Baha’i House of Worship Welcoming Week event

The Australian Baha’i Community would like to invite you to a special Welcoming Week event will featuring a multi-faith service focused on the theme of migration and belonging.

As the movement of populations worldwide grows, countries are being challenged to rise to higher levels of social cohesion, inclusion and belonging, while also learning to harmonize greater levels of diversity. In Australia this growing diversity has helped to enrich our society and opened the opportunity to further explore fundamental questions about who we are as a country, what it means to be Australian and how we can foster increasing levels of harmony amongst diverse groups of peoples and cultures that compose our society.

This multi-faith service hopes to highlight some of the principles and values enshrined in the world great religious traditions which can help guide Australia as it learns to strengthen its relationship with those newly arrived, enhancing a sense of belonging and fostering welcoming, inclusive communities where all can flourish.   

The service starts at 11 am in the Baha’i House of Worship and runs for 40 minutes. It includes readings from the Baha’i writings and the scriptures of other major religions, read without commentary by members of the community – men and women, adults and children. The readings are accompanied by a cappella music. Light refreshments will be provided in the Picnic Area after the service.

After the service there will be a short presentation at 12 pm in the Information Centre by Koorosh Rouhani, a refugee from Iran who will speak to his experience. This will be followed by an open discussion on the topics of inclusion and belonging.

More about Baha’i House of Worship:

A public devotional service is held every Sunday at 11am. The service runs for 40 minutes and includes readings from the Baha’i writings and the scriptures of other major religions. These are read without commentary and interspaced by a cappella music. Each service is focused on a specific theme, such as education, community life, children, youth, family, unity and diversity, to name a few.

Special services are also held to commemorate Baha’i Holy Days and other important events such as International Women’s Day, International Day of Peace and Human Rights Day. These services are usually followed by a short talk and discussion in the Information Centre.

There is no sermon or collection at the Baha’i House of Worship.

Find out more about the Baha’i Faith in Australia and the Baha’i House of Worship at https://bahai.org.au/

Find out more about the Australian Baha’i Community’s engagement with social cohesion in Australia at https://www.oea.bahai.org.au/ and https://www.oea.bahai.org.au/inclusive-narrative-project