Workshop on Faith for Rights framework: an introduction (Day 1)
(Day 1 of a series of 3 days standalone workshops)
Concept Note
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I. Introduction
Participants will examine areas where faith and human rights work together in the arena of civil and political rights. This session will introduce 26 ordained faith and belief leaders or equivalent and/or community faith builders to the Faith for Rights principles and how they can be used in their communities. The workshop will have 26 participants and 4 trainers / facilitators.
II. National context
The UK has an established interfaith tradition that only recently has become engaged with human rights related issues (refugees and environmental issues). This is usually carried out by the ordained clergy without their community members/ congregants / followers. Many congregants want to see a bridge between human rights and faith and that promoting human rights and Sustainable Development Goals is aligned with their own belief systems (and certainly not contrary to it). We want to train up 26 ordained leaders to utilise the Faith4Rights principles (and toolkit) in their work and in their own communities to bridge faith concepts with human rights and vice versa. This day is the first of a series of three days standalone workshops in a pilot programme. All days can be attended as a stand alone workshop. We hope that 5-6 leaders will be able to attend the entire programme with 30-40 others coming to one day.
III. Objectives of the workshop
To introduce ordained clergy / equivalent / senior interfaith workers (ordained or equivalent or interfaith / community educators who lead congregations, membership bodies, assemblies, university faith societies and have a leadership position in an established community and could be able to deliver the F4R toolkit) to the Faith 4 Rights toolkit and to train them in the use of the Faith 4 Rights methodology within their own sphere of influence. This will be accomplished via taught sessions, peer-to-peer learning and a form of Faith for Rights scriptural reasoning. The topics of discussion during Day 1 include the following:
- 18 Principles / 5 Commitments F4R
- Freedom of Conscience
- Resolving perceived conflicts between faith and human rights principles
- Using F4R to encourage community cohesion
- Intro to constructive reading of texts
IV. Outputs
- 26 ordained clergy or equivalents introduced to F4R and the toolkit
- Ordained clergy to take the toolkit back to 15 communities and their national communal bodies (Church of England / United Synagogue / Sikh Network / RC Church / Muslim communities / Hindu representative bodies / Movement for Reform Judaism)
- Develop news bridges between faith and human rights within 5-6 national faith and belief identity groups meaning create an engagement or in some cases reengagement between the identifiable communities of faith led by participants and the human rights discourse.
- Test new introduction to Constructive Reading and Human Rights Scriptural Reasoning to a new audience
V. Panellists
Facilitators
- Rabbi Alex Goldberg
- Dr Thiago Pinto
- Hillari Bollard
- Sughra Ahmed
Panellist
Naz Ghanea
VI. Format and participation
This is an in-person day workshop from 9-5pm. The aim is for 20-26 participants and 4 facilitators /panellists (total of 30 in the room). The workshop will be done both in plenary and breakout. The location is central London and participants will be coming across the metropolis on an affordable transit system so no travel expenses will be required.
VII. Methodology
The workshop will pilot new materials (video, F4R sourcebook for clergy, new exercises) and have participants work through a number of modules from the existing F4R toolkit. The aim is to take the participants through a guided tour of the F4R principles using taught sessions, new materials and peer-to-peer learning. The pilot will utilise a Human Rights focussed scriptural reasoning exercise (a methodology increasingly used within the clergy community in the UK).