This week I get to speak to Dr Chris Marshall, a pioneering scholar working in the intersection of biblical theology and restorative justice. Chris has worked as a New Testament lecturer and lecturer in religious studies. He’s also worked with those involved in the criminal justice system and is the author of 7 books.

In this conversation we talk about restorative justice, shame, and atonement theology. A key point we hone in on, is that there is a variety of language and metaphors that get used in the New Testament to explain what was achieved on the cross, but often we can get stuck only using the judicial language of punishment, rather than all the other language like adoption or new birth. When we focus only on this language it can perpetuate cycles of shame.

This week I got to have a conversation with Mark Barnard, an Anglican priest and educator from Auckland, New Zealand. Alongside his church leadership role, Mark is also employed by the Karuwhā Trust, an educational organisation focusing on telling New Zealand’s bicultural story.

This is an important conversation that explores engaging in indigenous thought well, addressing different ways of seeing the world and approaching spirituality. This is a conversation about thinking this through in a New Zealand context, but perhaps that allows for more scope of thought rather than feeling like we’re being prescriptive. There are a couple of words that Mark uses quite a bit that might be helpful to know for the conversation- "Te Reo" refers to the Māori language, "tangata whenua" means “people of the land” and refers to Māori people, and "Pākehā" is the Māori word for those of European descent.

In this episode, we speak with Dr Christa McKirland. Christa is the dean of faculty at Carey Baptist College in NZ, where she also lectures in systematic theology. She obtained her PHD at the University of St Andrews and she has a wide range of published academic work.

In this quite dense conversation we talk through a theology of authority and power, tracking closely with the new testament's conviction that it's not about having power over others. We chat about what we mean by systematic theology, apostleship and take a close look at women in leadership and the key text in 2 timothy. This is a fascinating and challenging discussion.

In this episode I got to speak with Grafton Tanner. Grafton is an American author and academic. His work focuses on Big Tech, nostalgia, neo-liberalism, and education. He is the author of books, Babbling Corpse, The Circle of the Snake, The Hours Have lost their clock, and more recently, Foreverism. In this conversation we chat about our culture's current obsession with nostalgia in media, politics and literature. We talk about how our current cultural mood is one that doesn't want to look a the future and so plunders the past and tries to expand the present. We touch on the internet, "retrobaiting", time and a concept at the heart of his new book, Foreverism.

In this episode I get to speak with Dr. Lynn Swaner. Lyn is the President of Cardus, a think tank in the states to dedicated to strengthening institutions for the common good. She is the editor or lead author of numerous books, including Future Ready, MindShift, and Flourishing Together. She holds a doctorate in organizational leadership and is a good friend of CEN, having spoken at a number of our conferences.

We covered a lot of ground in this conversation, from a Christian understanding of flourishing to innovation and the place of research. We also talk about what it means for a Christian school to be distinctive and a core question that she talks about to help them stay on mission: what does love require?

Michael is an Australian biblical scholar, Anglican priest, and the Deputy Principal of Ridley College in Melbourne. He is the author of over thirty books including his latest one, Jesus and the Powers, cowritten with N.T. Wright. In this conversation, we continue in our discussion around difference by unpacking his new book, exploring nationalism, current cultural tensions, power, and veggie tales ethics.

In this episode I ask Kara Martin questions based on her book, "Keeping Faith: How Christian organizations can stay true to the way of Jesus." We talk about power, mission drift, leadership beyond niceness, risky faithfulness and how organisations can meaningfully enact grace, forgiveness and confession. There is a lot here for school leaders to mull over, so it could be a good one to share!

Here's a link to the book:

https://amzn.asia/d/3IUV5gz

This week we have some time with Chris Watkin, lecturer and researcher at Monash University. He is also the author of the award winning book, Biblical Critical Theory. This book explores how the bible shapes our imaginations and cuts across many of the binaries that exist in our culture today. In this conversation we talk about what we usually mean by critical theory, what it means to have a prophetic imagination and what it might mean that ultimate reality is personal. We’re looking forward to hosting Chris at our AGM in March, but for now, here’s my conversation with him as an appetiser.

In this first episode, we jump straight into the current tensions around difference in regard to immigration with Dr Matthew Kaemingk. Matthew is a Christian ethicist and public theologian lecturing at Fuller theological seminary. We’re actually going to be hosting him at our CEN executive conference in March, and in this conversation I ask a lot of questions based on his book “Christian hospitality and Muslim immigration.” He also hosts his own podcast, "Zealots at the Gate" linked below:

https://open.spotify.com/show/5E9hQeCbLXoVp4wvjKHRNF?si=fdee682831d34d90

For this final episode of the season, I got to have a special conversation with a friend and colleague of mine, Julia Verdouw. Julia is a senior lecturer at the National Institute for Christian Education and has extensive experience in research and policy development. In this episode, however, we’re actually here to discuss her new book of poetry, writings collected from her journal following her husband’s sudden death 3 years ago. Her book, “Valley of the Shadow” is well worth picking up as an exploration of death, faith, grief and hope

Julia's website: https://www.juliaverdouw.com