Responses to Faith Too Significant to Ignore
On Wednesday 19th November, we held our national conference, Faith Too Significant to Ignore. Here are some responses to Faith Too Significant to Ignore from around the web.
Amy Pether of the Caritas Social Action Network (CSAN) writes that faith definitely is too significant to ignore.
Welcomed by David Singleton, the National Executive Director of FaithAction, Clare (our Communications and Media Officer) and I, slightly awestruck by the beautiful conference room in Church House, Westminster, began a day of asking and answering the question ‘Is faith too significant to ignore?’
Through the day it was emphasized that faith groups have resources, they have volunteers and they have skills to tackle poverty and injustice. However, it is motivation and resilience that faith truly gives people to promote human dignity and create a world of shared humanity and a sense of common good that means it is, most definitely, far too significant to ignore.
Sonia Douek of Jewish Care reflects on faith being the driving force behind the work we do.
All too often we see faith in a negative light, whether it be around radicalisation or separation from wider society.
But this is not the faith I know. For me faith holds the values that makes and binds a harmonious society. It is expressed through kindness, good deeds and taking responsibility.
Just seeing so many faith based organisations at the recent FaithAction conference in London and hearing about the innovative and caring responses to issues so many people face demonstrates that faith, in its pure form, with its essence of ethics and responsibility is truly awe-inspiring. Such manifestations of cannot be ignored without losing the fabric of a caring society.
And FaithAction, apart from being made up of an incredible team of professionals who I call my friends, is continuing to play the role of raising the head of faith above the parapet and celebrating its role in society. There are many interfaith organisations, but that is not the role of Faith Action. This is an organisation that helps all of us in faith based provision of service, feel proud of what we do and recognise that the faith element, which often is not about religious practice, or even G-d, is the driver for what we do.
Stephen Williams MP, Minister for Communities and Local Government, shares his thoughts on faith with the Liberal Democrat Christian Forum.
Speaking in his capacity as Minister for Communities and Local Government, Stephen thanked and encouraged the faith organisations represented saying that their work often went unsung. He noted the important role that faith groups are playing in many important issues: tackling violence against women, including FGM; supporting young people; challenging extremism; providing health care; and fighting to end the stigma of minority groups.
He also spoke fondly of his own church upbringing and the influence of his mother and grandmother, who were both Sunday-School teachers. He said that the sermons he heard in his early and teenage years had given him his moral compass and shaped his opinions.
Noting that there is often an overlap in motivation between those who engage in politics and those who are active in faith-based organisations, Stephen affirmed the need for both to stand together and work together, towards a more just world.
