But this openness does not go along with a wish to water it all down to a lowest Common Denominator. We felt the need, on the contrary, to be robust about what we believe ourselves, while accepting that others believe different things.
But we bemoaned the type of political correctness which takes the 'Christ' out of Christmas, preferring the view that those of other faiths are no more likely to be offended by our celebration of our festivals, than we are by others celebrating Diwali, or Passover or whatever feast in their own calendar.
The debate will be furthered, but we were strongly united, however, over the need to take the matter enormously seriously, the need to be tolerant and respectful, and the need to stand for what we ourselves believe in. There is far, far more that unites the great faiths of the world than divides them.
The Inter-Faith agenda.
During the conference, we received a presentation about the need to work on an inter-faith basis.
It is an increasingly important issue in a number of areas, and this is not just since the dreadful happenings of 9/11 woke many people up to a greater awareness of people of other faiths.
Chaplaincy in Industrial Mission terms has always 'been there for everyone'. Someone visiting a workplace needs to be there for everybody and anybody who works there. To be anything else would not be true to our traditions.
But more recently it has also been noted both in Methodist Circles and in wider ecumenical terms that:
The organisations within which we operate are increasingly 'expecting' an inter-faith approach, and asking one faith to 'represent' those from other faiths too .. a prickly area.
Our own people seem increasingly prepared to work on this basis.
