UNSW Religious Centre

Religious Centre

The Religious Centre is provided for all UNSW students and staff and is located on the Kensington campus on the third floor of the Squarehouse.

The Centre is attended by Anglican, Buddhist, Catholic, Coptic Orthodox, Islamic, Jewish, Orthodox Christian, Pentecostal, Presbyterian and Uniting Church.

Full-time and part-time Chaplains conduct worship services, lead Bible Studies, hold prayer meetings and offer spiritual counselling.

The Islamic Society has an Imam in attendance with meeting and prayer rooms available for Muslim students. The Buddhist student group, Unibuds, and UNSW Catholics have facilities in the Centre. There are Chaplains supporting each of the following faiths.

Please note that in line with UNSW's response to the COVID-19 outbreak and Federal Government directives, prayer spaces of the Religious Centre will now be closed. Some activities will be available online, with details for each faith community outlined below as available.

UNSW students and staff of all faiths will reliably find dedicated spaces to pray and practice their faith, with Interfaith Spaces on UNSW campuses.

Anglican

Campus Bible Study Logo

The Anglican Chaplaincy runs Campus Bible Study, a student group focused on studying the Bible and learning more about Jesus during our time at Uni. Whether you're a life-long Christian or a sceptical atheist, you're welcome to join us!

For Christians, CBS provides an opportunity to grow in your understanding of the Bible and your relationship with God. For those who are not Christians, CBS is an easy way to investigate the claims of Jesus and the Bible.

Every week of the semester CBS runs large public Bible Talks in a lecture format. These talks focus on explaining the Bible and usually work progressively through a particular book of the Old or New Testament.

The Bible Talks are also a chance to meet other students. Every week we have a light afternoon tea afterwards. Got questions about Jesus or Christianity? We’d love to answer them!

Buddhist

During the COVID-19 response, UNIBUDS is moving all weekly activities to Facebook and Instagram. This includes weekly Chinese and English Dhamma Talk, as well as weekly meditation.

May you be peaceful and well amid this unexpected situation. 

In 2020, UNIBUDS celebrates its 40th year serving the UNSW campus community! Due to the pandemic, the annual Bodhi Nite is going to be online, streamed live on YouTube and available on Facebook: 3 Oct 2020, 7:00pm | Youtube Premiere      4 Oct 2020, 9:00 am| Facebook Event

The Buddhist Chaplaincy aims to provide support to students and staff on campus. The Buddhist Chaplain provides assistance and advice/counselling to students on personal development, and work together with Student Life and Learning whenever required. The Buddhist Chaplain also gives talks on Buddhism at various faculties/departments upon request.

In addition, the Buddhist Chaplain also guides and assists the University of NSW Buddhist Society (UNIBUDS) in running the Society and sharing the teachings and peacefulness of the Buddha with everyone at the university.

UNIBUDS organises regular Dharma talks (Buddhist talks) every Thursday and Friday evening during the university semesters. They also hold regular lunch time meditation sessions at the Religious Centre and meditation workshops bi-monthly. In addition to the above activities, UNIBUDS also organise weekly social gatherings or sports activities for members.

Activities of UNIBUDS can be found on www.unibuds.unsw.edu.au

The Buddhists look upon the Buddha as a teacher. The essence of the Buddha’s teachings is to do good, avoid evil and purify the mind. It is by putting effort into practising the teachings ourselves that we can gradually develop perfection of wisdom, compassion, purity and peace like the Buddha. As the saying goes:

By ourselves is evil done;
By ourselves we pain endure.
By ourselves we cease from ill;
By ourselves become we pure.
No one can save us but ourselves;
No one can and no one may.
We ourselves must walk the path,
Buddhas only point the way.
(Dhammapada 165)

Catholic

The UNSW Catholic Chaplaincy supports the spiritual life of students, provides opportunities for intellectual formation, fosters a sense of community on campus and engages students in community service.

 

We host a variety of events, including:


Daily


Weekly / Fortnightly

  • Confession - click here for more information  https://www.unswcatholics.org.au/confessions
  • ALPHA -explore the meaning of life, faith and God in a relaxed and friendly environment. 
  • Small groups - a community of friends growing together in faith.
  • Formation -  Series of talks to deepen your understanding of the Catholic Faith 
  • Lectio Group - praying with the Scripture in a group setting. 
  • TGIF (Thank God it's Friday) - a social/sports event .


Monthly

  • Forums - Hear guest speakers talk about topical issues such as bioethics, leadership, politics, controversial issues and topics about the Catholic faith.
  • Barbeques - Have a bite with other Catholics on campus.
  • Community service - Bring hope to those who suffer and need our help. Living a life of solidarity affects the world!


