Religious and community leaders and representatives from family organisations gathered in Baulkham Hills, NSW to discuss the importance of marriage, parenting and families. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints hosted the National Families Week event with a theme of ‘Stronger families, Stronger communities’.
- Mr. Nith Chittasy and Mrs. Ramphay Chittasy and Mr. Sameer Khan
- Mrs. Josie Mackie, Mr. Min Zaw and Ms. Aye Thi Win
- Mr.-Kon-Tzanis,-Mr-Joseph-Waugh-and-Ms.-Liz-Bowen.jpg
- National Family Week
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Among those who attended were representatives from Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, Universal Peace Federation, Uniting Church in Australia Assembly, Ahmadiyya-Anjuman Isha'at-I-Islam, Marriage Alliance, Australian Family Association, Soka Gakkai International Australia, Buddhist Society of NSW, Iraqi Renaissance, Burmese Buddhist community, Settlement Services International, Community Care Refugee Programme, Transcultural Mental Health, Anglicare, and Scouts with Special Needs.
The night commenced with an Islamic prayer offered by Mr. Ameen SahuKhan. The audience were treated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Chamber Choir and Orchestra’s performance of Mozart’s Ave Verum Corpus, and a Bach organ piece played by Jed Atienza. This was followed the presentation of Mr. Gregory Stone, President of Universal Peace Federation Australia, who spoke on ‘Marriage as between a man and a woman. The home as a school of love and foundation of a strong community.’
Mr Guy Zangari, Member for Fairfield and NSW Shadow Minister for Justice and Police, Shadow Minister for Corrections and Shadow Minister for Emergency Services addressed the audience on the influence of the mother and father on the upbringing of their children. He reinforced that “the home is where the majority of a child's learning should take place” and that traditional marriage plays a part in strong communities. Mr Zangari acknowledged the contribution of refugees towards the wellbeing of our society and encouraged the audience to remember our refugee neighbours in our community work.
Elder Johnny Leota from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recognised the different cultures, religions and communities that attended, supporting, building and strengthening families. Elder Leota touched upon the deeper message that we have more in common with each other than we have differences.
The evening ended with a dinner where the guests mingled and engaged in dialogue and plans for future interfaith and intercultural projects.