Our Multi-faith Approach
At the end of 2001 the consortium Meridian Delta Limited (MDL) (comprising Lend Lease and Quintain Estates & Development) were appointed to develop a masterplan for the Peninsula and to manage it's development. Malcolm Torry, Team Rector of the (Anglican) Parish of East Greenwich, who was already chaplain of Amylum UK (the food refinery on the Peninsula) and a chaplain of the Dome, contacted MDL.
Following a series of meetings it was strongly felt by the
Borough Council
and MDL
that faith communities should work together.
There would only be one stand alone building that would provide space
for faith groups to worship and for the local communities when they arrived to use.
In March 2003 members of
Greenwich Multi-faith Forum and
Greenwich's
Ecumenical Borough Deans
at a meeting with
Meridian Delta and the
Borough Council
were offered the, once re-located, Greenwich Pavilion
as a multi-faith worship space.
In return
MDL
and the Borough asked for a single person to be appointed
to liaise between the Borough,
MDL,
and the faith communities,
and for a site chaplain to co-ordinate chaplaincy arrangements during
the construction phase and beyond. Malcolm Torry was appointed and the
meeting set up a multi-faith Steering group to which he would be accountable.
The meeting also agreed that there should be a group of religious leaders to ensure good communication between the faith communities' work on the Peninsula and faith community leaders (hereafter 'the Council of Reference').
Currently the eight Chaplains are made up from Christian, Muslim and Sikh faiths.
Both MDL and the Borough Council are insistent that the faith communities work together on the Peninsula. Both the Multifaith Forum and the Borough Deans are clear that what is required is a multifaith approach, i.e., not an interfaith approach. The faith communities will provide a single chaplaincy service ensuring that anyone who requests pastoral care within a particular tradition should receive it. The faith communities are agreed that in general they will do together whatever in good conscience they can agree to do together in order to serve the new diverse community on the Peninsula. The different traditions will worship separately.
This is the first time that the faith communities have been asked to work together in this fashion from the very beginning of a large new development. The task will not be easy, and will require much patience, a certain amount of innovation, and a great deal of goodwill.