Welcome to our new music blog, picking up where we left off in 2011 and reviewing THREE nights of great music concerts that have just taken place over the month of JANUARY 2012 at St Ethelburga's.

• Saturday, 14th January 2012

We had the pleasure of having a double bill feature of Delicatessen and PAKAW! on January 14th as our first music concert for the year 2012.

We had another incredible year of live ‘world music’ concerts at St Ethelburga’s over the course of 2011 with 36 concerts. The variety of sounds and rhythms from all around the world never ceases to amaze both us at St Ethelburga's as well as our keen audiences.

• JANUARY to end of MARCH brought us music from Iran, Senegal, Hungary, Cape Verde, Indonesia, Egypt, Peru and Turkey.

2011 was quite a remarkable year of growth, of challenge, and of change at St Ethelburga's Centre for Reconciliation & Peace. Some of the highlights are shared below...

COMMUNITY PROGRAMMES

I'm currently convalescing after a serious neurological illness. I hope to be well enough to return to St Ethelburga's in January.

Stories are a powerful way to invite the listener to go beyond stereotypes and see how much we have in common with each other.  In collaboration with the London Interfaith Centre, and funded by the Sir Halley Stewart Trust, we have been working on a project in Brent which involves using narrative and storytelling to build relationships across faith communities.  Earlier in the year we had two events in Queens Park exploring the use of personal stories as a means to get to know each  other and build bri

We are looking forward to two events coming up in July which are part of 'My Neighbours Week'.  The first is a Christian-Muslim discussion exploring what our faiths say about the rights and responsibilities of neighbours, and how we can be better neighbours to each other.  The second is an interfaith walk taking in some of the history and places of worship in the East End, and highlighting how different diaspora communities have lived alongside each other.  Both these events have emerged from a long-standing and creative relationship with East London Mosque.

Simon offered these thoughts at a fascinating conference at the Islamic Cultural Centre last week. They were launching a new Exhibition - Muhammad - A Mercy To Mankind which is well worth a visit.

What’s your story?  Launch of the St Ethelburga’s Guide to Narrative and story-based methods of community building

Written by Sara Yasmin Anwar, volunteer at St Ethelburga's