Events for the Heart and Mind 9 December

VOICES IN PRAISE – Christmas Concert

A fabulous selection of music reflecting ‘Light, Hope, Love, Joy & Peace’ will be presented at Mt Pleasant Uniting Church, Cnr Reynolds & Coomoora Rds on Saturday, 19 December at 7.30pm. The Voices in Praise Choir will be accompanied by an orchestra comprising our wonderful young people from varied places, ie. Rossmoyne High School and other places. This is a big sing night! Carols for everyone follow the choir’s performance. Come along and enjoy this wonderful night – sumptuous supper provided by the choir. Cost $12 – $7 concession. Pay at the door. Proceeds to go to worthy cause.

Contact person: Marg Staffa 9457 8921.

Mission Australia Christmas Lunch in the Park 2009
Where: Wellington Square Park, East Perth
When: Friday, 25 December 2009
Time: 11.30am-2.00pm
Cost: Free!
RSVP: None required, just come along on the day.

The Day will include:

• A delicious Christmas lunch
• A visit from Santa
• Entertainment
• Great Company

Global faith leaders hope to give push to climate change action

Kim Cain
Ecumenical News International
Dec 1, 2009

Melbourne, Australia
As the world prepares for the United Nations climate change conference in Copenhagen, on the other side of the globe people gathered to pray for the delegates who are to meet in the Danish capital.

Many of those who attended the “pray for climate change” service in Melbourne, Australia, on Nov. 29 are also members of the Parliament of the World’s Religions, an interfaith event that opens there on 3 December and that will be addressing climate change from a spiritual perspective.

“Religions aren’t going to determine the fate of emissions or create the technology for cleaner cars, but the role of religion is to muster political will to address the difficult decisions that need to be made,” Rev. Dirk Ficca, a Presbyterian from the United States, and the parliament’s executive director, was quoted as saying by The Age newspaper.

The Parliament of the World Religions is one of the world’s biggest gatherings of inter-faith religious leaders, and faith and the environment will feature heavily on the agenda under the conference theme of “Healing the Earth with Care and Concern.”

Organizers said people from 29 different faith and spiritual traditions have registered, including Buddhists, Christians, Daoists, Hindus, Jews, Muslims, pagans and Zoroastrians.

A member of the local organizing committee, Maureen Postma, said the conference will face contentious issues, such as the environment, head on. “We expect tension, because we are facing very difficult issues, often seemingly intractable issues, from a faith perspective,” she told Ecumenical News International.

“But with good heartfelt searching and dialogue conducted with respect, we can sometimes see a different perspective other than just our own,” she noted.

Postma said the connection between climate change and faith was so strong that some delegates were leaving the gathering early so they can be in Copenhagen to advocate for a strong climate change agenda. The U.N. meeting in the Danish capital runs from 7 to 18 December.

Other topics to be covered in Melbourne include a “conflict resolution” program, which will touch on conflicts such as the Middle East, Afghanistan, and those involving indigenous peoples and “invading” cultures.

Women within religions –  including the question of patriarchy – indigenous spirituality and the search for inner peace will also be covered under seven subthemes.

Participants at the conference include the exiled Tibetan Buddhist leader, the Dalai Lama; Swiss-born theologian Hans Küng; the Rev. Jim Wallis, a U.S.-based Evangelical commentator on social justice; and Justice Michael Kirby, a former member of the Australian High Court, who is also a gay activist and member of the Anglican Church in Australia.

Other participants include, Siti Musda Mulia the first Indonesian woman to receive a doctorate in Islamic thought from a state university; and Rabbi David Rosen, an international Jewish leader in interreligious dialogue.

Episcopal leader urges focus on compassion for Advent

By Ekklesia.co.uk staff writers
2 Dec 2009

Advent is “a time of waiting, but it is not a time to sit around and wait for someone to do something,” The Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop, Katharine Jefferts Schori, says in her seasonal message.

The American Anglican leader is urging individuals and congregations to take time during the reflective period of preparation for Christmas to reach out with compassion to families and to strangers, in particular.

The Presiding Bishop’s video Advent message, taped on the grounds of the Cathedral Church of St John The Divine in New York City, is available on the home page of The Episcopal Church website. Continue reading ‘Episcopal leader urges focus on compassion for Advent’

Bellringing for Climate Justice

Let the bells ring, the conch shells, drums and gongs sound 350 times for climate justice. Find out more on bellringing350.org.

Sunday 13 December at 3 p.m. – at the height of the talks in Copenhagen – the churches in Denmark will ring their bells. Christians around the world are invited to echo them by sounding their own bells, shells, drums, gongs or horns 350 times.

Why 350 times?

