A Directory of Faith Communities in Camden Contents

NeighboursA directory of faith communities in Camden Contents 2 Introduction by Cllr Jane Roberts, 69 Local faith based Leader of Camden Council organisations in Camden 4 How to use this directory 73 Regional faith based 7 Acknowledgements organisations in Camden 9 Places of worship in Camden by ward 74 Judaism 10 Holborn and Covent Garden ward 78 National faith based 14 Bloomsbury ward organisations in Camden 17 King’s Cross ward 81 Sikhism 20 Bahá’í 84 Places of worship outside 22 St Pancras and Somers Town ward Camden by borough 24 Regent’s Park ward 84 City of London 27 Camden Town with Primrose Hill ward 84 Islington 32 Buddhism 86 Haringey 34 Cantelowes ward 88 Barnet 35 Kentish Town ward 88 Brent 37 Haverstock ward 89 Westminster 40 Christianity 92 Kensington and Chelsea 42 Belsize ward 93 Southwark 43 Swiss Cottage ward 93 Enfield 44 Hinduism 94 Local faith based 47 Kilburn ward organisations outside Camden 50 West Hampstead ward 98 Zoroastrianism 53 Fortune Green ward 100 Regional faith based 55 Islam organisations outside Camden 58 Frognal and Fitzjohns ward 102 National faith based 61 Hampstead Town ward organisations outside Camden 63 Gospel Oak ward 108 Other resources 64 Jainism 110 Index 67 Highgate ward 116 Calendar of religious festivals 2003 1 Introduction elcome to Neighbours, a directory of faith communities in Camden. WThe directory demonstrates that Camden is host to many different faith groups. Almost the entire religious alphabet is present in Camden from the Bahá’í to the Zoroastrian community, via well established and new Christian denominations, Buddhist, Hindu, Cllr Jane Roberts and Mr Ranganathan, Jewish and Muslim communities, Highgate Hill Murugan Temple as well as groups that represent new religious movements. This diversity reflects the settlement of different communities in Camden at various points in history. New communities arrived bringing their religious needs as well as other aspirations. For example, the arrival of Irish immigrants in the 1840s led to the building of St. Dominic’s Priory in 1867. St. Dominic’s is now one of the largest Catholic churches in London, with a design based on the structure of the Rosary Prayer. Synagogues have also been long established in Camden; the Hampstead Synagogue was opened in 1892. More recent migration has seen the arrival of the largely Muslim Bangladeshi community. Currently 2 Camden’s mosques occupy shops, The diverse places of worship in converted houses and basements of Camden are the bricks and mortar that tower blocks, providing space for house a diverse tapestry of people of worship for the largest of Camden’s which Camden is so proud. minority faiths. As yet there is no The situation is far from static and as purpose built mosque in Camden. new communities settle, the religious Newer, black majority churches have map of Camden will continue to change. also chosen Camden as their home and In this directory we are providing a are at a similar stage of development in snapshot of faith communities in the pursuit of suitable premises. Camden at this period in time. There are many significant places of The theme of the directory is worship in Camden, for example the ‘Neighbours’ as I hope that individuals Quaker national office is on Euston Road and groups will make use of the and the Zoroastrian European information to better acquaint headquarters has been in Hampstead themselves with each other. The council since 1969. Camden is also home to a is certainly trying to find out more about Swiss, Italian and American church, the faith communities in Camden. I providing further evidence of the hope that this directory will play its part cosmopolitan nature of our borough. in building bridges between the council Camden’s streets are adorned with some and Camden’s faith communities and of the country’s most beautiful and between different faith communities. historic churches. Next to Sainsbury’s in Camden Town amongst the hustle and bustle, noise and traffic, is St. Michael’s. Cllr Jane Roberts We hope to draw attention to Leader of Camden Council St. Michael’s and other places of worship in Camden and hope it enables people to stop and appreciate what would otherwise be part of the hidden beauty of Camden. 