Hindu Concepts of God – Talk by Dr Sharada Sugirtharajah, Honorary Senior Research Fellow in the Dept of Theology & Religion, University of Birmingham. Hosted on Zoom by Shirley House Interfaith Centre.

You may know some stories of Hindu Gods, but would you like to learn about the concepts behind them?

Open to all faiths and everybody – bring your own refreshments to your computer

7.30 pm Thur 21^st Jan

Contact shirleyhouseinterfaith@gmail.com  to request Zoom link 

or 0114 267 8289 for further details

PLEASE NOTE – To request the link for this online event please email sheffield@dialoguesociety.org

First, we would like to take this opportunity to wish you and your loved ones health, happiness, peace and prosperity this Christmas and in the coming New Year.
The Dialogue Society believes in dialogue between members of different cultures and religions and as such would like to bring those members of the society together for a Christmas event. Knowing how important the season of Christmas is in British society in general and in the Christian faith in particular, we wanted to mark this time of celebration by inviting you to this special event. This invitation is open to all our friends, whatever their traditions and understandings of Christmas. We would be honoured to be shared with the spirit of this special season.
Last year, before all this started, we held our Christmas event as a Christmas Dinner at our community centre. Obviously, it will be different this year. Like every event that was held under these circumstances, this Christmas event will be held on the Zoom app. You will be able to join the event by clicking the link and entering the passcode at the scheduled time of the event. We aim to finish the event no later than 7:30 pm.
At this event, we want you to feel the spirit of Christmas and have as much fun as the technology allows us to. We will play games, have a Kahoot quiz contest, listen to some Christmas songs that are played with cultural instruments, listen to a guest speaker and watch some visual content. We also suggest that you wear Christmas-themed clothes and keep your camera turned on for a more live-like experience during the event if possible. Below are the details of the games we will play and what you need to have ready to take part in them.
First, we will play 3-minute gingerbread man design challenge. If you want to join this challenge, please have a gingerbread man base and your decoration materials ready. During the event, we will give you 3 minutes to design your gingerbread man and after that will ask you to show your gingerbread man to the camera. Then, all of the attendees will vote and choose the best gingerbread man design. The winner will get a surprise gift.
We will then play Bingo! but not with numbers. We will use a custom bingo card with a Christmas concept. The person to find the most number of matches will win a surprise gift.
Third, we will play paper plate drawing competition. To join this competition, all you need to have is a sturdy paper plate and a pen. We will give you instructions on how to play this game during the event. We will then tell you how to score your drawing. The player with the most points will receive a surprise gift.
Finally, we will have a Kahoot quiz. All you need to do is have a second device on hand in order to take part in the quiz. The winner will get a surprise gift.
These are the games that we will play during the event. You may choose which ones to take part in and ones to watch. However, we kindly invite everyone to participate in all of the games.
We would be delighted to have you at the event. I am attaching the invitation card for the details of the event. You may also forward this invitation to whoever you might think could be interested. We are looking forward to seeing you at the virtual event.

Please contact
Kind regards,
Mehmet Acar
Dialogue Society/Sheffield Branch

Please bring 5 multiple choice questions on a winter or interfaith theme (eg your own faith, winter festivals, folk songs, food or sports)

Bring your own party snacks and drinks to your computer

Eat, drink, play and be merry

Open to all faiths and everybody

Suitable for all ages

7.30 pm Mon 14^th Dec
Contact shirleyhouseinterfaith@gmail.com  to request Zoom link 

or 0114 267 8289 for further details

Following the death last week of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks the British Council of Christians and Jews released the following statement:  

“Rabbi Lord Sacks was a towering religious leader and intellectual. As one of the Presidents of the Council of Christians and Jews during his tenure as Chief Rabbi, he developed friendships with successive Archbishops of Canterbury, Archbishops of Westminster and other Christian leaders.

