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The Lake Macquarie campus of Avondale College hosted the New Perspectives on Christianity conference (January 15-18).  The conference featured speakers from Australia and the South Pacific, including the keynote speaker, Professor David Tacey, associate professor at La Trobe University.

Academics from Avondale College, Pacific Adventist University and other tertiary institutions, as well as church pastors, leaders and members, presented a total of 36 papers for discussion, interaction and planned publication. Drawing from a wide variety of study areas, the conference modelled an approach to integrating Christian faith with contemporary learning, says Dr Vivienne Watts, vice-president for administration and research at Avondale College Watts. "Most real-world problems or issues are multi-disciplinary, so we have to get used to talking with each other in this way," she says.

According to Dr Watts, one of the purposes of the conference was to provide a supportive and open environment for academics and community members to present new ideas on the role and relevance of Christianity in contemporary society. "And we hope some of the specific knowledge can find its way to educating and equipping our wider church to engage and share with their communities," she says.

Discussion at the "New Perspectives" conference emerged with a number of themes, including the changing role of Christianity within Australian society, how Christians relate to other believers, Christian responses to environmental concerns and various aspects of church, theology and education. "We're pleased with the way people have understood the perspective the conference has taken," says Dr Watts. "We are happy with how the papers have been developed and the themes that have come out, I think, are very relevant to issues in today's society."

Keynote speaker, Professor David Tacey, spoke about the role of spirituality in Australian society and his view of its importance in addressing environmental issues in contemporary society. "One of the ways churches can speak to Australian society is to re-sacralise the earth, to speak of the environment and more importantly of Creation," he told conference participants. "Once sanctity is restored to Creation, respect is restored to the environment."

Professor Tacey has also contributed to the conferences on health and spirituality, organised by Adventist Health in Adelaide (SA) in recent years. He is positive about the contribution Adventists can make to Australian society. "It seems to me as an outsider that the Adventist movement is very concerned with making a difference," he says. "It's trying to impact on society and people's wellbeing in very practical ways in looking at things like spirituality, health and social justice--and that's where I certainly join forces with Adventists."

Dr Watts sees such interaction as particularly valuable for the Avondale academic community. "It is essential for Avondale academics to be interacting with other Adventist and external academics, as well as interacting with professionals and others from outside the college community," she says. "We would like to have more of this as we plan for future such conferences."

As she looked toward future "New Perspectives" conferences, Dr Watts challenged participants to keep in mind the opportunities that such conferences present in offering a forum for advancing knowledge and addressing that knowledge to issues in contemporary society. "I think people now have the confidence that we can contribute to contemporary debates and current issues," she says.