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Organised, temporary labour migration from the Global South to wealthier countries is a growing and sometimes problematic phenomenon. This article considers Timorese involvement in the Australian Seasonal Workers Program (SWP) in relation to this trend. Drawing primarily on semi‐structured interviews and participant observation undertaken among an interconnected group of 50 Timorese seasonal workers across Australia and Timor‐Leste between 2016 and 2021, we found that geographical and social isolation and limited leisure all proved challenges while working in Australia. In some cases, it appears that the workers were able to lean upon their own social networks and local churches as a way to mitigate these challenges. We argue that, in considering the welfare of workers in temporary migration programs such as the SWP, it is important to be aware of the role played by informal groups that are formally outside the scheme itself. Labour migration from Timor‐Leste to Australia has advantages for both sending and receiving countries but is also fraught with a range of challenges that are as yet unresolved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was designed to understand the interaction between Christian faith and gender incongruence. An anonymous online survey was advertised to the Australian Christian community. Individuals with first-hand experience of transgender issues were eligible to participate. There were 122 eligible responses. This paper describes the experience of the 30 participants experiencing gender incongruence. Persons in the church experiencing gender incongruence desired to hold onto faith. As a result, they experienced a tension between the desire to remain in the church, and the desire to live congruously with their gender, which could lead to expulsion. Strategies to reconcile these two factors varied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The shift by government to contracting of social welfare and human services in Australia in the 1990s raised questions about the possible impacts of not-for-profit agencies becoming financially dependent on government. It was suggested that this move would result in institutional secularisation evidenced in detachment by church-related agencies from their founding bodies and distinctive accounts of mission. This article reports on research that maps the extent of financial dependence of church-related welfare agencies on government and the degree of their (dis)connection to the churches and the Christian tradition after nearly two decades of contracting. The evidence suggests that there is not a necessary and automatic connection between high financial dependence on government and secularisation of church-related agencies. Denominational governance, agency size, along with choices by agency leadership, appear to buffer to varying degrees these impacts of contracting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Religion and spirituality (R/S) can be powerful supports and provide important coping resources for individuals in recovery. Faith communities seem to offer many advantages for recovery-oriented support, but have rarely been the setting for empirically examined psychosocial rehabilitation efforts. This study describes the outcomes for individuals in Living Grace Groups (LGGs), a peer-led group intervention for mental illness that is based in churches and integrates R/S. Persons at all active LGGs were surveyed before and after participation using well-validated scales for recovery, psychiatric symptoms, and spirituality. LGGs attracted individuals with a broad range of persistent psychiatric difficulties, who described religion as important to them and rated the groups as very helpful. Participants reported improvements in recovery and spirituality as well as reductions in psychiatric symptoms. R/S-integrated support groups may improve care by increasing cultural match, as well as providing more access to recovery-oriented care by tapping the resources of faith communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Christian church in Australia faces a challenging mission context. In our secular yet post-secular, post-Christian yet multi-religious society, Christianity is becoming increasingly marginalized. Christianity’s challenge is to rediscover its missional imperative through a process of innovative recalibration that is true to its founding apostolic gospel, and also reflects the ‘new’ cultural context in which it finds itself in 21st-century Australia. This article engages in a missional conversation with Darrell Guder, a seminal thinker in the Gospel and our Culture Network, seeking insights into how the global conversation on mission might apply the Australian context. Guder visited Melbourne, Australia in May–June 2012, during which time he challenged church leaders to rediscover the missional nature of Christianity. His was a summons to the continuing conversion of the Australian church, especially focusing on the need to re-imagine church around mission, reclaim the centrality of evangelism, confront the reductionism of the gospel and foster interdependence among congregations and with the global church. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Starting from the context in which there is an increasing emphasis on ecclesial revitalisation and churchplanting, the analytical model of the Australian National Church Life Survey (NCLS) research is introduced and described in its background and characteristics. The model shows particular interest in a specific church profile which is created based on local church surveys. The article describes the profile, examines the theological concepts and argues for in-depth empirical research in a Dutch context concerning the use of the profile. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this article, the author proposes that Vatican Council II's teaching on the call to holiness can offer a challenge to the widespread assumption among Catholics that God's call belongs only to a select few. The author suggests that a restored and renewed theology of vocation should be considered as an important element within the church's response to serious pastoral situations. The author argues that the leadership of the church in Australia must receive and enact the church's teaching.

