In an act of community solidarity and their first joint event, Milton Keynes interfaith groups Trubys Garden Tea Room and One Voice will come together from 3 to 9 p.m. on Saturday, 15 July 2017 at the Guildhall, Church of Christ the Cornerstone to present an afternoon and evening of shared food and performance.
Everyone is invited to enjoy Trubys’ eclectic menu of afternoon teas and savoury international meals which celebrate the combined heritage of British Muslim women who create them. There is no charge to attend and food is sold on-site. All food is prepared by volunteers to strict halal criteria. As with every Trubys function, prayer facilities will be available throughout the event. Proceeds from the sale of food will be donated to community causes.
Trubys Garden Tea Room is an interfaith community cafe run by British Muslim women who live in Milton Keynes. The cafe was founded in 2014 as an outreach project to create an interfaith dialogue between Muslim and non-Muslim women, according to founder Kurshida Mirza.
“Tea and tea rooms are a very British tradition. We are drawing on both our British and Muslim heritage, to bring together a menu with a twist from traditional cream teas to channa chaat (a traditional Asian chick pea and potato snack food) to dishes from Somalia, Middle East and Trinidad,” Kurshida said. Trubys will contribute the food for the afternoon, while One Voice is organizing the performances.
“We are building faith bridges through performance.”
One Voice was founded in 2015 response to terrorist attacks that occurred in Paris that year. It was created specifically to build bridges between the Jewish and Islamic faiths, according to co-founder Andy Gilbert. “We are building faith bridges through performance.” At first, the group focused on creating ties between the Muslim and Jewish communities. “But then we realized that we needed to be much bigger than just these two faiths. We need to involve everyone.”
Revd Ernesto Lozada-Uzuriaga said that when he heard of these efforts, he knew his church had a role to play. In Anglican doctrine, the local priest is responsible for all the people who live in the parish, not just church members. When Trubys Garden Tea Room found itself in need of a new venue, he offered them facilities at the Guildhall, Church of Christ the Cornerstone.
Kurshida and Gilbert praised Lozada-Uzuriaga for his efforts in making the church a place where all communities feel welcome. The church is a place where people come together in friendship, said Gilbert. “The Guildhall is a community space and I am very grateful to Revd Ernesto for enabling us to operate from such a fantastic Central Milton Keynes venue.” Kurshida agreed. “Now that we are meeting here other people have come to us and asked if they can also meet at the Guildhall.”
The 15 July event will begin with an afternoon tea menu including cream teas, homemade cakes and savoury snacks from 3 to 5 p.m., followed by a varied schedule of entertainment. Performers include:
- Sai Mix, singers of the Sai Baba tradition
- Caroline Davies, poet in residence for the Church of Christ the Cornerstone
- Hayet, Islamic poet and singer
- Khaleel Muhammed, Islamic devotional singer
- Lynette Hill, storyteller
Evening meals will be available for sale from 6 to 8 p.m. Following dinner, performances will include:
- Milton Keynes & District Reform Synagogue Choir;
- Leon Silver (devotional singer from the Greek Orthodox Christian tradition);
- Crossroots (multicultural band singing songs in Hebrew and English);
Trubys Garden Tea Room 