Inter Faith Week 2020 takes place from Sunday 8 – Sunday 15 November and is a celebration of the work done by local faith, inter faith and faith-based groups and organisations. It celebrates diversity and enables greater interaction between people of different backgrounds, opening the awareness of different faith communities in the UK.
This year Diwali, the festival of lights, coincides with Inter Faith Week. Diwali takes place on Saturday 14 November 2020, and is an important celebration for Hindus, Sikhs and Jains. The festival is about the good overcoming darkness, focussing on light, health, wealth, knowledge, peace, and prosperity. People celebrate by decorating their homes with candles or coloured lights as a symbol of hope, peace and joy.
Get involved
Due to the national lockdown, Diwali celebrations may look a little different this year. To celebrate both Diwali and Inter Faith Week, we are asking the BU community to join together in hope by sharing an image of light, wherever they are in the world. You can submit your images to us on social media using the hashtag #spreadalittlejoy or take a moment to browse the images shared by others.
SUBU
With hopes of a traditional Diwali celebration affected by Lockdown, SUBU have created an online space for you to celebrate with eachother. Join your SUBU Asian, Arab and Ethnic Minority Officer for the Digital Diwali event on Friday 13 November, between 5:30pm and 9:30pm GMT.
Wear your traditional clothes and celebrate online whilst talking about your favourite Diwali past times and family traditions.
You can find out more about the event on the SUBU website and register on Zoom to take part.
Faith & Reflection team
Our Faith & Reflection team are also marking Inter Faith Week by distributing knitting packs, free of charge, to members of the BU and AUB community as part of their ‘Spread a little joy’ project. These packs contain knitting needles, yarn and starter patterns to create your own knitted ‘pop of joy’ flower. Those that take part are asked to display their creation, send it to a friend or share the result with the team via social media or email to spread the joy further. Ruth Wells, our university Chaplain explains:
We wanted to mark Inter Faith Week by recognising we, as humans, are intrinsically woven together. In a time, which we can feel very disconnected, where we must isolate, we wanted to take time to remember that even when we're apart, we are together.
We also recognise that joy can feel a bit in short supply, and we want to spread some joy around. We love the idea of little knitted flowers popping up in places as a pop of joy. Initially we wanted to yarn bomb the shared uni spaces, but again with Covid-19 we've re-thought that. We hope that what you knit will bring you joy and we're inviting you to share your creations with us and others through social media.”
Faith and Reflection are also hosting a series of virtual conversation spaces, open to all students and staff, on 10 and 11 November. These Zoom meetings aim to facilitate conversations about important life questions and draw from the diversity of our community. We ask that all participants are prepared to engage respectfully in this activity. You can find out more and register for these events using the links below:
