Parliament of Worlds Religion 2009 Melbourne Australia

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

Page 354

PROGRAMI
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
9:30-11:00am INTRARELIGIOUS SESSION
Melbourne: An Interfaith Experience Rev Mark Dunn Helen Heath Scott Phillips Rev lan Smith Monsignor James Murray Mornington Interfaith Network, Respondent Banyule Interfaith Network, Respondent Sue (Denise) Talbot, Respondent Hans Christiansen Room 204 Interactive Workshop A panel of speakers from various interfaith initiatives from around Melbourne will present their experience of local interfaith work. They will highlight the role that local government can and does play in supporting local interfaith work. This program will look at four case studies of interfaith groups that are to varying degrees supported by local governments. The panel will consist of members of both the oldest interfaith network in Australia and more recent initiatives. At the end of the program, there will be time for discussion and questions from the floor followed by responses from members of newly emerging interfaith networks. Rev Mark James Dunn is Minister of the Word at St John's Uniting Church, Essendon. He has chaired the Uniting Care/Share Committee of the Victorian Synod and has served on the Synod Ecumenical Relations Committee and the Synod Nominations Panel. He has also served as a delegate to The Victorian Council of Churches. Mark is a keen supporter of the Moonee Valley Ecumenical Clergy Network and, in recent years, led the establishment of the Manningham Interfaith Network as its inaugural president Helen Heath has been actively involved in the Interfaith Network of the City of Greater Dandenong since 2000, serving as its President since 2004. She coordinates the very popular 'Tours to Places of Worship for the Network. Helen has been a representative on the Victorian Council of Churches and has also served on its Commission of Living Faiths, Dialogue and Community. Holen works as a Community Organiser for the Parliament of the World's Religions, Melbourne. Dr Scott Phillips trained in social anthropology and works in applied social research. He has conducted policy research for community organisations and governments as well as mining, manufacturing and banking companies. His work is focused on advancing social justice through intercultural dialogue, participatory governance and program evaluation. Scott is a Lay Minister in the Anglican Church and has been the Co-Convenor of the Hobsons Bay Interfaith Network since 2001. Rev lan Smith is Co-Chair of Darebin Interfaith Council. With 27 years of multicultural and multifaith experience working in Melbourne's North Western Suburbs, lan has been Vice President of the Victorian Council of Churches (VCCI and Past Chair of the VCC's Social Justice Commission. Currently, he is Chair of the Churches of Christ Social Justice Network He edited 'Earth Matters, the VCC's study booklet on faith and the environment, lan is minister of the Thornbury Church of Christ. Monsignor James Murray is the inaugural Chairman of Geelong interfaith Network, which began in 2003. In the early 1970s, James was one of the founders of the Christian ecumenical movement in Geelong After 31 years as the Catholic Priest of St Mary's Geelong, he retired in 2001. lle is still involved in ecumenical work and is now also working for peace among all the faiths and religions of Geelong. Reverend Hans Christiansen is the Associate Priest at the Anglican Parish of Sorrento and Rye.
Diversity, Unity and Community: Charting a Course for the Jews under the Southern Cross Rabbi Jeremy Lawrence Grahame Leonard Dvir Abramovich Room 207 Panel Discussion This program will put Australia's progress towards realising the full implementation of its unique vision of a multicultural society into historical context from a Jewish perspective. It will demonstrate that this vision is far from fully accepted by all Australians. For many. a multicultural society is dismissed as an ethnic issue and a useful means of effective assimilation. However, to succeed, our model must extend to, and be embraced by, all Australians, including our first people, Indigenous Australians. While this model remains a narrowly defined work in progress, success is far from guaranteed. Indeed, history elsewhere in the world, be it the new or old world, suggests that Australia needs to be united. determined and strong to succeed and resist outbreaks of anti-Semitism and other forms of antireligious hostility Jews arrived in Australia in 1788 with the First Fleet and have made and continue to make a distinguished contribution to Australia and its growth. The presenters in this program will reflect on this past and present contribution including the impact of the Shoah, and reflect on future scenarios for the Jewish community in Australia, its various traditions and internal dynamics, its relationship with other religious and ethnic communities and the impact of international events. Rabbi Jeremy Lawrence is Chief Minister of the Great Synagogue, Sydney. He serves as registrar on the Sydney Beth Din and the rabbinical board of the Kashrut Authority Rabbi Lawrence is a founding member and director of the Jewish Arbitration and Mediation Service. Rabbi Lawrence has an MA hansl in Jurisprudence from St Catherine's College, Oxford University. He qualified as a rabbi in Jerusalem. He also graduated the Shaal & the Rothschild Foundation training courses for Diaspora rabbis Grahame Leonard is immediate past president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, prior to which he was the President of the Jewish Community Council of Victoria for two years. He has held leadership positions in B'nai Brith and the Anti Defamation Commission Dr Dvir Abramovich is the Jan Randa Senior Lecturer in Hebrew and Jewish Studies and Director of the University of Melbourne Centre for Jewish History and Culture. He has published opinion pages in the Age and Herald Sun newspapers and is the editor of the Australian Journal of Jewish Studies. He has chaired sessions at the Melbourne Writers and Melbourne International Film Festivals.
350 PWR - Parliament of the World's Religions Jain Education International