What does leadership look like in a Catholic, Jewish, Anglican or Buddhist community? What are the differences and similarities? Those questions were answered at the Maitland-Newcastle Diocesan Ecumenical and Interfaith Council’s first interfaith dialogue event. Source: MNnews.Today.
Almost 50 people gathered last week to hear from Jonathan Mantel (Jewish), Fr Greg Barker (Catholic), Bishop Peter Stuart (Anglican) and Gregg Heathcote (Buddhist) as they spoke about their different approaches to leadership and how it impacts their faith community.
A common thread among the presenters was that good leadership is not possible without consulting the people it impacts.
Project Coordinator Pastoral Ministries Alyson Segrott said the interfaith dialogue gave her a chance to connect with people from different backgrounds.
“It is important that we learn from each other and continue to develop friendships with other faiths,” she said.
She said the event shows how important learning about leadership across diverse faith communities is.
“It is the faith communities that drive the leadership. When change happens, it is important not to leave behind any of our community members, which is why it takes time to bring about change,” Ms Segrott said.
“In our learning, the presentations challenged us to know more about our own faith leadership. They asked us to question whether this is the best model. Could we do better with change, and what would we need to consider when making leadership changes moving forward?”
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Interfaith Dialogue explores leadership and community (By Elizabeth Symington, MNnews.Today)
