All in Good Faith

Author(s): Jean Potter, Marcus Braybrooke
Publisher: World Congress of Faiths

Page 19

All in Good Faith
suggested that it may give us a glimpse of heaven, where people of 'every nation, tribe, people and language' will worship the Lamb of God (11).
In the late eighties the discussion was taken up by the Inter-Faith Consultative Group of the Church of England's Board of Mission. A report Multi-Faith Worship ? was published in 1992. The booklet included a section on 'Some Theological Perspectives', which used the familiar classification of 'exclusivism', 'inclusivism' and 'pluralism'. Whilst warning of the dangers of syncretism and idolatry, the chapter acknowledges that 'a limited but positive place for some forms of "multi-faith worship" can be justified from the theological viewpoints which might most suggest caution' (12). The report distinguishes between visiting places of Worship of Other Faiths, inviting guests of other Faiths to Christian services, serial multi-faith services and multi-faith services with an agreed common order. There is also a section on the legal position.
The Inter-Faith Consultative Group has also produced in 1992 a report on The Marriage of Adherents of Other Faiths in Anglican Churches together with guidelines on the subject (13).
General Synod in receiving the report Multi-Faith Worship ? asked the House of Bishops to give guidance to clergy and laty faced with situations described in the Report. This response was published in January 1993. In general, it restates the main points of the report, with perhaps more awareness of the legal constraints on any interfaith activity in Anglican Churches or cathedrals. The final sentence says that 'practical wisdom suggests that the use of nonreligious buildings avoids many of the difficulties which the use of churches may pose' (14). This reflects the threat of legal action by some evangelical Christians against Cathedrals which allowed interfaith services.
Some who made such threats were amongst the supporters of the so-called 'Open Letter' (15). This was a move by some Anglican clergy to close Church of England buildings to interfaith prayer, on the grounds that Jesus Christ was 'the only Saviour and hope of mankind'. The Open Letter particularly focused on the use of Westminster Abbey for the interfaith Commonwealth Day Observance. The 'Open Letter' was criticized in many quarters, particularly for the language and tone that it adopted. The Archbishop of Canterbury dissociated himself from it and, before its publication, wrote to its sponsors asking them to abandon a project which 'played on Christian fears about encounter with other faiths'. The Times, in a leader, reminded its readers that 'In the early church, Justin Martyr attributed all truths to be found in non-Christian religions to the Word of God who enlightens all. The
- 12