Japanese Groups
Join
The
IARF Congress returned in 1969 to Boston and addressed
the theme, "Religious Encounter with the Changing
World." At the 20th Congress in Boston the name of
the IARF was changed from the "International Association
for Liberal Christianity and Religious Freedom" to
the "International Association for Religious Freedom." Also in 1969 Japanese Shinto and Buddhist groups-the Konko
Church of Izuo, Rissho Kosei-kai, and Tsubaki Grand Shrine-joined
the Association. The 20th IARF Congress addressed four
areas of concern: (1) The Christian in the Modern World,
(2) The Religious Approach to the Modern World, (3) Dialogue
of World Religions, and (4) Peace, Justice and Human Rights.
In
1972 the IARF Congress was held in Heidelberg, West Germany
on the theme, "Man, His Freedom and His Future." A year later Diether Gehrmann began as full-time general
secretary of the IARF, and the following year the secretariat
relocated from Holland to Frankfurt, West Germany.
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Also
in 1973 the IARF sponsored its first conference
in Africa in Lagos, Nigeria. In 1975 the IARF Congress
was held in Montreal to address the topic, "Our
Unity in Diversity," and in 1976 an IARF trip
to Japan enabled many American and European members
to learn more about Japanese religious traditions. |
The
following year an IARF study tour went to India for
encounter and dialogue with various religious groups.
In 1978 the Congress returned to Oxford to discuss the
theme, "The Limits of Toleration Today," and
in 1981 the theme of the Congress held in Noordwijkerhout,
Holland was "The Tide of Religion."
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