On the Way Podcast

St Paul has been often cast as an arch conservative. Douglas Campbell joins Dom, Peter and Sue to show how Paul has always been in the business of liberation. Douglas has devoted decades of his life to studying Paul and is determined to rescue him from his reputation as an authoritarian and recover the message of his writings as confrontingly, shockingly liberal and inclusive. In doing so, as this conversation discovers, there is a challenge for both the left and the right of the church to rediscover the life-giving heart of Paul’s letters. Douglas is the author of several books, including Pauline Dogmatics: The Triumph of God’s Love.

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What would it mean if you were told from a young age that you needed to be sent away from parents, from home, from all that is familiar... because God required it? How do children understand such a sacrifice in the name of God, and how might it change their lives? The kind of thinking which led to such decisions reveals a great deal about the kind of god we worship and how we live. Dr John Chenoweth joins the podcast to share his reflections on the experience of being a very young child sent away to boarding school in Malaysia so that his parents could work as missionaries. It is a story that reveals much about our human experience and how trying to do good can lead us into great wrong. John is one of the authors and editors of the book, Sent: Reflections on Missions, Boarding School and Childhood. 

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Richard Holloway joins the podcast from Edinburgh to explore how the stories we tell ourselves create the rules we live by and the meaning we make of our existence. Richard tells some of his story as he looks at the narratives of the Judeo-Christian tradition and the way down the ages myth has morphed into certainties that have been destructive rather than liberating. How do we engage a rich and varied tradition without succumbing to the temptation to systemise our narratives into dogma that ignores the reality of suffering? How can we live with the paradox of a God we experience in the absence as much as presence? What stories reduce our humanity and which ones capture our imagination and enable us to live into our best selves? 

CW: Strong language

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Dr Janice McRandal joins the podcast to talk about relationships, family and gender norms in our culture and the misogyny that is present in our most personal social structures. Janice argues that unless feminism has a place in the home, in the everyday moments of our lives, there can be no feminism at all because the domestic is the political. At the heart of this conversation is a critique of the idea that the public is what happens outside the home where small groups of people have influence in the realm of politics, but that what goes on in the home is a different sphere entirely. Questions about the politics of a good life; of living justly and fairly really begin in the home, and maybe the lack of progress we see is due to the exclusion of family life from political discourse. 

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Dr Tripp Fuller, author, theologian and host of Homebrewed Christianity joins Peter, Sue and Dom from Edinburgh to talk about the big question of who is the one we call Jesus the Christ. What did God do in Christ that we couldn't do for ourselves? Tripp's latest book, Divine Self-Investment, explores an answer to that question that refuses to be confined to simplistic formulae but finds a place in our evolving, relational experience of life, insisting on a God "who is at least as nice as Jesus". 

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On the Way has gone on the road to Toowoomba to celebrate the Season of Creation with The Rev'd Deb Bird during the Carnival of Flowers in the garden city. The Season of Creation restores the focus of our essential interconnectedness to all life on the earth and offers the opportunity to offer a response of lament, gratitude and hope in our sacred services and life of faith . This episode was recorded live in front of an audience at St James, Toowoomba. 

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What if life is an endless invitation? Rob Bell joins Peter, Dom and Sue to talk about the creative, life-giving work of Spirit, endlessly creating new forms and possibilities in the world. Rob is a speaker and author of ten books, including his latest, "Everything is Spiritual" where he explores his own faith journey and how ideas like connection, creation and the power of love have shaped his life and work. For many, Rob's work has been a powerful influence, pointing the way to a deeper faith that embraces doubt and rests in the hope that, ultimately, love wins and that this is not just good news for some, but for everybody. 

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Author and social researcher Hugh Mackay joins the podcast to delve into that most searching question, “Who am I, really?”  Peter, Dom and Sue join Hugh in conversation about his book, The Inner Self, exploring ways we hide from the truth about ourselves and find courage for the demands of love as we live into our true identity.

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Dom, Peter and Sue catch up to chat about the way this time of crisis has been bringing into sharp focus the urgency of continuing to challenge the Christianity which has  throughout history been colonised by power structures and co-opted by empire. It seems that some of the veneer of "civilised society" has been stripped away, exposing the unholy alliance between church and power, ideology and control.  Can we pay attention to the disruptive story of these times, embrace uncertainty and respond to the question, "How might we live, following Jesus today?" 

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The Rev'd Dr Sarah Bachelard joins Dom, Sue and Peter in a conversation about the creative possibilities of a contemplative life to ground us in the midst of uncertain times.  How do we find a way in times of anxiety to "be with what is", rather than try to resist what cannot be changed?  Join us as we explore the gifts of silence and stillness to help us to embrace the potentialities of a world reimagined through this experience of pandemic. Sarah is the founder of Benedictus Contemplative Church based in Canberra. She is an Anglican priest, theologian, retreat leader, and author.

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