Is social justice a subordinate priority to worship, or should it be the other way around? Why do we worship God? Does God even need it? Is it so we can escape our ordinary lives? Lecturer in Theology, Dr Jacqueline Service, explores the relationship between social justice and the worship of the Triune God. This lecture challenges truncated visions…

The love of place is a potent and unavoidable aspect of our common life, and our sense of ourselves as a people, a nation. “I love a sunburnt country”! Love of place can seem to hold the keys to renewal and reconciliation, as in Tim Winton’s justly famous novel, Cloudstreet. But love of place can also be distorted. It can float above the reality of…

In her recent work ‘Scars Across Humanity’ (2015), British theologian and sociologist Elaine Starkey outlines different forms of gender-based violence which women can experience across their life-cycle. This lecture draws on Storkey’s work and on feminist biblical approaches for a careful reading of 2 Samuel 15-16 which explores the violence agains…

Barren Wilderness or Garden of Delights? Bishop-elect Dr Mark Short headlined our 40th College Anniversary event on 23 April 2018 by considering the role of the bush, both real and imagined, in Australian culture and experience, and the challenges and opportunities this creates for Christian ministry. In particular, he explored how our context diff…

Risk, Responsibility and Redemption: Remembering Our Future The Report of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse was released in early 2018. But even before its release, it was already clear that many Anglican organisational structures were not conducive to hearing the vulnerable, and complicitly ignored Jesus’ expe…

Reformer. Activist. “The Red Bishop”. “A Most Meddlesome Priest”. These are just some of the ways that Bishop Ernest Burgmann came to be known in Australia. Passionate and outspoken about social justice and civil rights, his activism strove to awaken Australia from its conservative complacency. In the words of Peter Hempenstall, who published a boo…

Australia was largely colonised by convicts rather than settlers with Christian convictions, which is why it's heartening and surprising to learn how much the Bible has woven its way into the fabric of Australian culture and society. At St Mark's National Theological Centre's 2017 Commencement Lecture, Dr Meredith Lake took us through the many myri…