Without Judgment: Conversations Across Divides

Early in 2026, the Eremos Council gathered for our annual reflection and planning day.  Some of our conversations centered on the fragmentation and divisions in the world and how there sometimes seems to be little real listening or perspective sharing. We considered how Eremos might increase its capacity to be a meeting place for divergent views – of all persuasions, not just ‘party lines’. In the context of increasing duality, how might we create and hold space for more nuanced storytelling?

In the face of increasing polarization and division, we spoke about what it means to offer hospitality and provide welcome. There was a strong desire to name a theme to express these hopes and inform our events, retreats, and our media endeavours. After extensive discussion we decided on the following theme for 2026:

Without Judgment - Conversations Across Divides

John Foulcher wrote in his editorial in April EREMOS, “Eremos is exploring a theme which is so pertinent to the health of our broken world: withholding judgment and seeking to encourage conversations across the great divides of our society. The motif will permeate all Eremos activities, our events, retreats, workshops, social media and the magazine.”

“Let’s see if we can give each other respect in our conversations, encourage generosity and the true exchange of ideas. Let’s create an environment where we can listen rather than speak, approach each other with open arms rather than closed fists. Let’s not assume we’re right and everyone else has got it wrong.”

We welcome your contributions and thoughts about this theme and how it might be explored. Please share your thoughts with us at events@eremos.org.au.

I encourage you to read his full editorial here.

An invitation to write for EREMOS 

In our own small way, we are hoping to focus all our efforts on encouraging each other to listen and to understand those whose ideas we oppose. To listen across the divides. This, we believe, is at the heart of Christian faith.

If you are interested in contributing to the EREMOS magazine, you may like to reflect upon a particular divide you would like to help heal, a particular issue that’s been troubling you? 

Ideally, this would be between 500 and 1500 words but we’re flexible. Longer articles will also be considered, as will poetry, short stories and visual images. Please submit a snaphot of your intended article (about 100 words – this is just for the purpose of planning our year) or ideas to our new editor, Toni Hassan, at editor@eremos.org.au.

Painting by Rod Pattenden, ‘Golden Gully’, 2023
www.rodpattenden.id.au