Seminary of the 3rd Age

Across twenty years of ministry, Jason John has been an Ecominister, and an Earth Advocate in the Uniting Church, and the Climate spokesperson for Common Grace. The names change, but his call remains to collaborate to help the church explore the implications of our faith in a Creator for our relationship with the rest of Creation, and in encouraging all people to live as better members of the Earth family. His studies are in zoology and theology, leading to a PhD and some books on the implications of evolution, ecology and environmentalism for the Christian story, especially in rescuing us from our human-centred theology.

Jason currently works for Landcare in Bellingen, NSW, pursuing a secular equivalent to his earlier ministry, whilst trying with some friends to persuade the wider church to support a ministry in, with and for the forests and their defenders. On the side, he performs and occasionally organises and tutors poetry, having taken third place in the Australian Poetry Slam in 2019.

The Environmental Action Group, in association with Seminary of the 3rd Age, will present the fourth module in their Eco-theology program, Our Place in Creation. This module is on Women’s perspectives on Creation Care. The session will be introduced by the series’ coordinator, Jason John, via Zoom from NSW.

There will be opportunity for questions, discussion and feedback.

Before becoming a minister in the Uniting Church, Marion had been a teacher working mainly with refugees whilst also raising two sons with her husband, Martin in Perth. Growing up on the edge of Dartmoor and Birmingham respectively, they had met whilst she was at university in Hull studying geography and had migrated to WA not long after getting married.

Her mid-nineties call to ministry as a deacon saw Marion undertake a Bachelor of Divinity degree whilst also becoming the WA representative on the Uniting Church’s Commission on Women and Men (later called Gospel and Gender). Her first placement involved two half-time roles as minister to a congregation and as chaplain in a Perth prison. She also became much involved in prison reform.

Her last placement was as WA Presbytery’s associate general secretary (pastoral) which involved travelling across WA, sometimes accompanied by her ever patient husband Martin. Unfortunately he was starting down the Alzheimer’s track, so Marion retired early. With his death and their family having flown the coop to finally settle in Adelaide, she decided it was time to migrate east too and has been in SA over two and half years now. Marion enjoys living in a retirement village at Seaford, especially because the countryside nearby reminds her of Devon’s rolling hill with the added bonus of vineyards!

Three key questions underpinning this presentation are:

• Why has the mystery that we call ‘God’ been written in masculine cipher for so long?
• What has this imaging of God done to and for social constructs?
• Is there a divine face in the Bible that a female can relate to out of her own experience?

This presentation is not about taking an anti-male stance; rather it will look firstly at theological descriptors and biblical metaphors that reflect the female experience in the world and secondly at what the great psychologist Carl Jung terms ‘the feminine function’ as a way of thinking that applies to both women and men.

Across twenty years of ministry, Jason John has been an Ecominister, and an Earth Advocate in the Uniting Church, and the Climate spokesperson for Common Grace. The names change, but his call remains to collaborate to help the church explore the implications of our faith in a Creator for our relationship with the rest of Creation, and in encouraging all people to live as better members of the Earth family. His studies are in zoology and theology, leading to a PhD and some books on the implications of evolution, ecology and environmentalism for the Christian story, especially in rescuing us from our human-centred theology.

Jason currently works for Landcare in Bellingen, NSW, pursuing a secular equivalent to his earlier ministry, whilst trying with some friends to persuade the wider church to support a ministry in, with and for the forests and their defenders. On the side, he performs and occasionally organises and tutors poetry, having taken third place in the Australian Poetry Slam in 2019.

Considering the terrible damage being done to the natural world by us humans what is the proper place of humankind in Creation? What can we learn from our First Nations people on how to care for the Earth?

The Environmental Action Group, in association with Seminary of the 3rd Age, will present the third module in their Eco-theology program, Our Place in Creation. This module is on First Nations’ perspectives on Caring for Country. The session will be introduced by the series’ coordinator, Jason John, via Zoom from NSW. We will watch and reflect on two videos, one by Auntie Denise Champion addressing indigenous views of how First Nations’ people relate to Country and another by Jesse Size on the suffering of the earth and of the indigenous people in Australia.

There will be opportunity for questions, discussion and feedback.

Max is an accredited Lay Preacher in the Uniting Church, and Convener of the Lay Preachers’ Committees in SA and nationally. As a preacher and worship leader, he has a concern for how the practice of prayer in worship has the potential to enhance, but also derail, worship for people of “progressive” disposition. He holds a similar concern about the traditional Creeds of the Church.

After graduating from the Adelaide Teachers’ College and University of Adelaide, Max began a teaching career involving foreign languages, maths, and work as a Teacher-Librarian. He left paid employment early and undertook degree studies in theology, during which time he also took on a number of volunteering roles.

Max is married to Maureen. Together they are active in their local Uniting Church congregation, and in the wider church. He enjoys listening to music – most kinds; keeps an eye on developments in scientific areas at the “consumer” level; and indulges in a bit of photography.

Max’s presentations on 10 and 17 August will explore two related questions:

• Why do we bother with these two traditional worship practices?
• How can they be made more meaningful and relevant to worship in the 21st Century?

Peter’s placement is with Uniting Communities where he works on advocacy topics including reconciliation. He is currently seconded to Flinders University three days a week where he is investigating the impact of artificial intelligence and data on disadvantaged people.  Peter is currently the Chair of the Presbytery of Southern SA.

