Welcome to the website for the Bromley Three Faiths Group (B3FG).
The B3FG was formed in 2016 through a culmination of a series of discussions with people from the three Abrahamic (Jewish, Christian and Islamic) faiths with a collective interest in sharing experiences and knowledge of our beliefs and practices to establish an interfaith group within Bromley.
Our primary objective is through promoting a greater understanding of each other’s faiths, both in belief and in practice, with the ultimate aim of nurturing a more harmonious and peaceful society. We plan to achieve this through community engagement, working together on shared goals, and enhancing mutual understanding through theological discussion.
For further details please contact us at Bromley3FG@gmail.com
Please scroll down for details of our current and recent programmes, and for our statements made by the Bromley Three Faiths Group in response to the Israel-Palestine crisis.
Our Autumn 2024 programme
Our programme began with our annual Peace Walk on Sunday 1 September in Beckenham Place Park, which was followed by A Piece of Cake. The weather was excellent and a really good number of people enjoyed a stroll through the beautiful park and many good conversations. Thank you to all who came and especially to those who provided first-class refreshments.
We then held a discussion meeting via Zoom on Thursday 19th September on the theme of Creation and Fall. We had a lively discussion about the origins of the world, the creation of human beings, the disruption brought about by human rebellion and the way that these ancient stories affect our understanding of God and human beings today.
Our third meeting was a live event on Tuesday 15 October at Bromley Reform Synagogue, when our theme was Religious encounters with strangers. As well as enjoying excellent hospitality, we had the opportunity to visit the sukkah and to view the Torah scroll, from which we heard a reading (in Hebrew).
The final meeting of our current programme will be a discussion via Zoom on Monday 9 December. The theme for this meeting will be decided nearer the time. Please contact us if you have a suggestion.
Everyone attending our discussion meetings has the opportunity to talk about some aspect of the theme, and we also warmly welcome anyone who wishes simply to sit and listen. Please contact us (Bromley3FG@gmail.com) for invitation details for our future meetings.
This year’s Inter Faith Invitation weekend will be from Friday 15 to Sunday 17 November. For full details please see the feature panel.
Contact us
Please contact us (Bromley3FG@gmail.com) for further details or to join our mailing list. We are also appealing to all our members for ideas and suggestions for future B3FG events and discussion topics.
Links
| South London interfaith group (SLIFG) www.southlondoninterfaith.org.uk www.facebook.com/South-London-Interfaith-Group-111363220585312 |
The Israel-Palestine crisis
On 20 February 2024 the Bromley Three Faiths Group Steering Committee wrote to local MPs to call for action in resolving the Israel-Palestine crisis. The full text of the letter is as follows:
Dear Members of Parliament
We are members of the Bromley Three Faiths Group. For nearly ten years we have
facilitated interfaith dialogue and friendship between Jews, Muslims and Christians in the Borough of Bromley. In more recent years, we have had many conversations to understand each other’s perspectives on the Israel-Palestine situation. We have focused on what unites us, even when that is the shared experience of grief and fear. Given the unfolding events, we are writing to you now, together, to request that you use all available resources and political power as our local MPs to bring about the following:
- Full and immediate access for humanitarian aid to all parts of Gaza
- Immediate and permanent bilateral ceasefire (that is, cessation of all hostilities once and for all)
- Release of all hostages
- Protection of Palestinians (and Israeli peace activists) in the West Bank
- Sustained efforts to end the longstanding huge injustices against Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank
We all want to see this destructive situation abroad resolved, not only in the interests of a peaceful and stable Middle East, but also to sustain the community bonds we’ve worked so hard to build in the Borough of Bromley.
With best wishes,
Bromley Three Faiths Group Steering Committee
This letter followed a statement published on 11 October 2023:
Bromley Three Faiths Group: a statement on the Israel-Palestine crisis
The Bromley Three Faiths Group, bringing together local Muslim, Jewish and Christian faith groups, offers our support for all members of our communities who have friends and family in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. We pray for the safety of those on the ground, and for their swift healing from injury and trauma. We grieve with those whose homes and communities have been destroyed. We honour the memory of those who have been killed in the midst of their daily lives.
We call on our leaders in the UK and internationally to cease support for all violent actions immediately, to make real efforts to resolve this situation peacefully, andto formulate a just and lasting solution that accords with international law.
Here in South East London we will strenuously resist any attempt to use what is happening overseas to sow distrust and division between our UK faith communities. We condemn all incidents of Islamophobic or antisemitic hate crime and hate speech. We will not allow any politician to twist our grief into fear and exploit it for self-serving ends.