What informs members of the church community as they learn? Do the ways people engage with information differ according to the circumstances in which they learn? Informed learning, or the ways in which people use information in the learning experience and the degree to which they are aware of that, has become a focus of contemporary information literacy research. This essay explores the nature of informed learning in the context of the church as a learning community. It is anticipated that insights resulting from this exploration may help church organisations, church leaders and lay people to consider how information can be used to grow faith, develop relationships, manage the church and respond to religious knowledge, which support the pursuit of spiritual wellness and the cultivation of lifelong learning. Information professionals within the church community and the broader information profession are encouraged to foster their awareness of the impact that engagement with information has in the learning experience and in the prioritising of lifelong learning in community contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the significance of 'place' as a theme in ecclesiology in the interests of developing an ecclesial sense of place within my own context of Australian Anglicanism. To talk about ecclesiology is to talk about place, about God's place, about our placement in the world, about how and why our social life operates as it does, about what engenders optimal life enhancing community. From this perspective, place can be a critical concept through which theology, ecclesiology, mission and ministry can be organized and better understood. The primary discipline that has deployed the concept of place is geography. Accordingly, in this article, I consider the theme of place as it is discussed in professional geography and briefly examine some implications for being church and the Anglican Church in particular. This provides the framework for consideration of place within an Australian cultural and ecclesial context. In doing so, I examine the motif of verandah as a depiction of ecclesial place down-under. The key concept of the 'in-between place' to depict a post-colonial way of being church is deployed in order to recover an ecclesial sense of place down-under. Underpinning such an approach is the theological concept of the in-between God. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper sets out to explore how the Australian Catholic Church's perceptions of Mass-going and absenteeism evolved in the mid-to-late nineteenth century. By examining the Lenten pastorals of Archbishop John Polding of Sydney, along with various mission sermons, the paper argues that a decisive shift is discernible after the 1860s. Where previous emphasis had fallen on absenteeism as a breakdown in the individual's relationship with God, later understandings introduced a dominant ecclesial imperative: Catholics who failed to attend Mass were also weakening the Church and effectively aiding hostile secular and Protestant forces arrayed against her. This shift was itself the product of a critical transformation in the field of ecclesiastical discourse as it gravitated inexorably towards more agonistic expressions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A number of North American Wesleyan-Holiness denominations emerged in Australia, beginning in the years following the Second World War. Some of these churches moved from being despised and marginalized sects to established denominations while others remained small and isolated, experiencing little growth. Their story demonstrates that movement along the church-sect continuum is by no means a smooth and inevitable one. Random processes may lower or raise religious tension within the group thus affecting its movement along the continuum. The strict behavioural standards in Wesleyan-Holiness churches have gradually been lowered and the distinctive beliefs of these groups have been eroded. Wesleyan-Holiness churches in Australia have grown primarily through “switchers” from other denominations more than from new convert growth, so that they have become more generically “Evangelical” and less distinctively “Holiness” in their beliefs and practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the potentially positive role churches can play in encouraging public debate and moral reasoning on security matters. In particular, it explores Australian churches' vocal condemnation of Australia's involvement in the Iraq war through examining responses of spokespersons from the three largest Christian churches in Australia, namely Catholic, Anglican and Uniting Churches. It examines three types of reasons given for the condemnation: legal explanations of the lack of a plausible justification for war without UN sanctions; religious and moral reasons that defend peace and reconciliation; and political reasons that a war led by the “Christian West” increases global enmity and the likelihood of terrorism. I situate this analysis within just war theory. I suggest that churches can play an important social role in fostering tolerance, inter-faith dialogue and peace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the values that influence the reflection of Australian Lutheran secondary school principals in addressing ethical dilemmas in their work. Three cases were presented in the study to describe the principals and provide to manifest the reality of the inner world of the account givers. The results of the study shows that substantial additional research is needed before explicating conclusions. The findings provide hints about the way principals ponder on their actions in what they observed as ethical dilemmas. The application of trans-rational values that of significance to the principals show to the church that faith driven beliefs affect the actions of principals. The accounts indicate that the principals have an outlook that God's plans will be the way of life in the schools.

In Australia, the strengthening of marriage through relationship education has received strong governmental policy support and some modest financial support. Couple relationship education services are offered by a variety of community-based, church-affiliated, and church-based providers. There is a strong emphasis on providing programs that are developed locally in response to perceived couple needs and government policies. Available evaluations show that most couples who attend education value the service, but relationship education providers need to do a better job reaching out to couples at high risk for future relationship problems, and more research is needed on the effects of education on long-term marital outcomes. There is significant scope for building on current initiatives to incorporate evidence-based approaches and to expand the program reach to more couples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The period 1976 to 1996 was a period of rapid transition for religious institutions which was marked by decline in attendance at religious services. This paper addresses the issues related to cohabitation of couples prior to marriage and its affect on patterns of religious attendance at Christian churches in Australia. In particular it analyzes how patterns of partnering have changed during this period by comparing patterns of religious attendance of couples in the Australian Family Formation Project, a longitudinal study conducted 1981-1991 by the Australian Institute of Family Studies in Melbourne, Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents perspectives on the demise of the churches in Australia. Reminders of a wider shift in the nature of religious practice and belief across the Western World; Three theological changes that have taken place to create the new spirituality and have precipitated the decline in traditional forms of Christianity; Overview of the interconnectedness of human beings and nature reflects a profound religious naturalism.

