York Interfaith Group (YIG)
Newsletter – March 2016
· Editor’s Note
Our March 1st meeting is with University students – greater youth engagement is one of our priorities, as is communication via social media. All offers of help to enliven the York Interfaith Group Facebook and Twitter (@YorkInterfaith ) media are very welcome. Please link, like and let people know!
· Contributions to our Monthly Newsletter
Please send your contributions to we welcome your views and questions for publication and discussion. We hope that our group is open, inclusive, transparent, participative and responsive to your needs.
· March York Interfaith Group Meeting
7.30pm Tuesday 1st March at York Medical Society Rooms, 23 Stonegate, York
Faiths and Young Adults
Speaker: Revd Rory Dalgliesh and University Students
Chair: Michael Chester Host: Dee Boyle
· Reminder
On April the 5th, we will be fortunate to have Lord Parekh speak at our meeting; on Religious Freedom in an increasingly secular world. He will offer some insight into the recently published Lords Commission report on the subject.
· Tony Martin
TRIBUTES have been paid in the Press and at a memorial service to the man credited with opening up the River Foss to boaters. Tony Martin, 71, was a community stalwart who represented a range of organisations after first arriving in York during the 1990s.
He was the main driving force behind the establishment of the North Riding Branch of the Inland Waterways Association (IWA) and negotiated with City of York Council to allow IWA volunteers to operate Castle Mills Lock, giving boaters access to the Foss.
Born during the War in Brentford, Middlesex, he was evacuated to Bath as a baby.
His love of boats and cars began from an early age and he maintained an interest in vehicles for the rest of his life. This passion for modern and vintage vehicles would take him to regular race meetings and regattas. He held down various jobs after beginning his working life at Sandersons Wallpaper Showroom in London, before joining his father's tobacco and confectionary business as a traveller. Tony left work to study as a social worker at Sunderland Polytechnic and worked for Age Concern in South London after graduating to complete youth and community projects. However, it was his passion for politics which saw him arrive in York more than two decades ago. He was helping with electioneering in London when a request was received for his assistance in York and he volunteered. Once in York he stood as a candidate for the Green Party in the local elections in 1999 (Knavesmire) and again in 2003 (Micklegate), the same year in which the Greens gained their first seats on the council in neighbouring Fishergate. Tony's volunteering and community work in other areas continued to expand; he was actively involved in the Guildhall Planning Panel, the Unitarian Chapel in St Saviourgate, as a tenant inspector for City of York Council, York Older People's Forum, Health Watch and Groves Residents. He had been an active member of the York Interfaith Group for many years and was a supporter of several other groups associated with welcoming new people to York. His many interests also included history, and he became a volunteer guide at Treasurer's House, Jacob’s Well and Fairfax House. Tony established York History Tours and York Battle Tours and also ran tours along the river. Recently he was a member of the Living History Group at the Unitarian Chapel which had been meeting for about 3 years. Tony died in Mulberry Court care home on January 25 following a short stay in St Leonard's Hospice over Christmas. He will be sadly missed by all the groups that he was a part of and for all the volunteer work that he did within the York Community (Dee Boyle).
PROMOTED STORIES
· President Obama speaks out for religious freedom
President Barack Obama noted that Mormons have faced persecution like Muslims and other faiths as he made his first visit to a U.S. mosque and pleaded for tolerance toward all religions.
"Mormon communities have been attacked throughout our history," Obama said at the Islamic Society of Baltimore. "Catholics, including, most prominently, JFK — John F. Kennedy — when he ran for president, was accused of being disloyal. ... Anti-Semitism in this country has a sad and long history, and Jews were excluded routinely from colleges and professions and from public office."
The president, stressed during his visit on the eve of the National Breakfast that Americans must stay true to their core values, and that "includes freedom of religion for all faiths."
"When any religious group is targeted, we all have a responsibility to speak up," the president said. "And we have to reject politics that seeks to manipulate prejudice or bias and targets people because of religion."
