Christian and Sikh: A Practical Theology of Multiple Religious Participation

Synopsis

​The growing number of mixed-faith families and personal cross-faith explorations is leading to a fluidity in religious engagement that would once have been considered undesirable or even impossible. This book gives unprecedented practical content to the reality of multiple religious participation, balancing and challenging the more theoretical descriptions that are developing.

The author, a Christian priest and practical theologian, has spent several years worshipping as a Sikh while continuing in his Christian ministry, and has made this the basis of a sustained piece of autoethnographic description and reflection. His frank presentation of the challenges and the joys he encountered is in places deeply personal but also engages with the expectations of the communities with which he was involved, and the widest themes of religious identity and loyalty. The author’s own experience is supplemented by interviews with others who relate to both Sikhi and Christianity, by focus groups with colleagues, and by wide reading related to the issues involved. He encourages us to take part in similar boundary-crossing, reflecting in our own lives the self-giving friendliness of God.

Drawing from deep wells of experience and scholarship, John offers a fresh theological approach of friendship and friendliness as he explores his time of multi-religious participation. This book adds a personal and pastoral perspective on the practice of interfaith engagement and will be a helpful guide for those wishing to connect more deeply with people from different faith traditions.

Jessica Foster, Tutor in Interfaith Engagement, Queen’s Foundation