rota stone | Wellington Abrahamic Council

Sarah and Hajjar / Hagar – Our Abrahamic Matriarchs (with audio)

16 October 20241 December 2024 Dave Moskovitz

What	Sarah and Hajjar / Hagar – Our Abrahamic Matriarchs
When	Wednesday 20 November, 7:00 pm
Where	St Joseph’s Church 152 Brougham Street Wellington
Moderator	Rev Jenny Chalmers Jenny was the founding Christian Co-Chair of the Wellington Abrahamic Council, an Anglican priest, and until recently the Vicar General of the Waiapu Diocese. Jenny’s intro: download, or listen here:
Speakers
	Claire Massey (Jewish) Claire is former Chair of the Wellington Jewish Community Centre and current Chair of its advisory board, a professor emerita of Business, and currently teaches yoga. Claire’s speech: download, or listen here:
	Rota Stone (Christian) Rota is an ordained priest in the Anglican Church, and an ordained pastor in the Latvian Lutheran Church. She recently received a PhD on early Jewish-Christian relations. Rota’s speech: download, or listen here:
	Rehanna Ali (Muslim) Rehanna is a founding member of the Islamic Women’s Council of NZ. She has a background in Law, including Islamic Shariah, and has spent the last two decades working in the field of international development. Rehanna’s speech: download, or listen here:

Abraham is the esteemed patriarch of Jews and Muslims, and the spiritual father of Christians. Our matriarchs, Sarah and Hajjar / Hagar play a pivotal role in the unfolding stories of all three Abrahamic religions.

This evening we will focus on the vital roles of these women, Abraham’s wives, the mothers of his children, and the female co-founders of our three Abrahamic religions.

Our three speakers – each one learned and distinguished members of their religious communities – will introduce the stories from their traditions and explore their past and contemporary meanings.

Free or Koha tickets for this event are essential, and are available at:
https://events.humanitix.com/sarah-and-hajjar

If you’d like to help spread the word about this event, please download our poster, and distribute it at your church, masjid, or synagogue.

Note that all attendees to our events are expected to uphold and respect our Abrahamic Council Values.

Reception to welcome the newly ordained Patriarch of the Assyrian Ancient Church of the East

5 March 20245 March 2024 Dave Moskovitz

Members of the Wellington Abrahamic Council were invited to attend a reception to welcome the newly ordained Patriarch of the Assyrian Ancient Church of the East, His Holiness, Mar Gewargis III Younan, as part of his tour of the South Pacific (Australia and New Zealand).

The reception was held on Friday 1st March 2024, beginning at 7pm at the Samoan Presbyterian Church located at 55 Daniell St in Newtown, Wellington.

The invitation came from Phil Pithyou, whose dad, Father Aprem Pithyou (now living in Australia), had been a member of the Abrahamic Council some years ago and held our Council in high regard for the inter-faith dialogues and meetings, which we either organised or attended.

Ann Desmond and Rev Rota Stone attended as representatives of the Abrahamic Council. We were made very welcome and given ‘front row’ seats where we had unobliterated views of all the proceedings.

Approximately 300 men, women, and children plus special guests, packed the hall attached to the Samoan Presbyterian Church in Newtown.

It was a very interesting evening with Phil Pithyou acting as MC. Many of those present were members of the Assyrian Ancient church of the East in Miramar. Supporting guests included Community based organisations, representatives from the Police, local government, other churches, the Jewish community, and the Wellington Abrahamic Council. Phil opened the evening by welcoming everyone, naming all the special guests.

The event proceeded with a number of speeches – all of which were spoken in Assyrian (a derivative of Aramaic). Fortunately, these were followed by an English summary for the benefit of those who did not speak or understand Assyrian.

A group of children and women entertained us by signing / chanting an Assyrian song. The children were delightful and coped very well considering this was the first time that they had performed their song in public.

The Patriarch was the last to speak, prior to the cake cutting ceremony. All the special guests were invited to cut the cake!

The evening proceeded with the main meal – a full meal of Assyrian / middle eastern foods – a veritable feast.

It was an honour to participate in the event. I have written to Phil Pithyou thanking him for the invitation and the welcome which was extended wholeheartedly to us.

Ann Desmond

Footnote: the new patriarch is described as ‘educated’ and ‘young’ (or younger than previous patriarchs). Although born in Iraq, he has lived his entire life in the USA, in Chicago. His ordination took place in Baghdad on 6 June 2023. The visiting delegation included the Vice-patriarch from Iraq, plus a number of other dignitaries.

Public Event: Diversity within our religious communities (now with audio)

12 April 202230 September 2022 Dave Moskovitz

Here is the audio from this event, which you can download, or listen to right here:

The Wellington Abrahamic Council is pleased to invite you to a unique event which explores the beautiful diversity within each of our religious communities.

When	Wednesday 15 June 7:00 pm
Where	Salvation Army Newtown Centre 4 Normanby St, Newtown
Speakers	Jewish: Mona Williams, Yuval Zalk, Yoel Samson Christian: Maya Bernardo, Ben Cola, Rota Stone Muslim: Mohamud Mohamed, Weng Ng, Jean Khan

Free event, all welcome, no RSVP necessary.

All of us are guilty of stereotyping people from other religions. But each of our religious communities is surprisingly diverse, not only in our ethnic origins, but also in our beliefs and how we practise. And within that amazing diversity, there is a common core of belief and practice – not only within our own religions, but also within our family of Abrahamic religions.

Come along to this event to listen to these diverse perspectives, followed by a panel discussion, Q&A, and plenty of time to mingle over a cup of tea.

We look forward to seeing you there, face to face.

You can help us with publicity by inviting your friends to come along to this event with you or downloading our attractive flyer, printing it out, and posting it in your place of worship.

For more information, contact Dave Moskovitz, dave@abrahamic.nz, 027 220 2202