The Prime Minister, Theresa May, sent a message of support on twitter this week to an interfaith summit in Birmingham set up to address hate crime, the lack of ethnic leadership in civic life, homelessness and the local economy.
The Prime Minister described it as a “landmark conference,” saying that the faith community is a “source of vitality and strength in our society".
The conference was organised in a bid to boost community cohesion in one of the most ethnically diverse regions of the UK. The recently elected Mayor of the West Midlands, Andy Street, had made the faith ‘summit’ one of his electoral pledges, saying he is convinced “faith communities and faith-based charities form one of the greatest - and sometimes most under-appreciated - sources of strength, vitality and resilience.”
Four hundred people joined the gathering in the Great Hall of Birmingham University The Archbishop of Birmingham, Bernard Longley as well as clergy and parishioners from eight deaneries which fall within the jurisdiction of the West Midlands Combined Authority were among those attending. Speaking to The Tablet, Mr Street, the former Managing Director of John Lewis, said: “I was delighted with the attendance and the quality of discussion and debate. The trick now will be making sure we harness this enthusiasm and momentum to drive forwards.”
Prior to the conference the Mayor established a 17 strong faith steering group to help him shape priorities. Catholic Co-chair of the group, Francis Davis, Professor of Communities and Public Policy at the University of Birmingham, said: "In this region, hundreds of thousands of people attend Mass, Mosques and Temples every week; in some parts of the West Midlands, there would be over 100 ethnicities at a given Mass."
Describing the Mayor as "bothered" about the leadership issue, he said the question the Mayor is asking is how to create leadership that is more like the people it serves - in the NHS, politics, public services and the local economy. Conference delegates heard presentations by the Anglican Bishop of Birmingham, David Urquhart, Jean Templeton OBE, chair of the Mayor’s homelessness task force, Anita Bhalla OBE, chair of the Mayor’s Leadership Commission and David Jamieson, the Police and Crime Commissioner for the West Midlands.
Professor Davis - whose co-chair on the steering group is Amrick Singh Ubhi, Director of the Nishkam Centre, a Sikh faith-led organisation - says the Mayor wants people who wouldn't normally meet, to come together to talk about shared challenges, but also be instrumental in decision making: "The Church can sometimes sit on the margins; this offers the chance to shape policy and play a part in its implementation," he said. He believes the devolution of power away from London to the regions is a learning curve for Catholics, used to a Church where power is centralised; he said the Mayor is “breaking open the hierarchical approach “ and this will allow Catholics to make a tangible contribution to the way the region is run.
(Top picture: L-R Bishop of Birmingham David Urquhart, Amrick Singh Ubhi, co chair of Birmingham's faith steering group and Steve Philpott of the Homelessness Taskforce.)
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