Retelling Sacred Stories: Beauty, Friendship, and Shared Sacred Flourishing

Join panelists Bill Vendeley, Denis Alexander & Steven Toussaint, convened with the support of the Fetzer Institute. Every faith community carries its identity through stories: scripture recited, poetry remembered, and the lives of prophets and saints retold across generations. These narratives shape how communities understand themselves, one another, and the world around them. But can sacred traditions also become sources of encounter, opening us towards our neighbours rather than reinforcing the boundaries between us? Opening the session with an excerpt from Retelling Sacred Stories: Our Journeys to a Shared Sacred Story, read by Luqman Ali. This 90-minute moderated conversation brings together a poet of metaphysical and religious imagination, a distinguished biologist, and a theologian of peacebuilding to explore the relationship between sacred narrative, beauty, and friendship. Drawing on different disciplines and traditions, the speakers will consider how poetry and sacred language shape our understanding of the divine; what happens when the wonder cultivated by science meets the wonder cultivated by revelation; and how encounters with one another’s prayers, poetry, stories, and sacred spaces can create unexpected grounds for trust. In dialogue with the festival’s theme, **Fostering Friendship through Beauty**, the conversation asks how the stories of Islam, Christianity, and the wider human family might be encountered and retold in ways that honour the dignity of every person and of creation, and whether beauty itself can become part of the way we learn to listen across difference. The event is free and open to all. No specialist background is required. Please note that doors will close shortly before the advertised time, so we request that you arrive 15 minutes before the start time. About The Cambridge Festival of Islamic Arts The Cambridge Festival of Islamic Arts runs from 19 to 29 November 2026, bringing performances, exhibitions, lectures, and workshops to Cambridge's historic colleges, museums, and cultural spaces. Open to everyone, the festival celebrates the beauty and diversity of Islamic arts, and, fifty years on from the landmark 1976 World of Islam Festival, carries that spirit into our own time. Find out more at cfia.co.uk.