As the country prepares for the first anniversary of the Christchurch mosque attacks, a small group from different faiths and cultures gathered yesterday to celebrate their differences.
A workshop on religious diversity and anti-discrimination was held yesterday at Waikato University's Durham St campus. Another one will be held today.
Brother Andrew McKean, one of the organisers, said it came about as a collaboration between the Tauranga City Council, Tauranga Moana Interfaith Council, Religious Diversity Centre and Waikato University.
McKean, who is an Anglican minister and the ecumenical chaplain at the Durham St campus, said the aim was to teach participants about identity and how to interact with others of different faith or culture.
"We want to help people to learn about each other, get on with each other better, and break down some of the misconceptions we have around difference," McKean said.
Organiser John Hebenton, the vicar at St George's Anglican Church Gate Pa, said this weekend was decided on for the workshops as it held significance coming up to the anniversary of the Christchurch mosque attacks.
As a society, we tended to "lump people together" according to their faith, McKean said.
"Christians are like 'this', Muslims are like 'this' ... there are things we have in common and things we differ over, but that doesn't mean we can't get on."
Tauranga had become more diverse, and the city should celebrate that, McKean said.
"Diversity is God's gift to us, and division is what we've made of it," he said.
However, he said New Zealanders didn't generally think about religious diversity very often, "except when they see conflict".
"But they don't always understand what the conflict's about ... We are becoming more diverse, but there's still a lot of discomfort."
'Part of what we're doing is saying 'these people are here'. They are New Zealanders ... how can we create a society which welcomes them and gives them space to be who they are?"
About 20 people attended yesterday's workshop, McKean said, "all from different community groups [and] faith groups".
About 15 people had registered for today's workshop, he said, but he felt people were staying away because of fears around coronavirus.
"An appreciation of differences, and that they will not generalise" was what presenter Selva Ramasami said he wanted people to take away from the workshops.
Ramasami is a Hindu and travelled from Wellington for the event.
'What we want to do is find the common ground," he said.
Teacher Madeleine Dohanos, who is of the Baha'i faith, said she attended yesterday's workshop because of an interest in religious diversity.
"I work with international students, so this is about ways that I can have more understanding of where they come from," she said.
Roman Catholic Jake Ibay said he also taught international students and workshops like this gave people an "advantage".
"It's all about awareness of different backgrounds."