Friday 2 August 2013

Faith Communities Council of Victoria - Calendar of interfaith events


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August 2013 eNews





Listening to the LandSaturday, August 3
Mornington Peninsula Interfaith Network
Tour to Places of WorshipWednesday, August 14
Dandenong Interfaith Network
Mental Health First Aid TrainingThursday, August 15
Manningham Interfaith Network
JCMA Super Sunday Seminar: Sorry is the Hardest Word
Sunday, August 18
Jewish-Christian-Muslim Association (JCMA)
Working effectively with people from Diverse Faiths in Gippsland
Friday , August 30
Cardinia Interfaith Network
6th Annual Gathering
Thursday, September 12
Casey Multi-faith Network
International Day of Peace
Tuesday, September 17
Boroondara Interfaith Network 
Sharing the Widsom of Marriage
Saturday, September 21
Centre of Melbourne Multifaith and Others Network (COMMON) 
4th Interfaith Symposium of South Australia
Sunday, September 22
Multifaith Association of South Australia

Marriage - An Interfaith Symposium
September 30 - October 2
Ecumenical and Interfaith Commission 




















Religious Dates








Lailat al QadrNight of Destiny
(Islam)August 4

Eid Al-Fitr
Ramadan Concludes
(Islam)August 8
Raksha Bandhan  
(Hinduism/Brahma Kumaris)

August 21
Krishna Janmashtami
Krishna's Birthday
(Hinduism)

August 28


Rosh Hashanah
Jewish New Year
(Judaism)

September 5


Ganesh Chaturthi
Ganesha's Birthday
(Hinduism)

September 8


Yom Kippur
Day of Atonement
(Judaism)

September 14

Sukkot
Feast of Booths
(Judaism)

September 19



















View all upcoming events










Reserve the Date: Sunday, November 24th - Victorian Interfaith Networks Conference 2013

The Faith Communities Council of Victoria in association with Moonee Valley Interfaith Network is happy to announce the 2013 Victorian Interfaith Networks Conference will be held at Flemington Community Town Hall on Sunday, November 24th 2013. Read More...

Victorian Interfaith Networks










July 31st, The Age: Docklands Church just hasn't a Prayer

A Melbourne mega church leading the race to build Docklands' first place of worship could find itself preaching to empty pews. The Pentecostal CityLife Church is in negotiations with government development authority Places Victoria to build in the inner-city suburb.Read More...

the Age










Ramadhan dinner at Australian Catholic University

Australian Catholic University in conjunction with the Australian Intercultural Society hosted an Iftar 'breaking of the fast' dinner to celebrate one of the daily feasts Muslims enjoy, at the end of each fasting day, during Ramadhan. Read More...

ACU-AIS Iftar Dinner










Whitehorse Interfaith Network: Many Ways to Get There - Migration and Multifaith 

On Sunday 21st July, the month of multicultural awareness, Whitehorse Interfaith Network hosted an important seminar on Migration and Faith. Held at the Whitehorse Centre in Nunawading, people from all cultures and faiths took a seat to witness three guest speakers voice their experiences of their journey to Australia.  Read More...

Whitehorse Interfaith Network










Boroondara Interfaith Network: NAIDOC 2013 - Spiritual Pathways

On Friday 26 July, the Boroondara Interfaith Network in partnership with the Local Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Boroondara hosted an audience of 75 people at Kew Court House to celebrate National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee (NAIDOC) Week 2013.Read More...

Boroondara Interfaith Network












Interfaith Understanding: Blackburn Uniting Church and Bayswater Hindu Temple
On Sunday 14th July 2013, 45 people gathered at the Avenue Uniting Church in Blackburn to hear an interfaith conversation on 'What is Hinduism' by Pandit Awasthi from the Bayswater Hindu Temple.  Read More..

The AVenue Uniting Church


How faith communities can support community-based asylum seekers
Following the last meeting of the Multifaith Advisory Group (MAG) on 3 July 2013, please find attached information from the Salvation Army, the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, AMES and the Red Cross about how Faith Communities can support community-based asylum seekers.  Read More..
Faith Communities Council of Victoria












Additional Information:






Current Poll:
Should Church and State be completely separate?
(a) Yes
(b) No
(c) Don't Know


Results of Previous Poll
Should the Australian Constitution be changed to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people?
(a) Yes - 28 votes (90%)
(b) Don't Know  - 2 Votes (7%)
(c) No - 1 vote (3%)


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http://www.faithvictoria.org.au/our-newsletter 

Wisdom and knowledge gained ... Beside the Creek

A blog can take many forms. So can an interfaith organisation.  So to begin, the first post is in a reflective mood.  It is a poem from which this blog takes its title ... Beside The Creek.  The poem is by the great Australian poet, Judith Wright. Wright was in her lifetime a significant environmentalist.  From both her literary works and her environmental advocacy, we can see that she was a person who was immersed in the Australian landscape in all its variety and forms.  Beside The Creek is a reflective poem.  It is written in the first person and in a reflective tone.  The "I" of the poem writes from the perspective of having been on a journey in which wisdom was learned.  The "I" now has a more mature knowledge which means actions are now different because of the wisdom and knowledge gained.  May our reflections have similar results.

Beside the Creek
by Judith Wright 
Under the wavering water shine the stones,
rounded in ruby-colours and clouded white.
Once I walked barefoot into that cool
Never-ceasing flow. I gathered once
Pebbles and ripples, the skimming rounds of light,
And took them home.

Now I am no such fool,
no such blest and envied stupid child
as to believe those colours, that once dry
gathered dust on a top shelf, heavy and dull
as pages written, pages forgotten and filed.
Here on the bank I sit unmoving; I
know the ungathered alone stays beautiful
and the best poem is the poem I never wrote.

Or so I said, watching the summer through.
But oh – years, time, you hoarsen here a throat
that sang all day without suspecting you;
stiffen the hands that gathered rubies then,
and open now, to show this dubious stone.

The poem can be found in -
Judith Wright - Collected poems  1942-1970
(A & R Modern Poets)
1971