The Reverend Philip Banks writes:

April 2008

Links with people of faith

This month sees the first of this year’s exchange visits with our link church of Emmanuel Forest Gate. On Sunday 13^th April a group from St Peter’s is invited to join Emmanuel’s 10 o’clock Eucharist in Forest Gate, so that we can experience their Sunday morning service and get to know each other a little better. If you would like to join this group, setting off from here at about 9am, please do use the sign-up sheet in church or ring/email the Vicarage.

One of the great things about our link with Emmanuel is that we have been able to get to know people in a very different parish and situation – an established and much loved church set in a multi-faith and multi-ethnic community. It has been really good to hear about some of the work that Emmanuel does, for instance providing a regular breakfast for the homeless.

Personally, I have been very much encouraged by Emmanuel’s Faithful Friends project, which seeks to build friendships between Christians and people of other faiths and none. We have so much in common with people of other religions – so much more to unite us than to divide us one from another. The vision of the project is to build real and personal friendships across ‘faith’ boundaries, without having any agenda or desire to convert others to a particular religion. There will be a chance to hear about this important work when Fr Barnabas Matloob comes to do one of our Coggeshall Lectures this month, on 28^th April – see later on in The Link for details.

As well as informal ways of getting to know each other, everyone has the chance to hear about the way other religious traditions express their faith in worship and in service of others. During the year, there are a number of programmed events (eg, evenings such as hearing about how different faiths pray; a shared discussion about what different faith groups can do about homelessness and street drinking in the community; an opportunity to hear what people of other faiths think about local election candidates’ policies, etc) all based at Emmanuel Church. A copy of the ‘Faithful Friends’ programme is in St Peter’s if you’d like to find out more or go to one of the events.

As Christians, in this season of Eastertide, we celebrate our faith in a loving God who, in Jesus Christ, offers us life in all its fullness, both in this world and in the life of the world to come. We are privileged indeed to have our risen Saviour walking alongside us in all of life’s changes, from birth to death. We thank God for our faith and for the sacrifice of his Son for us on the cross. As we grow in our knowledge and love of God, may we also grow in understanding of those of different faiths and join with all who seek after God in bringing to our own generation the values of his kingdom.