Full article: http://www.sltrib.com/home/3495925-155/president-obama-denounces-anti-muslim-bias-mentions
· Some messages from Dr Avijit Datta (Chair of York Interfaith Group)
''Ekam sat vipra bahudha vadanti'' These five words from the Rig Veda (Chapter 1, Verse 164, Line 46) were written millennia ago. They mean God is one; the learned and the wise speak of it in many ways
NEW HOME FOR YORK INTERFAITH We welcomed the new year at our Annual General Meeting in our beautiful new home, the York Medical Society buildings, 23 Stonegate YO1 8AW. This was the home of Tempest Anderson, an eye surgeon who owned York’s first telephone. His passion was to photograph Volcanoes whenever and wherever they erupted.
There is full disabled access from the garden entrance via the side of the Slug and Lettuce (Grape Lane). Please contact us in advance for details. There is also an audio loop for hearing aids. Meetings are on the first Tuesday of each month at 7.30PM.
TREASURER We are delighted that Michelle Wagstaff has been unanimously elected as our new Treasurer. She is working hard in keeping our group’s finances secure so that we may undertake our activities in maintaining harmony between different faiths in York and beyond. Please give/ send your annual subscription forms to her or in her absence to any of the officers . You can contact Michelle via email:
Help with fundraising is welcomed to support our activities and to revamp our website and social media presence. Please contact Michelle or myself if you can help.
MUSICAL SOCIAL EVENT The York Medical Society has a beautiful garden in which we plan to have a Musical Social Event where members, refreshed by food and drink may sing, play instruments as well as bring ideas for future activities and ask questions to the Officers of the group. Christian Vassie, Musicologist has kindly agreed to coordinate the music. Ideas, contributions and help with this are welcomed – please contact Sue Maskill, our Secretary at a meeting or via email:
York is taking part in a national litter picking campaign to Clean for The Queen in time for Her Majesty’s 90th birthday.
Volunteers, community groups, schools and businesses are all invited to take part in Clean for The Queen by sprucing up their local area or joining one of the organised litter picks in the city.
Clean for The Queen is backed by organisations such as the National Trust, the RSPB, the Women’s Institute, Keep Britain Tidy and all the other major anti-litter organisations from across the UK.
Any individual or group taking part asked to let the council know as they can offer advice, loan litter pickers on a first come, first served basis and issue refuse bags. They will also collect filled bags of rubbish from groups of volunteers, provided this is arranged in advance.
If you plan to take part in Clean for The Queen please register your interest locally by calling 01904 55151or emailing
You can find out more at www.york.gov.uk/cleanforthequeen and www.cleanforthequeen.co.uk
· York International Shared Meal
Celebrate ONE WORLD WEEK by joining in the INTERNATI0NAL SHARED MEAL
6-9pm SATURDAY OCTOBER 29th 2016
ACOMB PARISH CHURCH HALL, Front Street, Acomb, York YO24 3BX
Bring a dish of your own country or tradition to share, and contribute just £3 at the door towards the cost of the hall, soft drinks (Please bring food by 6.15pm)
Bring your children: 16 & under free
Entertainment after the meal
Organised jointly by:
York Racial Equality Network, York Interfaith Group and York Baha'i Community
Contact: Tricia Castle 01904 641657/
or YREN 01904 624600 /
· International Women's Week
YORK UNITARIANS - A TALK ABOUT CATHARINE CAPPE
Unitarian Chapel, St. Saviourgate, York, YO1 8NQ
2pm SUNDAY 13th MARCH
A talk by Unitarian historian Andrew Hill about Catharine Cappe, the pioneering York feminist, who was not content that women were excluded from public life and decision making. She involved herself in matters of education, health and welfare in York previously dominated by men. She was also an enthusiastic Unitarian who worshipped in the Chapel, is buried somewhere in the Chapel yard and is memorialised inside.
· York St John University Students Question York Interfaith Group Members
On the first of February students preparing to become Religious Education teachers took their opportunity to ask questions of faith representatives.
Emma McVittie, Senior Lecturer and Cohort Leader for PGCE Secondary RE, organised the event with the help of York Interfaith Group.
Anglican Diocese advisors for Religious Education, RE teachers from across York and the students joined Ms McVittie and enjoyed a positive, friendly and respectful Q&A session.
