News

Avondale College will host a youth congress and three conferences with subject matter as diverse as new perspectives, Adventist-Muslim relationships and creation and science this summer.

The biggest will be the youth congress organised by the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Australia, December 30-January 4. Some 1000 young adults from across the country are expected to attend the four-yearly event.

A New Perspectives On Christianity Conference follows later in January (15-18). The organiser is Dr Vivienne Watts, vice-president (administration and research) at Avondale. She is calling for papers that might address, say, global warming, indigenous issues, faith and interfaith issues and new scriptural interpretations. Speakers at the conference will address this question: "Are there any benefits in being a Christian in modern society?" The deadline for abstracts is November 30, 2008.

Numbers will be limited at the Understanding Islam From A Christian Perspective Conference (January 18-22). Delegates must be Adventist Church members. They will hear from speakers including: Dr Jon Paulien, dean of the Faculty of Religion at Loma Linda University (California, USA); Dr William Johnsson, an Australian who formerly edited Adventist Review and is now assistant to the president of the worldwide church for interfaith relations; Dr Borge Schantz, founding director of the Seventh-day Adventist Global Center for Islamic Studies; Dr Ganoune Diop, director of the church's Global Mission Study Centers; and Dr Jerald Whitehouse, director of the Global Center for Adventist-Muslim Relations.

The last conference will be on organised by the worldwide church's Geoscience Research Institute, February 9-12. Delegates are likely to be Adventist Bible and science teachers and Adventist ministers with an interest in creation and science.