The emergence of synods in Australian Anglicanism and their shape flowed in large measure from the social democratic forces at the time and these were for the most part expressed by Anglican lay people. While the Bishops’ conference in 1850 identified the issue of church governance and lay involvement the precise recommendations of the conference were nowhere followed. The popular memory of this process which gives determining influence in shaping the form of church constitution to the theological opinions of the local bishop owes its origins to some key interpretations at the beginning of the twentieth century which were part of the political debate about a national church constitution, a debate which was being argued with theologically shaped rhetoric. The reality in the middle of the nineteenth century was quite different but nonetheless implied a theological perspective which validated the use of contemporary social and political ideas in shaping church structures. In order to secure a model which incorporated the whole church community the synods used the mid nineteenth century parliamentary model. Whether that remains the best model for synods is a question. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on church leavers from Evangelical, Pentecostal and Charismatic churches across New Zealand and parts of Australia. Impact of hurt and anger due to bad leadership or church order on total percentage of people who leave church; Nature of reflective church leavers; Impact of church leavers on their psychological growth.

This paper was prepared as a resource that responds to a hypothesis in the DMin Dissertation/Project Design: “People with disabilities not only constitute a community that makes space for God in the world, but by participating in the act of hospitality as sign and sacrament, will challenge the Church to be such a community by identifying with them.” This paper has been available as a resource to participants in education programs on disability awareness within the Uniting Church in Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Focuses on the debates and divisions the Sisters of Church engendered in Sydney, Australia in the period 1892 to 1893. Summary of the establishment and work of the Sisters of the Church in England; Description of the Church of England in the Australian colonies in the late 1800s; Social problems in Sydney in the 1880s; Difference of the diocese of Sydney in theological outlook and style from the Australasian dioceses.

The article discusses the impact of church closure on popular culture in Australia. Congregations belonging to mainstream Protestant denominations in the inner cities and rural areas of Australia are dwindling in size. When this process continues to point where the maintenance of the building and the servicing of the congregation can no longer be financially justified, the building is usually sold and the congregation disbanded. In the transfer from religious to secular use, ecclesiastical features associated with the building also shift ownership. No longer the prerogative of the church, these features become secularized into the vocabulary of popular culture through the appeal of preserving national heritage. Christian churches are both victims of the secularization process. Desperate to proselytize to an increasingly sceptical and cynical modern world, they embrace useful features of secular society. The formation of the Uniting Church from Methodist, Presbyterian and Congregational denominations in 1977 exacerbated the problem. The new church was faced not only with the common difficulties related to maintaining Christian practice in Australia, but amalgamation meant the properties of three once separate denominations were now under the auspices of one administration. In some suburbs and country towns the Uniting Church could be responsible for three sets of church buildings and at least three separate congregations. According to Eleanor Joan Kerr, church architecture in Australia was determined by tradition, national heritage, personal taste and available finance. In terms of the historical development of church architecture, the Christian ethos was interpreted over generations and embodied in church building.

This article presents information on the Canadian and Australian church unions. Within organized Christianity, as in all social organizations, there are centripetal as well as centrifugal forces, but a glance at any schema of Christian Church history would strongly suggest that schism has been the dominant, if not the only trend. Nonetheless, in the history of Christianity, re-uniting processes were operative, as well, although the results more frequently terminated in fondly-expressed hopes than in actual unions. During the last several centuries and particularly during this century actual reunions and unions have become more numerous. Contemporary sociologists of religion seem to have all but ignored this centripetal development. Perhaps this is so because Western Society has been labeled post-Christian and therefore secularization appears to be more relevant. Whatever the reasons might be, the relatively rich body of sociological literature on both schism and secularization is in contrast to the paucity of works on church unions.

This article focuses on the religious scene from three perspectives that concern Australian churches. The scientific observers of religion in a variety of disciplines have allegedly succumbed to similar temptations. Karl Marx in economic history, Friedrich Nietzsche in philosophy, Sigmund Freud in psychology, Emile Durkheim in sociology were often right in what they had to say about religion in general and Christianity in particular, but wrong and unscientific in presupposing that their analysis had been comprehensive. Christianity has often been more than a response to specific social needs, or the sediment of psychological functions. It has at times both defended the status quo to the detriment of the disprivileged and risked innovation without consideration of power and status. The difference between the function of the Christian religion and in pre-industrial times is that it does not penetrate into all the facts of living, integrating existence in the process. The Australian society has allegedly become complex that religion has become an item in such a complexity rather than the unifying element for it. Most people are experts in one aspect of the social machinery. Often the security of livelihood ad standard of living depend on the capacity to meet the utilitarian demand of the society.

The article offers information on The Year of Grace, the Australian Catholic Church, and the issues like the interrelationship between God and Man, the Church and the world, and sexuality and the Original Sin. The author talks about humanity's attempts at understanding the concept of Grace and the importance of being open to change in accepting values and ways of thinking. The article discusses the role of Grace in sexuality and human relationships.