Opening Eyes, Opening Minds, Opening Hearts
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Opening Eyes, Opening Minds, Opening Hearts
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Click on the links below to scroll down to:
Group List and Starting a Group
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PURPOSES OF THE PROGRESSIVE CHRISTIAN
NETWORK OF VICTORIA INC
1. Promote progressive Christian thought and practice.
2. Explore the implications of critical
biblical scholarship and
the emerging proposals of eminent contemporary theologians,
scholars and others.
3. Explore alternatives to traditional
religious beliefs and
practices and new ways to understand religious faith.
The Network will:
Provide opportunities for sharing
experience, knowledge and
resources among members and other interested persons
Organise seminars, colloquiums and discussions
Coordinate and promote speaking tours by
eminent
international and Australian thinkers and teachers
Encourage Australian scholars,
theologians and others to
conduct research, write, speak and teach on aspects of
progressive Christian thought and practice and
Interact with kindred bodies at the
national and international
level to pursue common aims.
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Here are current known or proposed event dates for 2009:
SUNDAY JUNE 14: Regional meetings at:
- Bayswater Uniting Church,
- Brunswick Baptist Church, and
- St Leonard’s Uniting Church, Brighton
SATURDAY JULY 4: Workshop 2.00 pm – 5.30 pm. "Understanding Judaism / Understanding Jesus". Speaker: Amy-Jill Levine. International Jewish scholar and author. Venue: Phoenix Park Community Centre, Rob Roy Rd, Malvern East (Melway Map 69 D2). Click here for flier and registration form (opens with Adobe Reader - if you don't have it on your computer, click here to download it first)
SUNDAY AUGUST 9: Your Kingdom Come: Dangerous Words in The Lords Prayer. Speaker: Dr Greg Jenks, Academic Dean and Lecturer in Biblical Studies. St Francis Theological College, Brisbane. More Info TBA
SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 13: Why Darwin requires Christianity to Change. Speaker: Dr Rufus Black, Master of Ormond College, University of Melbourne. More Info TBA
OCTOBER & NOVEMBER: tba
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The following files open with Adobe Reader. If you don't have it on your computer, click here to download it first.
[August 2006 Newsletter; 148KB]
[October 2006 Newsletter; 128KB]
[December 2006 Newsletter; 115KB]
[February 2007 Newsletter; 133KB]
[April 2007 Newsletter; 137KB]
[August 2007 Newsletter; 162KB]
[September 2007 Newsletter; 179KB] - note: the Common Dreams DVD order form mentioned is downloadable here [19KB]
[October 2007 Newsletter; 143KB]
[December 2007 Newsletter; 122KB]
[February 2008 Newsletter; 199KB]
[March 2008 Newsletter; 238KB]
[August 2008 Newsletter; 166KB]
[November 2008 Newsletter; 164KB]
[December 2008 Newsletter; 202KB]
[February 2009 Newsletter; 206KB]
[March 2009 Newsletter; 271KB]
[April 2009 Newsletter; 308KB]
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Item 1: June 4 2006: Participants at the launch of the Progressive Christian Network of Victoria, heard Rev Rex Hunt of Canberra refer to a newly published book by New York's Union Theological Seminary Academic and United Methodist minister, Professor Hal Taussig. The book A New Spiritual Home, Progressive Christianity at the Grass Roots explores five characteristics of a vibrant, progressive Christian Faith. Professor Taussig summarised the book in the May-June edition of The Fourth R, the journal of the Westar Institute. The Westar Institute gave approval for the article to be reproduced on the website of St David's Uniting Church in Canterbury, Melbourne. The link is below. The following link opens with Adobe Reader. If you don't have it on your computer, click here to download it first.
[click here to access article on the St David's website; 182KB]
Item 2: November 19 2006: Personal Discoveries of alternatives to traditional understandings of the Christian faith. Following are three addresses to this topic by three 'seekers.'
The following files open with Adobe Reader. If you don't have it on your computer, click here to download it first.
[Address by Lorraine Greer; 30KB]
[Address by David Merritt; 39KB]
[Address by Adrian Pyle; 42KB]
[Some thoughts provided by other members after the day; 56KB]
Item 3: February 25 2007: Doubt: An Invitation to New Thinking with Dr Val Webb
If you have an appropriate download limit and a reasonably fast Internet connection, you can download an audio version of Dr Webb's address - click here [48MB]
Text: The following file opens with Adobe Reader. If you don't have it on your computer, click here to download it first.
