Trauma, Abuse and The Church - A Conference in Public Theology

The cooperative will be host a Conference in Public Theology, whose theme is Trauma, Abuse and The Church. At Wesley House, Brisbane, Australia, and takes place from November 3-4, 2023. The cooperative will draw together thinkers from within and beyond the church to consider the place of a public theology and Christianity in the aftermath of trauma and abuse.

From Royal Commissions into institutional handling of sexual abuse and disability care, to the role of the church in colonial policies and practices, this conference will make space for difficult and crucial conversations.

Keynote speakers are Kathleen McPhillips and David Tombs. This event is in-person and via zoom (main room only), with a registration fee ranging from $100 to $240. Registrations close October 15th, 2023 on the conference's website.

Keynote speakers

Dr Kathleen McPhillips is a senior lecturer in the school of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Newcastle. Her main areas of expertise are trauma, gender and religion. She is a sociologist of religion and gender and employs feminist, psychoanalytic and sociological frameworks to issues around gender and religion particularly around institutional child sexual abuse in religious organisations. Kathleen has extensive experience in attending, reporting on and analysing the Catholic Church at the Royal Commission into Institutional Child Sexual Abuse and has held numerous research grants. Together with Tracy McEwan and Miriam Pepper she managed and authored the International Survey of Catholic Women (ISCW 2023), the largest global survey of Catholic women ever undertaken. Her most recent publications are in Child Abuse and Neglect, Feminist Theology, Journal of Australian Studies, Psychoanalytic Dialogues and Journal for the Academic Study of Religion.

David Tombs is a lay Anglican theologian and the Howard Paterson Chair Professor of Theology and Public Issues at the University of Otago, Aotearoa New Zealand. His work draws on liberation and contextual theologies to address public issues in transformative ways. His research focusses on liberation, reconciliation, and crucifixion/resurrection. His publications include Latin American Liberation Theology (Brill 2002), Explorations in Reconciliation (co-edited with Joseph Liechty, Routledge 2006), When Did We See You Naked?’: Jesus as a Victim of Sexual Abuse (co-edited with Jayme Reaves and Rocío Figueroa, SCM 2021), and The Crucifixion of Jesus: Torture, Sexual Abuse, and the Scandal of the Cross (Routledge, 2023). Originally from the United Kingdom, David previously lectured at the University of Roehampton, London, and the Irish School of Ecumenics, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.

The cooperative is a project in public collaboration in the spirit of public theology. Drawn from the life of the Uniting Church in Australia, together we are asking, what does it mean to think the common good in our time and in our place? And who are the voices Christian theology has yet to listen to?

To explore these questions, we have established a number of focus areas, including academic research, public events and conferences, a Summer and Winter School, a publishing arm, and digital dialogue across our website and podcast. We want to make room for otherwise impossible conversations and hope you can join us.