Online resources
This is a selection of online resources that may be useful or of interest. If you have a specific need or question then feel free to contact the St Andrew's minister.
Connections Uniting Care Victoria (video)
Introductory video for Connections Uniting Care, a provider of child, youth and family services in Victoria.
Their website is www.connections.org.au.
Bishop Spong talks at the "Future of the Progressive Church" conference (video)
Bishop John Shelby Spong spoke at the"Future of the Progressive Church" conference held on August 3, 2013 at the Community Christian Church in Springfield, Missouri. In his first lecture, "Why Christianity as We Know It is Dying", Bishop Spong sets out why he believes the current message of the church needs to change.
In Bishop Spong's second lecture, "What a New Christianity for a New World will Contain", he describes how he believes the church can be more true to the original Jesus message of love, inclusiveness and living life in all its fullness.
John Shelby Spong is a retired American bishop of the Episcopal Church. More information on Bishop Spong can be found on his website or in this Wikipedia article.
Val Webb’s talk at the Common Dreams conference held in Melbourne, April 2010 (video)
Dr Val Webb is a theologian and author living in Mudgee, New South Wales.
"[Val Webb] represents a growing acceptance of the female voice in the realm of Christian theology which, until very recently, was dominated by ordained men. Though women are still in the minority, increasingly they are stepping up and making themselves heard.
[This interview] was recorded at the Common Dreams conference for religious progressives held in April at St Kilda Town Hall in Melbourne. She talks about our troubled modern times providing an opportunity for renewal of religion, the need for all believers to start 'doing' their own theology, and a new openness in recognising revelation in other religions. " (Peter Kirkwood, eurekastreet.com.au).
More information on this interview can be found at http://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=22173
Dr Webb's website is at http://www.valwebb.com.au/
The Most Pressing Issue Facing Humanity--John Dominic Crossan (video)
In this excerpt from Living the Questions 2.0, New Testament scholar John Dominic Crossan discusses the most pressing issue facing humanity: violence.
In this further interview from 2012 by Peter Kirkwood of Eureka Street, John Dominic Crossan addresses the question "Is God violent?" and the implications for Christians. The video includes excerpts from Professor Crossan's 2012 lecture at Sydney's Pitt Street Uniting Church entitled 'Is God violent? How to read the Christian Bible and still be a Christian.'
The full article by Peter Kirkwood may be found in the Eureka Street online publication.
John Dominic Crossan is Emeritus Professor of Religious Studies at DePaul University, Chicago, Illinois. More information on Professor Crossan can be found in this Wikipedia article or on his website.
The Birth of Christianity: John Dominic Crossan (audio)
"Is my search for the historical Jesus a threat to faith? Or does it help make faith a possibility for modern men and women?"
In this radio interview, Professor John Dominic Crossan discusses the book “The first Christmas: what the Gospels really teach about Jesus's birth” that he cowrote with Marcus Borg and the historical context of the Jesus narratives.
The interview is in three parts.
John Dominic Crossan is Emeritus Professor of Religious Studies at DePaul University, Chicago, Illinois. More information on Professor Crossan can be found in this Wikipedia article or on his website.
Lloyd Geering talks on "Religion, nature and our future" (video)
Professor Lloyd Geering is a retired New Zealand theologian. In this interview, Professor Geering discusses our relationship with nature and with each other, and the particular challenges facing the human race in the 21st century.
A starting point for more information on Lloyd Geering is this Wikipedia article.
Bishop Spong talks on "On Heaven, Hell and Spiritual Adulthood" (video)
Recent interview clip from Bishop John Spong.
From the Youtube description, "John Shelby Spong is a retired American bishop of the Episcopal Church. He is a liberal theologian, religion commentator and author. He calls for a fundamental rethinking of Christian belief away from theism and from traditional doctrines. In this clip, he discusses the concept of hell and the role the church has played in keeping it's followers childlike."
More information on Bishop Spong can be found on his website or in this Wikipedia article.