important dates for 2009

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Introducing Islam: January 14-16 and 19-20, Sydney

Evangelising Mission of the Church:   February 28-March 1, March 28-29, May 16-17, Sydney

 

Students of theology and religious education as well as people interested in interfaith and missiology issues could be attracted to two summer intensives being offered by the Catholic Institute of Sydney early next year:  Introducing Islam and Evangelising Mission of the Church.

 

Both will be conducted by Columban priests experienced in missionary work.

 

Fr Patrick McInerney SSC will teach Introducing Islam, on January 14-16 and 19-20.  As Christians and Muslims make up over 50 per cent of the world's population, increasingly they are becoming neighbours at school, work or in the community. Pre-Islamic Arabia , the life of the Prophet Muhammad, Christian-Muslin relations and contemporary revival movements will be among the topics covered.

 

Fr McInerney who was a missionary in Pakistan for more than 20 years, is a staff member of the Columban Mission Institute's Centre for Christian-Muslim Relations, a board member of the Australian Catholic University's Australia-Pacific Centre for Interreligious Dialogue and a member of the Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference Australian Catholic Council for Ecumenism and Inter-religious Relations.  Among his academic qualifications, he holds a licentiate degree in Arabic and Islamics from the Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies in Rome.

 

Muslim guest lecturers with expertise in areas of Islamic scholarship will present an "insider's" view.

 

The course, Evangelising Mission of the Church, will be presented over three weekends by Fr Noel Connolly SSC, of Melbourne.

 

New expressions of mission that are relevant to today's world - proclamation, dialogue, peace and reconciliation, liberation and justice and ecology -  will be among the topics covered as mission in the scriptures, the history of mission, contemporary theology of mission and mission as prophetic dialogue  are among the areas to be delved into.

 

Fr Connolly saw missionary ministry in Korea and helped found the Sydney Korean Church . He has had involvement with the pacific Mission Institute and St Columban's College at Turramurra and with the Broken Bay Institute. He also has worked for 16 years on the Columbans' central leadership team and is currently head of the Columbans in this region.

 

The presentation weekends are February 28-March 1, March 28-29, May 16-17, Sydney.

 

Registrations for both courses close of December 5 with the CIS Academic Secretary, 02 9752 9500 or cisinfo@cis.catholic.edu.au

 

Further information on the courses:

 

 

Dr Barbara Reid seminar: January 23, Sydney

 

A scripture scholar who wooed Australian audiences in 2006 will make a return trip to Sydney to present a workshop in January 2009.

 

Dr Barbara Reid, a Dominican Sister, holds her doctorate in Biblical Studies from the Catholic University of America, Washington, and is Professor of New Testament at Catholic Theological Union, Chicago.

 

She will present Contemplation and Contemplative Presence - Power of Prophetic Women, at Santa Sabina College, Strathfield, on Friday, January 23, from 11am-4pm. The cost of $10 will include a light lunch.

 

She will be brought to Australia by the Dominican Sisters of Eastern Australia and the Solomon Islands.

 

(further information/rvsp by January 16: 02 97744 9511 or domadmin@opeast.org.au)

 

 

 

 

Mindful Leadership:  The path of contemplative dialogue: April 27-30, Sydney; May 4-7, Perth

 

News way of mutual dialogue and understanding will be opened up when the Fullness of Life Centre, Perth, hosts Steven Wirth, executive director of the Centre for Contemplative Dialogue (USA) in two workshops in the first half of next year.

 

Mindful Leadership:  The path of contemplative dialogue helps participants to work in organisations and with individuals to respond more effectively to the obstacles and challenges they face.  It uses the skills and theory of  learning organisations and unites these with powerful contemplative practice from the great spiritual traditions, creating new possibilities.  Organisers say that the result is a consistent ability to touch and awaken a profound "common ground" or "collective spirit" that allows dialogue and mutual understanding in ways previously not thought or imagined possible.

 

The training is available to those seeking to enhance relational effectiveness, personal awareness and leadership in any organisational or community setting.  Participants also find it valuable in parenting and relationships.

 

The Centre for Contemplative Dialogue is a non-profit organisation that creatively assists communities and leaders in overcoming obstacles to organisational renewal and effectiveness.  It was founded by Steven Wirth.

 

Mindful Leadership:  The path of contemplative dialogue will be held at the Good Samaritan Congregational Centre, Glebe Point, NSW, April 27-30 and at St John of God Hospital, Murdoch, WA, May 4-7. 

 

(further information:  Fullness of Life Centre, 08 9389 8550 or info@fullnessoflife.org.  Early bird discount applies before December 1)

 

 

 

CRA National Assembly: June 23-27, Sydney

 

 

 

National Conference of Pastors and Pastoral Associates:  September 2-4, Nelson Bay, NSW

 

The national Conference of Pastors and Pastoral Associates expects to draw lay ministers and priests from every diocese in Australia when it is held in September 2009.

 

The conference which is organised every three years will meet under the theme Supporting our Church - the Five Pillars of Church Life as alluded to in St Paul's description of the early church in Acts 2:42-47.

 

Bishop Michael Malone (Maitland-Newcastle), Frs Gerard Kelly, Frank Moloney SDB, John Chalmers, Ed Nixon CSsR, Frank Devoy  and Sr Lauretta Baker will be among the speakers who will  open up the topics of Worship and Prayer, Leadership and Structure, Mission and Outreach, Formation and Education and Identity and Community.

 

The event is a joint undertaking among the dioceses of Maitland Newcastle, Wollongong, Broken Bay, Parramatta and the Archdiocese of Sydney.  According to organisers, this will engender cooperation, fellowship and unity in the Church across diocesan boundaries as people work together to create a life-giving, spiritually challenging conference.

 

The conference will be held from Wednesday, September 2, to Friday, September 4, at Shoal Bay Resort, near Nelson Bay, north of Newcastle.

 

 

 

Parliament of the World's Religions: December 3-9, Melbourne

 

The global religious eye will be upon Australia next year when the Parliament of the World's Religions, the world's largest multi-faith gathering, will be held in Melbourne, from December 3-9.

 

It is the oldest interfaith organisation, having began in 1893 when the first formal dialogue between Eastern and Western religious leaders took place in Chicago. Though successful, it would be 100 years before it was held again and in Chicago. It has been held every five years in Chicago (1993), Cape Town (1999), Barcelona (2004) and now Melbourne in December 2009.

 

The Australian Catholic community will have the opportunity to reflect on its faith in a multi-faith context and on its relationships with other faith communities with up to 8000 participants. It will take place in Melbourne's Convention Centre, expected to be completed early in 2009.  In union with the other faith communities, it will be an opportunity to showcase Australia's interreligious harmony, as well as to showcase Catholicism  itself and also for religious orders to showcase themselves and their activities with an exhibition or during one of the 510 seminar slots.

 

The Parliament will be preceded in 2008 and 2009 by multi-faith events in 40 - 50 cities around the globe in which the focus will be towards the week-long Melbourne  event.