Church crawls, Religious toys, Jewish Fringe Festival

On this weekend’s Sunday programme, we continue to explore the future of religious worship, post-pandemic. Our reporter Nalini Sivasthasan looks into the renewed calls to make some Mosques more inclusive spaces for Muslim Women. And our Presenter Emily Buchanan speaks to the Imam and Scholar, Shaykh Ibrahim Mogra.

Amidst the growing calls for the restitution of treasures looted from Africa during the colonial era, there sits in the British Museum a contested collection of Sacred Plaques known as Tabots. Campaigners argue that there is no legal impediment to them being restored to their homeland. Father Abate Gobena, a serving Priest and member of the Parish Council at St. Mary’s Ethiopian Orthodox Church in London, explains why these Tabots are so precious to Ethiopians.

Author Peter Stanford takes us on ‘church crawl’ across the UK with his latest book ‘If These Stones Could Talk, The History Of Christianity In Britain and Ireland Through Twenty Buildings’.

Is a cuddly Deity the best way to help children understand faith and culture? In the run up to Diwali, soft toys of Deities like Ganesha are on offer at Hindu gatherings. Now the range is expanding to include all major faiths as our Reporter Vishva Samani explains. ‘Tsitsit’ is a pun on the Hebrew word for ritual fringes and it’s also the title of a Jewish themed Fringe Festival of comedy, theatre and music, currently on tour around the country. Emily speaks to the Festival’s Director Alastair Falk and Rachel Creeger, the only Orthodox Jewish woman on the British comedy circuit and co-host of the podcast 'Jew Talkin’ to Me’.

Picture Credit: 2021 The Borough Council of King's Lynn and West Norfolk.

Producers: Jill Collins and Louise Clarke-Rowbotham

Editor: Helen Grady