One small step that didn't make the headlines while the archbishop Rowan Williams was facing the Church of England Synod over his sharia law lecture, was the historic meeting that the Faith Communities Forum (FCF) held in Church House. This invitation to meet during the Synod came about after three years of consideration by the church. There followed a reception at which bishops and other Synod members met the FCF group. There was a briefing on the workings of the complex organisation that is the Synod, and then the forum members sat in on the afternoon session.
Chas Raws, the Quaker on the forum, takes up the story: 'With so much government activity in the interfaith sector at present, not to mention the furore caused by the archbishop's lecture, it was not surprising that much of the time at the FCF meeting was spent discussing issues such as "Britishness", shared values, a community of communities and multiple identities. Many of us are involved in trying to write responses to the consultation on an interfaith strategy for the UK, "Face-to-Face and Side-by-Side", and some doubts were expressed about the helpfulness of its questionnaire format. The archbishop's faith adviser suggested that we would do well to ignore many of the questions and focus on the big issue – what role do we actually want government to take in relation to faith communities?' It seems to us that this very sensitive arena is getting pretty crowded.

Labels: Church of England, sharia, synod