Zadok Catalogue 2007

Church and community

Voices from Tegel Prison 1943-44: the solitary witness to the "body of Christ" of a Berlin theologian and an Austrian peasant.
By Doug Hynd.
Zadok Perspectives 93. Summer 2006
Bonhoeffer and Jagerstatter in their witness were both 'solitary' becaise of the failure of the church to be a community able to shape and sustain tis members in living out the claims of discipleship as an alternative kingdom against the claims of a totalitarian state.

The Church as God's body language.
By William Cavanaugh
Zadok Paper S 149, Spring 2006
William Cavanaugh argues that God intends the Body of Christ to be a visible, public presence in the world and that the church has a role to play in God;s salvation plan. We are called to be the embodiment of God's love in the world.

Travelling Companions.
Alison Sampson
Zadok Perspectives 91, Winter 2006
To refresh your image of God's people, I invite you to jump on any noonday tram. Look around. You will not see commuters. Instead, you might catch a glimpse of the ragtag bunch of people that God keeps a close eye on, the ones we are most called to learn from and love.

Emerging Missional Church: introductory reading guide.
Darren Cronshaw
Zadok Paper S143, Summer 2005
The paper reviews literature on emerging missional churches and their fresh expressions of church life. It will be useful for practitioners and reflectors in the emerging church movement or for those more generally interested in grappling with mission and culture in the West in the context of changing times. What is the shape of emerging church thinking, what is influencing emerging church thinkers, and what other books will be helpful for meeting the challenges of emerging churches?

The emerging church: What's in a name?
Steve Said
Zadok Perspectives 89, Summer 2005
The emerging missional church in Australia I think embraces an action-reflection model of learning, which is what theology ought to be, should it not?

Children and the emerging church.
Barb Daws
Zadok Perspectives 89, Summer 2005
Emerging churches have so much potential to serve, connect with, be served by and share the kingdom with children.

Can an existing denominational church be emerging?
Dan McCredden
Zadok Perspectives 89, Summer 2005
Even the most radical new and different worshipping community is likely to be a collection of the same sort of radical new and different worshippers.

Emerging church and the in-between.
Anne Wilkinson-Hayes
Zadok Perspectives 89, Summer 2005
Holistic mission is the key to the integrity of the new missional communities.

Remembering John Paul II.
Rod Benson
Zadok Perspectives 87, Winter 2005
While it is premature to call the late pontiff "John Paul the Great" there is an aura of greatness about his person and his legacy.

An Ageing Population
Chris White & David Knox
Zadok Perspectives 83, Winter 2004
Attracting older people to Christian engagement, retianing their involvement and making the best use of their substantial skills and experience, are important strategies for the church.

Tennis courts, cathedrals and the web: the church as public space.
Tim Corney
Zadok Perspectives 79, Winter 2003
What replaces the tennis court or the cathedral as a church ownded public space that attracts people to it and helps to meet their needs?

Teaching Christians to Fight Fair: an interview with Mark Strom.
Gordon Preece
Zadok Perspectives 77, Summer 2002
Mark Strom, author of Days are Coming, and Reframing Paul is one of Australia’s most radical biblical thinkers, but works outside the traditional theological scene.

Treasure Hunting with Philip Yancey: an interview.
Gordon Preece & Paul Mitchell
Zadok Perspectives 77, Summer 2002
“I am trying to speak to a largely overlooked group of people who’ve been damaged by the church, and to validate their experiences.” As a young man, Yancey found the works of C S Lewis, G K Chesterton and others “hidden treasures” which helped him escape his fundamentalist upbringing. He talks about his latest book, Soul Survivor.

Unity with Content: an Interview with Bishop Rowan Williams.
Gordon Preece
Zadok Perspectives 76, Spring 2002
We could say to each other, look, we don’t agree about the doctrine of God, but we have enough common vision of the image of God in humanity, if you like, to prescribe a bit of an agenda together.

The Business of Church: Should Churches Tear Down their Mission Statements.
Fernando A Gros
Zadok Perspectives 73, Summer 2002
It now seems that no ministry, let alone church, is deemed worthy unless it has some sort of statement of its intentions.

Power, Secrecy and Abuse: Changing the Church.
Cara Beed
Zadok Paper S116, Summer 2001
Cara Beed looks at criteria for detecting secrecy and abuse; cults and sectarianism in church and other organizations or groups in society. She points out that as individuals succumb to a leader’s domination or charisma, excessive commitment leads to a sacrifice of personal autonomy. Where authoritarian leadership governs the structure and processes of an organization, the right, ability and opportunity for an individual to investigate, adopt and practice their own principles becomes increasingly difficult.

