December 2010

Contents

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| editorial |
A City Regenerated
Alan Race

| creative encounters |
The Letter of James Revisited
Ron Miller

The Healing Spirit of Rumi
Charles Burack

Henry Corbin and the Renaissance of Persian Sufism
Rasoul Sorkhabi

The Mormon Godhead and the Christian Trinity
Levi Checketts

The Pagan Religious Practices of the Chechens and the
Ingush
Michael Berman

| sacred spaces |
Ferrar House, Little Gidding
Allan Bell & Frances Mant

| reflections |
Reflections on Pluralism
Jim Kenney, Herbert Bronstein & K.L. Seshagiri Rao

| practically speaking |
Multi-faith Spaces in Contemporary Western Society
towards a theological understanding
Terry Biddington

| practically speaking |
A New Vision for God's Holy Mountain
Ohr Margalit

| focus on the interreligious movement |
Faiths, the State and the Public Realm
Barney Leith

| in review |
Review Article, God – For or Against?
Ron Miller

Reviews

| poetry |
An Intelligent Rich Person
Kabir

| prayers and meditation |
Year’s end
Bashô

Christian-Muslim Friendship in leicester

Controversy is still festering over plans to build a Muslim community center near the site of the 9/11 attacks in new York. At the same time, however, a very different approach to interreligious and intercultural encounter has been underway in Leicester, UK, for the last 10 years. There, the close proximity of a church (reordered in 2000) and mosque (opened in 2000) has become an inspiring sight in the eyes of many who take advantage of the education and training opportunities offered by St. Philip’s Centre. Masjid Umar and St. Philip’s Church enjoy friendly contact and share aspirations to promote a model for inter faith relations which others could emulate. Such aspirations are promoted by the Christian Muslim Forum in the UK, as is evident from their literature:

Our aim is to build and demonstrate strong local friendships between Christians and Muslims. We intend to inspire people to get to know their neighbours and offer our ideas, and support, to help clear hurdles and build bridges.

In time, the Forum hopes to promote twinning arrangements between mosques and churches in order to promote the aims of friendship, cooperation and mutual learning.

In various ways, three offerings in this issue of Interreligious Insight sound the same theme: “Reflection on Pluralism”, by Jim Kenney, Herbert Bronstein and K.L. Seshagiri Rao; Terry Biddington’s “Multi-faith Spaces in Contemporary Western Society”; and “Faiths, the State and the Public Realm”, by Barney Leith. Pluralism and proximity are more important than ever in interfaith relations. We hope you’ll be
challenged and even moved by these and other pieces in this issue.