3 How to use this directory This directory demonstrates the that operate at a local, regional and enormous diversity of faith national level organisations and places of worship • places of worship in other areas of both within and outside Camden. The London principle theme of the directory is • faith organisations outside Camden ‘neighbours’ and this has guided the are listed according to whether they way that the directory is organised. operate locally, regionally or nationally The index is listed by faith group to Places of worship in Camden enable you to find organisations or In the first section, places of worship places of worship for particular faiths. in Camden have been grouped within All of the listings included in this ward boundaries and a journey weaving directory are available on Camden from the south of the borough Council’s CINDEX database of local northwards has been designed. organisations (see box to the right). We have listed places of worship in We contacted a large number of neighbourhoods so that: organisations to ask if they wanted to • inter-faith contact and activity is be included in the directory. increased as members of faith Consequently, although the directory’s communities become more aware coverage is comprehensive the of their closest neighbours organisations listed are, to some extent, • service providers engaged in working self-selecting. We will update the within neighbourhoods and localities directory in the future and welcome any are aware of the faith organisations amendments or additions. Please that exist in that area and work to contact Nigel Graves (contact details in ensure services are appropriate. the box to the right) to arrange this. Faith based organisations and places of worship outside Camden The sections that follow are listed in alphabetical order. These include: • faith based organisations in Camden 4 Multi-Faith Centre at the University CINDEX Online is Camden of Derby in association with the Inter Council’s database of 6,000 Faith Network for the United Kingdom. local organisations and services, Feedback from a number of religious available via the internet organisations on these introductions (http://cindex.camden.gov.uk), in all was also sought and incorporated. Camden Libraries and other council These introductions are very brief and reception areas. It contains over serve only as an overview of each faith. 1,000 subjects including places of The University of Derby directory should worship and faith organisations. be referred to for further information. All records are fully updated It lists other publications on all annually. Specialist printouts can be nine faiths. Its website also provides produced from the database in more in depth information: response to requests from local http://www.multifaithnet.org groups. The database is also used by council officers, and other local For some religions, quotes from religious organisations, to compile mailing texts on the theme of ‘neighbours’ have lists for local consultation exercises. been included. All faith groups were 271,341 records were accessed on invited to take part in this, and we have CINDEX Online during 2001/02. included at least one extract from those that responded. Contact: Nigel Graves, Head of Camden Information Services The dates in the directory are followed Tel: 020 7974 4583 by the letters BCE (Before Common [email protected] Era) or CE (Common Era), instead of the Christian system, BC (Before Christ) Information about the world’s and AD (Anno Domini, In the year of our major religions Lord). The date numbers are the same in both systems. The listings of the faith organisations and places of worship are interspersed In the introduction to the religions, with short introductions about nine non-English words have been italicised major world religions. The information followed by the English translation has been taken from ‘Religions in the in brackets. UK, Directory 2001 - 03’ by the 5 The information is provided to encourage understanding of religious needs and practices, but it needs to be remembered that religious belief is still a very private and personal issue. Readers should also bear in mind that every individual’s adherence to his or her religion will vary. As yet, there is no firm data about the religious make up of Camden’s population. This information will be available once the results of the 2001 census are published early in 2003. This will add greatly to our knowledge and understanding of Camden’s faith communities. I hope that you find the directory interesting, useful and easy to use and I welcome any feedback you may have. Nina Rahel Senior Policy Officer Faith Communities Tel: 020 7974 2230 [email protected] 6 Acknowledgements We would like to thank the following Highgate Hill Murugan Temple, Haringey individuals and organisations who Institute of The Blessed Virgin Mary contributed to the production of this directory by either giving feedback on International Jewish Vegetarian Society the text, providing quotes or Islamic Cultural Centre and London photographs, or in other ways without Central Mosque, Westminster which the directory would not have been produced. Jiwan Dhar Jain, Jain Association of U.K. All Saints (Greek Orthodox) Church, Joynal Uddin, Bengali Parents’ and Camden Town Tenants’ Association Anne Hosking, Friends House, Euston Road Kentish Town Evangelical Church Barney Leith, Secretary General, Bahá’í Khalida Khan, An-Nisa Society Community of the UK King’s Cross Methodist Church The Beacon (Christian Church) Malcolm M. Deboo, Zoroastrian Trust Bhupinder Singh, the Inter Faith Funds of Europe Network of the U.K.

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