2014 ANZATS NATIONAL CONFERENCE
The ANZATS 2014 Conference will be held from Sunday June 29 to Wednesday July 2 at the University of Notre Dame, Fremantle WA Theme: The Eclipse of God – Theology after Christendom.
Speaker: Professor Graham Ward, Regius Professor of Divinity, Oxford University
When: 29 June – 2 July 2014
Venue: The University of Notre Dame Australia
Fremantle Campus
Keynote Speaker: Graham Ward, Regius Professor of Divinity and Canon of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, England.
Theme: The Eclipse of God: Theology after Christendom Précis: The so-called ‘Christian West’ has become a
misnomer amid increasing secularism and general loss of interest in the question of God’s reality,
purpose and activity. How does one practise theology in such an environment? What is the relevance,
way and task of theology after Christendom?
UQ Research Seminars
Three upcoming events in the new UQ Friday Theology seminar series:
Friday, 14 March, 1.00 – 2.00pm (rescheduled from 7 March)
Forgan Smith Building, Room E303
Anne Klose: ‘”The Lord’s Supper as Multivalent Sacrament in an Australian Baptist Context.”
Friday, 4 April, 2.00 – 3.00pm
Forgan Smith Building, Room E303
Aaron Ghiloni, “Mision Concepts in World Religions.”
Friday, 2 May, 2.00 – 4.00pm
Forgan Smith Building, Rooms E303 & E212
Janice Rees: “The (Im) Material Body?: On Eucharist, Discipleship, and Subjectivity.”
Clive Ayre: “Ecology and Diaconia.”
Reading the Bible in Amsterdam
- Reading the Bible in Amsterdam: Texts, Traditions, and Interpretation (30 June – 11 July 2014)
- Syriac Christianity in Context (14 – 25 July 2014)
Beyond Education: Exploring a theology o the church’s theological formation
28 & 29 March • Centre for Theology & Ministry, Parkville
Theological education is an increasingly contested topic, not least in those churches which traditionally have had strong commitments to it. It is also true that in those churches the nexus between theological education and ministerial formation has been so tight and so easily assumed that critical discussion of how they relate to each other has proved difficult. Praxis-oriented models of ministerial training tend to relegate theological education as merely academic. Indeed, in such debates ‘theology’ is often a synonym for ‘academic’. At the same time, the academic traditions of Christian theology have not always developed strong accounts of the role of theology in the church, and thus left themselves exposed to that relegation. Debates around these issues tend to become sharply polarised in churches experiencing cultural marginalisation, doctrinal diversity and depletion of resources.
In such a context it is opportune for interested parties within the church and academy to reflect critically on the role of theology in the church’s mission. A conference designed to provide such an opportunity could address such presenting questions as:
- What is the role of theology in the life and witness of the contemporary church?
- What can be learnt in answering the above question from the classic texts of Christian theology?
- What are the differences and connections between theological education and theological formation?
- What is the role of theological formation in ministerial formation?
- What can be learnt from current models of theological formation in institutions of ministerial formation?
2014 Commencement Services
As the new academic year gets underway, ANZATS member schools around SE Queensland are celebrating the beginning of a new year of study and ministry formation with special services. Some have already happened, and others are scheduled to occur shortly.
Australian Catholic University
Tuesday, 4 March—Chapel of the Holy Spirit, ACU McAuley Campus (6.00pm)
Brisbane School of Theology
Wednesday, 7 February—City North Baptist Church, Kedron
Citipointe Ministry College (Christian Heritage College)
Wednesday, 19 February—CHC campus, Carindale (5.00pm)
Malyon College
Monday, 3 March—Bridgeman Community Baptist Church, Bridgeman Downs (7.30pm)
Nazarene Theological College
Tuesday, 11 February—NTC Chapel
St Francis Theological College
Sunday, 23 February—St John’s Anglican Cathedral, Brisbane (2.00pm)
Trinity Theological College
Monday, 17 February—TTC Chapel (9.30am)
Let’s keep one another in our prayers as we engage in a new year of study and spiritual formation, seeking God’s blessing on us all and that our scholarship with be a blessing to the world around us.