Learning from Africa.
Michael Cassidy
Zadok Perspectives 72, Spring 2001.
Forgiveness is fundamental to reconciliation. Michael Cassidy talks about the experiences of church leaders in South Africa and the prophetic role of the church. He affirms that the African church will rise up and bless the rest of the world.

From Separation to Synergy: Receiving the Richness of Generation X.
Kath Donavan
Zadok Paper S106, Winter 2000
There is a significant cultural gap across generations which prevent each from really hearing what the other generation is saying. There is a widespread idea among older Christians that Generation X has rejected absolutes. Dr Donovan argues that what they are really rejecting is second hand truth. The insights of missiology are used to discover how to bridge the cultural gap between modernism and Generation X in order that the church will move from separation to synergy.

Foot-Washing for Postmodern Christians.
Ross Saunders
Zadok Paper S104, Autumn 2000
Jesus washing the feet of his disciples at the Last Supper is a well-known scene. It is sometimes re-enacted. Ross Saunders draws out the underlying principles of the traditional foot-washing ritual and questions how any New Ager would find relevance in seeing this ritual performed. For Christian faith and practice to have meaning in society, he affirms that the gospel principle of leadership by example of obedience to God must be demonstrated by church leaders.

The Jubilee and the Pope's Apologies for Catholic Failures.
Bruce Duncan
Zadok Perspectives 65, Spring/Summer 1999/2000
Many church reformers who were persecuted or executed by the Church are to he rehabilitated, including the Czech Jan Hus and the Italian Dominican Savonarola.

Breaking the Silence.
James Carroll
Zadok Perspectives 61, Winter 1998
Anti-Semitism is, of course, precisely a Church problem just as the record of the Vatican’s silence during the Holocaust remains a Church problem.

A Future with Memory: Is the Vatican Document a Declaration of Friendship?
John Levi
Zadok Perspectives 61, Winter 1998
Sadly, in its sweep of history, this new document prefers not to mention the death and suffering caused by the Church during the Crusades and the Inquisition. It declares that the Nazi movement was the result of “neo-paganism” and was not the result of the religious teaching of contempt.

B.A. Santamaria: the Power of One: Was Bob Santamaria's Public Theology more a Politics of Power than Love?
Allan Patience
Zadok Perspectives 60, Autumn 1998
Despite these movements within progressive Catholic thought, old Catholicism dug in its heels, often causing cruel suffering as a consequence.

The Diana Phenomenon: Generation X and the Church.
Julian Jenkins
Zadok Perspectives 59, Summer 1998
We must not miss the spiritual significance of the Diana phenomenon. The lives of many of the earth’s outcasts, of many of those who are poor in spirit, depend upon us taking up the message of compassion which was proclaimed by both the Princess of Wales and Mother Teresa. But even more importantly, the vitality and spiritual destiny of a whole generation depend on the church rediscovering the dynamic of love, grace and respect for humanity on which it was founded.

The future shape of church
Various authors
Zadok Perspectives 55, Summer 1997
In this issue of Perspectives various people give their views on the shape they believe the church will need to take if it is to survive into the next century. Rosemary Hammerton gives a delightful glimpse of house church, Fay White considers the place of imagination in worship, Jennifer Hughan looks at church from the viewpoint of a sole parent and Nathan Williams from that of a young person. Several other writers list characteristics which they believe the church must adopt if it is to continue to be viable.

The quest for community
Robert Banks
Zadok Paper S81, Winter 1996
Sociologists have made us well aware of the rapid changes occurring within our Australian society. There are, for example, signs that young adults in their 20s and 30s are developing values not necessarily consistent with those of the Baby Boomer `me generation'. These include a refreshing emphasis on relationships, upon simply `being with' other people, on developing wholeness rather than achieving success, and on establishing networks rather than serving institutions. There are some unsettling implications of this for the church. Says Robert Banks, `What we need is a more profound vision of the church, more resonant with the spirit and practice of the early Christians, yet relevant to the longings and texture of contemporary life.' In this article Robert spells out precisely what he means by this tantalising statement.

The Upside-down Kingdom
Various authors
Zadok Perspectives 48 March 1995
This issue of Perspectives looks at power and how Jesus approached power. It considers the options of using power, abusing power and losing power. Many of the articles are relevant to local church and community, for example: Powerless in Redfern, Art, medicine and chocolate cake: power and Christianity - a cross-cultural critique, Upside down camps: empowerment through temporary community, The portrayal of power in Lewis and Tolkien, Angels in the suburbs: some surprises among the young Vietnamese, As the man from Macedonia said: 'come over and help us'.

