The cross, with its power to heal and save from sin, lies at the heart of Christian faith and life. Yet that message has been awkward in the context of disability. The fact that disability and sin often appear together in Scripture, as well as assumptions about them in some healing ministries, have left people with disabilities feeling like outsiders to the gospel. This tension is perhaps also why the growing field of disability theology has not so far grappled more closely with God’s work of atonement through Jesus at the cross. The lecture draws on insights from disability theology and explores whether it is possible to have an account of the atonement, and of healing, that is genuinely inclusive and does not conflate disability and sin. It also asks whether in that way the cross, rather than being a source of tension, could become the best foundation for the continued development of a distinctively Christian theology of disability.
An Australian First
In 2021, Whitley College will host an Australian first for the British Whitley Lecture. Whilst COVID restrictions make it impossible to host this year’s Whitley Lecturer, Rev Dr David McLachlan, in-person, technology enables us to proceed with the event: on Monday the 23rd of August from 6pm (AEST), Dr McLachlan will join us via Zoom to present “Does this Cross Have Disabled Access?” Dr McLachlan’s presentation will be followed by an Australian response from Dr Shane Clifton, with questions and discussion from participants to follow.
For further information, please email Whitley College’s Director of Research, Darrell Jackson, on djackson@whitley.edu.au
Rev Dr David McLachlan BA, BD, MTh, PhD
David McLachlan trained and worked as a Baptist minister from 2003, following a career in London. He was pastor of Dormansland Baptist Church in Surrey, where he was involved for many years as a governor of Young Epilepsy, an organisation providing education, accommodation and care for young people with complex neurological conditions. More recently, David has been an associate lecturer at Spurgeons College in London, teaching ministry students. There, he has also been researching the theology of disability since 2013, completing his PhD in 2018. The lecture draws on some of that work. David is married to Mary (also a Baptist minister) and they have four grown-up children. His more active hobbies include climbing, surfing and music.
Dr Shane Clifton
Dr Shane Clifton is honorary Professor at the Centre for Disability Research and Policy at the University of Sydney and Assistant Director of Research at the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability. He was formerly Professor of theology and ethics at Alphacrucis College. He is a quadriplegic and passionate advocate for disability inclusion and flourishing.
The Whitley Lecture
The Whitley Lecture highlights emerging scholarship that draws upon over 400 years of Baptist scholarship in the British Isles. The Whitley lecture has also been delivered by theologians and scholars from other Christian traditions. This will be the first time that the Whitley Lecture is delivered in Australia, as part of an annual cycle that until now has been restricted to venues in the British Isles.
Register Now
Kirsteen Kim (PhD, Birmingham) holds the Paul E. Pierson Chair in World Christianity at Fuller Theological Seminary, California, where she also serves as associate Dean for the Center for Missiological Research.
A native of Britain, her theological and missiological inspiration comes from living in South Korea and India, and other significant intercultural experience. She was the research coordinator for the Edinburgh 2010 project and vice moderator of the World Council of Churches’ Commission on World Mission and Evangelism.
Among her many publications, Joining in with the Spirit (SCM, 2012) is an introduction to mission studies. A monograph on theology of mission and a handbook on mission studies are currently with the respective publishers.
Event Details & Registration
This event will be held in-person at Whitley College, and online via Zoom, from 11am to 12.30pm on Friday, 2 July, 2021.
To register for this FREE event, please email xyang@whitley.edu.au. A Zoom Link will be provided for each person registering before 28th June 2021
Treaty and Covenant: Creating Space for Hope
Whether it was Indigenous peoples of North America, Central and South America, the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand or elsewhere in the globe, who received early Dutch, English, French, Spanish or other European explorers, there were well-established treaty making or similar traditions that guided their responses to the newcomers to their lands. These treaty traditions were encoded in wampum belts and the oral traditions of the various peoples and served as a template for new sacred agreements with these European nations.
European explorers, in turn, came from a Christian heritage that articulated the ideas of covenant and testament, ideas akin to Indigenous treaty making traditions. Each nation, whether Indigenous or European, had a unique understanding of sacred ‘relationship-making’ institutions and ceremonies, reflecting its special genius. A recognition that treaties, covenants, and testaments are the most sacred and binding of community and individual agreements witnessed by the Creator or God, as each nation conceived of her/him/they/it, was a commonality that should have portended peaceful possibilities of new relationship.
The failure to connect in this way, as a meeting of fundamentally differing national philosophies, spiritualties, or frames of reference underlies the failure to achieve the Haudenosaunee Kayanerekowa (Great Peace), the Māori notions of Te Tatau Pounamu (The Greenstone Door) and Hohou-rongo, the Cherokee Nvwatohiyadv (Harmony Way), the Australian Indigenous understanding of Makarrata (The Coming Together) or the Lakota Cangleska Wakan (Sacred Hoop). These treaty/covenant/testament making traditions still stand as therapeutic, healing processes in today’s polarized and fractious societies. Together, they testify to the intention of the Creator of all things – that is to say the renewal of all of creation through the Christ.
Explorations, rediscoveries, and experiences of the implementation of these ancient relationship-making processes are the theme of the NAIITS 2021 Symposium.
Register here.
About NAIITS
NAIITS: An Indigenous Learning Community is dedicated to working together with Indigenous communities in the development and articulation of Indigenous perspectives in theology and practice. NAIITS is one of two divisions of Indigenous Pathways, a non-sectarian organization dedicated to working together with the Indigenous community to develop and articulate Indigenous perspectives in theology and practice. We encourage Indigenous learning styles and world views in our instruction as we facilitate the development of a body of written work addressing biblical, theological, and ethical issues from within Native North American and other Indigenous perspectives. We do so in concert with partners of other ethnicities whom we have invited to speak into this context. NAIITS currently has five degree program partnerships offering undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate programs.
For information about studying with NAIITS, visit https://www.whitley.edu.au/study/specialist-programs/naiits.
Estimates suggest there are over 459,000 Australians living with dementia today. In fact, dementia is the second leading cause of death of Australians and the single greatest cause of disability in older Australians (aged 65 years or older).
This day will provide invaluable tools, strategies and current approaches for spiritual and pastoral care workers who are supporting those with dementia.
Tickets on sale now through Eventbrite.
This Friday night at the University of Divinity’s graduation ceremony, we celebrate the 34 Undergraduates, 37 Postgraduates and one Doctor of Philosophy graduating from Whitley, along with the many students from other theological colleges we have journeyed with along the way.
Completing an award is a huge achievement and we are proud of the dedication and resilience shown by each and every Whitley graduate.
The 72 awards achieved include:
- 1 Undergraduate Certificate in Divinity
- 25 Diploma in Theology
- 8 Bachelor of Theology
- 5 Graduate Certificate in Divinity
- 3 Graduate Certificate in Theology
- 5 Graduate Diploma in Divinity
- 1 Graduate Diploma in Pastoral Care
- 5 Graduate Diploma in Spiritual Direction
- 1 Graduate Diploma in Theology
- 5 Master of Divinity
- 1 Master of Pastoral Care
- 4 Master of Spiritual Direction
- 2 Master of Theological Studies
- 5 Master of Theology (Coursework)
- 1 Doctor of Philosophy
We warmly congratulate the holders of each of these awards and thank you for the valuable contribution you have made to life at Whitley College.