THEOLOGY@Brisbane

Unfortunately, Janice McRandal is unable to present her paper this Friday. It has been postponed until September 29^th. Peter Kline has kindly agreed to step in and offer what will be a fascinating paper on Kierkegaard and the imago Dei. Chris Dalton. is speaking on the topic ‘What’s Fraccing Theology Got to Do with the Mining of Coal Seam Gas?’ Friday April 7, 2017, 2pm-4pm Room W349 in Forgan Smith Building (No. 1)

Chris Dalton. ‘What’s Fraccing Theology Got to Do with the Mining of Coal Seam Gas?’ In the polarised public debate surrounding the mining of Coal Seam Gas, that industry’s use of hydraulic fracturing (fraccing) generates much emotion and conflict. This paper suggests an interrogative rather than propositional process to ‘release’ an alternative public theology approach for a post-secular age. It encompasses visiting a Divine Art Gallery, initiating a conversation about the Rights of Nature, engaging in imaginative apologetics and regarding Land as a Beloved Companion. It is an approach, however, that is not without its risks.

Peter Kline. ‘Imaging Nothing: Kierkegaard and the Imago Dei’. When considering what makes the human being uniquely human, or how it ‘images God’ within the created order, Søren Kierkegaard does not turn to Genesis 1:27, the privileged passage of the Western theological tradition. He turns instead to Matthew 6, a passage in which the reader is instructed to ‘consider the lilies of the field and the birds of the air’. In several rounds of ‘upbuilding discourses’ on this passage, Kierkegaard develops what I would call an ‘apophatic’ approach to the imago dei. The imaging of God that the human being is called to enact has no positive or stable content. It does not consist in any self-possessed capability, nor does it set the human being at the top of a hierarchically ordered creation. Rather, the human being images God only when it ‘becomes nothing’ as Kierkegaard puts it.

Chris_Peter_Seminar_April_2017 (2)

With the retirement in July of the Rev Dr Lynne Baab, the Department of Theology and Religion at the University of Otago is now seeking a new Jack Somerville Lecturer in Pastoral Theology.

The closing date for applications is 30 June 2017, and it is hoped that the new appointee will begin on 1 February 2018, or as soon as possible thereafter.
https://otago.taleo.net/careersection/2/jobdetail.ftl?lang=en&job=1700719)

Information for Candidates, Jack Somerville Lecturer in Pastoral Theology (2)

UQ Studies in Religion Seminar with Chris Dalton. ‘What’s Fraccing Theology Got to Do with the Mining of Coal Seam Gas?’ In the polarised public debate surrounding the mining of Coal Seam Gas, that industry’s use of hydraulic fracturing (fraccing) generates much emotion and conflict. This paper suggests an interrogative rather than propositional process to ‘release’ an alternative public theology approach for a post-secular age. It encompasses visiting a Divine Art Gallery, initiating a conversation about the Rights of Nature, engaging in imaginative apologetics and regarding Land as a Beloved Companion. It is an approach, however, that is not without its risks.

Janice McRandal. ‘Dancing Abandonment: Theology, Time, and Eternal Memory’. For contemporary theology, time is a matter of both physics and metaphysics. Whether in the search for ‘narrated time’ (Ricoeur), or reclaimed Trinitarian accounts (Augustine), systematic theology tends towards a concept of memory to shape hermeneutical approaches to time and relativity. Contemporary dance theory frames time within a subtle dialectic of keeping and abandoning time, of embodied memory and embodied forgetfulness. However, the relationality implied — of dancer, music, movement, time, performance etc. — resists moves towards a concrete conception of time. This paper will explore the double demand of dance: a passion for the moment and stillness for time, and consider the ways through which the dancer empties out memory into an excessive ‘elsewheres’ beyond the normative questions of time, beyond all necessity.

Friday April 7, 2017, 2pm-4pm Room W349 in Forgan Smith Building (No. 1) at the University of Queensland.

Chris_Janice_Seminar_April_2017 (1)

UQ Studies in Religion Seminar Chris Dalton. ‘What’s Fraccing Theology Got to Do with the Mining of Coal Seam Gas?’ In the polarised public debate surrounding the mining of Coal Seam Gas, that industry’s use of hydraulic fracturing (fraccing) generates much emotion and conflict. This paper suggests an interrogative rather than propositional process to ‘release’ an alternative public theology approach for a post-secular age. It encompasses visiting a Divine Art Gallery, initiating a conversation about the Rights of Nature, engaging in imaginative apologetics and regarding Land as a Beloved Companion. It is an approach, however, that is not without its risks.

Janice McRandal. ‘Dancing Abandonment: Theology, Time, and Eternal Memory’. For contemporary theology, time is a matter of both physics and metaphysics. Whether in the search for ‘narrated time’ (Ricoeur), or reclaimed Trinitarian accounts (Augustine), systematic theology tends towards a concept of memory to shape hermeneutical approaches to time and relativity. Contemporary dance theory frames time within a subtle dialectic of keeping and abandoning time, of embodied memory and embodied forgetfulness. However, the relationality implied — of dancer, music, movement, time, performance etc. — resists moves towards a concrete conception of time. This paper will explore the double demand of dance: a passion for the moment and stillness for time, and consider the ways through which the dancer empties out memory into an excessive ‘elsewheres’ beyond the normative questions of time, beyond all necessity.

Friday April 7, 2017, 2pm-4pm Room W349 in Forgan Smith Building (No. 1) at the University of Queensland.

The 2017 program for the UQ Theology Series  – to be held on the following Fridays at 2pm in Room E319 in the Forgan Smith Building. Please claim the dates in your diary of those seminars that you plan to attend.

