(Note from Rowland: although this is a universally-read website - most of its visitors are Americans - sometimes something local comes up which ought to be replicated elsewhere. This is one such item.)

JCMA Backgrounder:

June 2008

Melbourne is evidently one of the leading cities in the Southern Hemisphere for interfaith work. Winning the bid to host the Parliament of World Religions here in late 2009 is a sign of this. A significant example of interfaith work is the rapidly growing Jewish Christian Muslim Association of Australia, which was one of the groups involved in the bid from the outset.

The Board of JCMA is formally comprised of representatives of three peak bodies, the Jewish Community Council of Victoria, the Victoria Council of Churches and the Islamic Council of Victoria. It is endorsed by more than a dozen organizations across the Jewish, Christian and Muslim communities.

JCMA (an incorporated organization) was inaugurated in Victoria in 2003. Its initial event was a four day residential conference, based on one run in Europe for over 30 years. A feature of the conference is that no outside speakers are programmed. All presentations are made by the conferees, carefully balancing the input of the three faiths and significant dialogue together.

The conference has become an annual event and this year, the sixth conference was held. Early in 2007, a conference specifically for women, was inaugurated and was also highly successful, as was the 2008 follow up.

A most strategic development has been the JCMA Schools Project. In 2006, we created our Secondary School Pilot Program, funded by a ‘Living In Harmony’ federal government grant. Teams comprising a Jew, a Christian and a Muslim made presentations to Year Ten students in 15 State and Private schools in metropolitan and regional Victoria.

The enthusiastic response of both teachers and students was very encouraging. Questionnaires completed by students before and after, showed over 80% approval and learning on five different measures. The presentation is most effective in educating students about each faith, and opening them to the idea of accepting difference as well as noting common, shared values. The demand from schools and their willingness to meet substantial costs has enabled the Schools Project to continue in 2007 and 2008, even though funding was limited for some time to a VMC grant.

JCMA has developed excellent and innovative resources, including a website. To launch our workshops, a DVD presentation specifically developed for the youth culture is used. A very readable information booklet is available, published by VMC. We recently published ‘Our Story, Our Vision’ to enable us to effectively seek the support of peak bodies and corporate entities.

IN 2007, the Victoria JCMA Schools committee began presentations to Primary Schools, under the title ‘Together for Humanity’. This has been developed from a project run in NSW, and we present it on their behalf, with indirect funding from the Federal government: ‘Living in Harmony’. This program has also been highly praised and successful in Victoria.

With a growing demand for presentations, and a commitment to the future and the importance of this work, in 2007 JCMA advertised widely in the three faith communities and publicly for trainees. We now have a pool of Presenters trained and available for the primary and the secondary programs.

In 2007 we also inaugurated the JCMA Internship, that offers a year’s placement for a person (eg a student) interested in working in the field of ‘Interfaith Understanding’, and assisting with the operation and development of JCMA activities.

Under present parameters, Secondary school programs are charged at $500 per session, although subsidies are also offered. Primary school programs are not currently charged for. In both cases there are sometimes substantial additional costs for travel and accommodation, which are borne by the program. We expect to complete 75 school visits in 2008 and 100 in 2009/2010.

School presentations may be arranged through the JCMA coordinator:

JCMA interactive website: http://www.jcma.org.au