The Evangelical History Association conference is to be held on Saturday, 8 August 2015, 9am-5pm at The Scots College, Bellevue Hill, Sydney,

The Keynote speaker for the conference is Professor David Bebbington of the University of Stirling, one of the world’s leading historians of Protestantism,

Registration fees for non-EHA members are $70, which covers all catering aside from the optional extra dinner. EHA members will pay a discounted rate of $50. Students and non wage-earners are eligible for a concession rate of $30. To encourage EHA membership, we offer a combined conference and membership fee of $90.

The EHA welcome papers of 20 minutes’ length on all areas of the history of Christianity that address the theme of Christianity and Crisis.

Please send abstracts of 250 words and a brief bio to Laura Rademaker by 1 June 2015
at”laura.rademaker@anu.edu.au

Conference registration will be available on the EHA website from April 1, 2015.”

Details of the EHA can be found at http://evangelicalhistory.org/

Dr. Maeve Heaney  -will speak on the topic – ‘Can Music Have a Theological Meaning? A Case Study’

At The University of Queensland, Room E319 Forgan Smith Building (no.1) St Lucia Campus

there will be Sydney and Melbourne Book Launches for Glen O’Brien and Hilary Carey, eds. Methodism in Australia: A History (Farnham: Ashgate, 2015). http://www.ashgate.com/isbn/9781472429483

The next UQ Studies in Religion Theology Seminar will be held on Friday April 17 at 2pm – It features –

Neil Pembroke: ‘Pastoral Preaching as Therapy for Belief-Sickness: Lessons from the Philosophers, with Particular Reference to Søren Kierkegaard’  Neil’s paper offers a supplement to the conventional view of pastoral preaching. He suggests that along with construing the job as offering care and comfort in the face of psychological and existential crises, pastoral preaching may also profitably be interpreted as stimulating self-therapy for belief-sickness.

Janice McRandal: ‘The Slow Apocalypse: What Sort of Difference Does Girard Make to How We Read Apocalyptic Biblical Texts?’ In her paper, Janice challenges a view of the apocalypse as a divine invasion, akin to a well-intended colonial conquest.  Janice contends that Girard presents for us an alternative view of the apocalypse, a remapping that more acutely interrogates desire within hermeneutical moves, and situates cosmic ends within an ever unravelling, excessive knowledge of the Passion; that Girard’s reading destabilizes the masculinist symbol: ‘apocalypse’.

Australian Association for Mission Studies

The Australian Association of Mission Studies (AAMS) and Brisbane ANZATS invites theology teachers and educators, students and local pastoral leaders, mission scholars and practitioners to a day of conversation about reshaping curriculum, course design, teaching and leadership development around the mission of God with Dr Perry Shaw (Professor of Christian Education and Acting Academic Dean at the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary in Beirut, Lebanon, and author of Transforming Theological Education)  Details can be found at – https://www.buv.com.au/resource/events/events-calendar?task=view_event&event_id=237  A group discount is available for Brisbane ANZATS colleges. Contact shey@citipointechurch.com for details.

Brisbane School of Theology is offering two mid-year intensives in the MA program of the Australian College of Theology.

Expository Preaching

13-17 July 2015 (8.30am-3pm daily) – Rev Michael Raiter – The Expository Preaching intensive is for those who are new to expository preaching and also for the more experienced preacher who desires to further develop their preaching skills. Click on for more information: http://bst.qld.edu.au/expositorypreachingMA2015

The Book of Acts

3-7 August 2015 (8.30am-3pm daily) – Rev Dr David Peterson – Hermeneutics, Theology and the Book of Acts intensive is for any Christian leader and other ministry workers who want to build on their theological, historical and pastoral understanding of Acts. Click on for more information: http://bst.qld.edu.au/HermeneuticsActsMA2015

The Australian Research Theology Foundation is inviting applications (max. $10,000) for religious projects within Australia, Themes can range from academic theology to Christian education at the grassroots.
More information is available at www.artfinc.org.au

HARVEST BIBLE COLLEGE 2015 RESEARCH CONFERENCE August 27-28, 2015
Theme: Church and Ministry a Contemporary Voice
Harvest Bible College is planning to hold its fifth research conference on “Church and Ministry a Contemporary Voice” to be held August 27-28, 2015.
In this year’s conference, we hope to engage with a wide range of contemporary perspectives on the church and Christian ministry. This is reflected in the two keynote speakers we have engaged to stimulate our thinking:
Dr Graham Hill is Vice Principal (Communications) of Morling College, Sydney
Dr Peter Thein is the Vice-Principal and Head of Missions at Myanmar Evangelical Graduate School of Theology in Yangon, Myanmar.

CALL FOR PAPERS
Proposals should be around 200 words in length and should contain:
• A working title
• A clear description of the ideas and arguments you will present.
• Details of you as presenter, including previous and current studies and presentation experience.
Please send your proposal to Dr Jon Newton, Harvest Bible College, P.O. Box 9183, Scoresby, Vic.3179 or to jnewton@harvest.edu.au
PROPOSALS NEED TO BE RECEIVED BY MAY 8.

2015 St Andrew’s Greek Orthodox Theological College Inaugural Theology Symposium

Title ” THE EARTH IS THE LORD’S: ENVIRONMENTAL THEOLOGY AND ETHICS”

Friday 9 October & Saturday 10 October – 2015
Keynote Speaker: Revd Dr John Chryssavgis
Theological Advisor to the Ecumenical Patriarch on Environmental Issues
Keynote Address: ON EARTH AS IN HEAVEN: The Theological Roots of our Ecological Crisis
Venue: St Andrew’s Greek Orthodox Theological College
242 Cleveland Street Redfern, NSW, 2016
http://www.sagotc.edu.au/theology-symposia

The Australian Girard Seminar will be hosting the 2016 international conference of the Colloquium on Violence & Religion (COV&R), the main gathering of scholars, practitioners and others interested in Girard’s mimetic theory in the world.

Tentative Dates: Wednesday, 13 July – Sunday, 17 July, 2016 (next year).
Venue: St Patrick’s Campus, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne.
Proposed Theme: Violence in the Name of Religion?

We wanted to let you know these details as early as possible and seek any feedback on the dates and theme. In particular, if you know of any major clashes with the dates or any appropriate speakers on the theme, please let me know. As part of the conference theme, we expect to have a session on Australian history and Indigenous people.

For those who are interested, the 2015 conference of the Colloquium on Violence & Religion will be hosted by St Louis University (USA) on the theme of “The One by Whom Scandal Has Come: Critically Engaging the Girardian Corpus”. Keynote speakers include Shawn M. Copeland, James Alison, David Bentley Hart and Brian Robinette. Registration and the call for papers are open:

http://www.slu.edu/department-of-theology-home/2015-colloquium-on-violence-and-religion