350 refers to 350 parts per million: This is the safe upper limit for CO2 in our atmosphere according to many scientists, climate experts, and progressive national governments. For all of human history until about 200 years ago, our atmosphere contained 275 ppm of CO2, but now the concentration stands at 390 ppm.  Unless we are able to rapidly reduce CO2 levels again, we risk reaching tipping points and irreversible impacts such as the melting of the Greenland ice sheet and major methane releases from increased permafrost melt. Continue reading ‘Bellringing for Climate Justice’

Events for the Heart and Mind – 11 November

In This Edition: Dayspring – November events and 2010 Short Courses; Saint George’s Cathedral Centre for Spirituality; Walk against Warming. Continue reading ‘Events for the Heart and Mind – 11 November’

Inside Detention Centres in Indonesia

A lawyer and human Rights activist has produced a report criticising the treatment of asylum seekers in Australian-funded facilities in Indonesia.
The report, Behind Australian Doors, details the complaints by asylum seekers about being beaten by guards in detention centres, of being forced to live in squalid residential accommodation with unclean water and little access to healthcare, even for women in childbirth.
Asylum seekers can spend years in Indonesia waiting for their asylum claims to be assessed by the UN Refugee agency – and then years more waiting for resettlement in a third country if they are found to be refugees.
ABC Radio National Presenter Peter Mares interviews Jessie Taylor, an Australian lawyer and human rights activist, and Christopher Lowenstein-Lom, the Asia Pacific spokesperson for the International Organization for Migration.

To Listen to the interview, go to the Radio National Website.

Parliament of the World’s Religions

The Parliament of the World’s Religions is the world’s largest global inter-religious event, held once every five years in a different city. The Melbourne Parliament will bring together more than 8,000 people from around the world for an inspirational program of 500 speakers, workshops, panel discussions, artistic performance, and art exhibitions.

Speakers and Performers include His Holiness the Dalai Lama – Tibetan Buddhist Leader; Fr Laurence Freeman OSB – Director of the World Community for Christian Meditation; Professor Joy Murphy Wandin – Senior Aboriginal Woman of the Wurendjeri People; Cartinal George Pell – Archbishop of Sydney; Rabbi David Rosen – Leader of International Jewish Committee on Interreligious Consultation; His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar – Spiritual Leader of The Art of Living Foundation; Zain Bhikha – Muslim singer-songwriter; Natesan Ramani – flautist and Manjiri Kelkar – Singer; Heather Lee and Dr Kim Cunio – Jewish Vocalist and Ensemble; and more. Continue reading ‘Parliament of the World’s Religions’

Religious Leaders Meet with Penny Wong

A single prophetic stance unified leaders from six different religious traditions when they met with Penny Wong on October 27th. With the negotiations in Copenhagen around the corner, they advocated that Australia adopt courageous, ambitious targets for the sake of the world’s poor and for future generations.

“We share the moral values of justice, compassion and mutual responsibility for humanity and for the life that sustains us on this planet and the planet itself,” said Rabbi Jeffrey Kamins, Chairman of the Council of Progressive Rabbis. “We also share a belief that human contribution to climate change requires urgent and immediate attention.”

Among the “asks” were that Australia should set a target of emissions reductions of 40% from 1990 levels by the year 2020; and contribute in the range of $1-4 billion dollars annually to those affected by climate change in developing countries and who need assistance to adapt. Continue reading ‘Religious Leaders Meet with Penny Wong’

Resettlement Options Critical to Resolving Oceanic Viking Impasse: Refugee Council

Prompt resettlement options for refugees aboard the Oceanic Viking are crucial to finding a humanitarian resolution to the current impasse off Indonesia’s Bintan Island, the Refugee Council of Australia (RCOA) says.

“The Australian Government must act urgently to resolve this crisis humanely,” RCOA president John Gibson said.  “This stalemate is achieving nothing and is, in fact, doing serious damage to efforts to find longer-term answers to the needs of refugees in the region.

“If a negotiated settlement cannot be reached in coming days, Australia must bring the Oceanic Viking to Australian territory to allow the processing of asylum claims to begin and to defuse a crisis which has damaged all concerned. Continue reading ‘Resettlement Options Critical to Resolving Oceanic Viking Impasse: Refugee Council’

Planet Prayer

The ecumenical Social Justice Roundtable in Perth, Western Australia invites you to join us in praying for positive outcomes at the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen (Cop15).

From December 7-18, 2009, the city of Copenhagen will host the most important climate change-related meeting since the 1997 meeting at which the Kyoto Protocol was adopted.
The Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012, meaning that a new agreement needs to be reached at the Cop15 meeting if it is to come into affect before this happens.

Please join us as we pray that our world’s leaders will make good choices and come to a new agreement which is sufficiently bold enough to address issues of climate change. Continue reading ‘Planet Prayer’

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