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St Matthew-in-the-city (Auckland, New Zealand) have caused a worldwide stir with a billboard showing Joseph and Mary in bed, titled “Poor Joseph. God was a hard act to follow.” The billboard went up last Thursday and was defaced with brown paint within five hours. The Australian morning news show, Sunrise, aired a story, “Bible Bedroom Billboard” and [...]

Looking beyond the frailties of the Christmas festivities to the beauty and truth that it obscures. We eagerly watched the evening television news. Would the presentation of the ‘reason for the season’ in the Hobart Christmas parade be on the television? We had been told that the Combined Churches’ presentation may have won an award. [...]

Revd Will Briggs recently wrote a stimulating book review on ‘Montgomery of Tasmania’ by Robert Withycombe, Acorn Press, here are some excerpts,  Montgomery was a man empassioned by the mission of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Into a pre-WWI world of colonial fervour he contextualised and embodied this gospel meaningfully and zealously. I look back [...]

My personal reflection upon the parliament of the World’s Religions 2009 in Melbourne include the following, I met some marvellous people from many religions at the Parliament. I give thanks to God for this wonderful privilege of meeting in a safe space and for allowing the possibility of friendship. Truly, we are made by a loving [...]

 At the Closing Ceremony of the Parliament of the World’s Religions an outstanding prayer was made by the Archbishop of Melbourne, Philip Freier. It is a great example of a Christian prayer being offered with integrity in a multifaith garthering. I have Archbishop Philip’s permission to share it with you, the opening being from Jesus Christ’s Sermon [...]

This, the final day of the Parliament, Colin and I decided to join with the Sikh community in their morning observance. This interest in the Sikh observance links back to the Sikh taxi driver I had coming to the Parliament and also an extended conversation with a Sikh participant at the PWR on Sunday.  ‘Sikh prayer and meditation’ inculcates a deep [...]

 ’Praying together in Times of Happiness, in Times of Sorrow? The Ongoing Dilemma for the Interfaith Movement’ was a wonderfully honest session. It was just so good to hear adherents of faiths struggling to know how to demonstrate solidarity with people from other faith communities or of no faith, while maintaining their personal integrity. For the Christian ‘Jesus’ is not [...]

An environmental protester, a performance artist, greets us as we enter the PWR – photograph and brief ABC article at environmental protest.  I attended an early morning observance led by a Sufi Imam on, “So that you may know one another”: the call for social cohesion in the Quran”. Sufism, mystical Islam, emphasizes experience of God. An illustration: it [...]

8am Holy Communion in the Anglican style “Thank you for a welcoming service” began the Sabbath Day at the PWR Convention – room105!  +Philip Freier of Melbourne led, Colin prayed and I preached. A special occasion of worship amidst the cacophony of the world’s religions. Advent 2, Luke 3:1-11 (and Luke 1:68-79) on John the Baptist proclaiming a repentance [...]

I began the morning with meditation lead by Father Laurence Freeman of the Australian Christian Meditation Community. I was refreshed by the introduction and a time meditating. A distinction was made between meditation and contemplation: meditation is the work we do to receive the gift of contemplation. As an aside, we heard that when the Dalai Lama was [...]