Solidarity with St Mary's Cathedral Glasgow following Qu'ran reading scandal
Last month, St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral in Glasgow hit the headlines for including a passage from the Qu'ran, the Islamic sacred text, in an Epiphany service to promote understanding between the two faiths.
When the St Bride's Core Community (our District Church Council) of St Bride's met earlier this month, we agreed to send a letter of solidarity to the Provost of St Mary's Cathedral. Here is the letter:
Dear Mr Provost
RE: Reading from Qu'ran
I am writing to you as Secretary of the DCC of St Bride's, Liverpool. The congregation wish to offer you, and all at St Mary's Cathedral, our unconditional support.
We believe that the Bible is not the only source of truth regarding God and our relationship with him. Other faith traditions are a rich source of insight and it seems foolish to cut ourselves off from what they have to teach us.
I notice that the Scottish Episcopalian Church's official statement speaks of 'interfaith relations', 'respect' and 'reconciliation'; there can be no greater source of respect and reconciliation than taking another's faith seriously enough to read their scriptures. Building and nurturing such relationships is more important than ever, and must be celebrated.
We are holding you in our prayers, and hope you continue to nurture relationships with your neighbours of other faiths.
Yours sincerely,
Rose Green
We received a response from St Mary's Cathedral Provost on Twitter:
Lovely letter from @StBridesLpool to @thecathedral this morning. #solidarity
— Kelvin Holdsworth (@thurible) February 13, 2017