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’
