Clergy on the ground acknowledge that parallel communities exist, but they insist that problems arise from social as much as religious factors, and that many bridges have been built since the riots in places such as Burnley and Bradford in 2001.
The Bishop of Burnley, the Rt Revd John Goddard, insisted on Monday: “There are no ”˜no-go’ areas in Burnley, or in East Lancashire as a whole. There are areas of separation where there is what we would describe as parallel lives. This can lead to misunderstandings, not least fostered by groups such as the BNP. But there are superb good stories to be told, not least the work of the churches across all boundaries . . . a real attitude of presence and engagement.
“We remain in all areas. We serve the whole community through our schools. One of the things we recognise is that you have to learn to be church in rather a different way when you are a minority faith.”
some in the CofE look for opportunities to attack +Rochester because they do not like his stand for biblical morality and the fact he has made it clear that going to Lambeth with all the consecrators of VGR invited is not really right nor in line with The Windsor Report….especially given FIVE years of talking and no action are already behind us.
Those who criticise him have never tried to do any Christian evangelism or even flyers inviting people to a local church in some of the streets of which +Rochester speaks……..well, they don’t evangelise anywhere, so why should they do it in those areas?? But if they did, they would soon know the response some people give is not friendly or fitting in a democracy with free speech.
Some clergy think having tea with the odd imam is great interfaith work……but people who actually reach out with the gospel often get a less than friendly response….. +Rochester knows what he is talking about even if it is not politically correct to speak the truth.
+Rochester is the son of a convert from Islam and is one of the best clerics in the CofE. He’s not a coward and he loves truth more than political correctness. I think he needs to keep on going. It only takes a few good men like him and Benedict XVI to start something much larger. And Muslims are converting to Christianity, by the way. I have written an article on why which you can read [url=http://islamdom.blogspot.com/2007/02/why-muslims-are-attracted-to.html]HERE[/url].
It is worth remembering what St. Francis was about. I think Benedict the XVI remembers.