This is the supplementary statement of faith of the Australian Evangelical Alliance, as found at Ethos. We worship the only God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit, whose creative, outgoing love overflowed from the divine community to create the universe and who calls us to share in eternal life […]
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
From time to time I read Jayson Georges’ blog Honorshame.com as a way of working my cultural anthropology skills. We have often used the three cultural paradigms – guilt, shame and fear – in order to unpack differences between Tanzania and Australia, and the way theology comes to bear on […]
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
I. In some American circles there’s a hubbub about Rod Dreher’s Benedict Option, and some Australians are interested. Stephen McAlpine, a pastor in Perth, seems to see the Benedict Option as the standout example of faithful communitarian vision, or maybe as an umbrella term for such. To my mind, the […]
Estimated reading time: 7 minutes
No, 2015 is not a typo, it’s just that things got seriously out of whack during our 12 months of transition. Here are five more stories that have especially stayed with me. (See the previous list here…) The Natural Way of Things (Charlotte Wood, 2015) This Stella Prize winner first […]
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
I like the way Christianity lingers in the December experience of every Australian. I’d be really sad to see it go. But I do know that it is only on the periphery for many people… It would be so much more satisfying if the deeper meaning of Christmas could surface […]
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
I read a brilliant article the other day about the question, ‘But, is it safe?’ We’re getting this question all the time as we prepare to go back to Tanzania. At one level I think people are probably just asking, ‘is there a war on there?’ because that’s the common portrayal […]
Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
When it comes to the environment, Australia can be a confusing environment. We know Australia is a place of both abundance and fragility. Solar energy is readily available at the neighbourhood level, and we’re pretty sensitive about water use — suburban Adelaide has had good water restrictions in place almost […]
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes