Christchurch West Methodist Parish Hosts Shared Kai in Solidarity with Palestine.

Share Kai is a project of the InCommon initiative, which was started after the 2019 Mosque Terrorist attacks to support people to build relationships across perceived cultural differences. InCommon emphasises that ‘our differences make us unique and we all share things in common’. Its projects create opportunities  for people whose paths might not usually cross to meet and get to know each other better.

Like many congregations, Christchurch West Parish feels considerable distress and concern for the events in Gaza and across the Middle East. Hosting the second ‘Share Kai in Solidarity’  event was an opportunity to show hospitality and solidarity while working in partnership with a diverse range of volunteers, including people from the Muslim and Jewish communities.

“It was great to see our church hall full of people from all over the city” said Lucy D’Aeth, Lay Minister. “All ages, all backgrounds, working and eating together and raising money for those in desperate need. It felt like a great opportunity to work for justice in a local setting.”

Holly Griffin,  Project Manager for InCommon, noted “ We rely on community groups like the Methodist Church to host our events,  and we loved partnering with them in a great venue with a  lovely energy. It’s a pretty big undertaking catering for 120 people but we have a great bunch of volunteers who work very smoothly together and it’s such a pleasure seeing so many people coming together to show their solidarity for our Palestinian community.”

Plans for a Share Kai in Solidarity with Ukraine event are underway for later in the year.