Lonsdale - Do I Kneel or Do I Bow?

As an Interfaith Minister working in modern multicultural Britain, I have enjoyed the privilege and pleasure of being welcomed into the lives and homes of people across the social and religious spectrum. My experiences have deepened my respect for all sacred traditions and their wisdoms. What has impressed me, time and again, is the truth of the core Interfaith Foundation tenet, Many Ways: One Truth, and how rich and imaginative are the different ways of expressing basic human wants and spiritual needs. I hope that this introductory guide to unfamiliar religious occasions will convey not only the excitement of discovery, but also a warming recognition of our common humanity. We really are all the same under the skin.

In our rapidly changing society, I believe that there is real need for a book of this kind. We live in an age of unprecedented mobility and today Western Europeans and North Americans are many times more likely than their parents to find themselves meeting people from a variety of religious backgrounds. We may well find ourselves invited to an unfamiliar ceremony, and when this happens there can be few of us who know exactly what to expect, or are confident about how to behave.

This guide introduces eight major religious traditions. It describes and explains the ceremonies in each that you may be invited to attend, and offers advice on how to behave, so that you do not inadvertently give offence or cause embarrassment to yourself or others. Because of the variety of traditions, customs and cultural influences even within each religion, you may experience some differences from what is describedbut the basic forms and features of the ceremonies will be the same.

While many people have friends of different faiths, other groups continue to struggle to understand each other. If this book helps to raise awareness, stimulate interest and offer useful guidance, my intention will have been met.

So many wonderful and gracious people have helped me on this journey, some to a huge extent and others in a passing conversation. Every contribution has been invaluable. I am deeply grateful to everyone, and humbled by the extreme generosity shown by several of the contributors. Thank you again to Liz and Jon Papier; Suresh Namdhari, Bristol Hindu Temple; Mother Sarah, St John of Kronstadt Orthodox Church, Bath; Father J. Blacker, St Thomas More Catholic Church, Marlborough; Swindon Gurdwara; The Reverend Dr R. Sharma, Hindu Council UK; Lynda Ford-Horne; Farzana Saker, West Wiltshire Interfaith Group; Anstice Fisher; Ruwan Uduwerage-Perera; Panditji, Bristol Hindu Temple; Helen Renton; Morris Banks, St Andrews Church, Chippenham; Anne Cooper; and Alison Paginton. And thank you to my commissioning editor, Geoffrey Chesler, who remained steady through sometimes choppy seas.

Last, but no means least, a huge thank you to my wonderful husband, John Gloster-Smith, who with his extensive knowledge of history was able to suddenly give a totally clear perspective on otherwise complex issues. As always, a rock and a loving support.

EXPERT ADVISORS

I am indebted to the following expert advisors, who ensured that their respective religions were fairly portrayed, and who have given their blessing to my attempts to explain their complex and nuanced traditions in simple terms:

The Reverend Malcolm Warren, Industrial Chaplain for Severn Side; Father Robert King, University of Bristol; Father Luke Holden, Holy Orthodox Church, Wales; Rabbi Rodney Mariner, Belsize Square Synagogue, London; Imam R. Azami, Bath Islamic Centre; Swami Ambikananda Saraswati, Reading Hindu Temple; Mr Jaspal Sagoo; and the Buddhist Society, London.

Mass in the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes, Philadelphia.

The Christian concept of God is triune. The one, righteous, compassionate Creator is revealed in Three Persons, as God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spiritknown as the Holy Trinity. This fundamental doctrine, agreed at the Council of Nicea in AD 325, is known as the Nicene Creed, and also as the Apostles Creed.

As a living statement of Christian faith, the Creed declares that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was born human, and that his suffering and death by crucifixion (nailing to a wooden cross) redeemed (saved) us from our sins. His resurrection, when he rose from the dead on the third day, instilled hope and gave the promise of eternal life after death. We are able to enter into a relationship with God the Father through the gift of the human incarnation and sacrifice of Jesus Christ, His son, and through the Holy Spirit working within us personally.

ABOVE The Crucifixion. Detail from an altarpiece by Andrea Mantegna, 1459.

The historical Jesus was a Hebrew preacher born into the tribe of Judah and the House of David, the second king of Israel. The word Christ comes from the Greek Christos, a translation of the Hebrew Messiah, meaning anointed one, and Christians believe that he was the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament who would usher in the final redemption at the end of days. Jesus was born and died a Jew, and it was not until some time after his death that his disciples travelled widely to spread his teachings.

After waves of persecution and martyrdom, and through the support of the Emperor Constantine, who converted to Christianity in 312, the new Christian religion became respectable, and finally, in 380, the state religion of the Roman Empire. It was then that the apostle Peter, who had taken Jesus message to Rome some two hundred years earlier, was posthumously recognised as a saint, the first Bishop of Rome and so the first Pope. For a thousand years all Christians belonged to a united worldwide Catholic Church. (Catholic, from the Greek katholikos, means general or universal.)

The Holy Bible, the Christian holy book, is a complete instruction book for life and for salvation. It consists of two parts: the Jewish Old Testament, which contains the Ten Commandments, the code of moral conduct given to Moses on Mount Sinai, and the New Testament, containing post-crucifixion accounts of the life and teachings of Jesus by those who either knew him or were under the guidance of those who did. Of several New Testament Gospels (Old English