Police host Liverpool 'walk of faith' to church, mosque, synagogue - and tea

A 'Walk of Faith', linking a church, mosque and synagogue in the Toxteth area of Liverpool, has been under the auspices of Merseyside Police i n an effort to increase links between people holding different religious beliefs. Bill McAdam , the community engagement sergeant, who heads the force's interfaith group, says: "It's all about community cohesion." Toxteth is one of the most diverse parts of Liverpool and the Walk of Faith included representatives of Everton FC's community programme, as well as people from many local agencies. First, Rev Alan Fretwell welcomed visitors to his Methodist church at Princes' Park , where he outlined how he became a Christian in Zambia at the age of 31, and gave a summary of the main tenets of Christianity. Next, Adam Kelwick, a senior member of the local Muslim community, invited guests into the nearby mosque, where he gave a summary of the history of Merseyside's Muslim community , which has been in existence since the early 19th century. Unlike many other parts of England where the Muslim population mainly consists of people with roots in the Indian subcontinent, Liverpool's Muslims include many with family backgrounds originally in Yemen and Somalia, as well as white converts. From there, it was on to the Liverpool Old Hebrew Congregation, where Dr Peter Grant and Mrs Hoyland explained the architecture of the synagogue and provided an introduction to Judaism. Participants were invited to attend a celebration after the walk hosted by Community Spirit , a group working to promote harmony in the local community, held in the Kuumba Imani Millennium Centre . Toxteth's success in building bridges between people of different faiths and ethnic backgrounds was reflected in the fact that the centre recently hosted a group from Northern Ireland who had come to Liverpool as a model of reconciliation. The gathering heard how this group was amazed at the variety of places of worship in close proximity to each other, as they had come from a society where one would not find Catholic and Protestant churches side by side, let alone a synagogue just around the corner from a mosque. Good news, in a world so often highlighting the bad.