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2010 National Interfaith Forum

The National Interfaith Forum will be held in Christchurch in 2010.
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Interfaith Forum Brief
Youth Interfaith Forum Brief
Registration
Venue Information
Contact Us
Posters
Speaker Information
Forum Schedules
More info


Program Brief


In 2010, the National Interfaith Forum will be held in Christchurch for the first time. This is the 7th forum and will be held on February 26 – 28. The theme for the forum is “Keeping Faith in the Modern World” and will feature speakers from Australia and New Zealand. A special woman's forum precedes it following this theme, and a special youth forum is after it with the theme: "Faith and Sustainability for the next generation." It is the largest interfaith event in New Zealand. “We are expecting representatives of over 15 faith groups to attend,” said Dr. Ron McIntyre, the president of the Christchurch Interfaith Council, which is hosting the event. Workshops will include how faith communities can contribute to safer cities, religious education in New Zealand and how various faith communities approach ecological issues. “Faith communities have a role to play in seeking solutions to the problems of the modern world. It starts with talking to each other,” said Dr McIntrye.


Youth Interfaith Forum Brief


“Faith and Sustainability in the next generation – tackling sustainability through the lens of religious duty and spiritual motivation”
This year's youth forum has a special theme focussing on sustainability through Faith. Passionate advocates and supporters of environmental change have been asked to attend this short yet powerful section of the forum, including Kate Hewson, the University of Canterbury's sustainability advocate and Imam Afroz Ali, a faith community leader that is making significant progress through environmental interfaith programs.
The tentative agenda is below:

2.00 Registration
2.15 Intro and Ice breaker activities
2.30 Story of Stuff (Multimedia Presentation)
2.50 Imam Afroz Ali: Sustainability and your faith
3.45 Team building Exercise through case studies: Dissecting NZ's Industries and brainstorming solutions
4.15 Group Discussion/ Presentation
4.30 Tayyaba Khan: The importance of a Youth Interfaith group (Representing NZ's interfaith delegation)
5.00 END


Registration


Registration is open until 12th February 2010. Register early to go into the draw for a beautiful 2010 Interfaith Calendar! If you miss this date you can still register but may be placed on a waiting list.

To register you can either register online, or download a printable form.


Venue


The venue for the woman and main forum will be the Caledonian Hall, located on 135 Kilmore st, Christchurch CBD.

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The venue for the Youth Forum is the Latter Day Saints Hall, situated at 17 Kirkwood Ave, Ilam, Christchurch.

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Contact us


For more information on or any queries regarding :


Posters


Speaker Bios

Reverend Dr Jonathan Inkpen

The Revd.Dr.Jonathan Inkpin is an Anglican priest who has worked in a variety of parish, sector, theological education and social justice settings in his native England and, since 2001, in Australia. He has been involved in inter-religious activities throughout his ministry at a number of different levels. This has included coordinating and assisting with innovative Australian initiatives such as the Journey of Promise (Abrahamic youth), Project Abraham, Christian-Muslim Peace Dialogue and Together in Humanity projects. He was a participating member of the Australian National Dialogue of Christians, Muslims and Jews between 2003-2008 and, most recently has organised the Sydney pre-Parliament of the World’s Religions gathering and Youth Sydney pre-Parliament of the World’s Religions event. He has worked for the National Council of Churches in Australia in a number of capacities (including with the Decade to Overcome Violence, and the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Ecumenical Commission) and is currently the General Secretary of the New South Wales Ecumenical Council (and Secretary of the Faith and Unity Commission of the National Council of Churches in Australia). He is married to a fellow Anglican priest, Penny Jones and has twin daughters studying at university.