Annual events

  • Harbour Cruise - Get on board the annual Catholic Harbour Cruise and meet young Catholic students from around Sydney and interstate.
  • Sports - we have two annual cups (Indoor soccer, touch footy, volleyball, soccer and much more!) competing against other universities. 
  • Retreats - take time out to pray and reflect on life and your relationship with the Lord.
  • Mission trips to Peru - Explore community service through a series of volunteer placements and community development projects in developing countries.
  • World Youth Day pilgrimage - Deepen your faith and grow closer to Christ together with thousands of other young people.

Coptic Orthodox

  • Location 3rd Floor, Squarehouse
  • Contact Reverend Father Matthew Attia 
  • Phone 0418 283 114
  • Email fr.matthew2@bigpond.com

Orthodox Christian

We are a small and warm UNSW community, who meets regularly through talks, spiritual and social events.
Whether you are looking to explore and find out more about Orthodox Christianity, or want to form close connections with other Orthodox Christians at UNSW, whether Greek, Serbian, Antiochian, Romanian or others, you are most welcome to join us!
Follow our Facebook page and sign up to our weekly emails for updates about our talks and meetings.

Facebook: @unsworthodoxfellowship 
Email: gocf.unsw@gmail.com

  • Location St. Catherine's Greek Orthodox Church, Mascot
  • Contact Fr Athanasios Giatsios
  • Phone 0406 033 074
  • Emailfr.athanasios@bigpond.com

To reduce risk during the COVID-19 outbreak, FOCUS (Fellowship of Orthodox Christian University Students) will not be holding its usual fortnightly meetings face-to-face during Term 3 2020. 

FOCUS may be reached directly via Facebook. 

Pentecostal

During the COVID-19 response, Hillsong is moving its activities online - please join us! 

 

As a Christian club we are passionate about Jesus and helping people.

On campus we support all students with areas of faith, growing in leadership and helping people get into community on campus.

We are run by students for students.


Areas you can get involve in on-or-off campus

  • Weekly bible study groups: these run most days and times throughout the week. Groups have between 2/20 people in them
  • Events on campus: these are nights where we worship, have a speaker and connect with other students around dinner. These are great nights to connect with God as well as meet great people.
  • Church services: on the weekends we run buses to our local church service in Waterloo. Hillsong church city campus is located 10 minutes from the uni.
  • Red Frogs Chaplaincy: we help at events throughout the year on residential housing - doing pancakes, party support, walk homes, coffee crawls and much more on a weekly basis.

These are some of the areas you can get more involved! We would love to hear from you and help you in any way we can to make this university season an incredible one for you.

Please feel free to email or call us any time april.miller@hillsong.com or 9775 3655.

Looking forward to meeting you.

Presbyterian

Jewish

Liraz Pooran (Social/Cultural Chaplain)

Our activities include:

  • Special Consideration Letters – Hillel will help you with issues such as exams or classes on Shabbat or festivals and we are always around if you would like a chat about anything.
  • Leadership training seminars and events.
  • Hillel trains, mentors and develops engagement interns to build relationships with their peers and connect them with opportunities to participate in Jewish life.
  • Hillel provides professional support to the Australasian Union of Jewish Students (AUJS).
  • Hillel helps to connect you to what’s happening in the community via social media, an e-newsletter and the Hillel website.

On campus activities for Jewish students are run by the Australasian Union of Jewish Students (AUJS). AUJS at UNSW regularly hosts on campus events and functions ranging from the social and educational to cultural and political. Please feel free get in touch to find out how you can get involved.


Rabbi Eli Feldman (Religious Chaplain)

Rabbi Eli Feldman is the Jewish Religious Chaplain at UNSW. He heads JUNI, a vibrant organisation that provides educational and spiritual events and activities across Sydney universities. Join JUNI on facebook to get all the updates and events at UNSW: facebook.com/jewishuni

Muslim

Assalamu Alaikum,

Insha`Allah you are all well.

 Due to the current Coronavirus outbreak, effective from Monday 23 March 2020 all ISOC prayer venues are closed including the Jum’a  (Friday)  prayers until further notice.

Kind Regards,

Mahmoud Jaame

  • Location 3rd Floor, Squarehouse
  • Contact Mahmoud Jaame (Imam)
  • Phone 9385 5957
  • Email m.jaame@unsw.edu.au

    To reduce risk during the COVID-19 outbreak, ISOC (Islamic Society of UNSW) is upholding social distancing rules, and have cancelled meetings and social activities until further notice. Prayer spaces are still open for use under strict guidelines. Please bring your own prayer mat to reduce risk of contamination.

     ISOC may be reached directly via Facebook.

 

See also

Muslim Student Guide - This guide provides information for local and international students on support services available on campus, general information about living in Sydney as well as information relating to the Muslim community in Sydney and UNSW.

Uniting Church


Administration Enquiries (for Chaplains only)