The Rising Indifference of the Church to the Poor: can we turn the tide?
Ronald Sider
Zadok Paper S71, December 1994
Those of us who belong to worshipping communities should regularly evaluate our sense of mission and the ways in which we are involved in our local communities. Ronald Sider believes that, in many quarters, local churches have become complacent and indifferent to the plight of needy people - especially the inconspicuous poor in their own neighbourhoods. More and more we seem anxiously intent upon securing our own futures. How difficult it is to practice Jesus' directive not to be anxious about our food, what we shall eat, or our clothes, what we shall wear, but to let each day's troubles be sufficient for the day. A challenging paper complete with questions for group discussion.

Developing Community Series:
This series of papers is based upon the dream of developing a society of small inter-dependent communities characterised by diversity, co-operation, mutual respect, compassion and justice. In reality most people find themselves in environments dominated by institutions, bureaucracies and 'professional' constraints. Whether working within or without these constraints, how can a person keep this community dream alive and find strategies for reform? This series is an attempt to answer this question.

Remembering our Dream: beyond the rationalisation of community work
David Andrews
Zadok Perspectives 39,, December 1992
Introducing the series - this article provides an important background to the subsequent papers. Andrews defines his terms and elaborates the vision of community to which he is committed. He distinguishes between the 'closed set' and the 'centred perspective' of community work. He advocates an approach to community work which is inclusive, empowering, and involves 'living a life of quiet help and loud protest with the marginalised and disadvantaged groups in one's
neighbourhood'.

Working Towards Community in our Profession
David Andrews
Developing Community Series No 1
Zadok Paper S62, 1993
The first in a series by Dave Andrews, this paper looks at the role of the professional community worker. The word 'professional' normally carries connotations of quality, reliability and effectiveness. Unfortunately, professionalism often has more to do with status, power and control. This paper is an insightful analysis of the myriad pitfalls which await well-meaning professional community workers. It concludes with some radical steps which professionals can take, to bridge the gulf that has arisen between community workers and the communities with whom they work.

Working Towards Community in our Institution
David Andrews
Developing Community Series No 2
Zadok Paper S59. 1993
This is the second paper in the series. It describes some characteristics of institutions and bureaucracies and argues that these systems carry inherent forces which dominate, disempower and alienate individuals. The paper suggests strategies whereby groups and individuals can influence and eventually transform the institutions with which they are involved. This paper is one of vision and hope for those who find themselves struggling with institutions or powerful bureaucracies.

S65 Working towards Community in our Religion
David Andrews
Developing Community Series No 3
Zadok Paper S65, 1993
In his last paper, Andrews goes to the very heart of human community. He examines the ultimate beliefs and practices upon which all human endeavour either succeeds or fails. Many would blame religion for much of the world's suffering and evil. Others despair in finding any solid basis for religion itself. But some believe that faith in God's goodness is our only hope of redemption. Andrews asserts that Jesus of Nazareth showed us how to live in community. Jesus' incarnation of divine principles is the ultimate source of hope for those who seek to fulfill the dream of community.

Who Goes Where? Peter Kaldor's research on Going to Church in Australia
Phyllis Tibbs,
Zadok Paper S33, 1987
Peter Kaldor's study Who Goes Where?...Who Doesn't Care? Going to Church in Australia examines the churches as organisations in Australian society, and discusses patterns of church attendance amongst different groups within Australia. This is a succinct summary of an important book.

A Gulf Too Deep? the protestant church and the urban working class in the twentieth century
Peter Kaldor
Zadok Paper S24, 1985
The author sketches a picture of the socio-economic composition of the Protestant churches in the twentieth century and to outline some attempts by various churches to reach the urban working class.

Small is Beautiful: the relevance of Paul's idea of community for the local church today
Robert Banks
Zadok Paper T19, 1985
Looks at today's small group churches as they relate to those of Paul's time and provides current observations of small groups throughout the world.

The Vocation of the Christian Student
Dr Peter Marshall and Douglas Hynd
Zadok Paper CR1, 1984
This reading guide spells out the need for Christians to develop an integrated faith and introduces a number of books that will help students to begin this process.

The Local Church as Community
Doug Hynd,
1983
A resource for all who are concerned with the renewal of local church life in Australia today.

Moving Forward in the City
Peter Kaldor
Zadok Paper T18, 1982
A paper on aspects of urban mission.

Christians and the Poor
Athol Gill
Zadok Paper S9, 1980

Town Planning: a christian perspective
Jennifer Turner
1978,

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