News Letter-Issue 1 No.1
MultiFaith Saskatchewan AGM-2016
Multi-faith Saskatchewan Inc is having a public meeting in Yorkton on Saturday, 10th of September at 2:00 PM. Yorkton meeting will be held at St. Andrew’s United Church with Zarqa Nawaz as a guest speaker.
Entries for Saskatchewan Visual Art Project-2017 are now Open. For more details on participation in one of the Unique Youth focused project, please refer to the attached Brochure .
A documentary on London Interfaith Peace Camp, a unique summer camp attended by Jewish, Muslim and Christian kids
Dear Muslim Sisters and Brothers,
During this time of observing the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, I am honored to extend greetings to the Saskatchewan Muslim community on behalf of Multi-Faith Saskatchewan.
Our community is enriched by the presence of many world religions, faiths and beliefs. But more than their presence, faith groups such as the Muslim community contribute significantly to building a strong society.
Holy Days such as Ramadan are vital to the spiritual growth of Muslims as a time to engage in prayer and spiritual reflection, self-discipline and sacrifice.
It is our hope that this holy month allows you to enjoy time with family and community, and to extend hospitality, to reach out to others in need and to devote time to worship and prayer to the Creator.
Blessings and peace,
Moses Kanhai
President
Multi-Faith Saskatchewan
A meeting of the MFS Board scheduled for May 22 in Davidson, had to be postponed due to insufficient attendance. The meeting was rescheduled for May 31 by Skype. The following are some highlights of the meeting:
Honorable Brad Wall
Premier, Government of Saskatchewan
Room 226
2405 Legislative Drive,
Regina, SK, Canada,
S4S 0B3
Dear Premier,
Multi-Faith Saskatchewan commends the Government of Saskatchewan for opening its legislative sessions with a spiritual invocation. As the umbrella organization for world religions in Saskatchewan, we believe it is both appropriate and important for meetings of governing bodies such as the Saskatchewan Legislature to open meetings with some form of spiritual reflection.
We believe also that this moment of reflection should be respectful of and a reflection of all faiths as well as those who do not identify with any particular faith or perhaps with no faith.
Whereas it is a common practice to open meetings with a Christian prayer, we respectfully encourage you to consider other more inclusive alternatives for an opening invocation.
Before offering our suggestion for a possible opening reflection at legislative meetings, we propose another important practice that is already in use in some legislative bodies and one that will reflect the principle mentioned earlier and is truly reflective of our history and culture.
We recommend that the Saskatchewan legislature, and all other governing bodies, open meetings with an acknowledgement of the traditional territory of our First Nations peoples who lived and walked on this land that we now call home. For meetings held in Treat Four land, such as Regina and area, the acknowledgement will include the First Nations of this territory.
Multi-Faith Saskatchewan, therefore, is honored to share the language of a possible opening “acknowledgement” at legislative meetings. The statement is as follows:
As we open this meeting of this legislative body, we acknowledge that we are representing the people who elected us to this body. We acknowledge also that we are accountable to a greater power known by many names and reflected by many images. May we have wisdom, courage and patience to do what is good and right for all.
May we act in the spirit of collaboration, humility and kindness and a belief in the equality of all people.
We acknowledge also that we are meeting on lands that our aboriginal peoples once called home. We are all treaty people and we meet on land of the Treaty Four people, including the Cree and the Salteaux Nations and honor their stewardship of the land over generations.
(Close by inviting members to a moment of silent reflection or prayer according to their own traditions).
Multi-Faith Saskatchewan is pleased to offer to you our support, Sir, in any way you think is appropriate to consider the issue of spiritual values and public life or more specifically on the form and content of an opening reflection to open legislative proceedings reflective of the diversity of our province.
We welcome the opportunity, if you feel it is necessary or helpful, to meet with you or your representatives, to discuss how we might support you in a way that will benefit all of the people of this province.
I look forward hearing from you.
In faith,
Moses Kanhai
President
1.306.586.4402