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World faiths join environment festival at USC
A Christian minister, a Buddhist artist, a rabbi and an Islamic academic will hold a forum on spirituality and the environment at the Sunshine Coast World Environment Day Festival on Sunday 6 June.
The panel representing major world faiths will be mediated by cultural expert Sophie Langlois from 12.30pm during a full day of fun and educational activities at the Sippy Downs campus of the University of the Sunshine Coast.
Retired Reverend Dr Clive Ayre, who helped organise a cross-shaped solar panel on the roof of the Uniting Church building at Caloundra, will urge Christians to take action to develop a sustainable environment, from clean-up programs to energy audits.
“But this day is more than an opportunity for pragmatic activism,” Dr Ayre will tell the 7,000 people expected at the festival.
“The United Nations theme of ‘Many species, one planet, one future’ is an invitation to take a deeper look at our theology and how we are called to follow God’s call to care about all life.”
Dr Ayre, who is an Adjunct Senior Lecturer at USC, said biblical themes also reflected unity in biodiversity.
“One clear lesson we have had to learn from ecology is that species cannot be treated in isolation. We are discovering that ecosystems are inter-related, complex and important for overall health.”
He said the natural environment had been taken for granted in the past but the eco-crisis had alerted the church to its mandate to care for all God’s creation.
“I’ve been appointed Green Church Advocate for the Queensland Synod of the Uniting Church and helped prepare a national resource kit for World Environment Day,” Dr Ayre said.
“We can break down serious barriers erected between religious groups across the world through our mutual care of the planet.”
The Interfaith Forum, from 12.30pm to 2pm at USC Lecture Theatre 7, will feature Buderim’s Rabbi John D Cooper, who co-founded U3A (The University of the Third Age) Sunshine Coast which operates closely with USC.
Rabbi Cooper is a foundation member of the Sunshine Coast Jewish Community.
Fellow speaker Lin Martin is an environmental consultant and artist who has studied Buddhism for many years and Griffith University’s Associate Professor Mohamad Abdalla is the founding director of the Griffith Islamic Research Unit.
Dr Ayre said he hoped the forum would reflect an ecumenical outlook where different faiths shared similar views on environmental care.
It will be interactive with the audience and aim to find ways that spirituality can help achieve necessary environmental change.
The Sunshine Coast World Environment Day Festival, from 9am to 4pm on 6 June, is presented by Sunshine Coast Environment Day Council, SEQ Catchments, Sunshine Coast Regional Council and USC.
The festival’s 30th anniversary will feature free family fun, from talks on environmental action and native vegetation to an eco-village, permaculture and worm farms.
– Julie Gatehouse