Spiritual Guidance, Day One

The above conference was held on 28 & 29 April 2008 at Hinsley Hall in Leeds. It was the sister conference to one held in the south of England in November 2007.  A great success, the conference was attended by 25 Christians and 25 Muslims involved in the provision of spiritual guidance to their communities in different contexts - as chaplains, youth or community workers, ministers, imams, etc. With nearly half of the delegates women from both religious backgrounds the conference was buzzing with a broad range of outlooks, opinions and experiences expressed during the two days.

Our photographer captured the positive atmosphere of the conference. Click here to go to go to the Gallery page and then click on page 2 of the Gallery.
Feedback from the delegates showed high levels of satisfaction with the conference . When asked, “overall, how satisfied were you with the conference”, 92% said the conference was ‘excellent’ or ‘good’. Here we have listed a few of the comments, typical of delegates opinions on the success of the conference:
“The two keynote speakers were exceptional. Frances was awe inspiring and Ahtsham was inspirational. The content was so pertinent and I await the copy of their speaches with anticipation.”;
“Stimulating and challenging”; and
“This is what it is about! Lets get together, talk, share and practice with innovation and confidence. More please!”
The conference was partly sponsored by Islamic Relief Worldwide and we were honoured to have two or their representatives with us throughout the conference.  To learn more about Islamic Relief Worldwide click here.
The Conference
Musharraf Hussain, Chair of the Christian Muslim Forum, opened this conference by telling us that In the wake of 7/7 it is imperative for Christians and Muslims to display a dynamic spirit of relationship-building and that, our scriptures expect this from us. They offer us resources for building mutual trust. Deeply embedded at the heart of our spiritual traditions are found the values of peace, compassion, generosity, humility, patience, forgiveness and love. People have high expectations of us, they want to see us ‘‘walk the talk’‘.
“The conferences have shown wider society that in spite of the missionary nature of Christianity and Islam we can still be friends, good neighbours and fellow citizens. That demonstrates a high degree of maturity and understanding.”
Philip Lewis, one of the Forum’s Christian advisors, said that this event was “timely and important.
We need such safe spaces, we need to make sure that good relations are rooted and routine at the local level, for the health of our cities we need to multiply opportunities to meet like this. Although we have a difficult shared history, we are not responsible for the past, but we are for how we use it.  We have a choice of tension or co-existence.  We are called to work together, the Christian and Muslim prophetic traditions (speaking out against abuse of power and in support of the poor and the weak, calling for justice) are a splendid basis for working together.  We can challenge the sceptics, and those who consider religion a contemporary social evil, but we cannot be complacent.”
Scriptural Reflections
In an inspiring address, drawing on Quranic references, Rehana Sadiq, a chaplain at University Hospitals Birmingham, told us that to be a giver of spiritual guidance one has to be guided oneself, and to be prepared to continuously learn and grow in wisdom.

Helen Reid, Director of Bradford Churches for Diversity and Dialogue, spoke movingly of Christian discipleship as friendship.  Following Jesus is an intimate, enduring and growing relationship where we are called to be involved in a community based on love of each other. Friendship is a loving, reciprocal relationship, a continuing process of sustaining and renewal. Spiritual guidance and leadership is love, mirroring God’s love. Our examples are set out in two successive chapters of John’s Gospel, where Mary anoints Jesus’ feet and Jesus washes the disciples’ feet.  Helen reminded the delegates that this Easter some bishops were shining shoes as a modern day reflection of Jesus’s earlier example.
Helen set out our challenge as not to be just a small community of love, but learning how to reach out beyond our small, familiar circles towards other people and become their friends?
Key Note Speeches
Delegates experienced two thought provoking speaches on:
Baring The Soul: an honest reflection of the primordial light - by Ahtisham Ali, Muslim Advisor to Her Majesty’s Prison Service; and
Am I Bothered? Spiritual Wisdom in a Complex Age - by Revd. Dr Frances Ward, Canon of Bradford Cathedral.
The speeches can be found be clicking here.
Workshops
The conference held a series of workshops focusing on spiritual guidance: in community cohesion, for undergraduates, prisoners, patients and young people.  The reaccurring theme throughout the workshops was the importance of ‘‘space-engineering’‘, creating space for people to meet, experience each other and reflect. Here we summarise the main points brought out in the workshops.
Community Cohesion
Spirituality is about understanding “who we are and where we come from”. The role of a spiritual guide includes: building relationships, being alongside each other through the good and bad times.

We need to be able to convey the ABC of our two religions:

• Love of neighbour (working with our neighbour);
• Friendship and trust;
• Ensuring symmetry in our relationships

Undergraduates
Both religions can be “in your face” on the campus. The challenge for Christians and Muslims is to build a “culture of co-operation” and a sense of community. There are issues attached to options of priority and funding of chaplains. Muslim students may have problems relating to family and marriage, Christians can have the same concerns though the specific issues may be different. There is often a need for alcohol-free socialising .
Prisoners
Matthew 25 (the sheep and the goats, ‘you didn’t visit me in prison’) is a spur to chaplaincy/spiritual work/prison work. From the Muslim Prophetic tradition: “A servant of mine .... If you had cared for him….. you would have found me there.” Caring for prisoners is a sacred duty.

Chaplains are appointed on the basis of skills and capabilities. Faith organisations and Prison Services work together to appoint. Earlier chaplains simply “led prayers”, now there are more requirements:

Statistics/statutory duties - visiting prisoners (including new arrivals), attending meetings (Duty chaplain “carries the can”—not all faiths can be represented 24/7). Hence a situation where a woman chaplain was asked “What are you? Muslim or Christian?” and her answer “I am a Chaplain” (i.e. there for everybody).
There is always the question: to what extent is this about ‘spirituality’ and to what extent are chaplains ‘social workers’? It is also important to separate spirituality from culture and background, heritage and tradition (issues for both Christians and Muslims). I t is not just about giving but also receiving. In listening and dialogue “God says….” is not always the answer, sometimes difficult cases require a personal narrative - “I am/was ....”

Patients
Issues relating to health and wellness. When people are secure, content, in control etc. they are not necessarily aware of spirituality. When coming onto hospital it is often the reverse. People ask spiritual questions: ‘Why me?’ ‘Am I being punished?’, there is concern about death and the search for peace. Chaplains can help with prayer, prayer can be as effective as treatment for people in difficult circumstances.

When chaplains bring the spiritual or sacred into secular spaces (both around us and within) they are carrying out ‘space engineering’

Young People
The person who provides spiritual guidance for young people needs that hard-earned quality ‘street credibility’, the capacity to be a bridge between the adult world and that of the young. S/he should provide an attractive example of the positive practices of faith whilst enabling the young person to freely choose their path in life .
Conference Statement
Conference Statement
At the conferences final session, after some prolonged debate, delegates approved a statement on ‘Spiritual Guidance in Our Multi Faith Society’ which can be found by clicking here.