[ hold :: this space ]

Jessica Butcher, who works near me in the office here, is coordinating a remarkable inter-faith project for March 2009, involving a visit from Indonesian Christian and Muslim leaders to Australia. The trip will involve 14 Indonesians, who, along with 14 Australians, will travel through parts of Victoria and Tasmania, offering opportunities for conversations with local communities and a model for dialogue between people of different faiths and cultures.

The trip also includes two retreats - one in Merricks on the Mornington Peninsula [March 6-9] and the other at Acacia in Halls Gap [March 13-15]. I’m involved in creating sacred spaces for the latter, which I’m really looking forward to. The retreats will be open to registrations, so set the dates aside now.

It’s hard to imagine a more important relationship for the Australian church and community to develop at the moment - both our relationship with Indonesia, and our conversations with Muslims. This is a great chance to be involved in something that could have a long term effect on the way we understand ourselves and each other.

Jess can be contacted at jessica.butcher@victas.uca.org.au

i went to the launch of the 2009 Parliament of World Religions this morning. i’d never heard of it before, but the invitation was pretty, and i’m a sucker for a free breakfast [yes, i am truly that vacuous], so i stumbled into the city at a ridiculously early hour for the event…

The PWR was first held in Chicago in 1893, and it’s held every 5 years in a different location around the world - the last one was in Barcelona, previously it was in Cape Town. The event ‘brings together the world’s religious and spiritual communities, their leaders and their followers to a gathering where peace, diversity and sustainability are discussed and explored in the context of interreligious understanding and cooperation’ [i stole that straight from the website]. Rev. Dick Ficca who is the Executive Director of the organising council for the PWR said, at the launch, the core principle is harmony, not unity. The intention of the event is not to water down differences, but to create a space where it’s safe to be who we are.

The next parliament, which will be in Melbourne in December 2009, will be the largest inter-faith gathering in human history.

i have to say, this is the first time i’ve felt inspired by organised religion for a very long time. standing there this morning, surrounded by sikhs, hindus, buddhists, muslims, christians, jews, ba’hais… it felt like something very good is just about to happen…