Interfaith and Civic Celebrations
Tuesday, 25 November 2008
West London Synagogue Makes History
The West London Synagogue recently marked an historic week, in which it celebrated its role as a beacon of civic participation with an interfaith celebration on 12 November, followed on 13 November with a concert by the Philharmonia Orchestra in aid of The Lord Mayor of Westminster’s charity, ForDementia. These events came just days after WLS had held a Service of Unity to mark the admission of WLS member Alderman Ian Luder as the ninth Jewish Lord Mayor of London.
On 12 November the international community of Marylebone was welcomed to the synagogue for the annual Marylebone Service, which celebrates one of London’s most diverse and culturally rich neighbourhoods. The service was held in the presence of The Lord Mayor of Westminster, Louise Hyams, who is also a member of WLS. Senior Rabbi of WLS Mark Winer, who is currently serving as Chaplain to The Lord Mayor of Westminster, introduced the evening’s key note speaker, Claire Foster. Claire Foster is a Lay Canon of St Paul’s Cathedral and Senior Adviser to its Institute for 21st Century Ethics. She spoke passionately on the evening’s theme – the environment.
The service included diverse music from the West London Synagogue Choir, the Muslim Al-Noor Group, the Danish Church Choir and the Buddhist London Go Guang Choir. The evening was concluded with a lively reception, featuring entertainment from Bang On!, an energetic junk percussion duo who found national fame in the semi-finals of the popular ITV show Britain’s Got Talent.
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