News – BRISTOL MULTI FAITH FORUM

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Bristol Diverse Doors Open Day 2023

Bristol Diverse Doors Open Day 19th November 2023, Sunday.

Bristol Multi-Faith Forum (BMFF) is organising this year’s Bristol Diverse Doors Open Day on Sunday, the 19th of November 2023 from 9 am to 5.30 pm, as part of the UK Inter Faith Week. Bristol Diverse Doors Open Day celebrates the religious diversity of Bristol, giving communities the chance to experience and learn each other’s cultures and beliefs; and offering the opportunity to visit a range of places of worship and discover many faith communities that exist in Bristol.

Over the years, many places of worship have opened their doors to the general public and to members of other faith communities as part of this event, which is unique to Bristol. All places of worship in Bristol are invited to participate in the Diverse Doors Open Day. Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant, the High Sheriff, the Lord Mayor, the Police Commissioner, councillors, civic dignitaries, various community leaders, and people from different walks of life will be participating in the Diverse Doors Open Day programmes at different venues. BMFF always requests guests and community members to respect and follow the customs and practices of the visiting place of worship.

*Faith Trail at the Greek Orthodox Church*

Bristol Multi-Faith Forum also focuses on peace and harmony amongst communities and efforts to support the distressed people affected by the war. Bristol Diverse Doors Open Day Multi-Faith trail is coordinated by Cllr Tom Aditya, Chairman of the Multi-Faith Forum, with the cooperation of Bristol’s faith communities and harmonised by BMFF Steering Group members. This year’s Diverse Doors Open Day will be supported by Bristol City Council’s Community Development Team under the leadership of Mr Mohammed El Sharif.

BMFF will arrange a scheduled tour providing minibus transport for people who have signed up for the tour in advance, for a small donation. Diverse Doors Multi-Faith Trail will start at 9 a.m. on Sunday, the 19th of November 2023 from the BMFF office at the Barton Hill Settlement, 43 Ducie Road, Bristol (BS5 0AX), and will finish by 5.30 p.m. The Faith Trail will pass through a Buddhist shrine, a Greek Orthodox Christian Church, a Seventh Day Adventist Church, a Muslim Mosque, a Sikh Gurudwara, a Jewish Synagogue, a Hindu Temple, and a Bahai Centre.

More details of the Multi-Faith Trail and Diverse Doors Open Day will be updated shortly through the BMFF website. We request all those who are interested, to join this year’s Diverse Doors Multi-Faith Trail. Seats are limited on the tour. Please email info@bristolmultifaithforum.org.uk to book your seats in advance. Older persons, various community leaders, university students, and other youngsters who have shown interest in inter-faith and inter-cultural activities are welcome.

We would like to take this opportunity to invite you and your friends, family members and colleagues to join us and taste the various flavours of the different faiths in Bristol on the 19th of November. Let’s celebrate the UK Inter-Faith Week in harmony.

A group gathering of the Bristol Multi-Faith Forum at the Hindu Temple.

Bristol Multi-Faith Forum, 43 Ducie Road, Barton Hill, Bristol, BS5 0AX

Email: info@bristolmultifaithforum.org.uk

www.bristolmultifaithforum.org.uk

Bristol Multi-Faith Forum is an equality organization established in 2004 by the Bristol City Council for inter-faith community cohesion and inter-cultural social harmony; and to promote the health and well-being of the communities.

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India-Pakistan Harmony Buffet 2022

A community harmony buffet dinner has been arranged at Bristol ZaZa Bazaar on Sunday, 14thAugust 2022 as part of the community cohesion campaign by the Bristol Multi-Faith Forum (BMFF) to jointly celebrate Independence Day festivities of India and Pakistan

A community harmony dinner has been arranged at Bristol ZaZa Bazaar on Sunday, 14^th August 2022 as part of the community cohesion campaign by the Bristol Multi-Faith Forum (BMFF) to jointly celebrate Independence Day festivities of India and Pakistan.

August 14 marks Pakistan Independence day and August 15 is Indian Independence Day. Due to the trauma of partition and communal conflicts as well as the history of wars between both countries, there are tensions and misunderstandings between both communities worldwide. We need to alleviate such animosities and divisions amongst both communities at the grassroots level in the West of England region. Bristol Multi-Faith Forum (BMFF) is an equality organisation instituted by the Bristol City Council in 2004 for inter-faith and inter-cultural social harmony and to promote community well-being. BMFF is providing a platform for both communities in the West of England region to come together and have an India-Pakistan Friendship Meal, which has been attended by Her Majesty’s Lord Lieutenant, the Lord Mayor, MPs, Chair of the South Glos Council, civic officials and community leaders, as well as representatives from the Indian and Pakistan High Commissions in the UK.

The India and Pakistan friendship meal is a symbolic expression of the harmony and friendship that needs to exist between the Indian and Pakistan communities in Bristol, as well as amongst the Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christian, Jain, Bahai, Jewish, Buddhist, and Parsi faiths in West of England region. Earlier, Bristol Multi-Faith Forum was involved in arranging similar events with Palestinian and Israeli communities and was successful in combating prejudice and spreading the message of harmony. We consider it essential to organise a symbolic get-together of these two communities in this part of the world and convey a message of harmony to the rest of the world.

