New Zealand Council of Christians and Jews

New Zealand Council of Christians and Jews

The New Zealand Council of Christians and Jews is one of 38 national Jewish-Christian dialogue organisations world-wide, brought together under the umbrella of the International Council of Christians and Jews (ICCJ). The ICCJ member organisations have over the past five decades been successfully engaged in the historic renewal of Jewish-Christian relations. The ICCJ was founded as a reaction to the Holocaust, the Shoah, in the awareness that ways must be found to examine the deeply engrained roots of mistrust, hatred and fear that culminated in one of the worst evils in human history.

In more recent years the ICCJ and its members have increasingly engaged in the Abrahamic dialogue: the encounter between Jews, Christians and Muslims. The ICCJ’s efforts to promote Jewish-Christian dialogue provide models for wider interfaith relations, particularly dialogue among Jews, Christians, and Muslims.

Through its annual conferences and other consultations the ICCJ offers a platform where people of different religious backgrounds examine current issues across national and religious boundaries, enabling face-to-face exchanges of experience and expertise.

The international headquarters of the ICCJ are located in the house where the great Jewish thinker Martin Buber lived until Nazi persecution forced him to flee Germany.

The New Zealand Council was established in 1991 by the Auckland (1986) and Wellington (1988) Councils. Councils hold regular local events to discuss aspects of each others religions, points of common interest and joint programmes of action. The co-presidents of the New Zealand Council are Professor Paul Morris and Rev Dr Tony Stroobant. The Governor General, the Hon Anand Satyanand, is the Patron of the Council.

Project 2011
National Conference

The Council of Christians and Jews will be holding its second national conference in July 2011. The theme is yet to be decided, but the conference will include keynote speakers and time for discussion on topics of current importance.

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