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Reverend Bhogal: A Follower of Jesus Christ With Roots in the Sikh Faith

By TARA HOLMES

The Times, Jan. 4, 2003



The former President of the Methodist Conference [Rev. Inderjit Bhogal] is keen to put the record straight. 'I'm a minister in the Church, with roots in the Sikh faith,' he sighs, anxious not to dwell too long on a subject that obviously grates. 'The idea that I could be both a Sikh and a Methodist at the same time is nonsense. The way I would describe myself is as a follower of Jesus Christ with roots in the Sikh faith.' . . . [H]e offers me a choice of rooms inside the freezing cold Victorian building that houses the Urban Theology Unit in Sheffield, where he has been director since 1997. Bhogal, 49, was born in Nairobi and grew up in a deeply religious Sikh family of seven children. He lived in India for a year and moved to Britain at the age of 11. His family settled in Dudley in the West Midlands. It was there that he first experienced racial hatred and discovered a faith in Jesus Christ.

'I had never before come across people who disliked me on account of my skin colour,' he winces, preferring not to be drawn on specific incidents. 'I started to go to a Methodist church near my home and found a welcoming community there. I have reached this point in my faith story today because a small community welcomed me when I was a stranger in their midst.' Bhogal was ordained a Methodist minister in 1979. He became the first ever President of the British Methodist Conference from an ethnic minority in 2000. His selection was an enormous breakthrough in the history of Britain's three largest Christian denominations and a defining moment for the Methodist Church. 'I wasn't a surprise candidate,' he explains.

'I've always been outspoken and never been a passenger in the life of the Church. When I was selected it was in recognition of my vision for the Church and society. By putting me in John Wesley's chair, the Methodist Conference was saying that it affirmed and valued all that we represent as a Church. I felt I had to do the job better than my white colleagues. I needed to excel myself. I wanted to be a role model.' During his year as president, Bhogal made a special point of visiting people who felt marginalised or alienated. 'It's the duty of a Church leader to meet people and to listen to them,' he says. 'I wanted to meet people who were suffering.' One of the most 'powerful' moments in his spiritual journey came during his induction as President of the Methodist Conference attended by his mother and sister. 'They presented me with a cloth that symbolised the need to hear the truth of God.'

'The more I've reflected back on this, the more I've felt my family, particularly my mother, was saying: 'This is my son. He's still respected by me. I respect the work he's been called to in the Church.' ' Bhogal describes how his family's initial disappointment at his decision to leave the Sikh faith was gradually replaced by a growing acceptance of his ministry in the Church. 'Like any loving parents, there was a feeling that I had rejected everything they stood for,' he reveals. 'That was never my intention. I did not feel that in deciding to be a follower of Jesus that I had rejected everything from the Sikh faith. I've been nurtured by two faiths and three great continents, Africa, India and Europe. I feel this has made me a richer person. My multi-faith, multinational background is part of my identity.'

He adds: 'Part of my understanding of my Christian faith is to help the Church reconnect with the original Jesus. I think Jesus has become a boring figure, locked up in stained glass windows with blond hair, blue eyes and no relevance to life in the 21st century. We need to tell His story as attractively as we can and without arrogance in a world of many religions. If we did, I believe that many people would find Jesus a great inspiration to follow.'