The Bishop of Birmingham, the Rt Revd David Urquhart, is issuing a community challenge for national Inter Faith week – to get connected with people of different faiths and ethnicities “to challenge our stereotypes and broaden our imagination”. He will be speaking at the launch of the Faithful Friends photographic exhibition tomorrow (Saturday November 17), which has striking images to celebrate relationships between people of different faiths.
Faithful Friends features 15 portraits of people who have met each other through the Near Neighbours programme – a Government-funded initiative which encourages people of different faith or ethnicity to meet each other, develop trusting relationships and work together to transform their local area. In Birmingham, Near Neighbours has funded 88 projects in 13 central wards bringing an estimated 3,000 people together.
Bishop David said: “Friendships that build bridges between people of different faiths and ethnicities are really good for us as individuals, enriching our lives, challenging our stereotypes and broadening our imagination.