WHO’S WHO

Candifa Council Members

	Lynne Broadbent	Chair Show Message
	Selva Selvarajah	Treasurer Show Message By belonging to an interfaith group one is able to learn about other faiths and their practices. This helps people to better understand all faiths. Hindus are born into their faith. In one of the holy Hindu scriptures, the Bhagavad Gita, there is a verse saying that one should always respect all other faiths, that we all want to reach our Lord, but each one takes a different route. All Hindus believe in one Supreme God who created the Universe. Most Hindus have an altar in their homes where the family prays together and many visits to the Temple for the festival and auspicious days.
	Mike Walling (Co- Founder and Chair 2000-2019)	Methodist Show Message
	Arthur Weinberg (Co-Founder and Vice Chair 2000-2021)	Baháʼí Faith community Show Message I was born into a Jewish family in South Africa, a country divided by the odious policy of Apartheid, so I grew up in an atmosphere of religious prejudice and racial hatred and injustice. After qualifying as an architect in 1959 I emigrated to England, where I was able to find and investigate the Baha’i Faith, something I couldn’t do in South Africa, and I was moved by its principles of the Oneness of Religion and the Oneness of Humankind. 1960 marked a major turning point in my life as I took British citizenship, became a Baha’i, started training and working as a school teacher and I met the young lady whom I married three years later. I had always been interested in the idea of Interfaith activities and was one of the founding members of CANDIFA. I believe that there will be peace and tolerance once people respect and understand each other’s beliefs and free themselves of racial and religious prejudices. A maxim I hold dear and try to live by is “Consort with the followers of all religions in a spirit of friendliness and fellowship”.
	Dinkar Sharma	The University of Kent Buddhist meditation Group Show Message
	Gaya Perera	Buddhist (Theravada) council member. Show Message
	Mike Stygal	Pagan Community Show Message Interfaith activity connects different faith communities, fostering greater understanding and appreciation of one another within the wider community. Many of the challenges encountered between people in the world are, at least in part, rooted in misunderstanding, lack of accurate information and a sense of mistrust and fear that can come from that. Pagans following their traditions have experienced hostility and derision due to misinformation, mistrust and fear about Pagans and their traditions. Consequently, involvement with Interfaith groups is a valuable opportunity for Pagans to present an accurate account of our traditions, and in recognition that other faiths also experience misinformation about their beliefs and practices, to discover accurate information about other traditions. Pagan traditions almost exclusively see and revere the sacred in nature, those traditions varying, in part due to the landscape and climate in which they emerged. All humans are a part of nature and share life in nature. So Interfaith work could be understood to be a practical expression of seeing the sacred in the humans from other faith traditions, who are also a part of nature. Further information on a range of Pagan traditions can be found here: https://www.paganfed.org/paganism/ and, with an education approach, here: Paganism – RE: Online
	Richard Norman	Kent Humanist Show Message
	Peter Norris	SGI UK representative (Buddhist) Show Message I‘m Pete Norris, I practice Nichiren Buddhism with Soka Gakkai ( Society for the Creation of Value) We have 3 basic practices. Elsewhere on this website you can see a video of us chanting the phrase *Nam- myoho- renge- kyo during IF week 2019. We chant to transform our problems and difficulties by drawing out what we call our Buddha nature, the fundamental human qualities of courage, wisdom, compassion and life force. The second daily practice is to study the teachings of the 13th century Buddhist priest Nichiren. He taught that absolutely everyone is equally a Buddha, and that opening our lives to the Mystic Law of the Universe will create a peaceful and harmonious society. This leads us to the third practice. That is to conduct sincere dialogue with all of those around us. Buddhism maintains that all teachings are rivers and tributaries ultimately opening out in to a vast ocean of universal wisdom. We don’t have a priesthood. Our lay leader Daisaku Ikeda now aged 93 has devoted his life to our humanitarian movement and has published a considerable number of interfaith dialogues with leading thinkers and activists.
	Ghazwan Butrous	Roman Catholic Show Message Interfaith dialogue means the communication, dialogue and cooperation between different faiths and religious groups. Since 1964 following the Second Vatican Council’s spirit, the Catholic Church has encouraged all respect and collaboration between different faiths and religions, promoting mutual understanding, respect, and collaboration between the followers of others religious traditions. It also aims to encourage the study of all religious beliefs. Thus, belonging to an interfaith group will foster these principles and promote friendly interreligious dialogue and understanding.
	Bakul Chandola	Hindu community Show Message My name is Bakul Chandola, and I have lived in Canterbury for the past 30 years. Although I am a Hindu following the Sanatan Dharma, I have been lucky to have had a close association with other faiths during my formative years. I was brought up in a Zoroastrian School and went to a Catholic College, and through my aunts who were teachers in an Islamic school with Islam. Candida is a treasure trove for me and I am happy being a part of it as I get to learn about other faiths.
	Sinan Rawi	Muslim community Show Message