Sincere thanks to the following Church denominations for their prayers, blessings and financial support enabling GRASSROOTS Luton to be represented at the World Council of Churches 11th Assembly held from 31st Aug – 8th Sep 2022 in Karlsruhe, Germany
United Reformed Church Thames North Synod
Beds Essex & Herts District of The Methodist Church
Church of England St Albans Diocese
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Northampton
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It is humbling that GRASSROOTS Luton was invited to lead a Workshop at the World Council of Churches (WCC) 11th General Assembly 2022 in Karlsruhe, Germany from 31 August – 8 September 2022.
GRASSROOTS Luton Workshop Title was: Celebrating Difference Staying Faithful – Building Life Flourishing Communities Together with People of Different Faiths. Here’s a brief reflection on what we delivered in our workshop.
Mostly inter-faith work is understood as “dialogue” with learned people of certain ages and gender. In this workshop, we shared practical examples of inter-faith community work we have carried out in Luton over the years. We shared stories of how in a super-diverse, multi-faith, multi-cultural town of Luton (UK), just north of London, where over 140 languages are spoken, Christians & people of different faiths join together to feed the hungry, to tackle digital and fuel poverty, to plant trees and create peace gardens. We demonstrated how it is possible to restore justice, peace, and the integrity of God’s creation, by putting our faith into action, by complementing one another and not competing against one another, by acknowledging and celebrating differences and yet staying faithful to our own religious and cultural identities.
Many people across Europe and the world know of Luton as the birthplace of one of the far-right extremist groups called the English Defence League (EDL). We shared stories of why and how it was started in Luton. How all faith communities united together against all extremism, and on multiple occasions, prevented communal riots, ensuring peace & integrity of the town is held at all times and particularly safeguarding our young people that they are not criminalised.
Thanks to the globalisation we are living in an increasingly inter-connected world. We all must therefore create space for everyone to feel welcomed to partake in and contribute to God’s mission, so that in God’s beautiful world, everyone may have life – life in all its abundance, life in all its fullness. How do we create such ecumenical and inter-faith space? How can we confidently move in Christ's love towards reconciliation and unity, but not uniformity? This workshop focused exactly on all that.
It was worth telling our story on a global platform. Our workshop had the highest number of registrations. People who attended our workshop were greatly inspired by the ecumenical and inter faith aspects of our work. They were impressed by the consistency and conviction with which we have, over the years, kept ourselves focused and rooted within a very diverse and complex context of Luton. We have been ‘acting while reflecting’, and have remained adaptable, receptive and relational in order to be effective and authentic on the ground. As a result, a Dutch Church Minister-in-training is coming for Internship at GRASSROOTS Luton for 6 weeks from 10th April – 20th May 2023.
Report by David Jonathan
Full Report text can be found here.
David Jonathan Director GRASSROOTS Programme at the WCC 11th General Assembly in Karlsruhe, Germany