WelCom June/July 2024
Dr Mary Eastham of Feilding was bestowed a Queen’s Service Medal for services to interfaith communities on the King’s Birthday and Coronation Honours List in June 2023. She received her QSM at the Investiture Ceremony at Government House on 22 May.
Mary’s family was with her for ‘the beautiful, dignified Investiture Ceremony’, she says. ‘My daughter Casey with her sons Jordan and Damon, and my daughter Alison with her husband Daniel and their children Hunter and Madelyn, all joined me to meet and converse with our gracious Governor General Dame Cindy Kiro at Government House.
‘I was overcome with emotion because receiving the Queen’s Service Medal for services to interfaith communities acknowledges the serious and important work done by the New Zealand Catholic Bishops’ Committee for Interfaith Relations and the Palmerston North Interfaith Group to promote understanding, respect, peace and harmony between faith communities and thus for society at large. The more we understand one another, the better we can work together to address the moral and spiritual issues confronting the entire human family, like climate change and racism. Because interfaith relationships are achieved by communities of faith, not by one person, this Queen’s Service Medal is really for all of us.’
Among her many services to interfaith communities, Mary was the Bishop of Palmerston North’s representative on the Bishops Committee on Interfaith Relations for more than a decade. Through this work she helped establish the Palmerston North Interfaith Group (PNIG), aimed at representing the different religious traditions and faiths in the community and working together. She has served as Chair of PNIG, holding multifaith prayer services at Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, she coordinated a Faith Family Feast, a celebration amongst the interfaith community, and she has hosted youth sessions on global climate change and racism. Mary has represented PNIG at national interfaith forums and is a member of the Religious Diversity Centre.
