Faith Guiding – tourist guiding, dialogue or witness?

Many school children and adults are making educational visits to places of worship of all the faiths. 'Faith guiding' is a growing skill. Below, Ruth Tetlow explains how it has developed in Birmingham.

Cathedrals and other historic churches retain their popularity with cultural tourists as well as pilgrims, but in recent years many school children and adults have also made educational visits to places of worship of all the faiths. Multi faith cities, such as Birmingham, can be proud of their diversity of beautiful spiritual buildings – mosques, temples, gurudwaras and synagogues as well as churches. In 2006, a small group of people of all faiths in Birmingham realised that these buildings could form the focal points for positive inter faith encounter, if they had trained ‘Faith Guides’ who could interpret their own faith to visitors with confidence. The Faith Encounter Programme was formed and has worked with the Institute of Tourist Guiding to develop a unique 12 week evening course which combines skills in communicating one’s own faith with tour guiding skills and understanding of other faiths. The course has now been completed by 41 people of all ages, 20 places of worship and 7 faiths (Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jain, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh and Unitarian), both women and men.

The primary aim was to build understanding and mutual respect between people of all religions and beliefs, but also to equip faith communities/places of worship to offer high quality educational visits. Such visits have been taking place for many years but, as two of the newly trained Faith Guides said:

‘I thought I knew everything but found I knew nothing.’

‘I became aware of how what you say can be misunderstood by others.’

Schools are now required to show that they are contributing to community cohesion and most Religious Education syllabuses are multi faith, but these requirements are easier to comply with in some areas of the country than others. So places like Birmingham are in demand from teachers and others in less multicultural areas, to offer inter faith experiences, such as visits to places of worship. There is a danger that these can be seen as merely ticking boxes, or, worse, may even be counterproductive, unless they are organised by someone who can direct people to places of worship where the faith will be interpreted with integrity and sensitivity. As Co-ordinator of the Faith Encounter, I can play this role.

Faith Guides understand the pitfalls of making unwarranted comparisons between faiths, and are aware that words such as prayer have different meanings in different faiths. They are trained to translate all technical terms (e.g. Holy Spirit, Guru Granth Sahib Ji) that people of faith so easily take for granted, and to answer the difficult questions that often cause offence. They learn about areas of common ground that can be used to build bridges as well as areas of difference that must be treated with respect.

‘I learnt how to explain concepts from my own faith while being sensitive to others.

Places of worship have benefitted through being able to present their faith and way of life to visitors with a new professionalism and the Faith Guides themselves have:

‘Gained greater knowledge of (my) own faith – something I’ve been meaning to do for a long time!’

‘....learnt that all regions preach equality’

‘ learnt from members of the faiths in the group.’

‘ learnt how to manage a group of people while moving them around.’

So, is this tourist guiding, dialogue or witness? The officers of the national Institute of Tourist Guiding (which accredits the course) would admit that Faith Guiding has been a new concept for them but one that they have welcomed. Inter faith dialogue certainly takes place at various levels, both in the classroom and on the visits, as the above quotations testify. At the same time the Faith Guides gain the confidence and skill to witness to the essentials of their own faith, and get plenty of practice in doing so, to people of all religious backgrounds.

The Faith Guides now offer a valuable resource which is being sought by organisations delivering public services such as housing and policing, who are working to comply with the new Equalities Act. Later this year, funding permitting, it is hoped to extend the course to four other centres in the West Midlands, with the support of the West Midlands Faiths Forum. As Co-ordinator, my own Christian faith has been deepened and enriched through developing relationships with people of real faith and spiritual practice, from different cultures and beliefs. Other Christians who have taken part in the Faith Guiding course, have had their eyes opened to the many misunderstandings others have about our faith, and have been empowered to break down those barriers.