September Chat

Five Minutes with Geoff Boyce

Have you attended any interesting interfaith events lately? Do you have any interesting interfaith work happening at the moment?

Since last November a group has been meeting regularly to fine tune a Charter for Faith Friendly Communities. (www.faithfriendlyaustralia.org)

The Charter will be launched at an SA Interfaith Symposium on the holiday Monday of October 4 being organised under the auspices of the Multifaith Association of SA. The Charter sets out four principles which may be adopted by communities, whether they be local councils, schools, or workplaces.

Recently the Australian Federal Police and the SA Police hosted an Iftar Dinner, bringing together senior members of the Police with rpresentatives of the Muslim community and other faith representatives in SA. This was the second year for this initiative and senior officers I talked with assured me that this annual event will continue. 

The J-Project of young adults at Adelaide University, (http://www.thejproject.org.au/home), supported by Pilgrim UCA, have decided to focus on interfaith during September. They plan to attend the Nelson Mandella Lecture by Dr Ashis Nandy, described by Foreign Policy magazine as one of the top 100 public intellectuals in the world, whose address is entitled Is it Necessary to Love Your Neighbours? Living with Radical Diversities and the Right to be. The J-Project is planning to retire to Pilgrim Church nearby for coffee and discussion. Later in September, the J-Project will collaborate with the multifaith chaplaincy at Flinders University for a lunchtime round table led by the chaplains on Violence and Religion.

Are there any particular interfaith related issues you are watching at the moment, for example in the news?

Bek Christensen is a UCA young adult currently in Palestine on the West Bank as part of the World Council of Churches' Ecumenical Accompaniment Program (EAPPI) 

The weekly reports she sends back give a vivid account of the problems and difficulties being faced by Palestinians and Israelis. http://www.eappi.org/en/resources/newsletter.html

This coincides with the current meeting of Presidents of Israel, Palestine and the USA to negotiate a peace settlement.

What direction would you like the work of the Relations with Other Faiths Working Group to take during 2010?

The ROF Working Group provides an important support and point of reference for the UCA, as people of all faiths or none confront the realities of living in a diverse world. I am convinced that the direction ROF has taken is both sound and helpful, not least established by the seminal document presented to the 2000 Assembly by Keith Rowe, "Living with the Neighbour who is Different". That title alone has identified a continuing agenda for ROF. The use of the word 'neighbour' has tied that agenda to the Biblical narrative, and in particular, Jesus' story of the "Good Samaritan" which is so central to living a Gospel life. In my view,  ROF's agenda is to continue to explicate that vision and encourage initiatives that reflect those Gospel values, contributing to a world of mutual respect and dialogue.