The third and final phase of a Faith in Leadership (FiL) training course for 2008 was held at Lambeth Palace on 5 November, at the invitation of the Archbishop of Canterbury. Thirty-two young faith leaders from the UK’s main religious communities spent the day together, affirming what they had learnt from being part of the course and looking ahead to the future. There was a certain symbolism that it took place on the date when centuries earlier, across the river at the Palace of Westminster, tensions between Protestants and Catholics had been so intense.
A group of teachers and pupils from a school in Sheffield gave a powerful presentation of what FiL had already given them. IofC worker Peter Everington spelt out how God can lead in career choices and help us all become change-makers. This led to a number of animated conversations. The impact that Faith in Leadership is having on individual lives and communities was displayed throughout the day.
A gala graduation dinner, prepared by the cooks at Bhaktivedanta Manor Hindu Temple, for about 80 people, included luminaries from the worlds of faith, politics, education and business. The Archbishop's Chief of Staff welcomed the group and said how fully the Archbishop, as Patron of Faith in Leadership, supported their search for new effectiveness within Britain's faith communities, developing stronger links of working together, and acknowledged the leadership Initiatives of Change was offering through events such as this. Guests came away with a profound sense of the quality and high standard of the FiL programme and its different stakeholders.
Far from wanting to remain solely within their own faith communities, the young participants expressed their strong desire to work together across boundaries, and to partner with groups such as Initiatives of Change. Participant-led initiatives spawned by FiL include collaboration over ending Islamaphobia within a religious institution in London, to addressing the alienation and marginalisation arising from a lack of understanding between generations in a Leeds community.
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