The Essex Faith Covenant
The Essex Faith Covenant (EFC) held its annual meeting on Wednesday 15 November, hosted by Farleigh Hospice.
Launched six years ago, the EFC was the first county-wide faith covenant in the UK. It aims to strengthen community cohesion and tackle isolation and loneliness across Essex. Over 40 local authorities, faith groups, emergency services, community groups, charities and hospices have all signed the EFC. It is also supported by Faith Action, a nationwide network of faith-based and community organisations working together to help others.
The EFC meets online every three months and in-person once a year, this time at Farleigh’s hospice building in Broomfield, Chelmsford. Members were welcomed by our Chief Executive, Sarah Green.
The Reverend Canon Ivor Moody, Chair of the EFC, began by acknowledging the global impact of the current conflict in the Middle East. He thanked members for contributing to the joint statement from Essex Faith Group leaders issued on 6 November – with the agreement of the Islamic and Jewish communities - which called for people to unite and live and work together with tolerance, understanding and compassion. You can read the statement here.
He said that the members of the EFC have shown ‘what unites us is more important than what divides us.’ Many other inter-faith communities have been unable to issue a similar statement.
Canon Moody and Andrew Lowing, the Senior Equalities and Partnerships Advisor at Essex County Council, updated members on the EFC’s recent projects including the first ever Faith and Blue Lights Conference at Chelmsford Cathedral. This event brought together the police, fire and ambulance services, caring agencies and various faith communities to discuss important issues including race/hate crime, community resilience and partnership working to manage community crises.
Farleigh Hospice joined the EFC in 2023. Our Director of Care, Ellie Miller, and Chaplain and Spiritual Care Co-ordinator, Susanna Offor, talked about the care and spiritual support that this hospice provides.
Local religious leaders were recently invited to talk about their beliefs on end of life and death at our Faith at the End of Life learning event attended by almost 60 of our staff and volunteers. Interactive workshops addressed three important questions: what matters most as we approach the end of life, what happens when we die and what is important after death and in bereavement?
Dr Imranali Panjwani, Senior Lecturer in Law at Anglia Ruskin University Law School and Founder and Head of Diverse Legal Consulting, attended the workshops and praised Farleigh for being open to people of all faiths and for providing a safe space to talk freely about beliefs.
The final speaker was the Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Essex, Sidra Naeem, who talked about the achievements of the EFC. Describing the group as a ‘unique opportunity to foster appreciation of different faiths’, she praised its progress, saying it is far ahead of some other faith covenants. By building bridges of compassion, she said that the EFC can help to dismantle the walls of ignorance and create a more harmonious and connected world.
Members then watched a video (see below) about Farleigh’s care and were taken on a tour of the hospice which started in our sanctuary (a calm place for quiet prayer and reflection) and included the physiotherapy gym and the specialist facilities in our inpatient unit The evening ended with a networking buffet in the Courtyard Café.