Faith provides spiritual and practical support to billions of people, especially in times of crisis. We are seeing this in action yet again as churches, mosques, temples, other places of worship and faith-based organizations around the world offer support, food, housing, donations and medical services during the pandemic. Such solidarity is sorely needed as millions suffer the physical, economic and emotional toll of COVID-19.
eVesak – Vesak Celebrations Online
The Federation of Australian Buddhist Councils invites you to: eVesak ~ Coming Together in Kindness for the Buddha’s Birthday on Sunday 10 May 2020 from 4pm to 7pm Online ~ livestream https://www.facebook.com/buddhistcouncil/live/
My faith is my inner sanctum – not your body politic
Working with religion and religious actors of various hues and shapes is meant to be a humbling experience. At best, an opportunity to learn how those entities and bodies which have long predated secular establishments, served countless people, and continue to do so. At worst, it is meant to be a means of questioning assumptions about all worldviews, and the actions taken based on them.
Faith-based organizations can help the transition to a more sustainable post-COVID-19 world
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has noted that the coronavirus pandemic is more than a health crisis. It is a human crisis which is attacking societies at their core.
To tackle it, policymakers will need the support of scientists, experts, and society at large, including religious leaders, scholars, and communities.
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is partnering with others, within and outside the United Nations, to get people, including adherents of the world’s religions, to revisit our relationship with nature and rebuild a more environmentally responsible world.
New Zealand and Covid-19: Why religion will look different
Religion is in transformation – as it should be. The task of religion is to lead the devotee, the worshipful participant to Kingdom Come – in whatever name and form the religious participant aspires for. After Coronavirus, with the shut-down of places of worship, organised assembly in religion will face many changes. This article explores this experience from the purview of worship in New Zealand.
Quaker Testimony of Community in the Time of a Pandemic
Quakers, also called Friends, are a historically Christian denomination whose formal name is the Religious Society of Friends. The following text and poem was sent to Victorian Quakers at the Beginning of the ‘Stay at Home’ in March 2020.
Religious groups are embracing technology during the lockdown, but can it replace human connection?
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced religious congregations to stay at home after the doors have been closed to their churches, synagogues, mosques, temples and gurdwaras across Australia.
But religious life has not stopped. Congregations are discovering new ways to meet virtually on plenty of online video platforms.
Google searches for the word “prayer” have skyrocketed in recent months, apparently in response to the coronavirus outbreak.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison, for one, said his “prayer knees were getting a good workout” as he prayed for the nation and for religious communities facing the closure of sacred meeting spaces due to the pandemic.
Ramadan Focuses Debates on How Religious Practices are Affected by the COVID-19 Crisis
Debates began even before the start of Ramadan, and they continue, about how standard practices and especially prayer are affected during the holy month. Al-Jazeera has reported that scholars have generally agreed that Friday prayers should be conducted from home; this has happened as mosques have closed around the world in the past two months.
Keeping Community Alive During COVID-19: Baha’i Initiatives
From Italy to India, Australia to the United States, and in communities across the global, restrictions on gathering because of physical distancing restrictions present challenges that different communities are meeting in ways that are both traditional and new. The Baha’i community offers some examples.
COVID-19 Translated Fact Sheets – Religious Services
The Department of Home Affairs has issued advice for religious services during coronavirus. These advices are in 26 languages. Together we can help stop the spread and stay healthy.
Ramadan lectures in Australia will move online due to coronavirus, but prayers won’t.
As mosques are closed due to coronavirus restrictions, Australia’s Muslim leaders are set to host online seminars and lectures during Ramadan. However, prayers will not be observed online. Two of Australia’s most senior Islamic leaders tell us why.
During Ramadan in isolation, Muslims get creative to preserve community
(Religion News Service) — The holy month of Ramadan, observed by fasting from dawn to dusk, has many themes: sacrifice, discipline, devotion, empathy, gratitude, generosity.
But for many Muslim communities, what defines Ramadan, which begins this week, are the moments of community: sharing platters of dates to break their fasts, the call to prayer reverberating through the halls of packed mosques, filling empty stomachs with mouthwatering nightly meals known as iftars — plates piled high with the black Muslim staple bean pie, South Asian samosas and maqluba in Arab traditions — the charitable zakat collections and the never-ending mosque fund-raising pitches.
It is the coming together, many Muslims say, that builds a heightened sense of spirituality, individually and communally.