Historic Church Visited by Muslims

Date: 18 December 2005

Members from Melbourne’s Muslim community attended a pre Christmas annual visit to the historic site of St. John's Anglican Church in Camberwell as part of an ongoing relationship established years earlier between the two faiths. The Church is one of the first ever built in Australia in the year 1863. Officials from the Australian Intercultural Society along with respected Muslim leaders and academics were greeted by the Vicar – Bishop Gerald Beaumont and Professor Gary Bouma from Monash University. More than 80 Muslims had attended this visit to further reinforce the good will and strong relationship already inherent within the two religions. Upon arrival, the Muslims were taken on a tour around the historic church followed by welcome speeches from the Bishop and Mr. Orhan Cicek of the Australian Intercultural Society. Many chants were sung by the AIS Children's Sufi Music Choir and hymns by the Christians to glorify their Lord and honour one another. The topic of ‘Authority’ within the Church was discussed by Bishop Beaumont and was followed by a response from an Islamic perspective on the same topic by Mr. Cicek. As is notorious within the Church, the Bishop discussed Church hierarchy and power within the organisation and stated that although the Anglican Church is very structured, its powers vary from parish to parish and country to country. Its members also were to strictly abide by the parish rules and were not to visit other churches or parishes. On the contrary, Islam holds the view, according to Mr. Orhan Cicek “that a Muslim may pray in any mosque irrespective of denomination and may even pray in a church when necessary”. The visit concluded with the exchange of gifts between church officials and the Australian Intercultural Society and the signing of a Community Accord between the two faiths followed by refreshments and light snacks.