PARTICIPANTS in interfaith dialogue and work should not abandon one another when difficulties arise, a new booklet from the World Council of Churches (WCC) argues.

The booklet, Building Interreligious Solidarity in Our Wounded World. The way of common formation, published at the end of last month, argues for a process of “common formation”.

Common formation, it says, seeks to bridge the gap between “face-to-face” interreligious activity — when people of different faiths discuss their similarities and differences, and thereby learn more about one another — and engagement that is “side-by-side”: “people of different faiths working together on projects that are intended to benefit their religious communities and/or the wider common good”.

Projects of common formation, it says, might be short-term and intensive, or spread over a longer period.

Common formation should be underpinned by five principles, the booklet says: taking responsibility, building relationships, ensuring respect, considering context, and always reflecting.

It also contains “ten practical pointers” for common-formation initiatives. These include: aiming for “parity of background”, so that “no one religious group is so dominant among the participants that it creates an automatic imbalance”; ensuring that “traditionally underrepresented groups are present”; fostering friendships: acknowledging that “we are companions on a common but transformational journey, and as such we do not abandon each other when difficulties arise”; and making use of scriptural reasoning: “a way of drawing on the authoritative resources of particular religious traditions to enable helpful interreligious conversations”.

The booklet can be read at; oikoumene.org