The United Reformed Church has expressed its concern following the premature closure of the UK Ijtima gathering at Shrubland Hall in Suffolk after police responded to what they described as a credible threat.
Senior members of the denomination said: “The premature closure of a faith event in the UK due to a ‘credible threat’, such as the Ijtima at Shrubland Hall at the weekend, is alarming.
“The United Reformed Church General Assembly, meeting in 2024, expressed deep concern over the unacceptable rise of Islamophobia in our communities and wished to extend a hand of solidarity to our highly valued Muslim neighbours.
“Just over a week ago, our General Assembly ‘warmly (commended) the journey towards a joint Christian-Muslim declaration’ and the work of the Interfaith Enabling Group. We pray that these efforts further encourage our local churches to reach out that hand of solidarity, and we recommend Churches Together in Britain and Ireland’s resource Reaching Out in Love to this end.
The resource is available for free, at https://ctbi.org.uk/resources/reaching-out-in-love-interreligious-dialogue-toolkit/.
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