The panellists included Bahai, LDS, Muslim and Sikh representatives, including regular members of York Interfaith Group; Mark Cosens and Roderic Vassie.
The students asked:
- What can you tell us about God?
- What is most often misunderstood about your religion?
- Why is there suffering?
An expansive set of responses followed and the students were able to continue their enquiries and hold informal conversations afterwards.
The main purpose of the Q&A was to allow students the opportunity to encounter the faith representatives themselves and so to be able to ask questions directly of them, rather than merely go on what others have written and said about those faiths.
A thoroughly worthwhile event and one that remained true to the principle taught by former Anglican Archbishop of Stockholm Krister Stendahl who recommended
three ‘rules’ for Interfaith Dialogue, namely:
1. When trying to understand another religion, you should ask the adherents of that religion and not its enemies.
2. Don't compare your best to their worst.
3. Leave room for “holy envy.”
By (3) Stendahl meant that you should be willing to recognize elements in another religious tradition or faith, elements you admire and wish might find greater scope in your own religious tradition or faith.
· Minister for Civil Society thanks York Interfaith Volunteers
Cabinet Minister (for Civil Society) Rob Wilson MP, visited York on 4th February, to learn how the local community, including volunteers, had helped after the recent flooding.
Rob Wilson MP welcomed to York Daryoush Mazloum of the Bahai Community
by Elder Culbert of The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
On a sunny Saturday morning, York Central MP Rachael Maskell, City of York Council Volunteer Co-ordinators and Environmental Officers, South Bank Residents, Volunteers from various churches, the Bahai community in York, York Interfaith Group, and York Latter-day Saints (LDS)… all worked cheerfully together to clean-up Rowntrees Park.
Christmas floods had left the park (and especially the children’s play areas) inundated and dirty water had sat on the site for weeks. Ducks, fish and even a terrapin were among the casualties found among congealed leaves, branches and muddy vegetation. So in all around 90 volunteers got to work to clear debris, rake out leaves and sludge, wash children’s play areas down, dig over soil and spread fresh wood-chippings to leave the area fit for use by the public again.
York Muslim Community were also recognised for their excellent efforts in offering extensive and sustained relief and support to affected residents following the floods.
· Message from Daryoush Mazloum: Woodland and Wildflower Meadow
I thought you, your friends groups, associates and organisations you are supporting may be interested in potentially helping to plant a new Woodland and Wildflower Meadow on Monk Stray. For further information please contact:
Gordon Campbell-Thomas, Project Advisor, John Lally International Foundation
www.jlif.org Telephone: 07794706961
· New Buddhist Group for York
March 21stat 6pm at the Friends Meeting House, Friargate, York YO1 9RL
‘The spread of Buddhism to the West’
For the group’s first meeting David Midgley, from Jamyang Buddhist Centre Leeds, will offer an overview of the different ways in which Buddhism has developed in the Western world.
The group aims to explore the different types of Buddhism by inviting various
guest speakers to talk about their specific sect of Buddhism as well as having some general meditation sessions. Gilly Payne, who is organising it, says “Please come along if you are interested in being part of this new group. We hope everyone will have the chance to say what they would like from it.”
Please contact Gilly Payne for further details
· Holocaust Memorial Week
Professor Helen Weinstein (Director, History Works), Dr. Jeremy Ashbee (Head Historic Properties Curator, English Heritage), John Oxley (City Archaeologist, City of York Council) and Ben Rich (Chair, York Liberal Jews) led a walking tour of Jewish highlights, culminating in a Jewish kaddish prayer in front of Clifford’s Tower, where Jews died in 1190. Ben Rich made the point outside the Friends meeting House, where Liberal Jews regularly worship, that Jews should not just be defined by their past.
That same evening Evensong was held in York Minster followed by the lighting of 600 candles arranged in the shape of the Star of David within the Chapter House. This year was notable in that various events took place over a week, and noted that there have been many holocausts throughout history.
On Sunday 31st Jan, Rev. Paul Wordsworth of York City of Sanctuary conducted interviews with members of the local Syrian community. It is estimated that some 60 refugees from Syria will be coming to York in the next five years.