Brighton & Hove's annual interfaith service is at Hove Methodist Church on 22 November

The city’s annual interfaith service will be held at Hove Methodist Church on Portland Road on Sunday 22 November, from 3pm to 5pm. This year’s theme is nurturing hope.

It is run by the Brighton and Hove Interfaith Contact Group^3,4,5,6,7, which has been bringing people “of faith and none” together for nearly 30 years. It has served as chaplain to the Mayor more than once, and it led the city’s interfaith memorial service for people who died during the pandemic. When places of worship were shut during Covid, it sent out a weekly blog of interfaith readings called Words of Connection.

The church has step-free and wheelchair access, a disabled toilet and a hearing loop, and assistance dogs are welcome.

The service comes after Inter Faith Week¹, which Community Works² says runs from 9 to 15 November. The week marks what religious and non-religious groups do for their neighbourhoods, and tries to bring in people who have never been to an interfaith event. Groups can register a local event on the national Inter Faith Week site.

The contact group also runs a buddying scheme. It puts two people from different faiths, or from none, in touch, and they meet regularly for a set period to talk about what matters to them. The group says those talks can grow into “longer term conversations and friendships”.

Buddies agree between them how often to talk and how: by phone, email, letter or video call, or in person. For a first face-to-face meeting the group suggests a cafe or a park. Buddies must be over 18. To sign up, email buddying@interfaithcontactgroup.com.

Its Friendship Hours are held at places of worship around the city. Recent ones were at Brighton and Hove Progressive Synagogue in Lansdowne Road, Brighton Mosque on Dyke Road and the Church of the Annunciation in Washington Street. New dates have not been announced yet. Membership is £20 a year, and people of no faith are welcome to join.