The Bloom Review One Year On: Multi-Faith Perspectives

The at Wesley House and – both members of the – are co-sponsoring an in-person day conference on .

The conference will take place on 1st May 2024 at the Woolf Institute in central Cambridge, running from 09.30 – 18.00.

The Review was written by Colin Bloom, an Independent Faith Advisor. It appeared in April 2023 following an extensive public consultation to which 21,000 people contributed. The Review makes 22 recommendations to government on the role of faith in society, covering a range of topics from faith literacy to education to marriage to chaplaincy to extremism. While many have welcomed its call for increased understanding of and attention to faith in the public sector, many have also criticised its descriptions of believers and its concentration more on the dangers of religion than on religions’ positive contributions to society.

The aim of the event is to critically scrutinize the Review by bringing together key experts in faith and public life representing a variety of faith communities and equipped to address the diverse sectors engaged with by the Review, as well as to identify what is missing from it.

These issues will be explored in five sessions (confirmed speakers):

Opening session: The Bloom Report in Context:

• Dr Ed Kessler MBE (Founder President, Woolf Institute)
• Dr Jonathan Chaplin (Fellow of Wesley House)

Panel 1: Religious/Faith Literacy and Understanding

• Chair: Chine McDonald (Director, Theos)
• Sheikh Ibrahim Mogra (scholar and imam, former Assistant Secretary-General of the Muslim Council of Britain)
• Barbara Easton (Head of Service, Methodist Academies and Schools Trust)
• Professor Stephen Parker (Director of The Centre for Catholic Education, St Mary's University, Twickenham)

Panel 2: Limiting Religious Harm in Society: Extremism and Exploitation

• Chair: Dr Elizabeth Phillips (Director of Education & Engagement, Woolf Institute)
• The Reverend Canon Michael Parker KHC CF (Methodist military chaplain)
• Professor Jagbir Jhutti-Johal (Professor of Sikh Studies, University of Birmingham)
• Dr Daniel Nilsson DeHanas (Senior Lecturer in Political Science and Religion, King’s College, London)

Panel 3: Positive Contributions of Faith in Public Life

• Chair: Dr Richard A. Davis (Acting Vice Principal, Wesley House)
• Dr Madeleine Pennington (Head of Research, Theos)
• Dr Mohammed I Ahmed (PhD Scholar in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, Woolf Institute)
• tbc

Concluding session addressed by ‘Keynote Listeners’

• Professor Pauline Kollontai (Professor Emerita of Higher Education in Theology and Religious Studies, York St John University)
• Professor Chris Baker (William Temple Professor of Religion and Belief in Public Life, Goldsmiths University of London).

The sponsors

The Centre for Faith in Public Life supports and promotes the active, informed and constructive engagement of Christians and churches in public life, for furthering ‘the welfare of the city’, peace, justice, freedom, equality, and the common good. It does this through study, research, publishing, and conversations in the area of faith and public life.

The Woolf Institute, founded in 1998, specialises in research, education, and public engagement which aims to address polarisation in society, especially where it exists along religious lines, by building trust between people of faith and between public bodies and faith communities.

The event is financially supported by a grant from The Spalding Trust.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Woolf Institute, Madingley Road, Cambridge, United Kingdom