The Watford congregation recently organised and hosted an interfaith discussion evening with the purpose of building relationships and understanding between different Faiths. The topic “Ways to Strengthen Families” was chosen to highlight common ground between faiths, and was recognised as an important topic for many people. The evening was a great success, which many members of the ward felt was an inspiring event and a wonderful opportunity to learn more about other Faiths and to consider the common ground that we all share.
| Temple Square is always beautiful in the springtime. Gardeners work to prepare the ground for General Conference. © 2012 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. | 1 / 2 |
Speakers participated from a number of Faiths. These were: The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (known as Hare Krishna), The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Unificationist Faith, the Anglican Faith and the Sikh Faith. Each speaker spoke about ways to strengthen families from the perspective of their own Faith.
Some speakers were able to share insight with their own unique perspective. Some of the ideas spoken about during the evening were that God as our Father loves us unconditionally and God’s grace helps us to be better in our family relationships. Another speaker described the family as the school of love and the basis of society. We heard that faith strengthens and unites families and that the greatest responsibilities and the greatest joys are found in the family. We were reminded that the Faith community in which we worship is our family and finally that our family is the world and that we should seek serve all around us.
The secretary of the Watford Interfaith Group attended the evening and commented,
“...the Strengthening Families inter-faith event yesterday evening went very well. All the speakers spoke from their hearts and own experiences, and showed how their faith has helped them look after their families. This generous love can then be taken out into the world to strengthen all those we meet.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints extended the warmest of welcomes to everyone… it was a beautiful event.With many thanks to the participants. I hope we have more events like this!”
Since hosting this event members of the Watford congregation have continued to build interfaith relations as they were subsequently invited to attend Diwali with the International Society for Krishna Consciousness and have taken part in a ‘pilgrimage’ around Watford visiting different places of worship with the Watford Interfaith group.