Newsletter 12 Apr 2022

Kia ora koutou, warm greetings to you all. 
We hope that you are keeping well and are able to have a little break around the public holidays this month.
Looking at our RDC Calendar, however, it seems like the month of April is a very busy month for many religions. May it all go well for you and your congregations.
Here are some news from the RDC:

The Religious Leaders’ Forum & Social Cohesion
A meeting of the Religious Leaders Forum hosted by the Religious Diversity Centre took place by Zoom on 24 March 2022.
The main point of discussion was the Government’s programme to strengthen social cohesion in Aotearoa New Zealand’s society, a concern that was discussed in the very first meeting of the Forum in 2017. To read more, see: https://rdc.org.nz/category/the-religious-leaders-forum/

RDC Climate Change Programme
The RDC website has begun to share stories of actions taken by faith and interfaith groups in the face of the effects of Climate Change.
To read more, see: https://rdc.org.nz/category/climate-change-advisory-group/

The Youth Leadership Council (YLC)
On Thursday 17 March 2022 the Youth Leadership Council Ngā Rangatahi o Māramatanga held its first in-person induction hui. After the official YLC launch at Parliament Buildings in Wellington was postponed, St. Mark’s Anglican Church in Auckland kindly offered their community facilities at short notice for the day. 6 out of the 10 members were able to make it in person from Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. This was the first chance that most council members were able to see each other kanohi ki te kanohi (face to face), as their previous meetings were held virtually. The day consisted of hands on workshops with plenty of interaction, discussion and learning. Members were able to set the course for how they can contribute a youth perspective to advancing religious diversity.

Calendar – Videos
Please check out the videoclips in which the picture of every month is explained: https://rdc.org.nz/category/resources/calendar/
They are also on our YouTube channel.

Facebook – Resources
We continue to upload some information onto Facebook – e.g. an interview on Ramadan, on the KAICIID Fellowship programme etc.
The videos are also available on the RDC YouTube channel. Click on the picture below to get to the YouTube channel.

Many greetings to all of you – special wishes to the Muslim communities for their Ramadan, the Christians for Easter, the Jewish communities for Pessah, the Sikh communities for their celebration of the Birth of Guru Nanak, the Buddhist communities who are celebrating their New Year around this time and the Hindus who are celebrating Puthandu and Vishu.

Kia kaha – stay safe,
The Team at the Religious Diversity Centre

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