Item 4: March 25 2007: What Do We Mean By God? with Rev Dr John Bodycomb
If you have an appropriate download limit and a reasonably fast Internet connection, you can download an audio version of Rev Dr Bodycomb's address - click here [20MB]
Text: The following file opens with Adobe Reader. If you don't have it on your computer, click here to download it first.
[Address by John Bodycomb; 214KB]
Item 5: June 03 2007: Progressive Christian Faith - How it Enhances Interfaith Relations with Rev Dr Lorraine Parkinson
If you have an appropriate download limit and a reasonably fast Internet connection, you can download an audio version of Lorraine Parkinson's address - click here [15MB]
Text: The following file opens with Adobe Reader. If you don't have it on your computer, click here to download it first.
[Address by Lorraine Parkinson; 117KB]
Item 6: July 08 2007: God, Prayer and Worship with Michael Morwood
If you have an appropriate download limit and a reasonably fast Internet connection, you can download an audio version of Michael Morwood's address - click here [12MB]
Item 7: August 22 2007: Jesus for the Non-Religious with John Shelby Spong
If you have an appropriate download limit and a reasonably fast Internet connection, you can download an audio version of John Shelby Spong's address - Part 1: click here [19MB]; Part 2: click here [2MB]
Item 8: October 07 2007: Progressive Christians on Religion and Atheism - with Rob Sutherland, Rev Allan Leggett, Rev Dr Christopher Page
You can download an audio version of each of the addresses:
Allan Leggett - click here [4MB]
Rob Sutherland - click here [3MB]
Chris Page - click here [4MB]
Text: The following file opens with Adobe Reader. If you don't have it on your computer, click here to download it first.
[Address by Allan Leggett; 47KB]
[Address by Rob Sutherland; 31KB]
Item 9: November 11 2007: Finding Faith in Fact and Fiction: Making Sense of the New Testament with Professor William Loader
You can download an audio version of the address - click here [11MB]
Text: The following file opens with Adobe Reader. If you don't have it on your computer, click here to download it first.
[Address by Bill Loader; 62KB]
For Bill Loader's website click here (leave the PCNV website)
Item 10: February 23 2008: Human Images of the Divine with Val Webb
You can download an audio version of Val's addresses - click here [13MB] for the first address and click here [4MB] for the second.
Text: The following files open with Adobe Reader. If you don't have it on your computer, click here to download it first.
Item 11: April 13 2008: Changes in Australian Spirituality: Challenges for Traditional Religion with David Tacey
You can download an audio version of David's address by clicking here [12MB].
You can download an audio version of Jill Tabart's response by clicking here [3MB].
You can download an audio version of John Emmett's response by clicking here [3MB].
Text: The following files open with Adobe Reader. If you don't have it on your computer, click here to download it first.
[Address by David Tacey; 188KB]
[Response by Jill Tabart; 32KB]
[Response by John Emmett; 49KB]
Item 12: September 14 2008: What Progressive Christianity Means for Me
Text files of each address: The following files open with Adobe Reader. If you don't have it on your computer, click here to download it first.
[Address by Alexandra Sangster; 32KB]
[Address by Matthew Cutler; 72KB]
[Address by Geoffrey Wraight; 46KB]
Item 13: November 7 to November 10 2008: Making Space Retreat and Practice of Progressive Prayer Lecture by Ian Lawton from Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, Michigan USA.
You can download an audio version of Ian's Progressive Prayer address by clicking here [11MB].
You can download an audio version of question time relating to Ian's Progressive Prayer address by clicking here [7MB].
Ian has prepared some written notes of ideas introduced during his sessions in Australia. You can download the notes by clicking here. This file opens with Adobe Reader. If you don't have it on your computer, click here to download it first.
You can also download an order form for progressive study resources from Christ Community Church, by clicking here [opens with Adobe Reader; 58KB]
The website address for Christ Community Church is www.christ-community.net
Item 14: 22 February 2009: The Promise and Practice of Progressive Christianity - address by Rev Dr David Merritt
You can download audio version of the address
first part of address - high quality - click here [2MB]
second part of address - microphone obscured (enhanced) - click here [3MB]
Text: The following file opens with Adobe Reader. If you don't have it on your computer, click here to download it first.
[Address by David Merritt; 249KB]
Item 15: 5 April 2009: A Journey Towards Wholeness: Can Reframed Ideas about Trinity have a Positive Influence on Progressive Christian Practice? - presentation by Adrian Pyle
You can download audio version of the address by clicking here [15MB].