Zaza Bazaar Restaurant, Canon’s Road, Bristol BS1 5UH is a world of culinary adventure with over 300 dishes from across the globe and a wide variety of delicacies from different cuisines. In this global restaurant, you can choose from as many dishes and sweet treat desserts as you can enjoy across 5 continents of flavours, especially from South Asian, Far East, Caribbean, Tex Mex, American and European cuisines. On Sundays, they have a medley of a lot of exclusive ethnic dishes including Rasam, dosa, Uttapams, Cholle Poori, kadhi chawal, Keema, Biriyani, all-day English breakfast and Sunday carvery. Also, the specialist chefs will cook the dishes of your liking at the live cooking stations too. There will be music and cultural programmes to enhance the harmonious spirit of the gathering. The programme will finish by 3 pm.

We cordially invited all people of goodwill to join the “Harmony Buffet Dinner” on Sunday, 14th of August, and to herald the message of peace and harmony amongst communities. This self-funded friendship initiative has been arranged on short notice, yet we are thankful to all the dignitaries, civic officials, community leaders and people of goodwill for their confirmation of attendance. All seats have been booked now. All those who requested seats via email to info@bristolmultifaithforum.org.uk, by the 11th of August were allocated seats and added to the guest list. We thank the Chair of the South Glos Council for offering to help us with the partial cost of arranging this friendship initiative. We express our acknowledgement and gratitude to the Chair of South Glos Council, and its Member Awarded Funding programme for helping us and for enabling us to help the ‘Feed the Homeless initiative’.

With warm regards,

Cllr Tom Aditya
Chairman, Bristol Multi-Faith Forum.
Tel: 07852456253

Afzal Shah, Mohindra Singh Chowdhry, Mohammed Arif Khan and Tripti Megeri
Facilitators- Harmony Dinner.

Bristol Multi-Faith Forum, 43 Ducie Road, Barton Hill, Bristol, BS5 0AX
Tel: 07789040267; Email: info@bristolmultifaithforum.org.uk
www.bristolmultifaithforum.org.uk

Faith and Harmony Festival 2024

An Interfaith event to promote social harmony and community cohesion.

Update: 3rd May 2024: All the event tickets have already been pre-booked. Thank you very much for all your interest. Please come back for the next event. If you already have the tickets, see you on the 11th of May.

Bristol Multi Faith Forum is organising ‘the South Glos Faith and Harmony Festival’ on Saturday, 11th of May 2024 at Holy Trinity Hall, Broad Croft, Bradley Stoke, Bristol, BS32 0BD. This community event supported by the South Gloucestershire Council, the NHS Blood and Transplant and the Southern Brooks Community Partnerships promotes inter-faith community cohesion and inter-cultural social harmony. It brings people from all walks of life together in South Gloucestershire.

The Guests of Honour include various dignitaries, civic officials, religious and community leaders and artists. The programme consists of inspiring talks from dignitaries, interactive sessions, cultural entertainment, refreshments and lunch (Samosa, Biriyani, Gulab Jamun, etc). We are also raising awareness about sickle cell disease, blood donation and stem cell donation among communities at the event. All residents of South Gloucestershire interested in interfaith and intercultural social harmony are invited to attend.

All those South Glos residents interested in attending are requested to register through the Eventbrite link: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-south-glos-faith-and-harmony-festival-tickets-886186376307/ or please email: info@bristolmultifaithforum.org.uk with your name, address, faith community and your dietary choice before the 5th of May 2024. Vegetarian and Non-Vegetarian lunch options are available. It’s a free event, but pre-registration is essential. Unfortunately, we cannot accommodate more guests when tickets are all taken up.

If you already have the tickets, see you on the 11th of May and let’s celebrate the day together.

Cllr Tom Aditya (Chairman)

Adv. Tripti Megeri (Secretary)

Multi-Faith Peace Gathering

A Multi-Faith Peace Gathering has been arranged at the Bristol Cathedral on Thursday, 19th October 2023 at 1.30 pm.

Joint statement from Bristol’s interfaith community on the escalation of violence in Israel-Palestine

Religious leaders from across the Abrahamic faiths have come together to send a joint message to the people of Bristol, inviting them to come together in prayer for those affected by violence in Palestine and Israel and calling for a swift end to violence and a peaceful resolution of this conflict.

The Rt Revd Vivienne Faull (Bishop of Bristol), Rabbi Monique Mayer (Bristol & West Progressive Jewish Congregation) and Zaheer Shabir (Building the Bridge) along with Cllr Tom Aditya, (Chairman of the Bristol Multi-Faith Forum), have offered up the following words in sombre reflection:

“The continuing escalation of violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that we have witnessed in recent days has deeply shaken everybody across the world. Few words can make sense of the tension we feel as we grieve the immense loss of life in this conflict.

We condemn all forms of violence, particularly those that are targeting innocent people and their families who are simply trying to live their lives. We urge the leaders to put an end to the ongoing violence and find ways to build peace among peoples and nations, so that they may live in unity with their neighbours.

We ask all our Christian, Muslim, and Jewish sisters and brothers across Bristol to come together at this difficult time and join in prayer for all who are affected by this conflict, both abroad and at home. We pray for an end to prejudice, both anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim, in our city and our country. We pray for a genuine, long-lasting peace in the region and across the world that unites us all in our humanity.”