International Theological Conference: Interfaith Dialogue
Paths to Dialogue in our Age
Monday 26 – Thursday 29 May 2014
Australian Catholic University, Melbourne Campus
In our age, when day by day humanity is being drawn closer together, and the ties between different peoples are becoming stronger, the adherents of the world’s religions are examining what they have in common and what draws them to fellowship. Through the praxis of interfaith dialogue some headway has already been made on this path to peace, understanding and collaboration.
Within Roman Catholicism, the Second Vatican Council, convened by Pope John XXIII, heightened the consciousness of the Church with regard to other religions. His successor, Pope Paul VI, had as his first encyclical the 1964 document Ecclesiam Suam (subtitled “paths of the church”) where dialogue was promoted as the new way of being Church. Hence, the theme of the present conference, beginning with “paths to dialogue”, commemorates the fiftieth anniversary of the proclamation of this landmark document. The topic of dialogue was given further attention in the 1965 document Nostra Aetate (“in our age”) which counseled the Church to be in “dialogue and collaboration with the followers of other religions”.
While celebrating the bold spirit of dialogue expressed in these two documents, we are conscious that much has changed in the world in the last half century, even within the sphere of inter-religious relations. With this in view, the Centre for Inter-religious Dialogue at Australian Catholic University (ACU-CID) is hosting an International Theological Conference to explore the advances and setbacks of the last five decades and to investigate new paths that can contribute to the wellbeing of humanity and the entire cosmos in our age.
Full details, including a call for papers, on the conference web site.
Colloquium
The November 2013 issue of Colloquium should be available in your college or associated library. Content includes the following:
- Mark G Brett, Forced Migrations, Asylum Seekers and Human Rights
- Kathleen P Rushton, The Cosmology of John 1:1-14 and Its Implications for Ethical Action in this Ecological Age
- Tim Bulkeley, The Book of Amos and the Day of Yhwh
- Terry Pouono, ‘Coconut Juice in a Coca Cola Bottle’. In Search of an Identity: A New Zealand Born Samoan in a Globalized World
- Brian Harris, Thinking Faith and Faithful Thinking: A Response to Robyn Horner and Steven Tucker
- Peter Sherlock, Public Theology and the University: A Response to Robyn Horner and Steven Tucker
- Graham Paulson and Mark Brett, Five Smooth Stones: Reading the Bible through Aboriginal Eyes (occasional paper)
- And a number of very fine book reviews.
The deadline for submissions to the November 2014 issue is 31 May 2014.
Please note, that Colloquium is available online through ATLA Serials.
Margins, Mission and Diversity
2-5 October 2014
The Australian Association of Mission Studies will be holding a conference in Adelaide, Australia.. The theme of the conference is ‘Margins, Mission and Diversity.’ The organisers are particularly interested in exploring how the ‘margins’ inform and challenge concepts of mission today in contexts that are increasingly diverse, as well as the impact that diversity has on mission to and from the margins. Prof Tony Gittins will be the keynote speaker and a special public lecture will honour the life and work of Dr Ross Langmead. More details, including a call for papers at the conference web page.
27–28 June – After Crucifixion: A symposium on the theology of Craig Keen
In Sydney, Australia. On 27–28 June, the United Theological College and Centre for Public and Contextual Theology are hosting After Crucifixion: A symposium on the theology of Craig Keen.
The symposium will explore Craig Keen’s contribution to contemporary theology, and will offer scholarly engagement with his work; Craig Keen will also present a lecture and will respond to papers We invite papers engaging with Professor Keen’s work – particularly his latest publication, After Crucifixion (Cascade, 2013) – from a range of disciplines and perspectives. Paper proposals should be no more than 300 words and should be sent to Keen.Symposium@gmail.com by 28 February 2014.
Conference – 28-29 March – Beyond Education: Exploring a theology for the Church’s theological formation
The Melbourne Uniting Church Theological College is holding a conference – Beyond Education: Exploring a theology for the Church’s theological formation on 28 to 29 March, 2014.
https://ucavt.goregister.com.au/beyondeducation/registration/
Fri Mar 28 pm all day Sat Mar 29 $50 Parkville Victoria
THEOLOGY@Brisbane 