The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recently hosted a reception on 21 of May in accordance with celebration of National Families Week, taking place at Buckland house on the grounds of the Sydney Australia Latter-day Saints Temple in Carlingford, NSW.
Guests from many religions were invited to attend and hear from an expert and interfaith panel about the family unit and its vital importance in today's society. These guests included the Uniting Church, Buddhist, Muslim, Christian, Catholic, and Baha'i faiths, as well as several organisations centred around working with families in Australia.
Pictured (L-R) Dr. Emily Kwok, Miss Shauna Humphries, Mrs, Isabelle Sharpiro OAM, Elder Johnny Leota,The Hon. David Clarke MLC, Mr. Dean Sahu-Khan, Dr. Keith Thompson, Mr. David Meredith.
The interfaith panel, chaired by Miss Shauna Humphries of the Baha'i faith, included the following distinguished presenters: Mrs. Isabelle Shapiro OAM, Vice President of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies; Professor Michael Quinlan, Dean of the School of Law Sydney, The University of Notre Dame Australia; Mr. Dean Sahu-Khan, Chairman of the ACT Interfaith Forum; Clinical and Forensic Psychologist Dr. Emily Kwok with Parenting Expert; Author Dr. Justin Coulson; and Elder Johnny Leota, Pacific Area Seventy for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
A Children's choir from the Wattle Grove Ward (congregation) performed for the audience
Also in attendance was Elder Johnny Leota, Area Seventy of the Pacific Area of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and The Hon. David Clarke MLC, Member of the NSW Legislative Council and the Parliamentary Secretary for Justice.
Concluding remarks were given by Elder Leota who quoted a section of The Family: A Proclamation to the World from The Church of Jesus Christ: "The family is ordained of God. Marriage between man and woman is essential to His Eternal plan [...] Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities [...] fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners.”