20 December 2016

Building Bridges Symposium

David Haines conducting a presentation

The first Building Bridges Symposium was held 17-19 November at Al-Maktoum College Of Higher Education, in conjunction with Scottish Interfaith Week, here in my hometown of Dundee. With a series of guest speakers, lectures, scriptural reasoning, workshops, films, music and visits, the three days were packed full of interesting discussions and information.

The event was very well attended with people travelling from all over the UK to be there. We started on the Thursday evening with a lecture by Professor Hugh Goddard from The University of Edinburgh: ‘The Abrahamic Religions Today’. On Friday 18 November, the schedule included lectures, workshops, visits to local places of worship and an Interfaith Week film. I was the keynote speaker on the final day, when we expanded on the topics already covered with more speakers and visits. Live music rounded off the symposium.

Some of the lectures and workshops I attended were superb. I learned a lot and they gave me much to think about. My presentation was met with tears and compassion. There were many questions and the discussions afterwards were far-ranging. I met some very interesting people, found new friends and made plans for future events. A big thank you to Al-Maktoum College for the invitation to speak and for hosting the event.