Things are certainly gearing up for our start tomorrow: hence ‘Day -1’ in the title (sorry!). The ABC has established a blog ‘Talking of Faith’ with Margaret Coffey and various commentators. Initial article includes:

As the PWR gets under way, some interesting statistics about religion in Australia have been published by the Christian Research Association. The CRA has looked at the 2006 Census to survey the connection between higher education and religious affirmation. . . .

of Christian denominations in Australia, by far the most educated are the Coptic Orthodox, with 40 per cent having a university education.

And interestingly, while those who identify with a Christian denomination have, on average, lower levels of formal education, most people who attend church (as distinct from identifying with a denomination) are more highly educated than the nation as a whole. 

I am attending the Parliament of World Religions (PWR) over the coming week and am excited at meeting people from diverse religious traditions and learning and exchanging views. I am preaching on Sunday morning at an Anglican worship service led by Archbishop Philip Freier of Melbourne. This is a program option at the Parliament and we are praying for non-Christian people to attend. Please pray with us and for us.

Various recent articles are relevant: Religious policy, multi-faith dialogue and Australian values;  and  ‘Multi-faith society’: an oxymoron?  and  Swiss minaret ban is bad.