Interfaith 

I founded Oxford’s annual interfaith Friendship Walk in 2004 in response to the torture of inmates in Basra during the Iraq war. 

The first year we walked from St Mary’s the University Church to the Central Mosque in the spirit of peace and friendship. In the second year, the Jewish community joined and it has since endured to become a seminal event where people of all faiths and none walk together starting from the Synagogue, Richmond Road, walking via the University Church of St Mary the Virgin, and ending at the Central Mosque in Manzil Way. Prayers are shared at each place of worship and everyone eats together at the end of the walk. 

I strongly believe that inter-faith actions, as well as dialogue, create the strongest links in local communities. As I said in an article I wrote for Via Media in 2017, this sort of event brings people and communities of different faiths and cultures together through conversation, shared values and mutual respect. It is a facilitator for openness and open-mindedness that allows us to truly love and know our neighbour. 

The Oxford Council of Faiths, partly born out of this annual event, continues to practice these principles of sharing and learning.