A surprising multi-faith group

‘The Multi-Faith Group.’ An alarm bell sounded in my spirit when I heard the words.

An elder of my church groaned when I mentioned it. A year on, I am grateful to the Lord that I am part of it. How did I, as a sound evangelical Christian, ever get involved with such a thing?

I work for a large multinational company. In our London headquarters building are around 4,000 employees of virtually every nationality, race, colour, creed and culture. We also have an active Christian fellowship, and a dozen or so of us meet two or three times weekly for prayer and Bible study. We talked about getting official company recognition for our fellowship as an official ‘Network Support Group’ with a place on the company website.

Conditions apply

‘Human Resources’ (personnel) welcomed us, but on condition that we became part of a Multi Faith Group. HR explained that for ‘diversity’ reasons they couldn’t give preference to any one religion. HR presented some statistics. In the UK, among employers responding to a 2008 survey on religion and belief (Equal Opportunities Review, April 2008), one in five had a ‘faith network’ and three-quarters of these were multi-faith. A 2009 survey had shown that 40%+ of companies operated multi-faith networks. HR’s view was that a multi-faith route was called for by employment law.

HR presented us with their mandate for the ‘MFG’. ‘A faith-neutral forum for the discussion of issues; to raise awareness of beliefs which are protected by law; to raise awareness of the impact of current legislation and any new developments in the law, and to advise or be consulted on policies where considerations of religion or belief might be relevant.’ HR pointed out something we had never considered: they saw the MFG as a potential company resource. Our company operates globally, and an in-house body of expertise could save costly embarrassment later, if, for example, a TV commercial violated local religious sensitivities.

Praying it through

We prayed and thought about it. HR were unreservedly pluralist. Would we be obliged to sign up to a statement that all religions were the same? Verses like 2 Corinthians 6.14, ‘Do not be linked together with unbelievers.... what fellowship can light have with darkness?’, were in our minds. But weighing it all up, taking HR’s mandate at face value, we Christians could see little that in all honesty we could object to. We could also see potential benefits. The MFG would be one of the few forums in the company in which religion was officially on the agenda and where Christians could present their views. As a global company we operate as a major business in many countries where Christians are oppressed, and an official company support network could help Christian employees in such countries. We could learn about other faiths, which would surely help us in our evangelism. There was a bottom line: HR was determined to have an MFG, and it would be shameful if Christianity were not represented on it. So we cautiously agreed to join the MFG.

First meeting

Our ‘kick off’ meeting came. A multi-faith committee of a dozen or so of us sat around a table for the first time. Two Christians, two or three Moslems, a couple of Jews, turbaned Sikhs, a Hindu in her sari, and others. We all warily eyed each other, wondering what was going to happen. Going round the table we explained what faith we belonged to, what was important to us, faith needs like absence at specific times of the day for prayer and, of course, the strict food rules of some. The atmosphere eased, no one was defensive, we shared amusing anecdotes and good-natured laughter, and no swords were drawn.

For a couple of meetings we just talked about things like holy days, kosher and halal. Then someone had the idea of meetings open to everyone in the building, with outside speakers from our various faiths. HR thought this was a great idea, fulfilling our mandate. The Muslims went first. We all, Christians, Hindus, Jews and Sikhs worked together in helping set up the meeting. We wondered whether anyone would turn up. The day came. A prominent Muslim academic delivered a talk on ‘Islam in Work and Family’. About 70 people attended. There was no extremism, and the event gave us opportunities to speak about spiritual matters. Even in the secular 21st century, a talk on religion could draw busy people away from their desks!

Opportunity with Rico

Our turn came next. We invited evangelist Rico Tice, author of the Christianity Explored course. The Lord had given us the opportunity to invite a nationally known evangelist to address a public meeting at our building! We were given the same extensive publicity as before: leaflets in the restaurants, information screen displays, and approval to invite our work colleagues via internal emails. As before, the Hindus, Jews, Moslems and Sikhs helped. About 60 came to hear Rico speak. Apart from a few opening words from our multi-faith HR sponsor, no more pressure to present the Christian gospel in some kind of ‘politically correct’ way was put on our evangelist than was put on Paul in Acts 17 when he was asked to speak on Mars Hill. ‘That was a bit too much like proselytising’, said HR afterwards. We took that as a compliment!

Giving out literature

Other opportunities arose. A week in November last year had been designated ‘National Multi-Faith Week’. The Sikh representative suggested setting up a stall in our building’s main concourse and giving out literature about our faiths. My church provided a stock of tracts, which I ran past HR in case their statement that the Bible was God’s only truth and Christ was the only saviour was considered non-PC. Our prayer was answered and HR approved them. Views may differ on displaying Christian, Buddhist, Moslem, etc. literature together, but we used it as a God-given opportunity. So, in secular Britain, in the headquarters of a major multinational company, the Lord enabled us to hand out prayed-over Christian tracts and to share the gospel!

This is not to say there have not been tensions. The Sikh representative learned that, without informing our building’s staff, our building’s caterers had switched supplier, and now all meat in the restaurants was halal, religiously unacceptable to Sikhs. Although we Christians made clear that we had no food rules, on the halal question we felt obliged to support our Sikh colleague. It seemed unjust that his sensitivities should be ignored. We questioned whether this clandestine adoption of halal complied with company non-discrimination policies and whether it was even legal under present discrimination laws. Advice from the Christian Institute (without identifying our company) suggested that adoption of 100% halal could be illegal. At a tense meeting the building’s caterers agreed to adopt clear labelling of halal food so that choice could be exercised. Supporting our Sikh colleague on the halal question did not seem like compromising our Christian faith or endorsing a false religion. Even that issue provided us with natural, unforced opportunities to present the gospel as we explained our freedoms in Christ. A bridge of friendship was built between us and the Sikhs, and who can tell where that might lead?

Radically different

In the year or so of the MFG’s existence I can reflect on the experience. As a unique group of people who were actually interested in religion it was fertile ground for ‘opportunities’. HR were pluralist but never imposed any compromise of our Christian position. It gave amazing opportunities for Christian service in the building. I learned far more than I could ever have learned from books about how the adherents of other faiths think and act, and how religion and culture can be inextricably mixed. Now, when someone says that all religions are the same, I can reply with informed authority. Above all, from day one, I saw with new clarity how our Christian faith was utterly, radically, different from all the other faiths represented, as a certain relationship with God, not a rules-based ‘religion’, no matter how rich the culture and how deep the sincerity of their followers might be.

Not everyone’s experience of a multi-faith group might be as positive as ours. Perhaps we just had the right combination of people. All we can say is that, in our Multi-Faith Group, the Lord kept us and used us in the spread of his gospel.

A surprising multi-faith group

Ralph Walker shares what turns out to be a positive experience

Conditions apply

Praying it through

First meeting

Opportunity with Rico

Giving out literature

Radically different

Ralph Walker

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