NASACRE: CHANGES IN THE INTER FAITH NETWORK’S MEMBERSHIP POLICY

IFN: CHANGES IN THE INTER FAITH NETWORK’S MEMBERSHIP POLICY When is a religion not a religion? Answer, when it is not recognised as such by the Inter Faith Network (IFN) – or at least that used to be the answer. Until this year, under its faith group category, the IFN’s constitution permitted IFN membership only to nine specific religious traditions, or to sub-groups within these*. In recent years, this arrangement had been coming under increasing questioning and challenge. The IFN took the opportunity provided by the occasion of its 25th anniversary to carry out a Strategic Review of the IFN’s whole operation, including a review of its criteria for membership of the different categories. The Review put forward a series of proposals, many of which were debated and passed at an Extraordinary General Meeting in May this year. Broadly speaking, the constraint of recognising just nine specific religions has been abandoned. This new openness is balanced by an element of “vetting” in the process by which a newly applying faith group can be granted membership, and by the introduction of a code of conduct to be adopted throughout the IFN. It is difficult to overestimate the radical implications of these changes, even if they will take some time to have a major impact. In effect, and in principle, anything goes. No longer will any faith group be able to keep another legitimate faith group from joining the IFN table. No longer will any faith group be able to set itself up as the norm against what it sees as deviant or heretical versions of its own tradition. All is now relative, and this will take many of us well out of our comfort zones and habitual perceptions. As it happens, SACREs are potentially ahead of the game here. Their statutory framework does in fact embody an element of flexibility and local variation, and this has enabled some SACREs to be inclusive in new ways. For example, some SACREs now have a Pagan representative in Group A, and one SACRE has a Chair who is a member of the (Mormon) Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. (It is worth recalling that it is the Local Authority that determines which faith groups should be represented on Group A, even if the LA is heavily advised and prompted by the SACRE!) However, inclusiveness may come at a price. The proliferation of recognised faith groups, and of distinct sub-groups, presents a much more disorganised picture than the earlier pattern of a finite set of normative faith traditions, while the loss of normative reference points could well lead to some mainstream groups feeling deeply unhappy and alienated at being required to work alongside and give respect to a faith community or sub-group which they have historically anathematised. Some SACREs at the leading edge are beginning to model ways of coping with these tensions. What is being learned here needs to be shared with other SACREs – and even maybe with the IFN! * The nine are: Baha’i, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Jainism, Judaism, Sikhism, and Zoroastrianism.

ADVANCE NOTICE The next Inter Faith Week (November) is likely to have an emphasis on involving young people in the activities of that week. SACREs could contribute significantly to delivering this. Please highlight this with your SACRE now and look out for more detailed information and requests in the September edition of SACRE Briefing.