Or the above audio file split into five sections...
Text: The following file opens with Adobe Reader. If you don't have it on your computer, click here to download it first.
[Presentation by Adrian Pyle; 157KB]
Additional articles presented by Adrian Pyle for further reading (click on the item):
"The Spiritual Waltz" - an article by Adrian Pyle
"Dancing with Systems" - an article by Donella Meadows
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A valuable resources for those wanting to begin or expand their reading in the area of Progressive Christianity: The reading list file can be downloaded below.
The following files open with Adobe Reader. If you don't have it on your computer, click here to download it first.
[Download the reading list by clicking here; 81KB]
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Books we love and books we are still exploring: Click on this link to visit the PCNV Bookstore - operated by Amazon.com
Note that the 'similar items' to the left of the bookstore page are suggested by Amazon and not PCNV. We have retained this feature as it frequently suggests useful content for your reflection. All prices are in US dollars.
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GROUP LIST AND STARTING A GROUP
Here's a list (updated from time to time) of known progressive Christian study groups across Victoria......
The following files open with Adobe Reader. If you don't have it on your computer, click here to download it first.
[Download the list by clicking here; 72KB]
...and here's a brief overview of how one progressive Christian study group got started..... just to give some ideas.
The following files open with Adobe Reader. If you don't have it on your computer, click here to download it first.
[Download the story by clicking here; 43KB]
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A brief guide to some links to stimulating
websites: Note: By clicking on the links you will leave this site (www.pcnvictoria.org.au).
Links were active at the time of publishing. If you find an inactive link, let
us know via the contacts section of this site.
www.commondreams.org.au
A networking site for progressive Christian groups across Australia and the South Pacific.
Related Australian progressive Christian or religion groups:
www.progressivereligion.org.au
The Centre of Progressive Religious Thought, a national Australian non-profit organisation based in Canberra. The menu item “Links” provides a great list of progressive religious websites that can be accessed by clicking on the link.
www.progressivespirituality.net
A Brisbane based progressive group
http://www.effectiveliving.org/pages/pcnet.htm
The web-page of the Progressive Christian Network of South Australia
http://www.sof-in-australia.org
Sea of Faith in Australia (SoFiA) is a network of Australians who are interested in the non-dogmatic discussion of religion, faith and meaning.
Progressive Christian Blogs of Interest...
Getting to the Root (click here) ....Adrian Pyle's blog about progressive Christian concepts.
Musings (click here) .... progressive pastor Jim Burklo's thoughts.
Other links....
The Centre for Progressive Christianity (USA)provides
ideas, networking opportunities, and resources for progressive churches,
organizations, individuals and others with connections to Christianity.
www.livingthequestions.com
An introduction to a course, “Living the Questions” – a progressive alternative for Christian invitation, initiation, and spiritual formation. Content from theologians such as Marcus Borg and John Shelby Spong. The site includes sample resources. There is a site for Australian access to these resources at: www.faithfutures.org/livingthequestions.html
www.westarinstitute.org/Seminars/seminars.html
The Jesus Seminar. Pioneering work by
around 300 scholars engaged in a “search for the real Jesus”. The menu
“Periodicals” gives access to many articles from the journals of the Jesus
Seminar and some of the most provocative viewpoints about the origins of
Christianity and issues for today.
www.christ-community.net
A progressive Christian congregation in
Michigan with "creative traditional" liturgies that are published for use of
others.
www.radicalfaith.org
Radical Faith: A project of the Society of the Sacred Mission, in Durham, England. Explores fundamentals of faith in a changed world. The purpose is to bridge the gap between popular Christianity (which “often provides a poor diet to those hungry for something more substantial”) and theology informed by scholarship. Has an outstanding menu.
A site exploring opportunities for Christian reflection amongst those who consider themselves spiritual but not religious.
www.pcnvictoria.org.au/God_religion_atheism_PCNV200706.pdf
(this link opens with Adobe Reader. If you don't have it on your computer, click here to download it first.)
PCNV Document: An article of reflections
from PCNV members and other Australian progressive commentators in the wake of
the public debate about God, religion and atheism in May/June 2007.
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The following file opens with Adobe Reader. If you don't have it on your computer, click here to download it first.
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For other membership or program information contact the Network at info@pcnvictoria.org.au
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© 2006 Progressive Christian Network of Victoria Incorporated |