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By Kathleen Carmody
For Sydneysiders who like to wash their spirituality down with a drink, the months of September and October are the last chance to experience Spirituality in the
Pub (SIP) for 2001.
Only five sessions remain of the popular forum where interested people meet to discuss contemporary spiritual issues in a relaxed and convivial environment.
The remaining sessions
of SIP for this year will be held in pubs in North Sydney, Five Dock, Waitara, Campbelltown and Rouse Hill.
SIP began as a small gathering in a single pub in 1995. Today it has regular meetings in more than
20 venues in Australia.
Depending on the topic of discussion, as many as 200 people have been known to attend single sessions.
SIP is the brainchild of a group of Catholics known as Catalyst for
Renewal, formed in 1994 as a means of generating conversation within the Church.
Its stated aim is “to prompt open exchanges among the community of believers, mindful of the diversity of expression of faith
in contemporary Australia”.
Pauline McNaught, of Catalyst for Renewal, says SIP is “a convivial evening, over a drink, listening to good speakers on interesting topics”.
She says the evenings draw a
broad crosssection of people from different age groups; most are Massgoers who are looking to have input into their faith.
“People who are interested in their faith go to ask questions,” she said. “They feel
they have a voice, they can ask questions. It’s quite different from church; most people are church-going people, anyway, who are maybe looking for a bit more.”
She said that the evenings always sparked
lively and interesting discussion. Debate was sometimes heated, but things never got out of hand.
“We’ve got very good conveners who take control,” she said. “We’ve never had any problem. Sometimes there is
strong disagreement – but that’s conversation, that’s what we’re all about.”
On Monday, September 10, Bishop Geoffrey Robinson and Bernice Moore will discuss the role of women in the Church (Why can’t we
practise what we preach?) at the Union Hotel in North Sydney.
On September 19, people in the Broken Bay diocese can hear and discuss Things You Learn Along the Way with author Gerard Windsor and Dr Bernadette
Tobin, of the Plunkett Centre for Ethics in Health Care, at the Blue Gum Hotel in Waitara.
Campbelltown Catholic Club will discuss Cosmos and Environment – Stars and Stardust with Robert Bee and Noel Davis on
September 12.
On September 26, the Illinois Hotel in Five Dock will host a discussion on conflict (Blessed are the peacemakers … not those who shun conflict but those who face it squarely). Speakers will be
Fr Brian Gore and Bernice Moore.
Various speakers will be Taking the Mickey Out of the Micks at The Mean Fiddler at Rouse Hill on October 12.
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