Building Bridges in Burnley

Download full size poster from here.

Steve Rumbellow Poster 

We are meeting at Townley Garden Centre car park next Tuesday 10.30a.m. for our weekly get together. Hope you can make it.

Away day for future Christian and Muslim leaders at Coldwell activity centre

On Saturday March 2nd at Coldwell Activity Centre 8 young adults, representatives from Christian, Muslim and no faith met up to discuss issues, which they as young people identified as needing to be tackled, in order that the town of Burnley could become a welcoming place for all people, regardless of their background. A place where young people had opportunities to grow positively. The day was full of very good conversations with people being very open about their concerns. The young adults came up with lots of good suggestions from more education around myths and assumptions to civic engagement around communities with clean ups to food banks. As a result, the young adults committed to attending Building Bridges Board Meeting to share their ideas on March 12th. To be the speakers at an open meeting at the Faith Centre on April 17th entitled ` Faiths working together for the common good`. To take part in a 10K run on behalf of Building Bridges and the Faith Centre in May, to raise money for our local Pendleside Hospice. They,also agreed, to meet regularly as a group to continue to push their agenda as a voice for young adults of the town forward.  We look to the future with a sense of excitement.

More than 90 people turned up, to the Faith Centre, on Tuesday evening, to hear about an Interfaith Women’s pilgrimage to the Holy Land.   With organisational help from Building Bridges Burnley, in January, 22 women, 11 Christians and 11 Muslims visited the Holy Sites common to all the Abrahamic Faiths of Islam , Christianity  and Judaism. During the evening at the Faith Centre each pilgrim stood and relayed their experience of a particular site ranging from Al Aqsa Mosque to the Sea of Galilee. They all agreed that the pilgrimage had brought them closer in understanding of their own as well as each other’s faiths.

The most moving experience was when they visited an interfaith women’s group in Bethlehem, where the difficulties of living behind the separation wall were explained. The women from Bethlehem and from Burnley sang together as the Bethlehem Group has its own interfaith choir.

After the session on Tuesday night refreshments were provided as well as a chance to buy cakes baked by the Burnley women with the profits being sent to the Bethlehem women’s group.

As a result of listening to the Bethlehem women’s interfaith choir a similar choir is starting in Burnley on April 3rd at the Faith Centre. If you would like to hear more about the choir or Building Bridges in Burnley please contact Bea Foster on 07875517043.

Several women involved in Building Bridges attended a day of Singing for your Soul, the first session of a newly formed women’s interfaith choir. The choir is being funded by the Near Neighbours Project. The organser Janet Swan is a Natural Voice Practioner. Most of us said we couldn’t sing but then discovered it just comes naturally.  Everyone said it was a wonderful day and is looking forward to the next session. The day was held at Coldwell activity Centre.

A group of women, many of whom attended the pilgrimage to the Holy Land, are meeting on a regular basis in local cafes and supermarkets. This week saw them at Tesco. They use the time to catch up on latest news and plan future events. This week was spent firming up the plans for the Pilgrimage evening on March 12 at the Faith Centre. If you would like to join them please contact Bea Foster on 07875517043

A Women’s Inter-Faith Pilgrimage which recently returned from the Holy Land had the
backing of Building Bridges in Burnley. Eleven Christian ladies and eleven Muslim ladies
were accompanied by Afrasiab Anwar, coordinator of the Burnley and Pendle Faith Centre
and Fr Michael Waters, parish priest of St. John the Baptist, Burnley. Everyone paid for
their own travel and accommodation expenses at the Ecce Homo Convent on the Via
Dolorosa in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City..
Rev. Jo Williams, minister at Sion Baptist Church, Burnley, said, “ Our intention was to
visit the Holy Places together, to learn more about the three Abrahamic faiths and so to
increase our mutual understanding in Burnley.
Muslims joined with Christians to see the birth place of the Lord Jesus in Bethlehem, his
home in Nazareth and Capernaum and in following the Stations of the Cross to the Holy
Sepulchre.
Christians were privileged to be invited to visit inside the Dome of the Rock, the site of the
Holy of Holies for Jews and the place of the Night Journey of the prophet Muhammad and
to enter the Al Aqsa mosque, the third holiest place for Muslims.”
The British Consul General in Jerusalem, Sir Vincent Fean, born in Burnley and a former
pupil of St Theodore’s High school, and his wife Lady Anne joined the pilgrims for dinner
one evening. He explained the political complexities for Israelis and Palestinians be they
Jews, Christians or Muslims. A group of women from a Pax Christi group in Bethlehem
shared their stories about the effect of the Separation Wall on their daily lives and then
entertained everyone with music, song and dance.
There is an open invitation to share the experiences of the pilgrims at the Faith Centre,
Burnley Campus, Barden Lane, BB10 1JB at 7.00pm.on Tuesday 12th March.
Further details telephone: Rev. Jo Williams 01282 838110; Fr. Michael Waters 01282
423824; Afrasiab Anwar 07790
009552; Mrs. Bea Foster 07875 517043

Our Holy Land Pilgrims are leaving tomorrow for home. It sounds like they have had an amazing time and are planning to make the most of their last day.

Anwar is helping us to keep up with the pilgrimage. Some of the photos are on flickr here now and this will be updated.

The group are having some good sunshine now and have been to Galilee, Garden of Gethsemane, Mount of Olives and some have met the Senior Imam of the Dome on the rock.
It all looks amazing.!!