Uniting Church welcomes re-opening of Lindisfarne place of worship as a mosque

ABC NEWS (Australia)

A new mosque is opening in the old Lindisfarne uniting church in Hobart. It comes as Tasmania faces a period of brain drain, with more people leaving the state for interstate opportunities, than coming. The owners of House of Guidance Hobar say some also leave due to a lack of religious and cultural services in Tasmania which they hope to address.

Transcript

00:00For more than a century, this church on Hobart's eastern shore held regular Christian services.

00:08This was a very vibrant suburban community.

00:12When two churches merged, the congregation made a difficult decision to sell this one.

00:17But they're welcoming the new custodians.

00:20There's a new life coming to this space, a new community who've got religious faith,

00:27even if a slightly different flavour to the United Church Christian flavour.

00:31The Old Chapel Hall will now house Islamic prayers, Arabic language classes and Islamic studies.

00:38It has been serving the community for more than a century.

00:42And the House of Gardens Hobart will continue this legacy.

00:47Tasmania is the only state or territory without an Islamic school,

00:51although this year Bowen Road Primary began offering Islamic studies.

00:56When healthcare workers Hud and Heba came to work in Australia, they fell in love with Tasmania.

01:02But they say many Muslim people and migrants often leave due to a lack of services,

01:06with a physical place of worship remaining an important need.

01:10A lot of migrants are skilled migrants, professionals here in Tasmania,

01:16and it's really important for them.

01:19We love everything here and for this reason we wanted to stay and just maybe instead of just leaving

01:25because of the lack of services, just to create the services.

01:28Their commitment to community, to education, to being part of the wider community,

01:33I think that enriches all of us.

01:36I think that enriches all of us.

01:38The people be sick for all of us.

01:41We will be sick of measuring their potentials of workers at a time in the book.

01:43We will not share our experience with all of us.

01:44We will get an opportunity to stay and share with us.

01:45We will not share our thoughts on the possible way of them.

01:46We will not share our own thinking.

01:47So we will try and have time.

01:49We will be happy to stay and share them on the webpage.

01:50We will prepare the same time for the recovery of our children.

01:51We will be happy to stay and get some questions,

01:52And I hope to get on more questions.

01:53We will answer that prayer quickly.

01:55We will do it and we can be there.

01:56We will be happy to stay and share HR lessons with us.

01:58We will be happy to stay and make sure

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