The Glen Waverley Uniting Church PSALTERLink to CouncilAgenda20211018 > CouncilMinutes20211018 > Monash Interfath Gathering web site > MonashInterfaithGathering
Women of Faith Forum run by Monash Interfaith Gathering.
On 23 September 2021, I attended the “Women of Faith” forum on Zoom. As I am GWUC’s representative on the MIG, I thought that you may like to read a short report about the forum which was excellent.
Sherene Hassan (OAM) who is Education Director of the Islamic Museum of Victoria spoke about building bridges between communities. The museum was opened in Thornbury in 2014 and is well worth a visit. (I have been there.) There are five permanent exhibitions-the Islamic Faith Gallery, Islamic contributions to Civilisation, Islamic Art, Australian Muslim History and Architecture. Sherene also mentioned that the Jewish museum and the Islamic museum have frequent interactions.
Nirmala Ji represented the Hindu faith. The Hindu temple in Huntingdale responds to domestic violence. Family violence is often prominent when two or more generations are living together in the same dwelling. The temple volunteers work with ethnic families where there is no community connection, patriarchy is prominent and women have no where to turn as there is a code of silence and they are ashamed. They want to empower women and make them aware of counselling, legal support and police intervention, if necessary.
Emy Armanous is a member of the Coptic Church and she spoke about keeping youth and young families involved in their church traditions. (The Coptic church is one of the earliest Christian churches. It began in 42 AD when the apostle Mark visited Egypt.) The youth have weekly meetings and work with the children. Couples have pre-marital counselling and the church runs parent development courses. The elderly are accommodated in coptic hostels.
Joscelyn Tan represented the Baha’i faith. This religious group runs courses for children of all faiths proclaiming equality of men and women. There are Baha’i classes held in schools. The volunteers nurture the spiritual and moral growth of children and encourage forgiveness and humility through Art and other activities.
The last speaker was our own Deb. Leigh. She explained that the Choir of Hope was formed in 2019 to address social isolation and domestic violence. It has developed a safe environment for women in which they can share love of music and feel worthy and loved and form positive relationships. The voice of God is speaking to these women in a very special way. Deb's presentation.
The next MIG meeting will be on 5 November on zoom.