The Abraham Conference plays an important role in bringing Jews, Christians and Muslims together to discuss contemporary issues of concern for the members of the three religions and for the wider society.
The theme of this year’s Abraham Conference is “Interfaith on the Frontlines“. In the style of TEDx Talks, Jewish, Christian and Muslim frontline workers will share their stories of hardship and hope in uncertain times.
The 2020 Abraham Conference will be held online (using Zoom) on Sunday 15th Nov 2020, 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm AEDT. Details and links will be available in the confirmation email.
- The Jewish speaker, Ranata Ieremias, manages family support, mental health and youth services at Jewish Care.
- The Christian speaker, Dr Dan Fleming, is Group Manager – Ethics and Formation for St Vincent’s Health Australia.
- The Muslim speaker, Haroon Kasim, is a medical hospitalist who provides effective and coordinated care across specialist disciplines for patients with chronic and complex disease.
- The MC for 2020 is Rachael Kohn, renowned author, broadcaster, producer, and former presenter of ABC Radio National’s program Religion & Spirituality.
The Conference partners – Affinity Intercultural Foundation; the Columban Centre for Christian-Muslim Relations; the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies; the Uniting Church in Australia, Synod of NSW & ACT; AMUST; the Diocese of Parramatta; the NSW Ecumenical Council; the Australian Egyptian Forum Council; and the Indian Crescent Society of Australia – invite you to join in a stimulating and thought-provoking afternoon of interfaith dialogue and friendship.
This year’s Abraham Conference will be livestreamed FREE via Zoom, thanks to the production team at Plus61JMedia from 2.00-3.30pm on Sunday 15 November.
Abraham conference to hear from COVID-19 frontline
Facilitated by broadcaster Rachel Kohn, the conference will hear from Christian, Jewish, and Muslim speakers who all work in frontline medical care.
These include Renata Ieramias from Jewish Care, Dan Fleming representing St Vincent’s Health, and Medical Hospitalist Haroon Kasim.
Uniting Church minister Rev. Manas Ghosh is one of the event’s organisers. He said that the conference provided, “[A] great interfaith platform and have created interfaith friendship for nearly two decades.”
“The conference seeks to model interfaith relations with the integrity of their respective faiths, listening to one another attentively and address differences honestly, resolve them where possible,” Rev. Ghosh said.
“It promotes genuine inclusivity.”
The conference came about in 2002 in recognition of the common heritage of the Jewish, Christian and Islam.
“Sharing a common ancestry creates a unique familial bond among the three religions and setting them apart from other religions, such that they are referred to collectively as “the Abrahamic religions”,” Rev. Ghosh said.
Since 2002 the Abraham Conference has been held every year. The conference is a joint interfaith initiative of Affinity Intercultural Foundation, UCA NSW.ACT Synod, Columban Centre for Christian-Muslim relations, the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, Australian Egyptian Forum Council, and The Catholic Diocese of Parramatta.
The 2020 Abraham Conference takes place on Sunday, 15 November from 2 to 3:30 pm. The conference will be streamed on Zoom.
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