Sarah Oliver Charter for Compassion, News Article, Peace

Article – Time for City of Cape Town to own its position as a City of Compassion

CTII Chairperson, Rev. Berry Behr, recently spoke at a Critical Dialogue panel discussion convened by Cornerstone Institute, on Religion, Spirituality and Social Justice – considerations towards ethical leadership. Berry spoke in her role as SA Coordinator for the Charter for Compassion, highlighting the need for compassion in our society.

Her contribution to the panel was captured in an article in the Cape Argus. You can read the full article here: https://www.iol.co.za/capeargus/opinion/time-for-city-of-cape-town-to-own-its-position-as-a-city-of-compassion-30062055

Speaking to the emergence of a new kind of spiritual leadership, Berry shared…

We are recognising leaders who refuse to separate their politics from their spiritual beliefs because to do so would compromise their integrity, authenticity and intention. These three facets of leadership are critical in our response to a call for deepening leadership skills at every level. Young leaders need to be coached in a new style of leadership that allows heart and mind to work together – dictatorial, top-down, old- style leadership is not the way of the future so why are we still teaching it?

What we say and what we do should be informed at the deepest level by intention aligned with the greater good, inclusive of diversity in all its forms. For humans that means gender, race, age, economic and educational status, politics and of course, religion. We need to celebrate our diversity and recognise it as our superpower. In our differences, we are a beautiful, creative garden, different flowers blossoming abundantly under the courageous and unprejudiced sun, sharing the same soil, drinking the same rain.

 

 

Sarah Oliver Cape Town activities, Interfaith

A celebration of Interfaith Iftar meals this Ramadan

During this holy month of Ramadan, we have witnessed the love and hospitality of the Muslim community across Cape Town, who have opened their doors and dinner tables to host non-muslim friends for Iftar, the evening meal that breaks the day’s fast. These dinners have been opportunities for connecting, sharing and learning about our different traditions, and particularly the significance of Ramadan.

As Stuart Diamond, Director of the Cape SA Jewish Board of Deputies and CTII Board Member said, speaking at the Turquoise Harmony Institute’s annual Friendship and Dialogue Iftar on the 28th May,

“When we share bread and break bread, and we start to speak as people, over something as simple as food, we break down the boundaries and the walls that keep us apart” 

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Here we have a collection of photographs from various Interfaith Iftar meals hosted during this holy month.

Berry Behr and Mary Frost join members of the Turquoise Harmony Institute for the Home Iftar
Berry Behr and Mary Frost join members of the Turquoise Harmony Institute for the Home Iftar
Interfaith Iftar at the Ahlul Bait Islamic Centre, 19th May.
Interfaith Iftar at the Ahlul Bait Islamic Centre, 19th May.
A special interfaith young women's Iftar with students from the THI Star College student house
A special young women’s Iftar with students from the THI Star College student house 
The Unitarian Church opens their doors to an Iftar meal
The Unitarian Church opens their doors to an Iftar meal
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The NGK in town, also hosted an Iftar Dinner 
A huge turn out for the Shabbat Chessed Ramadan Iftar at Temple Israel in Wynberg
A wonderful turn out for the Shabbat Chessed Ramadan Iftar at Temple Israel in Wynberg
Sarah Oliver Announcements

Receiving the WIHW Prize in Jordan

 

Group with King WIHW

The unexpected blessing of winning the 2019 HM King Abdullah II prize for our work during the UN World Interfaith Harmony Week will help us to amplify the message of Interfaith Harmony in the world and will give us a platform for meaningful partnership on so many levels with those who work equally hard for the common purpose of peace on Earth.

Our Chairperson, Berry Behr, and the founder of Faith Hope Love Communities of Elsie’s River, James Ellman, travelled to Jordan to accept the prize. James is also a founding member of Cape Town Interfaith Initiative and is a current member of our Advisory Council.

Prayers for the City was started by Cape Town Interfaith Initiative some years ago, and in 2015 was anchored on the first Sunday in February by then Chairman Rev Gordon Oliver, in order to bring it into line with World Interfaith Harmony Week.

This year, instead of holding the Prayers in the City Centre we decided at the invitation of Faith Hope Love Communities to take the Prayers to the people. We chose a site in Elsie’s River that had been recently reclaimed by the community after it had become a crime hotspot. We walked from the Mosque to the site, symbolically supporting the people of Elsie’s River in their bid to take back their streets, and to bless the land that had been reclaimed. It was a humble event, held under a cloudy Cape Town sky, and we never for a moment expected it to receive such wonderful international attention.

The trip to Jordan was extraordinary.

For both Berry and James, spending Holy Week in the Holy Land was beyond anything we could have imagined. Every person we met was a gift, every new day was an anointing. There were so many moments of pure reverence, such as standing at the Citadel on top of one of Amman’s seven hills, listening to the call to prayer reverberate around the city. We felt as if we could almost touch the collective prayers rising up from the city of Amman, to heaven. How appropriate, seeing as the event that won us the prize was entitled Love of the neighbour – Our Prayers for our city. We visited the sacred site of the Baptism of Jesus, and the cave in which John the Baptist lived… We went to Petra, the legendary city carved into the pink sandstone rock and home to a series of powerful civilisations in its 3000 year history.

And then, of course, we went to the Palace. His Majesty was a warm and gracious host, encouraging us to continue our work and to keep talking about the message of interfaith harmony and its importance in the world today.

We returned home inspired, motivated and determined to redouble our efforts. Our earnest prayer is that we will be able to use our voice and our prize to create a sustainable platform for our own continued interfaith mission, and also that we will be able to encourage the many, many other grassroots organisations in our region to keep up their amazing, heart-centred work.

An Experience of Lifetime

In Cape Town, Prayers for the City Leads to 1st Place Recognition for UN World Interfaith Harmony Week – Parliament of the World’s Religions, Blog, 22 April 2019

Elsie’s River Man wins royal peace prize – Cape Argus, 7 May 2019

Winners’ Speech at World Interfaith Harmony Prize Giving Ceremony

 

Sarah Oliver Cape Town activities

CTII AGM 2019

The CTII Annual General Meeting was held on the 15th May 2019,at the Cape Town Unitarian Church in Cape Town. To open the occasion, interfaith prayers were shared by different members of the community. This was followed by a special presentation from Berry and James about their experience in Jordan, where they represented CTII and Faith Hope Love Communities to receive the first prize for World Interfaith Harmony Week, from the King of Jordan himself. (Read more about this experience here)

Berry Behr then presented the Chairperson’s Report, followed by the Financial Report, presented by CTII Treasurer Mark Bind. Read the Chairperson’s Report here – Chairperson’s Report 2018-2019 (Final Version)

We were also blessed with a musical performance by Nic, Anne and Ruby Paton, in collaboration with Nur Felix.

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We closed the evening with a sacred water ceremony, merging together water from the River Jordan, which Berry and James had brought back from their World Interfaith Harmony Week Prize ceremony, with water from Zeekoevlei, one of Cape Town’s nature reserves. Members of the CTII community were invited up to connect these two bodies of water both physically and spiritually, marking the significant connection of building peace across the world.

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We are very pleased to announce our new Executive Board members for the year. Berry Behr, Sarah Oliver and Kirtanya Lutchminarayan, who have all already served one year on the Board, will be joined by Uzair Ben Ebrahim and Stuart Diamond. Photographed below, from left to right, is Sarah, Berry, Kirtanya and Uzair.

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Thank you to all who attended, and contributed in celebrating a successful year with CTII.