During his Faithworks Lecture, delivered to church leaders and community activists at the Church.co.uk Centre, Waterloo (formerly Christ Church & Upton), Howard praised the contribution of faith communities to public life, referring to them as Britain’s ‘forgotten majority.’

Speaking on how different religions could co-exist in a diverse society, the Tory leader dismissed attempts to lump different religions together into a single ‘multi-faith sector’. He said:

“For some, an attempt is made to overcome the distinctiveness of different faiths by looking for common denominators. However, any attempt to bundle distinctive faiths together as one homogenised ‘multi-faith sector’ fails to grasp the reality of the situation. We will only benefit from our religious diversity if we create the freedom for these religions to reflect their diversity.”

In response to his comments, Faithworks Founder Rev Steve Chalke MBE launched Faithworks’ ‘Distinctive Faith’ initiative, which will help the Church to define and celebrate its Christian identity.

It also aims to encourage politicians, civil servants and community activists to work with churches and other faith groups whilst allowing them the freedom to express their distinctive identities.

Chalke advised the audience that Christians, and people of other faiths, needed to find positive ways of working with those who don’t share their beliefs, whilst retaining and expressing their distinctive identities. He warned that failing to rise to this challenge of diversity would lead to a society ‘rife with religious hatred and tension’ and, ultimately, the possibility of ‘faith wars.’

“My hope is that all major political parties in Britain will begin to realise that lumping faith groups together is not the way to celebrate diversity. Government and faith groups alike need to find new ways of working together while retaining their distinctiveness – which for Christians revolves around their commitment to the life-changing person and message of Christ.”
Rev Steve Chalke MBE, Founder of Faithworks

Last night’s event was part of the Faithworks Lectures series, which sees the leaders of the three main political party leaders address the Church and other faith groups via live webcast in the run-up to the General Election. The leader of the Liberal Democrats, Charles Kennedy, delivered his Faithworks Lecture on February 3rd, with the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, due to deliver his Faithworks Lecture at a date yet to be confirmed.

All three webcasts will be available for viewing from www.faithworks.info until August 2005.

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