Multi-Faith Centre
Introduction
Vacation arrangements
Term-time arrangements
MFC Semester 1 timetables 2011-12
Welcome to Queen Mary's Multi-Faith Centre
The Multi-Faith Centre was opened by the College in 2007 and is provided to help students fulfil the obligations of their faith during term-time as they attend their academic programme. The cost of establishing the Centre and running it is met entirely from the College's funds.
The principles governing access to and use of the Centre by students and staff are as follows:
- Fair access to staff and students of all faiths
- Promotion of tolerance, mutual understanding, and inter-faith dialogue
- Promotion of the educational mission of Queen Mary
- Facilitation of participation in teaching and learning activities by students of all faiths.
A new Multi Faith Centre is currently under construction, due for completion in September 2012. On a temporary basis, the existing centre is located in Rooms 204 and 205 of the IRC Building. The Centre is located on the Mile End campus and has two rooms (Prayer Rooms 1 and 2) that are carpeted and free from furniture with floor cushions provided. The IRC Building is listed as number 31 on the downloadable map below. Please note that this building is currently only accessible from Bancroft Road.
Download:
- Location map [PDF 94 KB]
Vacation arrangements
Vacation arrangements will be posted here as necessary.
Term-time arrangements
In December 2009, the College accepted proposals from the Multi-Faith Centre User's Forum to introduce new arrangements for students and staff to use the Centre during term-time.
As a result of these changes, the Centre will now be open between 11:00 and 19:00 each weekday in term-time. The Centre's closing time will vary at certain periods in the year.
Muslim students and staff will continue to have reserved use of the Centre's two Prayer Rooms at stated times each weekday (see link to timetables below).
The Hindu Society has reserved use of Prayer Room 1 every Monday from 17:00 to 19:00.
Every Nation Christian Society has reserved use of Prayer Room 1 every Wednesday from 17:00 to 19:00.
The Baha'i Society has reserved use of Prayer Room 1 every Thursday from 17:00 to 19:00.
Outside of these reserved times of use, the Prayer Rooms can be used as follows:
Prayer Room 1: Outside reserved times, Prayer Room 1 is available for use by any male or female student or member of staff, of any faith or none, without booking.
Prayer Room 2: Outside reserved times, Prayer Room 2 is available for use by any female student or female member of staff, of any faith or none, without booking.
These arrangements mean that students and staff of different faiths will use the Prayer Rooms at the same times during the non-reserved periods. At such times all users must observe the following:
- The Multi-Faith Centre must always be an environment free of discrimination and harassment, which is an important College commitment
- The Prayer Rooms are for the use of any member of the College for quiet prayer, contemplation and meditation
- The rooms are for individual use and not for group prayer
- Every user should respect the needs of all users of all faiths.
Whilst the Great Hall is being refurbished, the Octagon has been made available for Islamic Prayers from Midday to 2pm each Friday between 7th October 2011 and 16th 2011, with the exception of 25th November 2011 when it is unavailable.
The Centre has additional conditions of use as follows: Conditions of use [PDF 118 KB]
The timetable for each Prayer Room in the Multi Faith Centre for the current semester can be downloaded below. These show those parts of the day reserved for prayer by Muslim students and staff, the reserved periods for regular weekly use of the Centre by the Baha'i Society, Every Nation Christian Society and the Hindu Society. The weekly timetable for use of the Centre's Prayer Rooms is also displayed outside each Prayer Room.
MFC timetables for Semester 1 2011-12
- Prayer room 1 [XLS 33 KB]
- Prayer room 2 [XLS 32 KB]
In addition to the College's Multi-Faith Centre, our local area in Tower Hamlets has many places of worship. Please follow the link to the 'Religion and Place in Tower Hamlets' website for a map of places of worship:
http://www.religionandplace.org.uk/religionandplace/map.php (opens in new window)
To have a look at a calendar of major religious festivals and events observed by different faith communities, please follow the link:
