Australian Missiology Conference 2005

Paul writes - A great friend, Andrew Shepherd, gave an address late last month at the Australian Missiology Conference ("Re-imaging God and Mission within Australian Cultures"). His paper was entitled: An Algerian and Aotearoa: Global ‘Aliens and Strangers’ and the Ethic of Hospitality.

It is available online here, in full, only during the month of October. Click on “Abstracts and papers S-Z.” Scroll down until you find his name.

The purpose of the conference was to encourage new approaches to Christian mission. Plenary addresses (including addresses by Stephen Bevans, David Tacey, and New Zealand’s Cathy Ross) will be published in 12 months time – the editor will be Ross Langmead.

Many themes came through frequently, including these:

• Listening before speaking.
• Engaging with those around us in daily lifestyle for the sake of transformation
  ("incarnational mission").
• Loving people into new life.
• New ways of gathering as church.
• Dialogue with those of other faiths.
• Mission as conversation.
• Taking the Australian context seriously.
• Reconciliation between Indigenous and non-indigenous people as critical to Australia's soul.
• Responding creatively to the common attitude encapsulated by the slogan "Yes to Jesus but No to the church" (see my post yesterday for more on this slogan).
• Developing a public theology and re-framing our God-talk in fresh metaphors.

The opening keynote speaker, Professor Stephen Bevans SVD (from Chicago Theological Union) set the scene by suggesting that all revelation and talk of God is inspired by imagination and metaphor, and that seeking fresh metaphors is needed for every context. He explored the ideas of God as dance, as stranger and as persistent widow (Luke 18). He encouraged those present to re-imagine God and mission, emphasising that our view of God is intimately connected to the way we join the mission of God.

Dr David Tacey (Associate Professor of English at Latrobe University) said that younger people are interested in spirituality but not religion because religion had neglected its spiritual heritage. He suggested that we need to stop preaching the Word of God to people and start listening for the Word in other people. The faith journey is really a mystical journey of interiority, opening our spirit to the Spirit of God.

Dr Cathy Ross (newly Mission Interchange Advisor with the Church Mission Society in London, but until recently leader of the Aotearoa New Zealand Association for Mission Studies) also addressed educating for contextual mission. She noted that Western males still occupy the main stage in theological education and that it is often conducted as if one approach fits all, whereas taking context seriously turns our educational methods on their heads. Cathy explored in challenging terms what it means for the four themes of mutuality, solidarity, marginality and hospitality and the stranger to permeate mission education.

You can find a report on the conference and Andrew’s paper here – use the menu (“downloads” for Andrew’s paper). Lot’s of other good papers too – see under “abstracts and papers”.

Comments

[erickeck]

what a cool conference!

[Sivin Kit]

this looks really exciting!