by Sandra Salmon
Parish Deacon at St John's, Dee Why

During 2007 a number of people from St John's Dee Why were involved with a programme of inter-faith dialogue between Muslims and Christians. It has been a great time of learning, sharing and gaining new friends.

It started early in the year when the clergy from St John's and some other local churches agreed to be part of a group consisting of Anglicans, Roman Catholics and Uniting Church members in the area to discuss the possibility of beginning a “Home Encounters” Programme with the Muslim community.

This programme has been developed by Affinity Intercultural Foundation and has been trialled in other areas of Sydney. So we began planning, meeting regularly with Mehmet Saral from Affinity and some of the local Muslim community.

The three denominations involved were all keen to go ahead and happy to use the approach put forward by Affinity while adapting it to our local situation.

We have started in a small way with four groups. Each consists of nine people, four Christians, four Muslims and a facilitator who could be either Christian or Muslim but who takes no part in the actual dialogue. This has meant that only a small number of people from each church could participate. We had five in total from St John's.

The group of which I was a part had two Anglicans, one from the Uniting Church and one Roman Catholic, meeting with four Muslims, some from the local Mosque and others from Affinity. Our group had equal numbers of men and women and at each meeting one of us presented a paper on our faith on a particular topic. When a Christian spoke, a Muslim member would take notes and then present a summary. This would be followed by a break with refreshments and then questions. The main idea was to help break down barriers, not to debate or evangelise.

The dialogue was most interesting and it was a great privilege to be involved.

We have made some wonderful new friends and gained an appreciation of the many differences as well as some similarities with our faiths.

This was not a programme of evangelism but one of understanding and reaching out to fellow human beings, in love. Not all Christians or indeed Muslims would see its benefits but for me it was a fantastic experience.

I had the privilege to preach on Christmas Day 2007 at our 8 am Eucharist in the presence of eight of our Muslim friends. It was a very moving experience to welcome them amongst our Christian congregation. Over the six months of our dialogue we have become used to stating our beliefs clearly without being either aggressive or on the other hand embarrassed about the very clear differences in our faiths. So on Christmas Day I preached the Gospel of the saving Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Good News that he came in love for the whole world. Our Muslim friends respect Jesus greatly as a prophet. Christians, as we know, proclaim him as God.

And yet, despite our differences in understanding, we have come together with great love and respect of one another. It is a tremendous step to overcoming fear and misunderstanding, whilst helping to clarify one's own faith.

As I mentioned, we have only started in a small way with a limited group of people being involved. But I would recommend it to others as a great opportunity. It is not, I feel, for every parishioner.

Those involved need to have a good understanding of the Christian faith and be prepared to speak about it. But most importantly they need to be prepared to listen with respect to others whether they be Muslims or other Christians, and not to interrupt or comment when others are speaking.

In a few weeks time we have a social gathering planned for the group members and their families. This is something I know we are all looking forward to.

The Planning Committee will also meet next week to evaluate the year and see where we go from here.

As we look at the world, and even closer to home, there is so much hate and distrust to be seen. In contrast, what a privilege it has been to be part of a group of people involved in dialogue not argument, in breaking down not creating barriers.

Participation in the Affinity “Home Encounter” Group has strengthened my Christian faith while giving me insight into the faith of my newly-found Muslim friends. I hope others involved in Interfaith Dialogue have found the experience equally rewarding.