Membership

National Assembly Working Group Relations with Other Faiths Membership

SefHeadshot2 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , Convener (Executive)
Seforosa (Sef) is a Fiji-born Rotuman. She spent her formative years growing up in Fiji, a multi-religious/multicultural context. Her theological research interests fall into two areas: cross cultural relationships/encounters and Christian theologies of other faiths/interfaith dialogue and encounters. Sef is currently a full time student at the School of Theology, Charles Sturt University. Her PhD research is on a feminist diasporic reading of interfaith dialogue and encounters in Australia. Sef is currently the Convenor of the UCA National Assembly Working Group on Relations with Other faiths. She represents the UCA on the National Dialogue of Christians, Muslims and Jews, is part of the Women's Interfaith Network (WIN) and has been involved in different interfaith consultations and projects from time to time. She is also the Administrator of Manahine Pasefika (Association of Oceanian Women Theologians) whose primary objective is to "make Oceanian women's voices heard through print". Sef has served both as a congregational minister at Caves Beach and Chaplain to MLC School, Burwood. Sef has published a number of articles and was formerly a member of the Assembly Working Group on Doctrine. Sef has been a visiting lecturer at the United Theological College since 2000. Sef is married to Ralph and they have a daughter Sarah.
   
photo-deb-porter2 Debra Porter, Co-opted Member (Executive)
Debra Porter is currently working for the National Council of Churches in Australia (NCCA) as the Communications Officer and Assistant to the General Secretary. From 1993 - 2001 Debra was a member of the staff of the Social Responsibility and Justice agency (now UnitingJustice) of the National Assembly of the Uniting Church in Australia (UCA). During that time Debra became involved with the UCA Relations with Other Faiths Committee (now the UCA National Assembly Working Group on Relations with Other Faiths), and she has continued as a member since that time. Debra also participates in a number of other interfaith groups and activities including the Australian National Dialogue of Christians Muslims and Jews (representing the NCCA), conferences and overseas interfaith exposure tours. Among other qualifications Debra has earned a Bachelor of Theology.
   
photo-wilma-viswanathan Wilma Viswanathan (Executive)
Wilma has served on the UCA National Assembly Working Group on Relations with Other Faiths (ROF) from the early nineties, and has represented the group at two Assemblies. She was responsible for planning and convening the Chat Show - Come meet the Neighbour, held during the Melbourne Assembly in 2003, and was one of the keynote speakers at the Women's programme of the International Conference of Christians and Jews in Jerusalem in June 2008. She is a member of the Women's Interfaith Network (WIN), and a member of the Anti-Slavery Project in NSW. Wilma worked for the National Council of Churches in Australia for fifteen years and was an elder of Paddington Uniting Church. She was a member of the Student Christian Movement of Sri Lanka, the Church of Ceylon Youth Movement and the YWCA of Sri Lanka. She is a retired widow with a daughter Shehara and son-in-law Shane.
   
photo-geoff-boyceb Rev. Geoff Boyce, SA Synod Representative
Geoff Boyce is Coordinating Chaplain at Flinders University of South Australia, appointed by the Uniting Church in Australia in 1997. Formerly he was a secondary school teacher in state schools in South Australia, initially in Science and then Social Sciences. He is married to Sandy and they have three adult children. Over the last 10 years at Flinders University, Geoff has built a model of Chaplaincy that explores the notion of collegiality among chaplains of many faith traditions and established Flinders Multifaith Chaplaincy as a community resource. The seven chaplains from five different religions work cooperatively within the rubric ‘nurturing spirit, building community'. Geoff represents the South Australian Heads of Christian Churches Committee on "Project Abraham", a federally funded national initiative bringing understanding among peoples of the Abrahamic faiths. Papers presented by Geoff may be found at here.
   
