Conference Details
The conference will be held in the
peaceful surroundings of St Joseph’s
Centre for Spirituality at Baulkham Hills
in Sydney’s west.
The conference is open to all Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander people.
It runs from the evening of Monday 21st
March and finishes at lunchtime on Friday 25th March.
Registration forms can be found at
http://www.ncca.org.au/departments/
natsiec/theology/christ-and-culture
Ar twork by Glor ia Leigh
Gloria Leigh (nee Riley) is a Wiradjuri
Elder and will speak at the conference
about her artwork. The artwork represents the coming together and sharing of
spirituality and faith of different cultures
and their understanding of BiameeGod. There are two people of different
cultures touching the Holy Cross, showing that our beliefs can be shared together. The many faint dots are people
coming forth to the Cross and the eyelashes show that there are many times in
our life that our eyes are closed, in
prayer, thoughts, dreams, sleep and how
God our Holy Father is in our presence at
these times.
Public Seminars
NATIONAL ABORIGINAL AND
TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER
ECUMENICAL COMMISSION
Dr. Reddie will hold a series of public forums and seminars
which are open to all.
These events will appeal to those interested in exploring
topics such as Whiteness, power and Black theology. They
will also be of interest to those interested in hearing Dr.
Reddie talk about his work as a practical Black theologian.
Dates and locations for forums in Sydney, Brisbane and
Melbourne can be found on our website at
http://www.ncca.org.au/departments/natsiec/theology/
christ-and-culture
Christ and Culture:
Mother Tongue
Theologising
NATSIEC would like to acknowledge and thank
the Australian Research Theology Foundation Inc.
for providing financial support for the conference.
www.artfinc.org.au
The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Ecumenical Commission (NATSIEC) is the peak
ecumenical Indigenous body in Australia. It is a
commission of the National Council of Churches in Australia (NCCA).
With NATSIEC’s guidance, the churches are working
together for a fair deal for Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander Australians, and for the healing of our nation.
© Gloria Leigh. Used with permission.
CONFERENCE
MARCH 21ST—25TH 2011
NATIONAL ABORIGINAL AND TORRES
STRAIT ISLANDER ECUMENICAL
COMMISSION
Locked Bag 199
Queen Victoria Building, NSW, 1230
Phone: 02 9299 2215
Fax: 02 9262 4514
E-mail: [email protected]
BAULKHAM HILLS,
SYDNEY, NSW
Chr ist and Culture:
Mother Tongue
Theolog ising
The third Christ and
Culture Conference
will be facilitated by
renowned expert in
Black Theology Dr.
Anthony G. Reddie.
Dr. Reddie is the
Research Fellow
Black Theology for
The Queen’s Foundation for Ecumenical Theological Education. Dr. Reddie is the
leading scholar in the practice of Black theology in grassroots communities of faithful
practice. He is a specialist in using educational methodology and grassroots work on
conscientization and formation in order to
create a more praxis driven and practical
approach to Black theology that impacts on
communities of faith (particularly churches)
in order to empower ordinary people. Dr.
Reddie has published several books and numerous essays and articles, in addition to
more popular material that is often eschewed
by conventional theological scholars. Dr.
Reddie is also a Methodist Local Preacher.
Please note: This conference is open to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People
only. For details about public events please
see our website
Conference themes
How do we develop a theology that speaks
to the God we know and the God in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and
contexts? This question is at the core of the
conference as we strive to develop a “mother
tongue” theology which is immersed in our
understanding of the world; developed, understood and explored through the lens of
our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
cultures. Throughout the conference there
will be a focus on contextualising and rereading scripture from an Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander perspective. Anthony
Reddie will introduce us to a variety of participatory exercises to facilitate this exploration and learning.
The three sub themes we will explore
through the week are:
1. Identity
At previous Christ and Culture conferences
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participants identified experiencing a lack of respect and support from the non-Indigenous
Church. We often hear of experiences which
show a lack of respect for ordained Indigenous people as well as for cultural protocols
and cultural expressions of Church. There is
also often a lack of dialogue and communication between Indigenous and non-Indigenous
Church, as well as a feeling of tokenism.
Often people say “we don’t belong” and recall
the words of Pope John Paul II who said:
And the Church herself in Australia will not be fully
the Church that Jesus wants her to be until you have
made your contribution to her life and until that
contribution has been joyfully received by others.
So what is the contribution of Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander peoples to the Church,
and what does it mean to belong? What is the
“Indigenous Church”? How is it different to
White/European dominated Church culture
and what will it look and feel like when Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are
joyfully received.
2. Critical Bible reading.
Another outcome from previous Christ and
Culture conferences is a call for “fresh expressions of the Gospel”. Anthony will help us to
explore our relationship to the Bible. During
this conference we will examine how we can
critically read and reinterpret the Bible as
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
We will explore ways to incorporate our cultural stories and beliefs into our interpretation
and telling of biblical stories.
3. What is the missiological task?
Finally, we will be exploring how Indigenous
theology connects with the realities of every
day life for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. What are we called to do?
What actions do we need to take?