National speakers to headline ‘crucial’ conference on interfaith issues

Generous Love Conference, Harrogate, March 28

Questions surrounding the church’s relations with other faiths will be the subject of a major diocesan conference at the end of this month.  The Generous Love Conference, takes place on Saturday 28 March at St Mark’s Church, Harrogate, and speakers include the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Adviser on Interfaith Relations, Canon Guy Wilkinson, the Archdeacon of Southwark, the Ven. Dr Michael Ipgrave, and Dr. Ataullah Siddiqui, Director of Markfield Institute of Higher Education.

The conference is open to both lay and ordained people, and organisers say the conference aims to explore the Christian response to other faiths in a way that is practical and accessible to congregation members and not just clergy. Canon Charles Dobbin, the Inter Faith Relations Officer for the diocese, said, “We will explore questions such as ‘How can I relate to other faiths and still be distinctively Christian’, ‘How do I build up trust in meeting people of  other faiths?’, and ‘What practical difference can I make in this?’ This will be a stimulating and exciting day, and will open our eyes to the opportunities on our door step.”

One of the speakers is Bishop John Packer, who said in an interview for the conference, that the issues being discussed at the conference were crucial to the life of our community. “I also think that interfaith work is crucial to the life of the whole world, not least in the relationships between the western democracies and the Islamic world at the beginning of the Obama presidency.”

Hear Bishop John’s interview on the role of interfaith dialogue and understanding here.

Generous Love takes place on Saturday 28 March, 9.15am – 4.00pm at St Mark’s Harrogate. The cost is £5 including lunch.  For more information contact Charles Dobbin (0113) 268 4598 e.mail cdobbin@aol.com.

To book into the Generous Love Conference please contact Kath Hinchcliffe 0113 200 0558 , e.mail kathh@riponleeds-diocese.org.uk.

Download a PDF poster of the Conference