The Churches Forum for Inter-Religious Relations, a subgroup of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland, held their annual in person gathering in Cardiff. Meeting at the Cornerstone Centre on 12 and 13 May, the forum heard about interfaith relations in Wales, how it connects with the Welsh Government and also heard presentations about local interfaith engagement.
Guest speakers included Jane Hutt, former cabinet secretary for social justice, Kate McColgan, chair of the Interfaith Council of Wales and Gareth Hall and Revd Kate Wolsey, who spoke of their local involvements.
The United Reformed Church was well represented at the gathering through the Rev Dr Peter Colwell, the deputy general secretary of CTBI, the Revd Dr Kevin Snyman, the URC’s Head of World Justice and Inter Faith, the Revd Martin Spain, Wales Synod Officer for Ecumenical and Inter-Faith Relations and Revd Kate Wolsey, Transitional Minister in Pembrokeshire.
The forum also heard from Catrin Stevens, who spoke of the 1923 Welsh Women’s Peace Petition which was an unprecedented anti-war campaign signed by nearly 400,000 Welsh women urging the women and government of the United States to join and lead the League of Nations to ensure a warless world. More information can be found at https://www.library.wales/peacepetition.
To end the gathering, Mr Iestyn Davies, policy officer for Cytûn gave a valuable insight into the relationship with the Welsh Government and how this might look on the recent change in Government at the Senedd.