photo-heather-griffin Rev. Heather Griffin, QLD Synod Representative
Heather is currently Minister of the Word at Sherwood Uniting Church in Brisbane. Prior to that she was Minister of the Word at St David's Uniting Church Holland Park. She holds a research Masters degree in geology, has worked in education, and did theological studies at the Brisbane College of Theology which eventually led to her candidature for ministry. Heather has worked with many people of various faith perspectives over the years. She gave a lecture on the journey of life from a Christian perspective to a gathering of mostly Muslims at Griffith University after September 11. She has attended the Abrahamic Faiths Forum hosted by the Queensland Government in 2007 as a representative of the Uniting Church in Australia. Heather is married and has two children in their thirties.
   
photo-david-pargeter2 Rev. David Pargeter, VIC/TAS Synod Representative
Rev. David Pargeter is the Executive Director of the Commission for Mission in the UCA Synod of Victoria and Tasmania and a member of the UCA National Assembly Working Group on Relations with Other Faiths. David has long had a passion for multiculturalism and its associated social justice issues: personal and structural racism, inclusion, cross-cultural understanding and multifaith dialogue. David was co-founder of Justice for Asylum Seekers and an outspoken supporter of the State Government's controversial Racial and Religious Tolerance legislation. In partnership with other church and academic colleagues, David has nurtured close relations with the Muslim community, and pursued several initiatives designed to promote meaningful dialogue between religions including the Centre for Dialogue in association with LaTrobe University. David is also co-founder of the Alternative to Empire Project and the Synod's interfaith initiative Uniting Through Faith.
   
photo-marie-wilson Rev. Marie Wilson, WA Synod Representative
Marie Wilson is a Minister of the Word in placement at Como Uniting Church in WA. Marie has been a member of the Executive of the Council of Christians and Jews in WA for over 12 years and is a member of the UCA National Assembly Relations with Other Faiths Working Group. She has a background working for the church in the Christian Education Department of the Victorian Presbyterian Church, did Deaconess training and was sent to Whyalla, which was a multi cultural setting. Marie's interest in the ecumenical movement began as a teenager, when she participated in ecumenical activities through her youth group. Rabbi John Levi spoke at her church during an evening service which her church received positively. Over the years Marie has had close friendships with people of other faiths, in which they sometimes shared prayer time and talked freely about their faith. She has found her own faith greatly enriched by encounters with people of other faiths, and finds that she has to define what she believes more strongly when in conversation. She believes that we can grow in faith and love as we encounter people from other backgrounds and that understanding and respect are basic to peace in the world. Marie is married to Bruce and has two children.
   
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Rev. Matthew Wilson, NSW Co-opted Member
Matthew is a lapsed geologist. Ordained a minister in the Uniting Church in 1995, he is currently minister at Mt Colah Uniting Church on the northern outskirts of Sydney. He has served in other congregations as well as in chaplaincies with University of Newcastle, Charles Sturt University, LaTrobe University and Beechworth Prison. His chaplaincy work increased his interest in interfaith relations, and he is currently undertaking a PhD at Charles Sturt University in Biblical Interpretation and Interfaith Relations. He also lectures in New Testament and Theology. He is a Uniting Church representative on the NSW Council of Christians and Jews. He is married with three children at primary school and in whatever amounts to his spare time enjoys music, reading, science and bushwalking.
   
Glenda Headshotb This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , UCA National Assembly Associate General Secretary, Ex-Officio (ROF Executive)
Rev. Glenda Blakefield is the Associate General Secretary of the UCA National Assembly. Among her responsibilities, she has oversight of the National Assembly Working Group on Relations with Other Faiths. She has been the Uniting Church representative on the DFAT (Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade), Asia-Pacific Regional Interfaith Dialogue in Cambodia as well as various other interfaith activities.
 photo-david-gill2  

Consultant

Rev. David Gill David Gill has lived in four countries and travelled in some 60 others. Before retiring in 2006 he was pastor of Kowloon Union Church, Hong Kong. As general secretary of the National Council of Churches in Australia (1988-2001) he helped develop relationships between Christians, Muslims and Jews. Previously he was on the staff of the National Assembly of the Uniting Church in Australia, the World Council of Churches and the Australian Student Christian Movement, and served as moderator of the mission and evangelism committee of the Christian Conference of Asia. David contributed significantly to the development of the Resources for Interfaith Gatherings on this website.