Friday March 17 from 2pm to 4pm in E319 in the Forgan Smith Building

Clive Ayre: ‘Church, State, and Global Ecological Health’.  The paper explores the interface between current global ecological threats, the politics of division, and the role of the Christian Church.

In particular, ecological issues may be viewed both as part of the problem, as a dimension of the politics of division, and as a way of moving beyond them with the more universal agenda of ensuring that the earth remains habitable. In the first section, some contextual issues are addressed, including environmental threats to the earth and the role of adversarial politics. Second, some perspectives such as unity in bio-diversity and a review of “economy” may lead to a way forward. Third, the contribution of the Church is considered in the context of global ecological health as a pathway to a more sustainable and united community.

Neil Pembroke: ‘Overcoming Division in an Organisation: Dialogue and a Team Confrontation Method’

Many organisations are torn apart by factionalism, mistrust, and injustice. Assisting a dysfunctional, divided, and mistrustful organisation to move from sickness to health is deeply challenging. Though there are many strategies for positive intervention on offer, those that are based in the psychology of the dialogical self and the self-confrontation method (SCM) of Hubert Hermans present as particularly helpful. Not only are they proving to be very effective in practice, they are grounded in principles that accord well with the theology of the covenantal partnership between YHWH and Israel. In the team confrontation process, there is an insistence on listening to the minority voice, just as in the lament tradition YHWH’s primacy is provisionally overcome as Israel is accorded the right to speak frankly and even to register a complaint. YHWH has his powerful say, but Israel also claims the right to have her say. A team confrontation facilitator refuses to let the powerful voice dominate; both sides are given the right to speak and to be heard. A genuine partnership is built on dialogue, reciprocity, and trust. These are precisely the qualities that characterise the covenantal relationship as construed in the lament tradition.

Brisbane has been asked to consider hosting the National Australian and New Zealand Association of Theological Schools Confence in week 1 of July 2018.

A Brisbane ANZATS business meeting is planned for Monday 13 March in a few weeks time from 1.30 to 3.00 pm.

We are putting together ideas for the planned 2018 conference in the first week of July 2018.

I would love to hear further ideas you have about the conference and ways you and your college could be involved.

Afternoon tea will be available for those who are able to stay from 3 to 3.30. We plan to meet at Citipointe Ministry College, Lecture Room 1 underneath the Citipointe Church at 322 Wecker Road.

The main topic of discussion is the planned 2018 national ANZATS conference in Brisbane which is planned for Brisbane from Sunday 1st July and Monday 2nd July to Wednesday 4 July 2018.

It is planned to hold the conference at Emmanuel College, on the UQ campus. Transport is readily available from the city. Accommodation is available at Emmanuel College close to the venue for about $100 a night. The college is able to organize morning and afternoon teas and lunch for about $30 per person per day. They are also able to organize the Dinner for about $75. Venue hire is about $500 per room or a pair of seminar rooms. We will use about three to four rooms.

Andrew McGowan (formerly Australia, now Yale) has accepted the invitation to be a keynote speaker.
Andrew has written a number of books on early church practices in worship from social, historical and theological perspectives.

We are open to suggestions of other key note speakers who may be available at this time.
Let me know ideas you have on keynote speaker/s like Andrew and potential themes.

A suggested theme that is linked to the work Andrew has done is
Worship and Theology,
Or Theology as Worship.

Let me know if you have ideas for a conference theme and topics that relate to Andrew’s work, eg theology and worship, theology as worship or studying and teaching theology from biblical and theological perspectives, or other themes that you think could be relevant.

Various streams can be considered.
We could include a stream on women and theology or something similar
if you are interested in being part of organizing this, or we could link to
work you are doing at your college in various ways.

I would love to see you there if you can make it, or a representative from each of the colleges if you can pass this invitation on to them.

If you cannot make it, please email or phone suggestions for the upcoming 2018 ANZATS conference. Your suggestions will be appreciated.

Further details can be obtained from Sam Hey,

ph 3347 5833, or email shey@citipointechurch.com

Kind regards
Sam

On Friday 20 January the Council of ANZATS Ltd appointed the Rev Megan Powell du Toit as the new editor of Colloquium for three-years from 1 June 2017.  Megan is an accredited Baptist minister. Megan is the part-time Assistant to the Associate Dean in the office of the Australian College of Theology (ACT) and has considerable experience in this area.

The Council has also established a Consulting Editor role, and appointed Dr Martin Sutherland. Dr Sutherland is a senior researcher, and the Dean and CEO of the ACT. anzats-newsletter-1-2017

ad-harvest-lead-facilitator-012017-1   ;   ad-harvest-senior-quality-assurance-and-compliance-officer-012017

Harvest Bible College is looking for a key role in our Learning and Teaching division, for the delivery of all the colleges VET and Higher Education programs. This role will be required to hold a PhD in Theology

Harvest Bible College is looking for a key role in our Academic Department. The Senior Quality Assurance and Compliance Officer (Senior QACO), in conjunction with other members of the Academic Department, is responsible for ensuring Government compliance and quality assurance. Email CV, cover letter and key selection criteria to HR@harvest.edu.au  View full position description at https://www.harvest.edu.au/about/employment/  Closing Dates 10 February and 17th February 2017

Harvest Bible College announces our seventh annual research conference. This year they will explore the work of the Holy Spirit and ministry in a world that is frequently confused about, or resistant to, Christian mission. The keynote speaker this year is Professor Amos Yong, Director of the Centre for Missiological Research and Professor of Theology and Mission at Fuller Theological Seminary, USA.  Please send your proposal before May 24th to Dr Jon Newton, Harvest Bible College, P.O. Box 9183, Scoresby, VIC 3179 or to jnewton@harvest.edu.au  Details can be found at  harvest-research-conference-2017-call-for-papers