BOTH Christians and Muslims in High Wycombe, in
Oxford diocese, were shocked when they heard of
the suicide bombing last September at All Saints', Peshawar, which
killed 127 Christian worshippers and injured nearly 200 more (News, 20
September).
The Council for Christian and Muslim Relations called an
emergency meeting, and issued a strong statement condemning the
outrage. Christian and Muslim members then decided to join together
for prayers for those who had been bereaved or injured (and to
remember similar attacks on Shia Muslims and others in Pakistan),
at both the midday prayers at the Totteridge Road mosque on the
Friday before Christmas, and at the Sunday parish eucharist at All
Saints', High Wycombe, a couple of days later.
The same sermon was preached at both: one part was given by Imam
Sultan Mahmoud, and the other by the Revd Hugh Ellis (above, in
the mosque). The two acts of worship also included prayers for
the congregation in Peshawar, and for other victims of sectarian
violence in Pakistan. About a dozen Muslims went to All Saints',
and about a dozen Christians went to the mosque.