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The tram was thankfully not full at 7.30am. Not even the ticket verifying machines were awake- all of them out of order! Colin and I attended the 8am session,
‘Calling out to Allah: The Role of Du’a (supplication) in Islam and its benefits for inner peace’. In Islam, supplication prayer starts with the understanding that Allah is perfect [...]

Last Friday there was an interesting discussion on “Sunrise” with Tim Mander (CEO Scripture Union, Qld) and ex-Democrat Senator Lyn Allison (a long time opponent of chaplains in Government schools), “Should school chaplains be scrapped?”
I mentioned in a recent blog post that there was an announcement last weekend to extend federal funding for school chaplaincy to [...]

God has got me off to a running start! – this is the only way I can describe the day.
The first day of the Parliament of World Religions (PWR) in Melbourne began after arrival from Tasmania to Melbourne airport with

a Sikh taxi driver explaining the practices of Sikhism,
generous hospitaility at St Paul’s Cathedral by the Archbishop’s warm [...]

Revd Andrew Lake wrote “Christian Mission for Tasmanians” as a study for a unit on mission for the Tasmanian Certificate of Theology and Ministry. Andrew and Pam have just been commissioned by CMS –Tas to pastor at All Saints Community Church in Damascus, Syria.
The study seeks to address two questions: “How did we stop making disciples?” [...]

Sharing God’s compassion and hope with seafarers continues through the hospitality, ship visits, prayer chapel, Bibles in many languages, transport, outings and the simple provision of a ’safe place’ in a foreign port. At the Hobart Station AGM our chairman, Mike, reported,
It is my pleasure to report that the Hobart mission has concluded a rewarding year both [...]

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 [...]

I am shocked at the vote in Switzerland to ban the construction of minarets. This is a grave restriction on people’s freedom of religious expression. Surely legislation to limit the height of the minarets to conform with aesthetic and relational issues of ‘who has the biggest’ tower could have been readily handled.
Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf [...]

I enjoyed the Media Release from my former Tasmanian Media Officer, Paul, now gifting his talents to Acorn Press (CMS, etc). The wording has a fine feel for Tasmanian culture. A real boost prior to the Hobart launch. Thanks, Paul. 
 MEDIA RELEASE:  RE LAUNCH OF “MUTTON BIRD BISHOP” BOOK
 A biography of the so-called “Mutton Bird Bishop” Henry Montgomery, [...]