A DECEMBER CELEBRATION...AND SOME MEMORIES

FROM THE CARLTON HOUSING ESTATE.

On a December Friday evening in Carlton, during the Parliament of World Religions in Melbourne, an unusual event was staged on the lawns beside the local Uniting Church, which is on the same block as three very large high rise Department of Housing towers.
John Evans, the UCA minister and Omar Farah, a local Somalian Moslem leader, organized a gathering to demonstrate the diversity of religious backgrounds of people who live and work on the Estate.
Following a barbecue, a group of present and former locals shared something of their faith and their experiences of living in a multi-faith setting. Speakers represented Islam, Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism and of particular significance for me was the presence of Malcolm Cormack, an artist from the hills, who was our minister when we first arrived in Carlton as a young couple in 1965. At that time, Malcolm, his wife and three sons lived on the 15th floor of one of the towers and Malcolm made a strong contribution to community building on the Estate.
I remembered how in the 1960’s, a group of Albanian Moslems had bought property in North Carlton and how some of the locals were upset and opposed to the plans to build a mosque there, in Drummond Street. Malcolm spoke of the attempts that had been made in those early days to establish a spirit of mutual support among residents and I remembered how strongly he had argued for the right of our Moslem newcomers to build their place of worship
When I sat on the grass on the Estate on that Friday evening in December, among a mixed group of young and old, rich and poor, people of our faith, people of other faiths and people of no faith, I was deeply moved to sense that at least, in a small way, we as a community in Carlton have made some progress in our openness to the stranger and the newcomer in our midst.
Earlier last year, members of the Carlton community were invited to attend the Mosque to help to celebrate the 40th anniversary of its opening. On that occasion I had an opportunity to speak with the chief Imam in Australia, Sheik Fehmi, and to inform him of the role that our minister, Malcolm Cormack, had played at that time of local opposition. His appreciation was evident. Sheik Fehmi is a friend of our former Moderator Rev Jason Kioa, who has worked hard to build good relations with our Moslem brothers and sisters in Melbourne.

The photo shows Malcolm Cormack speaking to the gathered group of Carlton residents on the evening we celebrated the diversity of faiths and ciltures on the local Housing Estate

Church of All Nations, A Uniting Church congregation, has provided a welcome to people of many cultures and faiths, and a number of these people have been linked with our CAN community through its welfare and community building activities. An article I wrote last year [entered on this site in March,2009] spoke of the employment programme and of the strong connections between an Eritrean Christian woman and and an Eritrean Moslem woman who are neighbours on the Estate.