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On Sunday 30th of June, the Maribyrnong Brimbank Interfaith Network led a walking Places of Worship tour around the sunny streets of Yarraville and Kingsville.

Group Photo at Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Centre

Personally, I was looking forward to this tour, as these are the streets I walk every day. I will somewhat reluctantly admit that I hadn’t yet made the opportunity to visit my local Places of Worship, so, I was grateful that the glorious blue sky shone warmly as I finally made the trek. Our first visit was to the St Augustine Catholic Church, where Father O’Conner spoke about the rich history of the Catholic Church, its traditions, and the beautiful features of the 1920s building.

As we left St Augustine, and walked the entire distance to next door, we stumbled into the sanctuary of the Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Centre. Rev. Miao Kong welcomed us, as we took our shoes off and were led into a large hall, where the five symbolic statues of Buddha stood, strikingly, at the front of the room. Once we had taken our seats, and were waiting for Rev. Miao Kong to start the talk, we were quite delighted when a high-schooler, began the talk himself. The young man told us of all the wonderful events that the Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Centre is involved with. Social justice is part of the everyday lives of those who visit and worship at the temple, and can be seen in every aspect of their lives. Rev. Kong later explained the reverence that is held for Buddha, informing the group that Buddha is not God, but that Buddha is what we can all be, through kindness and mindfulness. After the talk, we were all given sweets, that when opened, contained a small message. This gave the participants a way of connecting the Eastern mindfulness to their own selves – everybody loved the kind and thought provoking words found inside their sweets.

Walking to the last Place of Worship, gave us all time to talk to each other, and reflect on what we had learnt so far. When we arrived at St. Mary's Antiochian Orthodox Church, our guide, Father George Mattar, was ready to take us into his church and enlighten his audience on the various orthodoxies. This is a place where tradition is taken seriously. As we sat, surrounded by the evocative imagery, beautifully set around the room, seen inside any orthodox church, the afternoon sunlight filtered in through the high windows. A few short years ago, this was an Anglican church, but, in that room, at that time, centuries of culture and religion were etched into the spaces. The tradition, and the community are strong in St Mary’s, just as they are in Fo Guang Shan and St Augustine.

To conclude our tour, we were given afternoon tea, graciously provided to us by our hosts at St Mary’s. I was again reminded of the generous hospitality that is opened for us as we walk into such special places, with expectations short of nothing more than a want to understand, we are always given more than just information, we get to see the best in people, we get to see the Buddha inside us all.

St Augustine Catholic Church (left) & St. Mary's Antiochian Orthodox Church (right)

by April Robinson
Uniting Church Synod - Victoria & Tasmania