We commit ourselves to continuing the work of mutual dialogue and education about our different faiths, cultures and communities in Bromley. We celebrate our shared Abrahamic values and our love for peace in the Holy Land.
We encourage members of our communities to join our efforts in nurturing understanding between our respective faith groups.
Thank you
From the Steering Committee of the Bromley Three Faiths Group
15-17 November 2024: Inter Faith Invitation weekend
| Our special invitation weekend takes place from Friday 15th to Sunday 17th November 2024 to coincide with the national Inter Faith Week celebrations. All members of the Bromley Three Faiths Group and their guests are invited to visit Bromley Reform Synagogue, St John’s Church and the Al-Emaan Centre to observe the acts of worship either live or online. Full details are as follows. Keston Mosque (Muslim) – Friday 15th November at 1pm Al-Emaan Centre (Keston Mosque) extends a warm welcome to all members of the local Christian and Jewish communities to join us for our weekly service either in person at the mosque or online via Zoom. The service will be led by Imam Ehsan Abdullah and last approximately 30 minutes. There is no need to book. Address: Al-Emaan Centre, Croydon Road, Keston BR2 8HF. Please note: all guests and worshippers will be asked to remove their shoes on entering the mosque. For Zoom details or for any other queries please contact info@al-emaan.org.uk Bromley Reform Synagogue (Jewish) – Saturday 16th November at 10.30am The Sabbath service will be led by members of the congregation and will last about 1½ hours, with refreshments afterwards. Join in person at the synagogue at 28 Highland Road BR1 4AD or online. If attending in person please notify the Synagogue in advance by EMail to matthew_delange@yahoo.co.uk Please note: all male guests will be offered a kippah (skullcap) to put on when entering the synagogue. St John’s Church Bromley (Christian) – Sunday 17th November at 10am We would love to see you at St John’s for our Parish Communion service, which includes hymns, prayers, Bible readings and a sermon. You can come in person to our building in Park Road BR1 3HJ or join us online. The service is led by the Vicar Andrew McClellan and will last just over an hour, with refreshments afterwards. |
A look back at our recent programme
Many thanks to everyone who has supported the work of the Bromley Three Faiths Group this year. Our spring programme began on Thursday 21st March, when many of our members accepted the warm invitation to the Iftar hosted live at the Al Emaan Centre (Keston Mosque).
Our programme continued with a discussion on the theme of Forgiveness, held via Zoom on Wednesday 5th June.
Our final meeting took place on Monday 8th July at St John’s Church, Park Road, Bromley. The theme for our evening was Early Memories, and everyone was invited to bring a story to share with the rest of the group.
About us
| Background The Bromley Three Faiths Group (B3FG) was formed in 2016 through a culmination of a series of discussions with people from the three Abrahamic (Jewish, Christian and Islamic) faiths with a collective interest in sharing experiences and knowledge of our beliefs and practices to establish an interfaith group within Bromley. Vision Our primary objective is through promoting a greater understanding of each other’s faiths, both in belief and in practice, with the ultimate aim of nurturing a more harmonious and peaceful society. We plan to achieve this through community engagement, working together on shared goals, and enhancing mutual understanding through theological discussion. Project examples Since the group’s inception in 2016, it has matured with regard to realizing its core objective. This is attested by the success of several inter-faith initiatives over the years including fundraising, via collections at the local churches, synagogue and mosque as well as a charity cricket match. We also supplied food and clothes to refugees in the Calais camps before they were dismantled by the French Government.Currently the group is involved with helping refugee families from war torn countries in the Middle East to settle in a neighbouring borough through close cooperation with the local authority and via providing families with welcome food hampers clothes, furniture, mobile phones and funds etc. Members have also provided families with DIY help, transport and have periodically made visits to their homes helping settle refugee families, via building trust and confidence to help them rebuild their lives. There have also been a number of successful theological discussion sessions organized at each place of worship with a truly inter-faith audience, lead by the heads of each faith, helping us understand the core messages of each faith that in turn bind us together in a global faith community, thereby allowing us to show compassion in an increasingly cynical world. Mother / Toddler groups have also been organized to help build new friendships and relationships to deepen the bond of the inter-faith community and show the strength of a people united by a common interest. An annual Peace Walk has allowed the Abrahamic faith based group to invite all other faiths and people of all backgrounds to share in an afternoon walk followed by tea and cake in the mutual understanding, of the need to strive for a more understanding and peaceful society. Steering Committee Governance The activities of the Bromley Three Faiths Group are supervised by a Steering Committee, whose members understand the primary objective of the group and the common interest that bind the group together. Membership of the steering committee comprises three people from each represented faith group (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) within the borough of Bromley. |