January 2019 Newsletter

Happy New Year! (If January 1st is where you mark the beginning of a new year, of course). I could equally use the same greeting in February for Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese New Year, in March for those celebrating the new Hindu year – Vikram samvat, those Balinese Hindus observing Nyepi, or those celebrating Nowruz, the Persian New Year (originating in Zoroastrianism, but widely celebrated by those of different faiths across Western and Central Asia, the Caucasus, Black Sea Basin, and the Balkans). Or, we could wait until April for Vaisakhi, the Sikh new year and Songkran the new year festival in Thailand, Laos, and some other parts of Southeast Asia. Or, if your resolution fails midsummer, you can celebrate the Muslim new year in August or observe Rosh Hashanah in September with our Jewish brothers and sisters. Of course, maybe you never converted from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian – in which case I shall wait until March 25…!

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December 2018 Newsletter

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

“It was only multi-faith because I was there.” So said a UK colleague about their experience of a recent conference they’d attended. 

It was a phrase that could be taken in several different ways, but as we look forward to our next conference in Melbourne (from Sunday 13 – Friday 18 October 2019), let’s hold that thought (whatever our faith tradition) for a moment…

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