An interfaith experience

28 March 2024

The Rev Heston Groenewald, Vicar of All Hallows Church in Leeds, received a bursary to support his local interfaith ministry.

The Rev Heston Groenewald, Vicar of All Hallows Church in Leeds with friends

His parish has three mosques and a Hindu temple and he visited India and Pakistan to experience and learn more about the diverse cultures and customs that make up the fabric of the local community.

“My wife Lydia and I spent two months travelling around NW India, and then one month travelling around NE Pakistan. We appreciated the chance to relax; to adventure; to learn; to spend time together; and to deepen our bonds with Leeds’ Indian and Pakistani friends by visiting people and places significant to them. The sabbatical’s blessings began long before we departed: for months beforehand, we met with as many Indian and Pakistani friends as we could, to ask their thoughts about where to go, what to do, who to meet.”

“It took us no time at all to discover that the real reality is HOSPITALITY! In both India and Pakistan we were overwhelmed with welcome and generosity, as people went out of their way to make us feel valued as guests. No surprises really, as this is exactly how we are treated by our Indian and Pakistani friends at home.”

On his trip, Revd Groenewald experienced the Holi festival in India, visited Pakistan during Ramadan and celebrated Easter with Christians and Muslims in Lahore.

Vaisakhi with Sikhs

"Our final stop in India was Amritsar. I had long dreamed of seeing the Golden Temple in action. This is the spiritual home of the Sikh faith, where 100,000 visitors are welcomed every day (!) to say their prayers, to hear the scriptures read, to bathe in the holy lake, and to share langar. Langar is the free meal served in all gurdwaras around the world – and with so many people eating, it’s a mammoth operation at the Golden Temple"

Ramadan with Muslims

“We crossed from India into Pakistan during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Everywhere we went, again and again, we were greeted: ‘Welcome to Pakistan! It’s great to have you here! Thank you for being our guests!’ And we found a breathtakingly beautiful country of lakes and river valleys; deserts and glaciers; forests and apricot orchards; cricket stadiums and mosques; and people who demonstrate their love by feeding you enormous amounts of food – even when they are fasting and can’t eat with you.”

Easter with Christians (and Muslims)

"We celebrated Easter Sunday at St Andrew’s Anglican church in Lahore. Our Muslim hosts joined us for the service, having taken us to mosques and shared part of Ramadan with us."

Revd Groenewald said: “The MBA grant enabled an amazing adventure around India and Pakistan- and so has been a valuable wonderful investment in my wellbeing and in my local interfaith ministry.

“The whole experience has served to deepen and widen friendships across faiths back home in Leeds – so I am grateful to Ecclesiastical for the opportunity.”

Helen Richards, church operations director at Ecclesiastical Insurance, said: “The clergy make an incredible contribution to our local communities, supporting them through the pandemic and cost of living crisis on top of their mission. We know that it comes with a huge amount of personal responsibility and so we developed the MBAs to present them with the opportunity for rest and refreshment.

“We have always tried to support sabbatical projects that provide personal development opportunities for members of the clergy as well as those that are of benefit to the wider church and community. It is exciting to see how the projects we fund have diversified over the years as the development needs and interests of our clergy continue to change and adapt to modern times.”