His books, other writings, lectures and media appearances were followed and admired not only by the Jewish community but by millions of Christians, and by people of all faiths and none. His sparkling address to the Lambeth Conference in 2008 is still remembered today. Two years ago, we were honoured to give him the CCJ Bridge Award to recognize his outstanding achievements. His influence will endure for years to come through the many he inspired, influenced and touched with his warmth and wisdom.”

We support this and mourn his passing.

SUNDAY 15TH NOVEMBER AT 2PM (With Zoom)

The news at the moment is not very encouraging, and it does feel as if we are being asked to dig deep. Nevertheless life must go on. In just over a week’s time it will be Interfaith Week. Normally we would have arranged for visits to different places of worship, but obviously this year that idea has been firmly kicked into touch.

What we have decided to do is to have a virtual Interfaith walk on Sunday, 15 November at 2 o’clock, using zoom.

If you want to join us then please email me at sheffieldinterfaith@hotmail.co.uk and I will send you the zoom invitation.

Instead of visiting different places of worship and finding out a little about the community there, we have decided that this year we will ask you to submit one photograph to Sheffield interfaith – sheffieldinterfaith@hotmail.co.uk. The photograph should be a place you have found significant during this pandemic. Our virtual walk will be a showing of your picture with you saying a few words about it.

We are also planning an online presentation in the evening during the week leading up to 15th November of some work undertaken by the Minhaj sisters, a group of Muslim women. We will send details to you as soon as we have them. Again this will be on zoom.

We are planning our AGM, which will be later in November, and which will be an opportunity for us to meet together, over a virtual cuppa and piece of cake. It will be an opportunity to spend a bit of time just sharing our Covid lockdown stories, as well as undertaking some small bits of business which we need to do. I will be sending out details of the AGM, as well as asking you to pay your membership fees.

Kind regards to you all

Andrew Crowley

Chair

Best wishes to our Hindu friends/ members/ followers as you celebrate the festival of Navratri from this Saturday 17th until Sunday 25th.

ALSO best wishes to our Baha’i friends/ members/ followers celebrating the birthdays of  the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh on the 18th and 19th of October.

Obviously the current restrictions on meeting with other households will have a big impact on these festivals. Our thoughts are with you as you remember the importance of these days and think of your loved ones whom you cannot be with at this time.

The Dialogue Society Sheffield Branch invites you to their upcoming online cooking session event on Wednesday, the 22nd July at 6 pm.
The event will be on the Zoom app and you will be able to join the event by clicking the below link at the scheduled time of the event. It will be 1 hour long. In the event, one of our community members will instruct and cook two traditional quick dishes (menemen and cacik) live. The objective of this event is to learn practical recipes that can be prepared at the comfort of your own kitchen. You may participate by having the ingredients ready before the event and cooking the dishes whilst they are being instructed by the presenter. You are more than welcome to spectate and try these recipes later if you wish.  We also think that this will be a nice opportunity to get together virtually during these days that we cannot gather physically. It will be a great pleasure to have you at the event. 
Please find the ingredients list below. You may also forward this invitation to whoever you might think could be interested. We are looking forward to seeing you at the virtual event.
Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2104370811

Ingredients:
Menemen: – 4 eggs – 1 green pepper – 2 large tomatoes or 1 can of chopped tomatoes – salt – butter
Cacik: – 1/2 cucumber – 1 bowl of yogurt – garlic – fresh mint – salt

Bring Your Own Socially Distanced Picnic Lunch (weather permitting)

We hope you will feel able to bring your picnic to our large grassy garden, with plenty of shade or sunshine, to spread our rugs or chairs in household groups. This together-but-separate picnic is in place of the usual barbecue we hold at this time of year. Bring everything you need. As the Church building is still closed we are unable to provide shelter, chairs, tables, cutlery, cups, water, drinks or toilets. If wet, assume it is cancelled.

Open to all faiths and everybody

   In St Andrews Psalter Church Garden, 31 Psalter Lane, S11 8YL

12.00 noon Sun 19^th July

Contact office@standrewspsalterlane.org.uk or 0114 267 8289 for further details