a silent prayer service in response to rising crime.

The service at St. Paul's AME Church is the first event organised by the Inter-Faith Network, which has been meeting monthly since late September.

Informally, members of the AME, Anglican, Bahai, Catholic, Jewish, Methodist, Muslim, Presbyterian, Salvation Army, and Unity Foundation faiths have been meeting for several months since things got started by Mr. Glenn Fubler of the Unity Foundation.

Mr. Fubler said the network grew out of the Beyond Barriers conference in April and was a new outlet for those who had been working to end apartheid in South Africa.

The network was started so that "people of different faith backgrounds may share ideas and resources and seek support for what they are doing for the spiritual needs of the people of Bermuda,'' according to the network's purpose statement.

It is also intended to encourage and promote programmes and "address emergent social needs,'' said the Rev. Mark Tremblay of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Hamilton.

It is the social needs -- particularly the rise in violence accentuated by a recent shooting and stabbing on Court Street -- that gave rise to the service planned for Tuesday, Mr. Tremblay said.

"It's probably the first time that the faith community has cooperated in saying that, one, we don't agree with the violence, and two, we think there is an alternative from a faith standpoint to the growing violence that we see.'' Members of the Inter-Faith Network believe most of the violence is "due to a lack of true spirituality,'' he said. And Mr. Fubler said there was "a vacuum in terms of response from the spiritual community,'' to the violence issue.

"We believe very strongly that prayer and seeking God's guidance has a lot to do with how we should addreess problems,'' said Mr. Cal Ming, the Salvation Army's coordinator for social services.

Having survived a heart transplant, Mr. Ming knows "prayer can bring change,'' he said. "I am here because of prayer and because of miracles that have happened in my life.'' The group discusses ethics, not theology, Mr. Tremblay said. "It's quite exciting,'' as there are not many similar models in the world, he added.

While the exact words vary, Christianity's Golden Rule of "Love they neighbour as thyself'' is common to all religions, Mr. Fubler said.

The service, which begins at 12.15 p.m., "will be focused on silent prayer and a variety of readings from different faith backgrounds,'' Mr. Tremblay said.

It will continue until 1.45 p.m. and will be structured so that people can come and go during the 90-minute service.

Mr. Glen Fubler