Creationtide and the Feast of St Michael & All Angels – Sunday 28th September 2025

On Sunday September 28th at 2pm the gathering a Penmount and will be led by the Christian Community.

There will be two themes. One will be Creationtide which all churches observe between September 1st and October 4th.

The second theme is angels.  On September 29th churches keep the Feast of St Michael and All Angels. This day is relevant to Cornwall because of a legend linked to St Michael’s Mount- Do come and hear this moving story.

We are aware that ‘angels’ are a feature in many religions and so we are asking those who will be attending the worship on Sept 28th to bring something linked to angels.

Either a reading or prayer from your Faith tradition or a personal experience of Angels from your life.

As always drinks – hot and cold – will be available and please bring some vegetarian food to share.

For more information contact Andrew Yates [email protected] 

Cornwall Faith Forum AGM – Tuesday 1st July 2025 at the Old Cathedral School, Truro TR1 2FQ

Our AGM takes place on Tuesday 1st July at 7.00 pm (refreshments served from 6.45 pm) at the Old Cathedral School (OCS), Cathedral Close, Truro TR1 2FQ.  All Welcome.  Please note that there is no parking at this venue but the Old Bridge Street Car Park is nearby costing £2.10 per evening.  If you have mobility problems, let us know and we will try and arrange parking  in the OCS car park.

Agenda 01.07.25:  Agenda for CFF AGM 010725

Notes of the last AGM held on 25th June 2024 can be viewed here:  Notes of CFF AGM Meeting 25th June 2024

Cornwall Faith Forum Accounts 24-25:  Examined Accounts 2425

Constitutional chart:  Constitution chart

Accounts certificate:  Accounts certificate 2425

Berlin to Budapest 2025 Walking for Peace – April-June 2025

Cornwall Faith Forum friend Paul Haines writes

“I set off this Friday 25th April for Berlin and will be returning from Budapest on the 20th June.

I have set up a Just Giving page and donations go to Children of Peace, a charity I have been supporting for the last ten years since my walk to Jerusalem.  https://www.justgiving.com/page/berlin-budapest-peace-walk-2025-paul-haines
Given the present circumstances in the Middle East some of the projects they support to help children in that area are hugely challenged. However they continue to support many groups from across any of the divides that are working to bring communities together. “
We wish Paul the best of luck with this Peace Walk.  You can find out more about Paul on his website Links to Peace

Eid-ul-Fitr – Sunday 6th April 2025

We are excited that our first gathering of the year at the Dor Kemmyn Peace Field, will be held on Sunday 6th April at 2.00 pm.  Qudsia Ward, from the Muslim faith tradition will be leading us with our own Eid-ul-Fitr celebration.  Qudsia writes:

“At Penmount at 2pm on Sunday 6th April, Cornwall Faith Forum will insha’Allah be learning about and sharing Eid-ul-Fitr which is the Muslim religious festival marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadhan.  Ramadhan this year began on 1st March and will end on 29/30 March. The following day is Eid-ul-Fitr.    Fasting exists in most if not all religious traditions in one form or another.   Please join us to learn what Islam teaches about the purpose and rituals of fasting according to the Holy Quran and the practice taught by the Holy Prophet Muhammad(saw).  

Weather permitting we can share a picnic together and enjoy each other’s company too”.

We look forward to seeing you there.  Please bring vegetarian food with you.  Hot and cold drinks will be provided.  If you require any further information, please contact Andrew Yates, Chair of the CFF [email protected]

Faith Literacy Programme 2024

One outcome of the Faith Covenant is that Cornwall Faith Forum have agreed to run a faith literacy programme for the staff of Cornwall Council.   Initially they will be centred on structured “lunch and learn” sessions. These sessions will feature conversations between representatives from different faith communities.

Those signing up for the sessions will be asked to review in advance some bite sized information about the faiths to be featured in that session which can be found on a relevant website.

After an introduction to the background of the Faith Covenant the faith reps will hold a conversation exploring questions such as:

What does your religion or faith mean to you?

Sharing something about the  experience of being a member of a distinctive faith community in Cornwall?

What are the challenges and opportunities that you and your community experience?

How can we support staff/volunteers or others to be more confident and positive in discussing religion, faith or belief needs?

 

With a time for question and answer to follow.

 

The first session will be taking place before the end of March and Cornwall Faith Forum is looking forward to rolling the programme out over the next 12 months.

Holocaust Memorial Day – Monday 27th January 2025

This year Holocaust Memorial Day on Monday 27 January marked the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi death camp.   Kehillat Kernow’s website states ‘A very moving and well-attended service took place in Truro Cathedral on that day under the theme ‘For A Better Future’. As always, Kehillat Kernow took a major part in the service and a good number of members attended. A video of the 1 hour event is available here: https://youtu.be/o0tJ-TQewno . A huge thank you to KK member Helen Moreland who made the official recording of the event.’

For more information view the Kehillat Kernow’s website HERE

Faith Covenant for Cornwall

On 13 November 2024, during Interfaith Week, faith groups from across Cornwall came together at Lys Kernow in Truro to sign Cornwall’s new Faith Covenant. This is a joint commitment between Cornwall Council and Cornwall’s faith communities to work together to support Cornwall residents.

The Faith Covenant is a significant milestone in our partnership with our faith communities. It highlights our shared values and the desire to help bring communities together and promote a sense of pride in Cornwall’s diversity. Below are the full and Easy Read versions of the signed Covenant document:

Members of the Baha’i, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Islam, Jewish, and Pagan faiths, alongside a representative from the Humanist community signed the Covenant document on behalf of their communities. The Covenant was also signed by Cllr Linda Taylor, Leader of Cornwall Council and Kate Kennally, Chief Executive on behalf of Cornwall Council and Andrew Yates (Chair) on behalf of Cornwall Faith Forum.

For more information click HERE

 

Peace Field and Building

Dates of Cornwall Faith Forum gatherings at the Dor Kemmyn Peace Field 2025

With Spring nearly upon us, we have started to plan our faith events/activities for 2025 for the Dor Kemmyn Peace field.  Do come and join us!  Save these dates in your diaries as follows:

Sunday 6th April at 2.00 pm – Eid Festival Event

Sunday 27th April at 2.00 pm – Baha’i Three Holy Days Event

Sunday 11th May at 2.00 pm – Buddhist Festival

Sunday 1st June at 2.00 pm– Jewish Festival Shavuot

Sunday 29th June – Annual Open Day at Penmount (time to be confirmed)

Sunday 27th July at 2.00 pm – Pagan Event Lughnasadh (Lammas)/Harvest Festival

Sunday 24th at 2.00 pm – Cleaning our Faith Poles

Sunday 28th September at 2.00 pm  – Christian Event – Creationtide & Feast of St Michael, Patron Saint of Cornwall

November – Divali – More information to follow (indoor event!)

If you haven’t been to the Dor Kemmyn Peace Field before you can find us at the Penmount Crematorium, Newquay Road, Truro TR4 9AA.  As you enter the grounds you will see our Faith Poles on the left hand side of the drive.  Please park in the first car park on the left.

For more information contact Andrew Yates [email protected]

Peace Field and Building

Baha’i Event at the Dor Kemmyn Peace Field – Sunday 22nd September at 2.00 pm

Our next event at the Dor Kemmyn Peace Field is being on Sunday 22nd September at 2.00 pm.

Please join the Baha’i Community with an introduction and exploration of (and hopefully a musical journey!) through some of the more mystical Baha’i Writings ….specifically a Book called the Seven Valleys.

A couple of the songs centre around Writings on Love and Unity and we hope you will join in!

And if there’s time either during the presentation or in discussion over a cup of tea we can share our understanding of the mystical writings and traditions within our own Faiths.

Baltic Walk for Peace 2024

Cornwall Faith Forum’s good friend Paul Haines has returned from his Baltic Walk for Peace.  Paul writes:

First of all, thank you to those that have already donated to Children of Peace. If anyone else would like to donate I am keeping my Just Giving page active until at least the end of July.         https://www.justgiving.com/page/baltic-peace-walk-2024-paul-haines

Having now returned to the UK, my reflections for this walk are dominated by the history and memorials of the Second World War and the Soviet Occupation in this region. They are so embedded into the fabric of these countries and their people and it was deeply moving to experience this as I Walked for Peace from Tallinn (Estonia), to Riga (Latvia) and then to Vilnius (Lithuania). A final few days in Warsaw (Poland) only reinforced my feelings. The memories of this past seem to pervade the very soul of the countries and cities I passed through and even some of the people I came across seem to be held in their past.
It was a strange juxtaposition experiencing this while at the same time conscious of the ongoing conflicts in both Ukraine and Gaza. There were a number of moments when history became fused with the present time.
One such instance was in the Okopowa Street Jewish Cemetery in Warsaw which is one of the largest in Europe and the world. There was a poem written by a child in the Warsaw Ghetto which expressed the desperate situation then. Eerily, I could imagine the same poem being written by a child at this present time, possibly in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan or wherever there is ongoing conflict.
Have we learnt nothing from our history? It is just too easy to forget our past and to be drawn into conflict, division, war and death. Ultimately we need to drastically increase our efforts to bring about peace. We owe it to the future and to the children who will inherit this world.
Again, thank you to those who have already donated or may wish to donate to Children of Peace.
With many thanks, Paul [email protected]
The image below is as Paul sets off from Freedom Square in Tallinn, Estonia, on my Baltic Walk for Peace 2024.
On my arrival in Vilnius, Lithuania, standing by the “Road to Freedom” sculpture commemorating the “Baltic Way” of 1989 when two million people joined hand in hand across 600kms as a huge symbol of successful nonviolent peaceful protest. https://www.thebalticway.eu/en/