Inter Faith in the Mission Field?
On 26 May 2012 the Christian Muslim Forum relocated from Vauxhall to Bethnal Green Mission Church. We never expected to be writing these words! Our own ‘mission’ will not change (God willing):
‘Role-modelling a productive, committed relationship between Christians and Muslims, which seeks to inspire others. A commitment to learning about each other from each other, collaborating on shared issues, even difficult ones, recognising differences and similarities, while inviting others to join us on the journey. A journey including education, myth-busting, advocacy, honesty, risk-taking.’
Bethnal Green is an area with a high Muslim population (around 50%), the Mission Church is at the heart of it, near Bethnal Green tube station. So is it OK to set up in a Mission Church? Of course we’re not actually in the church, but the office space above it.
We asked ourselves this question when we identified the office space here as a possible new home for the Forum. There is no doubt of the message of this church, it is very clear to anyone passing it. Our trustees were content to relocate here. Although we are not in the ‘mission’ business ourselves, being in an area with a large Muslim population is good for our work, especially as our Near Neighbours programme is working in East London. A week before our move we held a very successful event for Christians and Muslim from East London.
Why is a ‘Mission Church’ in a Muslim area?
The ‘mission’ began in the 1860s and was the initiative of a friend of Dr Thomas Barnardo (Barnardo’s), the original building was a ‘home of industry’ to provide the opportunity for many children and adults to read, write and receive medical attention. The current church was set up here in the 1950s. The aim of Bethnal Green Mission Church is: ‘”to promote the welfare and education of the poor and needy by all manner of means”’. We see our current work as a modern expression of Annie Macpherson’s desire to see hope and peace established within the lives of people in our local community.’ These are the historical roots of the church, it was not established to bring ‘mission’ into the Muslim community.
What does it mean to be a Christian-Muslim organisation in a Mission Church?
It means that we have to ask ourselves this question while remaining who we are — a group of Christians and Muslims committed to friendship, working together and seeking to build bridges between Christians and Muslims. Muslim colleagues will continue to pray in the office, or elsewhere in the building, as has been our practice since before we were formally launched. In some ways we have already answered the question in our Ethical Witness Guidelines. In the Guidelines we state ‘As members of the Christian Muslim Forum we are deeply committed to our own faiths and wish to bear faithful witness to them … We recognise that both communities actively invite others to share their faith and acknowledge that all faiths have the same right to share their faith with others.’ We live and work by these Guidelines so a mission-space can never be a no-go area for us and we will continue (God willing) with our own mission of working for peace, friendship and dialogue. Perhaps there is a space for inter faith leaflets amongst the evangelistic tracts downstairs!
Personal Reflections
The main reflection in this article is about how as an organization we engage with the question of being based in a mission church. Both Zahra and I also felt the need to focus on the personal aspect, as Zahra’s colleague and manager it is relevant to think about the impact on her and our two Muslim volunteers (one of whom has not yet moved to the new office), Zahra comments on this below.
For myself, I recognize the materials and the expected evangelistic Bible texts that are part of our working environment, in fact some of these are the same as when I was a young Christian. I was an evangelistic and mission-minded Christian in my youth; my outlook has changed since then, though long before I became involved in inter faith. In many ways my inter faith experiences have made me much more comfortable sharing what I believe about Jesus, and as a Christian generally, than I ever was before and I have done so. Certainly in my early years as a Christian I was not trained or prepared to share in a way which fully engaged with ‘the other’, nor can I say that theological college or training as an RE teacher did, though preparing lesson outlines on the Gospels came close. The greatest preparation has actually been my ongoing dialogue as a person of faith in a men’s group with others who are not specifically ‘religious’ (I thank them for all that we have learned from each other). So, in some ways, as we delve into the depths of our faith and how it relates to others witness becomes inevitable, as does dialogue. Both of these are my ‘mission’, but not to seek converts. We witness in different ways, according to our different traditions, which we are entitled to do, we can speak freely about our faiths in our society. We may not want to witness in the way that others do and I may not choose to do ‘mission’ in the way that our neighbours do, but neither of us is lessened by the other and we have an important topic for shared dialogue. I am encouraged that the Forum’s Ethical Witness Guidelines give a framework for exploration of the interface between inter faith engagement and mission.
I gave a talk not so long ago on the work of the Forum and particularly these kinds of issues to a group of Evangelical ministers. One of them asked me — after I had shared the Ethical Witness Guidelines — did I want my close Muslim colleague to become a Christian? I had not been asked this question before in such a direct fashion, perhaps I had avoided it. I knew at that moment that there was no way I could give the usual answer, which works for many of my inter faith colleagues (both Christians and Muslims). So I said ‘No, I don’t want him to convert’. I went on to describe that I saw the grace of God at work in him and that that was enough for me, I could see no reason why he should convert. Witnessing to his faith on that day was my mission, not all of us have the same mission and there is room for all of us.
What does it mean to be a Muslim working here?
I believe that communication and dialogue is key to any part of life, especially community work.
Many might wonder why has the Forum not moved to a ‘neutral’ space? However I disagree with this given that the Forum encourages and promotes dialogue and learning more about each other. Moving to a mission church does not undermine or conflict with the Forum’s aim, as it wouldn’t were we to move to a mission mosque.
This can work as an example for other spaces, wherever possible, including places of worship; to not be exclusively and only open for the people they serve, but also where other opportunities might be. In this case, being based in a mission church can indeed widen both our views and help us learn more about each other; how our respective work is perceived, where more work is needed, identify any areas of collaboration.
I was asked if I felt being evangelised working in a church and how the mission/evangelistic aspect strikes me. Being evangelised? No. We should recognise each other’s right to other points of view, including religion, and being based in a church conveys that. I see it as a place where God is being worshiped, mentioned, remembered, a place where followers seek inspiration, support, strength, build friendship. I might disagree with the theology; however this should not stop interaction and working together.
Having volunteered in the mosques that I attend, I look forward to see how work will develop in our office space within the church!
— — — —
We ask for God’s blessing on the good work of Bethnal Green Mission Church, our own work, and the many churches and masjids in Bethnal Green and beyond, and our Near Neighbours colleagues at the Contextual Theology Centre nearby.
Julian Bond, Director
Zahra Imame, Project Worker
Christian Muslim Forum
Originally published at www.christianmuslimforum.org.
