Interfaith in Luton

It has been a long summer with protests outside accommodation hosting people seeking asylum, and community tensions stoked by flags raised on lamp posts and painted on roundabouts up and down the land. Months before this unrest began, the President of the Methodist Conference, the Revd Richard Andrew, was invited by the Revd Dr David Chapman, District Chair of Bedfordshire, Essex and Hertfordshire, to visit Muslims, Christians and Sikhs in Luton as a guest of the local, Methodist-founded interfaith charity, Grassroots.

Luton is a diverse town where half of the population are of global majority heritage and 140 languages are spoken. In 2009, the town saw protests by an Islamist group against home-coming soldiers. Counter-protestors took to the street in groups which soon rebranded as the English Defence League, a far right group led by Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, now known as Tommy Robinson. Robinson was one of the organisers of the recent ‘Unite the Kingdom’ march, where the appropriation of Christian symbols in support of exclusion was condemned by Church leaders.

Today, Luton’s communities have moved on and face the threat of the far right as one. This is thanks, in part, to Grassroots.

“It has been an anxious time for many communities, with people feeling hesitant about going out, wondering what the future might be,” says the Revd David Chapman. “I wanted the President to see how Grassroots was a shining example of a Christian ecumenical agency working across faith communities to bring people together.

“The recent presence of flags on lamp posts in communities and the way symbols of patriotism are being misused to send a message that some people are not welcome has been a wakeup call. Grassroots shows that we can be engaged in our local communities and work with other faiths to overcome divisions and show solidarity.”

Grassroots had arranged a busy day for the President and District Chair, after a welcome at the town’s Catholic Church, they attended the nearby Luton Central Mosque. Here, the President met with mosque elders and a lunch held with local faith leaders who expressed their concern and solidarity in light of the current situation.

Sujel Miah from Mosques Together in Luton was present. “People have memories of the 1970s and 80s, when the flag was hijacked by racist groups to say, ‘This is who we are, and this is who you are not. You don't belong here’. People are frightened.

"But just a few weeks ago, we had a faith walk through Luton. People from different ages, backgrounds, faith and no faith, walked together in solidarity saying, ‘This is who we are.’ We're a community that comes together despite our religion, despite our different cultures, different backgrounds. We're not a community fuelled by hate, division and blame. We look for things that offer a shared sense of purpose, a shared sense of belonging.

"Faith doesn't teach you to hate other people based on their skin color or where they come from. Faith teaches us to welcome the stranger and the neighbour at the same time.”

Prof Zafar Khan represented the Luton Council of Faiths, “Having the Methodist President here is very helpful in showing the support we have for this work.

“What is important, helpful and reassuring is that most of us want to work with each other, we want to take the journey with each other and face the discomforts together. It energizes us to be more productive in terms of creating an environment which is conducive for contemporary Britain and a town like Luton.”

David Jonathan, Director of Grassroots, coordinated the visit. “Grassroots mission statement can be summarized as it's better to light a candle than to curse the darkness. We laid down the foundations of interfaith dialogue over 20 years ago, a dialogue which is relational, action orientated and geared towards building friendships. Grassroots has its eyes and ears always grounded into the realities of how people are feeling today. We want everybody to feel acknowledged, affirmed and heard, because that's what we always believe, that it's not about just listening to minorities, it's also about how majorities feel too.

“The need to be loved and the need to be acknowledged, affirmed and valued is common to all human beings.

“The Methodist President’s visit here was very gracious, and the words he spoke offered calm and reassurance, followed also by the words of the Revd Dr David Chapman, who also reassured communities that we will continue to stand together as we have stood together in the past, no matter what challenges come.”

Methodist President, the Revd Richard Andrew, responded to the deliberations at the mosque by quoting John Wesley. “John Wesley preached a famous sermon on catholic spirit that says, ‘If your heart is right with my heart, then give me your hand.’

“It's important for us to live out that tradition with people of all faiths. We need to move beyond a position of simply acknowledging and recognising one another to a position where actually we're walking together in order to make a real difference in our communities, particularly given the context of hate.”

The President walked from the mosque to visit the town’s Gurdwara and then onto the Town Hall where he met the Luton mayor, Councillor Amy Nicholls.

“The hospitality here has been just amazing,” said Richard. “What I have seen and heard is a testimony to what is possible in our communities if we work together.”