Imam Afroz Ali

Afroz Ali is the Founder and President of Al-Ghazzali Centre for Islamic Sciences & Human Development, based in Sydney, Australia. He is a qualified Imam in the Islamic Tradition, having studied under Traditional Islam and received licence to teach in various Islamic Sciences. His studies have taken him from university-based Islamic University- Madina, Saudi Arabia then moving towards Traditional Scholarship in Yemen, United States and Mauritania, where he has spent considerable time to learn from the most esteemed Rightly Guided Islamic Scholars of our time. He has also travelled to Cairo, Egypt for further studies in Islamic Jurisprudence with Scholars at al-Azhar University and is on the Board of Advisors at Markaz Aleem in Cairo, Egypt. He has also attended numerous western- based motivational and personal development training programs with the likes of Anthony Robbins and Steven Covey. As such, he provides fully commercial corporate training on Team building, Personal Leadership, Change Management, Business Strategy Development and Corporate Ethics. Further, Imam Afroz utilises his corporate training skills to mentor and train community organisations in Community Sustainability Programs, Personal Leadership and Interpersonal Skills, Spiritual Development, Motivation and Goals Setting. He has initiated philanthropic as well as sustainable environment projects in Australia and abroad, and continues to advocate peace, acceptance, justice and interpersonal rights. He is also the recipient of the International Ambassador for Peace award.

Rev. Margaret Mayman

Margaret has been senior minister at St. Andrew’s on The Terrace since February 2002. She was ordained in 1982 after studying at Victoria University and Otago University for a BA in political science and religious studies, and a BTheol in Biblical and Pastoral Studies. After a short-term interim ministry, she moved to New York where she gained STM and M.Phil degrees in Christian Ethics and began PhD studies at Union Theological Seminary. She also taught feminist theology and ethics at Maryknoll School of Theology, and undergraduate Religious Studies at the New School for Social Research. In 1995, after 12 years in New York, Margaret retuned to New Zealand and was inducted as minister at St. Ninian’s in Christchurch. During that time, she completed her PhD, which was awarded in 2001. Her doctoral dissertation was titled “Raising Voices: Re-Visioning Moral Agency in Intimate Violence Discourses.” From 2002 to 2005, Margaret participated in the annual United Nations Commission on the Status of Women meeting in New York, representing the Association of Presbyterian Women. Since 2006, Margaret has been working with the Kettering Foundation in the United States, a non-partisan foundation which fosters citizens participation in democracy. She has undertaken training in deliberative democracy and now applies this in interfaith dialogue and community justice work. Margaret’s interests include politics and economics, human rights advocacy, refugee issues, peace issues, sexual justice, reading fiction and theology, film, listening to eclectic music and podcast documentaries, camping, and café culture.


Forum Schedules

February 26-28, 2010. Christchurch
Programme

5th National Womens Forum
Friday 9.00am Registration
10.00 Welcome
10.10 Keynote speech: Rev. Margaret Mayman “
“My experience in faith, involvement in the UN and development of women’s rights”
11.00 Panel discussion - Living my Faith in the Modern world”
12.15 Lunch
1.15pm Afternoon sessions – small group workshops.
4.30pm Womens Forum Close
6pm Welcome/Powhiri
Reports and introductions
7.30pm Dinner

Main Forum
Saturday 9.30am Gathering service
Opening keynote address: Afroz Ali
12.00 Lunch
1.00pm Parallel Workshops
--Keeping your faith in the modern world
--Faith and Safer Cities
--Religious Education in New Zealand
--Faith Communities and Conservation
--Seeing the Best in Each other
2.30 Afternoon tea
3.00 Workshops – Report back.
4.30 Free time (options available)
7.00pm Gala Dinner
Speaker Rev. Jonathon Inkpin
Sunday 10.00am Interfaith Service
12.00 Lunch
1.00pm Forum Closing

3rd National Youth Forum
“Faith and Sustainability in the next generation – tackling sustainability through the lens of religious duty and spiritual motivation”
2.00 Registration
2.15 Intro and Ice breaker activities
2.30 Story of Stuff (Multimedia Presentation)
3.00 Kate Hewson Workshop
3.20 Tea Break
3.30 Imam Afroz Ali: Sustainability and your faith
4.00 Team building Exercise through case studies: Dissecting NZ's Industries and brainstorming solutions
4.40 Group Discussion/ Presentation
5.00 Youth Forum Close

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7th National Interfaith Forum registration form.doc25 KB