Conference of the St Andrew’s Trust for the Study of Religion and Society
The St Andrew’s Trust for the Study of Religion and Society finishes its 2017 programme with a mini-conference on the Courage to Act on 3 and 4 November.
The dates mark 50 years since Lloyd Geering faced censure for speaking out on progressive beliefs about Christianity. Commonly known as the last man in New Zealand to face a heresy trial Professor Sir Lloyd Geering is a New Zealand theologian and one of only 20 members of the prestigious Order of New Zealand. His views are now well-established amongst progressive Christians but the purpose of the conference is to revisit the legacy of those momentous and conflicted times for the Presbyterian Church and to examine the contemporary context for courage and spiritual life and to examine how it is expressed 50 years later including examining the opportunities for people of different and no faith to work together.
Sir Lloyd’s views, which at that time were beginning to be well understood by theologians, were nonetheless thought to be shocking to share with lay members of church communities. For many years Lloyd has been the Principal Lecturer at St Andrew’s Trust for the Study of Religion and Society and he recounted his subsequent appearance at the General Assembly in Dunedin as follows:
And so on Friday, November 3rd 1967, I was called to the Bar of the House – the General Assembly turns itself into a court of law at this stage – where I heard the charges being expounded by my accusers. There was an electric air of expectancy. More than a thousand people had packed into the church, with an overflow into the hall. The lamps of the television crews served only to increase the heat.
On Monday I answered the charges, addressing the Assembly for an hour and a half. After lunch came the debate. But before there had been very much time for any adequate discussion of the real issues, a motion was put to the House, and later carried firmly on the voices – and it said that “the Assembly judges that no doctrinal error has been established, dismisses the charges and declares the case closed”.
Sir Lloyd will be joined by others who can speak of what makes for courageous action in 2017. Professor Hal Taussig is a post-modern theologian and pastor based in the USA who has compiled a new new testament. He and Wellington based speakers Zen Peacemaker Dr Ros Jiko, Science commincator and founde of Wellington’s Not Church’s Dr Elizabeth Connor and Christian entrepreneurs Guy Ryan and Scottie Reeve will explore multiple perspectives of The Courage to Act and on Saturday Wellington Group the Song Snatchers will entertain us.
Booking
Click HERE to download a printable registration form.
Click HERE for a printable version of the flyer.
You can also email your registration to admin@satrs.org.nz with the following details:
Name, # attending Friday, # attending Saturday and if you have paid your registration into Kiwibank 38-9012-0627557-00 or if you wish to pay on the day (Cash, Chq, Credit/Debit card accepted)
Speakers: Friday
An excerpt from the film The Last Western Heretic
Address by Professor Sir Lloyd Geering Being tried – A testing of courage
Professor Sir Lloyd Geering was born in Canterbury in 1918 and educated in Otago. He holds Honours degrees in Mathematics and Old Testament Language and Literature. Ordained as a Presbyterian minister, he served in Kurow, Dunedin and Wellington. He held Chairs of Old Testament Studies at theological colleges in Brisbane and Dunedin before being appointed as the foundation Professor of Religious Studies at Victoria University of Wellington from where he retired in 1984. He has been the principal lecturer for the St Andrew’s Trust since its inception and has endorsed the idea of this anniversary conference focussing on contemporary courage.
Professor Hal Taussig is a post-modern theologian and pastor. He celebrates the vitality of pluralistic Catholic and Protestant communities in North America, and works energetically to expand their spiritual and intellectual reaches. His professorial career has featured experimental and humor-filled masters and Ph.D. level instruction in New Testament and early Christianity for 17 years at the Union Theological Seminary in New York City and more than a decade in Roman Catholic colleges and universities as Professor of Bible.
Speakers Saturday 4 November
9:30 Hal Taussig The New Testament, an exercise in academic courage
Dr Elizabeth (Loo) Connor has always felt compelled to discover common ground between world views, religions and science. After many years of dreaming she has finally started an experiment along these lines. It’s called notChurch – a Sunday gathering in her garage with the aim of discovering new forms and language for spirituality in our time.
Rev Dr. Rosalind Jiko has recently returned to live in New Zealand after 20 years in the US. There she was a monastic for 10 years before serving in social action as an ordained interfaith Zen Peacemaker. Previously she was a biological and medical researcher in the UK
Guy Ryan is an entrepreneur, leader and speaker.
He was awarded Young New Zealander of the Year in 2015, and in the same year was invited to speak at the Social Enterprise World Forum alongside Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus. He has served on boards and strategic groups advising government and business, and has spoken internationally and at home to more than 25,000 people. Questions like: What if Jesus didn’t call us to just a more comfortable, popular and successful life? What if the promises of upward mobility and accumulation actually stand at odds with the way he invited us to? What if we’ve just used Christ to just get what we wanted all along anyway?
Scottie Reeve leads the Blueprint Church in Wellington, New Zealand with his wife Anna. Prior to this they spent 9 years working with young people through Zeal, a nationwide creative arts trust. Scottie is an ordained Deacon in the Anglican Church and a Social Entrepreneur, having launched two espresso bars in downtown Wellington which exist for the purpose of employing young people into their first jobs.
His recent book Twenty-One Elephants is about what we all know to be true, but are too scared to admit. It’s about a whole-of-life spirituality that messes with our relationships, reputation, families, money and living situations. It’s about the darkness of our world and the darkness within. It’s about the joy and the grief of embracing the reckless way of Jesus.
To register
You can register your interest or register on the day or reserve a place.
Click HERE to download a printable registration form.
Click HERE for a printable version of the flyer.
You can also email your registration to admin@satrs.org.nz with the following details:
Name, # attending Friday, # attending Saturday and if you have paid your registration into Kiwibank 38-9012-0627557-00 or if you wish to pay on the day (Cash, Chq, Credit/Debit card accepted)
Programme:
6:30 Registrations open, Tea & Coffee available
7:00 Welcome & Introduction
7:20 Excerpt from The Last Western Heretic
7:40 Lloyd’s reflections Being tried – A testing of courage
8:00 Discussion
8:15 Hal Taussig reflections Being accused – A testing of courage
8:35 Discussion
9:00 End
Saturday 9:30 am – 3:00pm – Courage to Act
Programme:
9:00 Registrations open, Tea & Coffee available
9:15 Welcome & Introductions
9:30 Hal Taussig The New Testament, an exercise in academic courage
10:10 Introduction/Integration from last night to today
10:20 Morning Tea
10:50 Dr Elizabeth (Loo) Connor
11:20 Discussion
11:40 Dr Rosalind McIntosh
12:10 Discussion
12;30 Lunch in the Hall
1:30 The Song Snatchers begin in the hall and Pied Piper us into the church
2:00 Guy Ryan and young social entrepreneurs
3:30 Finish
To register
Click HERE to download a printable registration form.
Click HERE for a printable version of the flyer.
You can also email your registration to admin@satrs.org.nz with the following details:
Name, # attending Friday, # attending Saturday and if you have paid your registration into Kiwibank 38-9012-0627557-00 or if you wish to pay on the day (Cash, Chq, Credit/Debit card accepted)
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