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Jane Sherwin on her visit to
St Ethleburga's Centre
for Reconciliation and Peace
On July 7th this year, there was a ceremony at St Ethleburga's Centre
for Reconciliation and Peace to install a Book of Tributes to the victims
of the bombings in London on 7/7 last year. There were readings by the
Muslim chaplain of the London Metropolitan University, by a Christian
allied to the Centre, by Sri Gauri Das of the Hindu Forum of Britain
and by the rabbi of the Bevis Marks Synagogue in the city. The bishop
of London, who was the instigator of the building of the Centre, gave
a reflection. After the Installation of the Book there was a period
of silence, cello music and then a Kaddish, the Jewish prayers for the
dead.
The Book of Tributes stands to the side of the altar, on a lectern,
its cover engraved with the names of all the victims. On the altar,
behind, lie a Bible, a Torah and a Koran.
The church is named after a C7th Benedictine Abbess noted for her
heroic conduct during an outbreak of the plague. It was first built
in 1250 with rebuilding in the first half of the C15th. Surviving the
Fire of London, in 1666, and the Blitz, in the Second World War, it
was totally destroyed by an IRA bomb in 1993. From having been the largest
building in Bishopsgate, the Centre, built mainly from the rubble of
the old building, is now the smallest.
Behind the church is a small Peace Garden, with St Ethleburga roses,
and through a pierced stone wall is access to the Tent. The Tent, dedicated
to the 'Meeting of Faiths', was opened by Prince Charles in May, this
year. Made of woven goat's hair, in the traditional Bedouin manner,
the Tent has space for up to 30 people to meet in a circle. The wooden
door into the Tent has window etched with the phrase: "and be at peace
among yourselves" in the differing calligraphy's of the world.
There are also stained glass windows to the Tent; inscribed upon their
seven bases are the words PEACE, SHALOM, SALAAM, T'AI, SHANTI, MAITRA,
and SAIMU. At the top of each window is a differing symbol of a yellow-gold
sun and below that a blue-white symbol of the moon is in a different
stage of eclipse. Below that, above the PEACE, is a regional tree and
its fruits.
On a low, circular table in the middle of the Tent, lie the scriptures
of the faiths: the Koran, the Torah, the New testament, the Sacred Nitnem
of the Sikhs, the Jain's 'True Nature of Reality', the Hindu Bhagvad-gita,
the Zarathushtra and the Baha'I 'Book of Certitude'. There was also
a box of tissues in a fancy cover, which I wondered about, until a flood
of tears overwhelmed me. Though I learned, later, that they had been
provided for the relatives of the victims of 7/7 who had attended the
Installation ceremony. Meditations habitually take place in the Tent;
every Tuesday (8:15 –8:45 a.m.), a silent lunch every Thursday
(1:10 – 1:50 p.m.) and every Friday (12:15-12:45 p.m.). There
are also Reflections in the church nave each Wednesday (1:10-1:40 p.m.)
with a different theme each week.
There was an Interfaith Devotional evening in the Tent, hosted by
the Baha'I community on July 11th; 'Echoes of the Wind', a performance
of the Sufi 'ney' flute on the 12th; a multi-faith enquiry circle on
the 20th and the story of 'The Life of Buddha' on the 28th. For what
is currently taking place Tel: 0207496-1610 or e-mail tent@stethleburgas.org
The Centre is at 78 Bishopsgate, just three minutes walk from Liverpool
Street, on the Hammersmith and City line.
Back to the top
A prayer for an end to violence
God of life,
Every act of violence in our world,
in our communities, between myself and others’
destroys a part of your creation.
Stir in my heart
a renewed sense of reverence for life.
Give me the vision to recognise your spirit
in every human being
however they behave towards me.
Make possible the impossible
by cultivating in me
the fertile seed of healing love.
May I play a part in breaking the cycle of violence
by realising that
peace begins with me.
London, 7th July 2005
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