Peter is married to Kathryn and has two daughters, one who lives at home, the other in Canberra. He is a keen gardener with 20 fruit trees in his backyard, he volunteers for Sea Rescue and is a key support for his parents as his father suffers from dementia.

A number of social factors have shaped the growth of the social service sector and within that the growth of church agencies since the Whitlam government. What are the key factors which now shape the social service agencies?

What is the state of the relationship between agencies, the synod and our congregations?

Where once Synod had an active advocacy unit, this function is now found in our agencies. Is this good public policy or just industry lobbying?

And are they able to grapple with the rise of artificial intelligence as it begins to trap people in poverty?

Rev Peter McDonald has worked for one of these agencies for nearly 20 years, and will welcome lively discussion on the questions posed in his presentation.

Across twenty years of ministry, Jason John has been an Ecominister, and an Earth Advocate in the Uniting Church, and the Climate spokesperson for Common Grace. The names change, but his call remains to collaborate to help the church explore the implications of our faith in a Creator for our relationship with the rest of Creation, and in encouraging all people to live as better members of the Earth family. His studies are in zoology and theology, leading to a PhD and some books on the implications of evolution, ecology and environmentalism for the Christian story, especially in rescuing us from our human-centred theology.

Jason currently works for Landcare in Bellingen, NSW, pursuing a secular equivalent to his earlier ministry, whilst trying with some friends to persuade the wider church to support a ministry in, with and for the forests and their defenders. On the side, he performs and occasionally organises and tutors poetry, having taken third place in the Australian Poetry Slam in 2019.

What’s with all this stuff?! Do we possess possessions, or do possessions possess us?

Join us as we seek visions of hope for the Earth, while listening to the Story of Stuff, and the Story of Solutions. Stories are central to our faith. Who are we? Who is God, Jesus, the Earth? Was Jesus a game changer. Can the game of Life change? What are the rules, and what does winning look like? How can we live great lives, sustainably? What is a great life?

A mixture of video input, live facilitation, group discussion and plenaries will help us at least start to answer these questions and more, for ourselves, and for humanity.

Bob Kempe is a great-grandson of one of the first missionaries who established Hermannsburg in Central Australia. He is a retired Lutheran pastor and an emeritus lecturer at the Australian Lutheran College. In that role, he served for ten years as the co-ordinator of the Aboriginal Pastoral Training program for the Lutheran Church of Australia. For the past five years he has headed a project to translate from German into English all of the available reports of the first missionaries to Hermannsburg (1875 – 1892). In the process he has developed a deep appreciation of the challenges and complexities involved in the meeting of Whites and Aboriginal people.

This talk takes a look at what happened when the first missionaries encountered the Arrernte people on the Finke River in Hermannsburg, Central Australia. From the Whites’ point of view the experience was about missionaries coming to the rescue of the Aboriginal people. It was about conversion. From the Aboriginal point of view, the experience was very much about invasion and colonisation. Where, if at all, might those two views reconcile?

Across twenty years of ministry, Jason John has been an Ecominister, and an Earth Advocate in the Uniting Church, and the Climate spokesperson for Common Grace. The names change, but his call remains to collaborate to help the church explore the implications of our faith in a Creator for our relationship with the rest of Creation, and in encouraging all people to live as better members of the Earth family. His studies are in zoology and theology, leading to a PhD and some books on the implications of evolution, ecology and environmentalism for the Christian story, especially in rescuing us from our human-centred theology.

Jason currently works for Landcare in Bellingen, NSW, pursuing a secular equivalent to his earlier ministry, whilst trying with some friends to persuade the wider church to support a ministry in, with and for the forests and their defenders. On the side, he performs and occasionally organises and tutors poetry, having taken third place in the Australian Poetry Slam in 2019.

What began as an idea for a covid-era online study, has evolved into an exciting combination of video resources and face:face small group discussion.  The Uniting Church’s Environmental Action Group (EAG), and Jason, are collaborating to produce this four module, ecumenical study for church members who are yet to engage deeply with what it means to be disciples at this time of ecological crisis.  Who are we as humans, and Christians?  What do we hear when we listen to Scripture, and science, and the Earth itself?  How do the voices of the First Australians, and women, challenge the often male dominated, western version of Christianity we inherited in Australia?

In a twist on our usual format, participants at Sem 3A on March 2nd will be invited to road test the draft of the first module, and to offer feedback to help improve the final version.  Come and help the EAG more effectively engage the engageable, in their mission to serve and protect God’s garden and our Earth family.

Cheryl is a proud Narungga Woman who is passionate about improving the quality of life for her people. Cheryl has spent the last 40 years working within the Aboriginal community, Federal Government and South Australian Government to improve the lives of First Nations peoples. She has experience working within the Aboriginal community sector, law and justice, women’s issues, family violence, youth justice, child and family services and is currently Head of Aboriginal Housing with the SA Housing Authority. Cheryl is committed to influencing positive change and outcomes for Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander peoples.

In her presentation, Cheryl will draw on her extensive experiences in her previous role as CEO of the Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement, as National Co-chair of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services, and National Co-chair of Change the Record, campaigning to end the incarceration and family violence against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Cheryl is committed to promoting the self determination of her people and strongly opposing any forced Interventions – including income management, or any initiative that contravenes basic Human Rights principles.  She has a dream where Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Australians are treated with respect & dignity, enjoy a life without racism, enjoy a longer life expectancy, have real jobs, live a life without poverty, have stable and affordable housing, access to quality education and are empowered to make all their own decisions.