Parliament of Worlds Religion 2009 Melbourne Australia

Author(s): Parliament of the World’s Religions
Publisher: USA Parliament of the Worlds Religions

Page 291

PROGRA
Monday, December 7, 2009
2:30-4:00pm ENGAGEMENT SESSION
entering the ministry, Michael worked as a lobbyist, a Regional Field Director for a presidential campaign, and an investment banker for the oldest municipal bond firm in New Jersey. Paul Strickland is the Executive Director of the Center for Religious Inquiry (CRI) in Minneapolis, Minnesota CRI's mission is to create a safe. welcoming place for religious seekers of any background or affiliation to experience a deeper understanding of unity through inquiry, diaLogue, study and reflection. Paul is a former corporate human resources executive who is deeply committed to the interreligious movement in Minncapolis and internationally in Peru, South Africa, Syria and Cuba. Donald Reid is an ordained member of the Scottish Episcopal Church and has worked since 2004 as director of the Festival of Spirituality and Peace. The Festival seeks to bring together thinkers, artists and performers, from every fa th and none, to discern and model ways to build peace in a post-9/11 world. Donald is also co-convener of the Edinburgh Inter Faith Association. Samir Selmanovic, PhD. is the author of 'Really All About God: Reflections of a Muslim Atheist Jewish Christian'. He is the founder and Christian co-leader of Faith House Manhallan, an interfaith community of communities that brings together forward-looking Christians, Muslims. Jews, atheists and others who seek to thrive interdependently. Samir serves on the Interfaith Relations commission of the US National Council of Churches and speaks nationally and internationally. He lives in New York City
Strangers Becoming Neighbours: Community Interfaith Responses to Interdependence (Session 1) Paul Chaffee, Moderator Helen Spector James De Lange Janet Bregar Carla Mae Streeter Michael G Pappas Paul R Strickland Donald Reid Samir Selmanovic Room 207 Panel Discussion Six stories of interfaith response to our growing local interdependence will provide models and lessons learned about how we build interfaith understanding and social cohesion in our communities. These panellists will recount their experiences creating safe spaces to encounter 'the other', working side-by-side to make our cities hospitable and safe for people of diverse traditions, standing up for and with each other, and learning how to honour the dignity and humanity of each other. They will also share how, in doing so, they all have been changed. After the panel presentations, session attendees will share stories of success and challenge from their local settings. By engaging each other on critical questions, they will enrich our local interfaith responses to increasing interdependence. This session will continue through the afternoon Openspace program time. Paul Chaffee, ordained in the United Church of Christ (USAI, has been the Executive Director of the Interfaith Center at the Presidio in San Francisco since its inception in 1995. He is a trustee of the North American Interfaith Network and has helped begin several United Religions Initiative Cooperation Circles Helen Spector serves on the Board of Trustees for the Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions. She joined the Board in 1990 to help plan the 1993 Parliament Centenary Celebration and has served as co-chair for the Site Selection task forces that selected Barcelona (2004) and Melbourne (20091 for Parliament gatherings. Helen lives in Portland. Oregon. Rev James DeLange has been Chair of the San Francisco Interfaith Council since 2004. For nearly all of its twenty years of existence, Pastor DeLange has served on the Council's Board of Directors, first as Chief Financial Officer. Pastor DeLange was Senior Pastor of St Francis Lutheran Church in San Francisco for eighteen years. Before coming to St Francis, he served Faith Lutheran Church in Huntington Beach, California, a congregation he founded in 1962. Rev Dr Janet Bregar is a professor of Comparative Religions and the Pastor of Village Church in Los Angeles. She is currently an instructor in Comparative Religions at California State University Fullerton. Dr Bregar is the past executive director of the Santa Monica Bay Interfaith Council and a current Board Member Dr Bregar has been active in interfaith work both in the United States and internationally for over thirty years Carla Mae Streeter, OP, is a Dominican Sister presently serving as a full professor at Aquinas Institute of Theology in St Louis, Missouri. Dr Streeter is a member of the board of Interfaith Partnership/Faith Beyond Walls, an interfaith organisation of 31 religious traditions. She teaches theology in the Latin Catholic tradition Michael G Pappas is Executive Director of the San Francisco Interfaith Council. For sixteen years, he served parishes in San Francisco and Palos Hills, Stockton, California as an ordained priest in the Greek Orthodox Church, focusing on the homeless and interfaith relationships. Prior to
Sharing Wisdom - Fostering Peace Jathedar Singh Sahib Giani Gurbachan Singh Rabbi Dr Alon Goshen-Gottstein Dharma Master Hsin Tao Dr Bhai Sahib Mohinder Singh Paul Knitter Room 208 Panel Discussion The 21st century is marked by a widespread feeling of crisis, insecurity and loss of direction. The ecological balance of the Earth is under serious threat: political, social and economic security is elusive, and religions are faced with numerous challenges, both from inside and outside. This panel will consider how, through sharing the wisdom found in our religious traditions, we can address collectively the multiple challenges posed to us as people of faith in the 21st century. It is a continuation of the discussion held during the third meeting of the Elijah Board of World Religious Leaders in Amritsar in 2007. We will enter into the discussion starting with the basic question: What is wisdom? Why should we share? Further, which distinct teachings and methods do our religions offer to achieve inner peace? What is the relationship between inner and outer peace? What is the role of forgiveness? Finally, we will ask which particular wise teaching from our own tradition would we like to share with the others. The panel will conclude by inviting cach participant to reflect on gifts received from listening to the religious Other Jathedar Singh Sahib Giani Gurbachan Singh, aged 60, is the current religious head of Sri Akaal Takhat Sahib, the supreme religious authority of the Sikhs, based in Amritsar, Punjab, India. He was appointed as Jathedar on 6 August 2008, alter serving 37 years as a Sikh religious preacher. His last appointment was as Head Granthi of Sri Harmandir Sahib, also known as the Golden Temple in Amritsar. Alon Goshen-Gottstein is the director of the Elijah Interfaith institute. and director of the Centre for the Study of Rabbinic Thought. Beit Morasha College, both in Jerusalem. He was ordained a rabbi in 1977.
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