Bagels and worship in Hebrew at Parklands

I promised to write after the 2007 Oadby and Wigston Civic Service, which took place yesterday at Parklands Leisure Centre. In recent years, members of the Borough's major faith communities have been invited to attend and to speak, and I was privileged to be able to do so as a Christian church leader.

The Mayor, Jeffrey Kaufman, is a member of the Jewish faith and the service was led with a light touch by his chaplain, Rabbi Steven Howard. It was a good occasion and a chance to affirm that people of different faiths can work together for the common good and for the flourishing of the town we share. I referred in my short address to the encouragement that God brought to his people through the prophet Jeremiah to seek the welfare of the city in which they lived, a city of multiple faiths. Active, engaged, confident Christian witness is much more likely when built on relationships of trust and understanding.

The Jewish liturgy was familiar and much of it is used in our own worship. We heard Psalms 100 and 147 read and sung in Hebrew by the Rabbi and the large number of supporters from the Progressive Synagogue. I smiled to hear the final blessing followed by an invitation to tea and refreshments (surely something else we have in common with other faiths). There was an impressive spread of food with bagels instead of sausage rolls, of course.