On the 31st of May 2010, Affinity Intercultural Foundation hosted Rev Niall Reid, the Moderator from the Uniting Church Synod of NSW and ACT, at the Affinity Centre for a discussion on the topic ‘Christian-Muslim Relations: Sustainable or Sensational?’The evening lecture was opened by MC Mr Osman Karolia, Public Relations coordinator for Affinity and also Principal of Arkana College.
The audience included members from Affinity Intercultural Foundation, as well as leaders from other Muslim organisations such as Feza Foundation, Islamic Council of NSW, Principal of Arkana College: Osman Karolia, Deputy Mayor of Auburn Izzet Anmak, Islamic Sciences and Research Academy members, Fr Herman Roborgh who is a Jesuit from the Parramatta Catholic Diocese and Sr Trish Madigan, who is the Intercultural & Ecumenical Coordinator at the Diocese of Broken Bay.
During the dialogue, Rev Niall Reid, spoke about his experiences with building relations between Christians and Muslims. Through his relationship with Affinity, he had the privilege of attending a Study Tour of Turkey 3 years ago. For Rev Niall Reid, he found this trip to be a “great opportunity to learn a lot more about the culture and the Muslim people in Turkey”.
In relation to the topic, Rev Nail Reid, mentioned that there was a relationship between Christians and Muslims, with some common values shared and that we both strongly believe that faith is important. When addressed if Christian-Muslim Relations was Sustainable or Sensational, he mentioned the importance of the relation by stating, “as friends we have much in common to talk about, we have much we can learn from each other. It is we who build relationships with one another and seek to respect one another so that we have greater opportunity to build a better world.”
Rev Niall Reid highlighted the importance of the use of dialogue in Christian-Muslim Relations as, “Dialogue is a good thing because in it is an opportunity to share our faith” this is so that “we need to try and understand one another and why it is we think the way we do”.
Rev Niall Reid’s perspective on the nights topic went on to say, “I believe Muslim-Christian relations are sustainable – if our world is to be a safe place for all they must be and if we can achieve it. He went on to say that I hope and pray that it will be sensational. We, as Christians and Muslims, together make over half of the World’s population, and we will make the world a safe place for our children and generations to come.”
The audience had an opportunity to ask Rev Niall Reid questions. One response to a question about his experience from the Study Tour of Turkey and particularly the Gulen movement was, “the Tour of Turkey was encouraging particularly the Gulen Movement. Its desire to build bridges and educate was inspirational. Education helps us to understand better, and as we learn we build these bridges. I found the Gulen movement to have a desire to care for the community through education.”
At the end of the evening, Affinity President, Mr Mehmet Saral, acknowledged the distinguished guests and then gave a Vote thanks to Rev Niall Reid. Afterwards he presented him with a gift as a token of appreciation. Further discussions were held over tea and coffee.
