Video for June 18th, 2026
Hello everyone and welcome to this week’s video.
In 2016, I had the privilege of visiting an Anglican Church in Lahore, Pakistan, 9 months after a suicide bomber had killed a dozen people. The responsibilities of those on sidesman’s duty were rather more demanding than Herefordshire. Not only were they carrying guns, but they knew they would have to put themselves in harms way if another bomber attacked. Almost certainly it would have required physically blocking their passage with fatal results when the bomb detonated. They did this with remarkable cheeriness.
So, I was rather shocked (although I shouldn’t have been) to have to walk past two policeman and security when I visited the Jewish community gathering for Shabbat in Saxon Hall last Saturday. This has been the experience of the Jewish community for some time but has got much worse in the wake of antisemitic attacks over the last few years. It is an appalling state of affairs when religious communities of any sort cannot meet freely in our country. Religious freedom is a necessary foundation of democratic societies. The fact that the State of Israel is engaged in dreadful acts of violence against its neighbours, albeit provoked by appalling violence by Hamas, is not an excuse for attacks against the Jewish community, many of whom do not support these actions.
In saying this I am acutely aware of the church’s complicity in such things in the past. Every time I go into the cathedral, I pass the shrine of St. Thomas Cantilupe, a terrible antisemite, as were many of his contemporaries. Not only did he play a significant part in expelling the Jewish community from Hereford but was active in the national persecution as well. Many churches in Germany colluded with the Nazis, if not in the active holocaust, at least in its ideological underpinning. These are all matters of shame. Each culture has its own blind spots. In every age the Church can be more influenced by the values of the surrounding culture than by scriptural principles.
In our day, we have a particular responsibility to model hospitality, care and solidarity with vulnerable communities. To do so doesn’t mean we dilute our convictions. We are in our nature an evangelistic faith, seeking to commend the gospel to all. Peter gives us the principle here, “always be ready to give a reason for the hope that is in you but do so with gentleness and respect”. I became a Christian from an atheist position. In my journey to faith, I became convinced that the truth claims of the Gospel had credibility and resonance with the realities of science, history and the human condition. In that journey I didn’t become a Muslim, Hindu, Sikh or other faith. I didn’t find them similarly convincing. However, conviction and difference don’t inevitably issue in intolerance. I’m recording this today just after we’ve had a gathering in the Palace for those of different faiths and ethnicities as part of our racial justice work. We shared a rich variety of food together; friendships across difference were made and re-enforced. I was especially pleased to hear that some of the guests came because they heard good things about the previous event last year and that we were providing a safe space for everyone. In the tensions of today its vitally important that churches express our solidarity with those of different convictions and demonstrate you can hold these, respect one another, and work together where possible for the common good. I was delighted that several civic leaders and school children also joined us for the gathering. The children’s questions about how to make our country a safer and more tolerant place were penetrating. The fact that this sort of thing doesn’t happen in other parts of the world and indeed that Christians are the main recipients of persecution worldwide, doesn’t excuse us from trying here.
All these things are not trying to suppress debate or enforce a sort of ‘woke’ conformity. It is in such an atmosphere that genuine debate and challenge can take place. Current tensions within our own society and between nations threaten the very fabric of society we so value. This is time for all people of good will to come together and build bridges not moats.
+Richard