About Us + Interfaith





About Interfaith Tasmania


Interfaith Tasmania is dedicated to the promotion of Interfaith and multi-faith awareness, understanding and unity between people from the different religions, faiths and traditions in Tasmania, as well as the broader community. By creating awareness and facilitating opportunities for inclusive dialogue, we build and strengthen relationships that nurture harmony and deepen respect and understanding.  We work with interested community members to deliver interfaith gatherings and activities, strengthening relationships with and between faith leaders and members, organizations and residents of diverse backgrounds.

Interfaith Tasmania aims to:

1. Foster harmonious relationships between community members of different religious and cultural backgrounds and perspectives.

2. Develop an inclusive network of open and interested faith, religious, spiritual leaders and community members who are representative of the diversity in Tasmania.

3. Assist with the communication, consultation and effective engagement with and between Tasmanian faith and cultural communities.

We actively facilitate this process through various platforms - one such initiative being this social media forum which informs and educates in a number of ways, including the free publication of diverse faith/spiritual community based events and programs.

Another way we engage the community is through the Launceston Interfaith/Spiritual Community - an inclusive space and gathering in which we foster and enhance respectful Interfaith and multi-faith connections by finding common ground.  Honoring and celebrating, diverse sacred expression and our common humanity, our community group focuses on 'unity in diversity', by learning from each other and finding enrichment from a range of faith and non-faith wisdoms and traditions.  We hold monthly meetings to share insights about our diverse beliefs while learning about paths different from our own.   Guest speakers, monthly discussion topics, prayer, reflection and contemplation, sacred texts and literature from a range of beliefs and traditions facilitates this process.

Future annual public events will also be held such as Interfaith solstice services, inclusive community prayer services and celebrations for the United Nations International World Day of Peace and International Harmony Day.  All community members are welcome to join our program of events and gatherings. For more information about our activities contact interfaithtasmania@gmail.com

Interfaith  probably has as many definitions as people using the term, however there are 3 main ways it’s used.  The first is to describe a dialogue between individuals from different faith traditions, ie “Interfaith dialogue”. In this instance, those involved attempt to understand another’s faith tradition (and their experience of that faith tradition) to come to some common ground, through dialogue. Most people who engage in interfaith dialogue say that there’s an unexpected benefit in that they find that their experience of their own faith tradition is deepened through the process.

The second way the term is used is to describe the movement based on Interfaith dialogue, the “Interfaith movement".  Here there is an active commitment by leaders of faith traditions to engage with other traditions in an organised way – often there’s a particular program or initiative that becomes the vehicle for the process, such as within the United Nations, or individual governments or government bodies.

The third way the term is used is through Interfaith seminary training - or a similar institution (some universities have degrees in divinity, for example, which include subjects in different faith traditions).  Ordination as a Interfaith Minister is the outcome, but the core curriculum is what’s commonly called “comparative religion”, ie all the major faiths are studied and compared, as well as units in pastoral care, counselling, psychology, ceremonies and rites – a process which is both academic and experiential. The curriculum also includes reflective processes where the student examines their own value systems, ethical dilemmas, responses to the academic material etc and these processes often confront, and usually deepen the student’s experience of their faith tradition.

Interfaith seminary students are Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, Moslem, Sufi, Indigenous Elders, Rabbi's - indeed people from all traditions.  Interfaith seminary students do not change their faith, but take their interfaith seminary training back into their various faith communities with a deepened experience and heightened sensitivity to other faiths. In this way, Interfaith becomes a pathway of  justice, compassion and peacemaking - this overview courtesy of Interfaithnet http:///interfaithnet.wordpress.com


    peace compassion unity harmony respect justice sacred service inclusivity goodwill

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