History of the Abraham Festival

Written by Administrator

History of the Peterborough Abraham Festival.              In 2002, Helen McCarthy was teaching World Religions at St Peter’s High School in Peterborough.  Elizabeth Rahman, a Muslim woman who attends the Masjid Alsalaam (the Peace Mosque) in Peterborough was to speak to her class.  Elizabeth arrived for the class, not knowing it was a “snow day”   (Elizabeth made it through the storm to the school because she thought it was important).  Because there were no students, Helen and Elizabeth spent the whole class time talking together.  They  realized that even though there were many differences in their religions, their faith in one God was the same.  The gleam of an idea was born.                A few weeks later, Heather Pollock, a Jewish woman from Beth Israel synagogue in Peterborough, was the guest speaker in the class. The realization widened  - Jews, Christians and Muslims all worship the same God, and they all have Abraham as a common ancestor.   These three women conceived an Abraham Festival, honoring Abraham as a prophet in all three of their religions.  A celebration of all three religions was underway.                  It took a year of planning and negotiating with St. Alphonsus Roman Catholic church,  Beth Israel synagogue, and Masjid Al-Salaam.  The first festival was held in 2003, and there has been one every year since.            These founders of the Peterborough festival had certain goals.               They wanted to create a local network of Jews, Muslims and Christians who would grow relationships to bind these three local groups, who have traditionally been very separate. They wanted to listen and learn from each others traditions.   They wanted to open their hearts to each others perspectives. They wanted to support each other as extended family - the children of Abraham.                One core part of the festival has always been a christian, Jewish and Muslim worship service.  These are not interfaith services.  They are the service of the mosque, synagogue or church, and everyone is invited to participate.  All the participants feel strongly that they are all praying to the same God.  Visitors to the mosque are invited to join in the Muslim prayers, which involve standing, kneeling and bowing.  Visitors to the synagogue are invited to touch the Torah as it is carried around the synagogue as part of the service.   In 2004, in the second year of the festival,  the Muslims had one of their five prayer services a day in the synagogue, just before the Jewish service.  That was a wonderful moment.  There is a clear feeling that no one can give offense by praying in a place of worship.              Other than the worship services, the festival has done something different every year since 2003.   In the first couple of years, there was an education evening at each of the locations, where information about each of the religions was exchanged.  Then one year we had a film festival, with films chosen to represent some feature of each of the three faiths.   One year we put on a concert evening, with readings and music from each of the three religions. There was Jewish klezmer music.  There was chanting from the Koran.  A small group from the Peterborough Singers sang the chorale from Bach’s St John passion   “Oh Jesus when I come to die, let angels bear my soul on high, to Abraham’s protection.”   One year, a theatre group put on the opera Dead Man Walking, made from the book and the movie, and had Sister Prejean as the guest speaker.               There have been wonderful moments.  I walked into the synagogue with my friend and colleague who is a Muslim.  He muttered almost to himself. “ I never thought I would set foot in a synagogue.”  The first year at the synagogue, one of the Jewish men was saying how much trouble their small congregation had to be able to afford a Hebrew teacher for their children, but it was necessary to teach their children to read the Torah.  One of the Muslim men said at once - it is the same for us too, we have to teach our children to read Arabic so they can read the Koran, and we can’t afford a full time teacher.   It was the first time they had thought of all they had in common.  Two small congregations trying to be all things to all people in their own faith .               It hasn’t always been easy.   We understand better why countries can’t solve their differences,  when we see how hard we have to work, even though we are all coming at this project with enormous good will and friendship.                   The first festival in 2003 was close enough to 9/11 that some Muslims were still feeling the labeling and ostracism that had followed.  The mosque in Peterborough had had a rock thrown through the window, and a couple of incidents involving visible minorities had been really unpleasant.  Some of the Muslims wondered if anyone would really want to come to the mosque.                  In 2009, we were planning the festival right during the Israel- Gaza war.  The Jewish members of the committee were surprised and upset at the strength of the anti- Israel feeling in the newspapers and other media.  They felt support for Israel had been lacking while Gaza had been firing rockets at them, but now that Israel is being aggressive there is nothing but criticism.   The committee just had to keep talking and reaffirming our commitment to non violence and to working together.                     Now, in 2010, for the first time we are partnering with another group, Greening Sacred Spaces.   This multi faith group are part of Faith and the Common Good.   The members of this group are bound together through a shared moral perspective. All of their faith traditions encourage their members to revere the natural world as sacred, to be respected, loved and nurtured.   They view the care of the earth as the most significant spiritual quest of our time.              Greening Sacred Spaces is a practical programme developed by Faith & the Common Good to assist faith communities with both the educational and spiritual dimensions of greening.  They know the "how-to" side of audits, retrofits and generally reducing the faith community's footprint. They have developed a whole resource kit – with workshops, posters, music, and more– to help faith groups become community leaders in working towards a more sustainable future.           The Abraham Festival Committee has enjoyed working with Cathy Mitchell,  the local Greening Sacred Spaces representative.  We feel that this is a perfect fit as we continue our journey in which the Jews, Christians, and Muslims of Peterborough work together.