Blog

2018 has been another great year for Swindon Interfaith and we would like to express our thanks to all of our members for their support throughout the year.

We reached a major milestone in joining the National Interfaith Network in the middle of the year and holding our first Interfaith Worship Service as part of National Interfaith week in November was certainly a highlight.

We have much to look forward to in the year ahead with two events in January and we hope that you can join us for those.

• 16th January, 7.30pm – ‘Faith & Celebration’ @ Savernake Street Community Hall in Old Town
• 22nd January, 10.30am – Faith & Dementia Workshop @ Immanuel Church, Upham Road

In the meantime we wish all of you a fantastic festive period and look forward to seeing you all again soon.

We are excited and pleased to announce a special event, in partnership with Swindon Borough Council on 22nd January 2019.

This workshop will allow participants to explore the impact of Dementia on Faith Practices and more, please see attached poster for more details.

This year we celebrated Interfaith week for the second time here in Swindon.

We’d like to say a big thank-you to those of you who joined us for the event and shared the experience.

We chose this year to host an interfaith worship where each faith was asked to present something from another faith – sharing a prayer or quote thy felt was meaningful to them. It was really wonderful to see so many people brave the stage and share a quote, song or prayer.

We also had a wonderful experience of all joining together in a specially written version of Hallelujah (lyrics below).

We hope you enjoyed the evening! Our next event will be in January, so keep your eyes peeled for that.

“Hallelujah/Praise to God” 

(a Swindon Interfaith song of Unity in Worship)

I want you all to sing with me,

my sisters, brothers, friends to be,

this song of worship, one of unity.

For we may have our different ways

to show our God how much we praise

and worship on our seat or feet or knees.

God be worshipped, 

Pure, Eternal, 

True, All-knowing,

How we love You

I know there is a power today

with strength to lead us through our day.

Some give a name and praise to God almighty.

That influence will carry me

to places I so want to be

where peace prevails and all is light and holy.

Chorus:-

God be worshipped, ….

I have this faith, I have this hope,

which brings me comfort, helps me cope,

that when life’s storms surround me fearfully

I know my God can rescue me,

brings love, compassion, chance to be

the one who lifts a sister close to me.

Chorus:-

God be worshipped, ….

The wisdom of our God is clear

and teaches me that I should hear

the cry of others scattered far and near.

For when my brother calls for aid

I ask not to which God he’s prayed.

My eyes see one so precious and so dear.

Chorus:-

God be worshipped, ….

I want you all to sing with me,

my sisters, brothers, friends to be,

this song of worship, one of unity.

Though we arrived from different ways

my presence here tonight still says

I want to stand with you and join in praise

Chorus:-

God be worshipped, ….

You are welcome to join us for our next Interfaith event, celebrating unity through an Interfaith worship service.

Here at Swindon Interfaith, we are looking for a new Logo!

As we are all about the community, we thought we would open it up to our members and the general public to send in their designs – and so here we are launching a competition!

As we are a not-for-profit organisation, we are offering a small prize of £20 in vouchers for the winner!

All of the submissions will be uploaded to the website and we will open up to a public vote!

All you have to is submit your design by e-mail to swindoninterfaithgroup@gmail.com by 31st December 2018. The winner will be announced in the new year, so please remember to give us your name and contact details so we can let you know!

A few rules & notes

• You can design the logo in any format, but it must be submitted electronically as an image via e-mail.
• The final winner will be chosen by the Swindon Interfaith Committee, considering the results of the public vote.
• By submitting your design you are agreeing for the image to be hosted on swindoninterfaith.org. If your design is chosen as the winner you are agreeing for the image to become property of Swindon Interfaith and used on our Website and in all other marketing materials.
• By giving us your contact details, you are agreeing for Swindon Interfaith using your personal data to contact you about your submission. We will not hold onto or process this information for any other reason, without seeking your prior permission.
• These rules are subject to change and alteration at the discretion of Swindon Interfaith Committee.

September has seen us drift into more autumnal weather and we will be talking about Christmas before we know it – before then we have some great events coming up on 17th October and 14th November – more information about those events coming soon.

Earlier this week we had our first community service activity as a group of individuals got together to do some litter picking in Stratton, followed by a visit to the Church of the Latter Day Saints.

We’ve also been talking to the organisers of The Journey this month, who are encouraging all members of the Swindon Community to join them in their interactive production of The Nativity Story in Old Town in December. If your interested in taking part, then get in touch with them via their website or Facebook Page.