Newbury Baptists And Oxford Muslims

Howard and Maria Grace are exceptional peace-builders. I met Howard when he was an atheist. Now he is a Christian, but he believes God can speak to everyone and that too many Christians hinder this happening through their holier-than-thou approach. He facilitated my visit to Newbury Baptist Church to talk about Celtic Christianity and fresh insights into how we engage with our multi-culural world. Next day I spoke to Christians of an opposite approach - the Progressive Christianity Network. Then on to Oxford to learn from Peter Riddell about his peace-building work in the Middle East. At Oxford Islamic Centre we heard Professor Ron Greaves of Liverpool Hope University speak about the many and fast-changing facets of Islam in UK. We learned of a mosque that attracts 5,000 worshippers of 52 ethnicities. The Professor studies what happens to a religion when it moves from one location to another. He asks What is its core? What can be changed? From what? By what? To what? He quoted this verse from the Qur'an: We have created you tribes that you may know each other.