. There are also the prophets, like Servetus, who "dream the impossible dream." Who risk rejection and death for the sake of the new truth they have discovered. In science, in religion, and in each of us, there are always elements of both priest and prophet.

After discussion, the conference closed with thanks to the speakers, and thanks to our hosts: the Rev’d Elizabeth Birtles and the Croydon Unitarian Church.

Thanks to the organisation and kindness of Richard Boeke, the WCF were invited to Essex Hall to mark the Week of Prayer for World Peace. We were honoured to have been joined by Om Parkash Sharma MBE, Chairman of the Week of Prayer for World Peace, who read a moving and inspirational passage from an address he had given at a recent conference in Europe. Others talked of their dreams for peace and read passages from their own religious traditions that they had chosen to share with us.

participants according to their own religious traditions, yet how we valued sharing the time together.

Cost £40 before 1^st March; late registration £50 after

1^st March, if space available. (Full refunds available until 1^st March.) Cheques to "World Congress of Faiths."

Mail Cheques with your address & any special needs to:

Dr. Richard Boeke, WCF Secretary,

16 St. Mary’s Gardens

Horsham RH12 1JP United Kingdom

It was a gorgeous warm, sunny afternoon in mid October, which was lucky, because an intrepid group of members of the World Congress had gathered at the home of the chair, Rabbi Jackie Tabick, to enjoy tea in her family’s succah. ‘What is a succah’? you may ask. It is the harvest booth built each autumn by Jewish people to help us remember the long journey across the desert from slavery in Egypt to the land of Israel. As the winds blow and we anxiously observe the clouds building in the sky, it is also a reminder of the fragility of life. Mind you, we have only ourselves to blame if it does rain! One of the rituals we observe on that festival is the waving of the Lulav, that is, we hold together

a palm branch, some willow and myrtle twigs and a primitive form of lemon (all of which grow near water sources) and wave them in all directions while holding in our minds the need for rain for the crops to grow.

March 23-25: Conference preparing for the Parliament of World's Religions Conference in Barcelona in July 2004 at the Brahma Kumaris Global Retreat Centre, near Oxford.

Richard Boeke, WCF Secretary. Phone 01403 257 801.

February 19: Moral Maze chaired by Rabbi Jackie Tabick at the London Interfaith Centre, 125 Salusbury Road, London NW6 6RG at 7.00 p.m. for 7.30 p.m.

May 5: Annual General Meeting and Younghusband lecture. Speaker William Dalrymple.

July 22-24: Post Parliament of World Religions Conference at Fintry House, Near Godalming, Surrey both for those who attended the Parliament and those who did not attend but would like to reflect on what happened in Barcelona. Cost £80 full board or £40 registration and meals only. (£90 or £50 after I July). Cheques to "World Congress of Faiths" Mail to Dr Richard Boeke,

16 St. Mary’s Gardens, Horsham RH12 1JP. UK.

11-14 September: 'Spiritual Experience and the World's Religious Traditions' at the University of Wales, Lampeter.

Contact: d.greenwood@lamp.ac.uk, web-site: www.alisterhardytrust.org.uk

8 February: Mayor's Multi-faith Event, The Guildhall, Bath at 3.00 p.m.

Contact Shelaugh James, telephone: 01225-422252.

Birmingham Council of Faiths: 'Medical ethics in different faiths' at Graham Street gurdwara (Jewellery Quarter), from 1.00 p.m.

Contact: Ann and Yann Lovelock, telephone: 0121-449-6402.

26 February: 'Faith in the Global Economic Order': by Dr Vineeta Shanker of the World Faiths. Contact Mggie Clay, tel: 0121-415-8352; e-mail:wfdd@bt internet.com.

Local Interfaith Events (continued)

30 January-1 February: 'Art and Holy Ground': Jyoti Sahi and Barbara Butler, Gen Sec of Christians Aware.

6 March: 'Women of Faith: Forgiveness', with the Women of Faith group, Birmingham.

19-20 March: 'HIV/AIDs: the pandemic rages on' with Revd Canon Chad Gandiya, UCA tutor.

Council of Christians and Jews: 'Questioning Identity? Our Response in a Difficult World'.

31 January: West London Synagogue, 34 Upper Berkeley Street, London W1. From 10.30 a.m.- 3.00 p.m.

22 February: St Martins in the Fields, Trafalgar Square form 9.45 a.m. - 2.15 p.m.

Contact: e-mail: cjrelations@ccj.org.uk or web-site: www.ccj.org.uk

Dialogues at De Nobili, 6 Osterley Park Road, Southall, Middlesex.

4 January: New Year celebration

1 February: 'Living with Diversity': Monawar Hussein

Contact: Fr Michael Barnes, telephone: 020-8571-1833

27 February-7 March: Series of events on Middle Eastern spirituality and peace.

Contact: Neill Walker, telephone: 0131-331-4469, e-mail: njwalk1300@hotmail.com

Hampstead Interfaith Group: 63b, Belsize Park Gardens, London, NW3 4JN.

17 February: 'Vietnamese Buddhism: The Thought of Thich Nhat Hanh': John Chapman, ordained lay member of the Tiep Hien Buddhist Order.

27 January: For a list of events, contact: 0870-240-1180 or web-site:holocaustmemorialday.gov.uk

16 March: 'Interfaith Celebration of Faith and Culture' at 7.00 p.m.

Contact: Rev Mel Garside, telephone: 01484-424669.

15 January: 'Peace in the Middle East': Rev Fergus O'Connor. From 7.45 - 9.30 p.m. in the Mothers Room, All Saints, Kenton.

Contact: Sister Elisabeth, telephone: 020-7272-8048.

London Interfaith Centre: 125 Salusbury Road, London NW6 6RG at 7.30 p.m.

21 January: 'New Religious Movements': Dr Eileen Barker, London School of Economics. Contact info@londoninterfaith.org.uk, telephone: 020-7604-3053

4 February: 'The Prodigal Son' and 'The Woman taken in Adultery': Prof. Bernard Jackson of Manchester University at Hope University College.

17 February: 'The story of Christian prayer - praying in the Christian Tradition': Revd Dr Shannon Ledbetter, Hope University College at the Western 'Rooms, Anglican Cathedral.

9 March: 'Prayer in the Hindu Tradition': Dr Ajit Kumar at the Hindu Centre and Temple, Edge Lane.

20-21 March: Celebrating the Baha'i New Year at the Baha'i Centre, 3 Langdale Road, Wavertree.

Modern Churchpeople's Union and Alister Hardy Society:

13-16 July: 'The God Experience.. who has it and why?': Conference Chair: Prof Paul Badham, University of Wales, Lampeter at high Leigh conference Centre, Hoddesdon, Herts.

Contact: Mrs E. Darlington: e-mail: ebeth@fish.co.uk or telephone: 0161-633-3132

29 February: Visit to Neasden Temple, London.

Contact: Westminster Interfaith, telephone: 020-7361-4740.

Send details of your local interfaith event to:

Joy Barrow at 34 Shorediche Close, Ickenham, Middlesex, UB10 8EB

or e-mail: JoyBarrow @aol.com.