Are you interested in understanding more about religion and world views?
If so, you might like to join a proposed new group ‘Exploring World Faiths’. The group will of course be open to u3a members of all faiths and none. It will seek to nurture dialogue and understanding, and its programme may include visits to local places of worship and other community centres. You may have read in Third Age Matters that groups on ‘Exploring World Faiths’ are becoming more common across u3as, led by initial successes in Birmingham. The u3a national website has more on this: the subject advice section there includes a page on ‘Exploring World Faiths’. We are very fortunate that here in Maidenhead we have long-standing interfaith collaborations and dialogues through the Windsor and Maidenhead Community Forum (WAMCF). Many u3a members may already attend the WAMCF dialogues which take place every year, in places of worship across the town. These dialogues, which are open to all, have been held in Anglican, Catholic and Methodist churches, in the synagogue and the mosque, in the gurdwara and in the Buddhist SGI hall, as well as at a venue provided by the local Humanists. So, it could that there is no need for a u3a ‘Exploring World Faiths’ group as we already have WAMCF. But perhaps there is also interest to pursue an exploration of religion and world views within the context of a u3a group.
If you would be interested in principle in joining an ‘Exploring World Faiths’ group, please contact Mike, ideally by email please: worldfaith@maidenheadu3a.org.uk. If there seems to be a viable number of members interested, I will convene a first meeting when we can discuss what might be the programme for the group.