Join us for our next Dialogue & Debate webinar on Wednesday 7 July, exploring one of the key issues highlighted in our Faith & Belief 2040 report - the changing role and wider community use of religious buildings in the UK, in our increasingly multicultural, multifaith society.
We have teamed up with the National Churches Trust, as part of its The House of Good project, which is examining the economic and social value of the UK’s church buildings, in particular.
This webinar is hosted by our Chief Executive, Dr Edmund Newell.
Our guest panellists:
- Sarwat Tasneem - Founder, 14-Consulting; Fellow, The Centre of Conscious Design
- Eddie Tulasiewicz - Head of Communications and Public Affairs, National Churches Trust
- Jagdev Singh Virdee - General Secretary, Guru Nanak Darbar Gurdwara; Editor, British Sikh Report
- Will Watt - Director, State of Life
How to register
Please register in advance to receive joining details for this webinar, using this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_sOUaKEfMT_SAH1C0AIjPWQ
You will be sent a link to join us live on Zoom (as a non-video participant) and interact with our panel by submitting questions using the Q&A function. All you need is an internet connection, a screen to watch it on - on PC or mobile device - and your speakers switched on.
If you prefer, you can watch the webinar live on this webpage or via Facebook Live, and submit your questions by tweeting us @CumberlandLodge or commenting on our Facebook livestream.
Dialogue & Debate with Cumberland Lodge is a series of regular interactive webinars on pressing issues affecting social cohesion in the UK. It is supported by our charitable funds.
What will we be discussing?
We will be examining the role of the UK's religious buildings in the 21st century - beyond being solely places of worship - and discussing the importance of these shared spaces for providing vital services for diverse communities and supporting social cohesion.
We live in increasingly multicultural communities, with more diverse faith and non-faith identities, in which fewer people self-identify as Christian than ever before, and there is a trend towards more privatised and varied expressions of spirituality. As a result, there are many under-used and vacant places of worship in our cities, towns and villages - including, but not limited to, many church buildings.
In November 2020, our virtual conference, Faith & Belief 2040, explored the rapidly changing faith and belief landscape of the UK and its implications for the way that society is organised, and our 2021 report summarises the key themes of discussion that emerged.
In this webinar, we ask:
- Should we open up existing and disused places of worship to all religious, spiritual and community groups, particularly those that have less physical presence in the community than more organised and well-established religions like Christianity?
- How can we foster a neutral environment in these buildings where people of all faith and non-faith backgrounds feel welcome and comfortable to gather?
- In what ways can we diversify the use of religious buildings to help safeguard their future, preserve their history and heritage, and offer greater support to vulnerable and isolated people in our society?
On demand
A video recording of this webinar will be shared after the event on the Read, Watch, Listen section of this website. You will also find an audio-only version on all the major podcasting channels and on our SoundCloud channel here, shortly after the live-stream.
Faith & Belief 2040 report
To find out more about our most recent work on faith and belief in the UK, please read our Faith & Belief 2040 report, written by Hannah Timson and published in June 2021. A digital copy can also be downloaded from this page.