Home Encounters Network

Home Encounters Network

Interfaith encounters

The primary objective and challenge of interfaith dialogue initiatives is to help induce positive long-lasting change in people's understanding of the 'other.' There is a need to formulate innovative community-based educational approaches to ensure that participants in Muslim-Christian interfaith encounters leave thinking differently, feeling differently and acting differently.

The beginning of the project

In order to trial a different approach, Affinity Intercultural Foundation and St. Charles Catholic Church in Ryde, Sydney, developed the idea of having home discussion groups and then invited Strathfield Homebush Uniting Church to also take part.

The project was comprised of six separate groups having monthly meetings for six consecutive months. Each group was made up of four Muslims and four Christians. A facilitator directed each meeting, which covered a preset topic from both Christian and Muslim perspectives in each meeting.

After each faith's perspective was presented, a respondent from the other faith tradition summarised the presentation in their own words and as they understood it. This was followed by an informal discussion and questions and answer session.

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A better understanding

The idea of having house gatherings to facilitate learning at an individual level has worked and resulted in lasting change within the participants. The 'sustained dialogue' experience was a unique community-education initiative as it was a large operation and has the propensity of expanding to include hundreds of people and over time, thousands.

Also, such a project does not necessarily have to be for Muslims and Christians only. Suitable topics can be chosen to accommodate people of all different faiths, so that they can come together in a similar manner.

The project not only proved that a personal dialogue experience enables a participant to learn about his or her own faith, but also learn about the other faith tradition while having an opportunity to get to know members of the other faith tradition at personal and human level.

The experience has generated profound understanding of the other within their frame of reference. Surprisingly, it has also led participants to better understand their own faith tradition.

The key to success was the establishment of an atmosphere of trust in an informal setting of a home, training each participant to develop better listening skills together with a basic willingness to understand. The right atmosphere, the right set of skills and the right attitude produced a unique community-based educational approach in Muslim-Christian relations.