Location: Newington Green Meeting House, 39a Newington Green, London, N16 9PR
New Unity will hold an overnight interfaith vigil on Sunday 2nd November to grieve civilians killed in the Middle East. The event will hold in mourning the 65,000 civilians killed in Gaza over the past two years, including nearly 20,000 children, and the more than 700 civilians killed in Israel on 7th October 2023, including children.
Led by New Unity’s inclusive minister Adam Slate and other faith leaders and communities, the vigil will also hold space to acknowledge the spiritual and moral failings that have underpinned policies that have driven, enabled, and ignored the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
The vigil will also hold a place for hope for the current ceasefire and future work required to heal the region.
The vigil will take place on the pavement outside the Meeting House, beginning at 6pm on Sunday 2nd with opening welcomes, prayers, song, and silence, led by faith leaders.
Afterwards, faith communities will lead the vigil in one-hour blocks according to their spiritual conscience and religious tradition. The event will take place predominantly outdoors in front of the Newington Green Meeting House. It will continue overnight, indoors. Names of killed civilians will be read from lists, while there will be opportunity to include prayer, song or unamplified music.
Confirmed faith community partners:
Cantor Rachel Weston, Kehillah North London (קהילה)
Rev Cathy Bird, Union Chapel Congregational Church
Rev’d Andy Marshall, Chaplain
Rev’d Feargus O’Connor, Minister Emeritus, Golders Green Unitarians & member of the London and South East District Unitarians executive council
Members of the public are welcome to come by to hold vigil with us. (During the overnight hours of midnight-7am when the vigil moves indoors, the building will be locked; we are working to provide Zoom access during that time.)
For faith groups interested in participating by hosting one or more hour-long timeslots, please contact Adam on minister@new-unity.org. Spots are currently available on Monday during various times between 8am and 5pm.
Why are we hosting this event? Here’s some thoughts from our Minister, Adam Slate:
“As someone of Jewish heritage, it's important for me to engage with the terrible situation that has been taking place in Gaza over the past two years.”
“We have seen inexcusable war crimes against Palestinian civilians that most international experts have identified as genocide, and has led to famine and the displacement of nearly two million people. This has followed the inexcusable attack on Israeli civilians on 7th October 2023.”
“During this terrible time, people of faith have a role to play in safeguarding and honoring the humanity that lives in every person, grieving every life lost, and if your tradition has a place for prayer, this would be the time to pray.”
“We need to consider deeply the mandate to love our neighbor and the stranger, which we mostly consider in the abstract but these days we really need to sit with.”
