Professor Sarah C. Williams

Sarah is a Research Professor in the History of Christianity at Regent College Vancouver, a Research Associate at St Benet’s Hall Oxford, and one of the world’s leading experts on the history of Christianity. She holds a D.Phil. in history from the University of Oxford, where she also taught as part of the modern history faculty for 7 years. Her research focuses on British religious and cultural history. She is the author of “Religious Belief and Popular Culture” (Oxford University Press) and “Perfectly Human” (winner of a Christianity Today 2019 Book Award), and co-author of “Redefining Christian Britain”. Her forthcoming book traces the relationship between Christianity and perceptions of gender and sexuality through time. Sarah is a passionate and gifted teacher, writer, and communicator, known for bringing history to life in a way that speaks to our contemporary context. Sarah teaches all over the world helping the Church recover its memory, and we are delighted that she will be sharing her time and expertise with us in January.

Sarah will be teaching one masterclass as a two-part series over two days: Prayer as Political Resistance: The Radical Theology of First Wave Feminism (To hear Professor Williams’ lecture at the 2020 STCPE, click here. )

Professor Karen E. Mason

Karen is a Professor of Counselling and Psychology at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, where she is also the Director of the Hamilton Counselling Program. For the last 13 years, Karen has prepared Gordon-Conwell theological students to become licenced mental health counsellors. Her research and practice focus on the topics of suicide prevention in faith communities. She is the author of the widely read “Preventing Suicide: A Handbook for Pastors, Chaplains and Pastoral Counsellors” (IVP). Her forthcoming book “Preaching and Suicide: Teaching and Giving Care with Pulpit Ministry” examines preachers’ central roles in suicide prevention. Prior to her appointment at Gordon-Conwell she managed the Office of Suicide Prevention for the state of Colorado. Karen is an expert in the theory and practice of integrating Christian faith and suicide prevention. She has a huge heart for the work of the church, and we are humbled and thrilled that she will be sharing her wisdom with us on an important topic.

Karen will be teaching two masterclasses at STCPE: one on suicide prevention in faith communities and another on the same topic aimed specifically at clergy and ministry workers with special attention to topics such as suicide and preaching.

Rev. Dr Andrew Cameron

Andrew is the Director of St Mark’s National Theological Centre in Canberra. Prior to taking up this role in 2014, he was on the faculty at Moore Theological College for over a decade. His research focuses on the intersection between ethics, politics, apologetics and theology. He is the author of “Joined Up Life: A Christian Account of How Ethics Works” (IVP, 2011), and more than 25 academic publications on theological ethics, political theology, and Christian cultural engagement. A highly respected thinker and teacher specialising in a uniquely Christian approach to ethics and politics, we are honoured that Andrew will be joining us in January.

Andrew will be teaching two masterclasses: part 1 on political theology and part 2 on public theology.

Bronwyn Lea

Bronwyn is a South African born author, speaker, and mum based in California. A graduate of law school and bible college, she has over twenty years’ experience in pastoral ministry and justice advocacy. Bronwyn heads up Propel Sophia under Christine Caine, an online ministry resource of everyday applied biblical wisdom for women. Her book “Beyond Awkward Side Hugs: Living as Christian Brothers and Sisters in a Sex-Crazed World” releases in April 2020 (Thomas Nelson). She writes about relationships, ethics, and trying to engage our world wisely and well for the Huffington Post, Christianity Today, Relevant Magazine, Sojourners, Books & Culture, Bible Study Magazine, and the Gospel Coalition.

Bronwyn will be teaching two masterclasses at STCPE on writing for the internet.

Tim Costello

Tim is one of Australia’s leading voices on social justice and global poverty and has been instrumental in ensuring these issues are placed on the national and international agenda. He was the Chief Executive of World Vision Australia – Australia’s largest charity – for more than 12 years. He is currently Director of Ethical Voice, an Executive Director of Micah Australia, and a Senior Fellow of the Centre for Public Christianity. Tim has taken part in national and international debates on social justice issues as diverse as global poverty, pokies reform, homelessness, reconciliation, and substance abuse. Tim was named in the Australian of the Year awards in 2006 and was awarded an Order of Australia in 2005. His memoir A Lot with A Little was published by Hardie Grant in August 2019. Tim is a highly sought after speaker and thought-leader and we are honoured that he will be sharing his time and wisdom with us in January.

Tim will teach one masterclass and will appear on the Opening Reception panel on the evening of Monday 20 January. The panel will address “Faith in Action: Past, Present & Future” and will be chaired by Meredith Lake (ABC) and include fellow STCPE speakers Sarah Williams and Brooke Prentis.

Rev. Dr Rhys Bezzant

Rhys is Lecturer in Christian Thought and Dean of Missional Leadership at Ridley College, Melbourne. Rhys’s research focuses primarily on Jonathan Edwards. He is the author of Edwards the Mentor (2019, Oxford University Press), Jonathan Edwards and the Church (2013, Oxford University Press), Standing on their Shoulders: Heroes of the Faith for Today (Acorn, 2015) and a number of book chapters and journal articles exploring the importance of figures from the history of Evangelicalism for contemporary Christian life. Rhys has been a Visiting Fellow at Yale Divinity School on several occasions and leads the Jonathan Edwards Centre for Australia. We are thrilled that Rhys will be joining us in January!

Rhys’s 2020 STCPE masterclass will explore the theology of Jonathan Edwards.

Stephanie Kate Judd

Stephanie is a solicitor who was born and raised in Sydney. She has just returned to Sydney from the UK, where she read theology at the University of Oxford and the Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics. She has researched and written on Christian lobbying and public engagement, as well as been involved in political and legal advocacy for the interests of various kinds of vulnerable persons. We are very excited that Stephanie has returned to Sydney after completing her studies at Oxford, and we and are even more excited that she will be joining us at STCPE in January!

Stephanie’s 2020 STCPE masterclass will explore the concept of human dignity and its theological and political significance for particular contemporary issues. The masterclass will focus on disability and other forms of limitation, an area of interest shaped by Stephanie’s personal experience of living with a physical disability. 

Brooke Prentis

Brooke is an Aboriginal Christian leader from the Waka Waka peoples. She is a Chartered Accountant by profession with over 15 years senior management experience, including at top 100 ASX listed companies. Brooke also serves on a number of corporate and Christian boards. Brooke is the Aboriginal spokesperson for Common Grace, the Coordinator of the Grasstree Gathering, a research scholar at the Public and Contextual Theology Research Centre at Charles Sturt University, and an ADM Senior Fellow. Brooke works ecumenically to advocate for issues of national justice, focusing particularly on friendship between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples. Brooke is a much sought-after commentator, speaker and writer and we a thrilled that she will be joining us in January!

Brooke will teach one masterclass – How to Take the Aboriginal Hand of Friendship – and will appear on the Opening Reception panel on the evening of Monday 20 January. The panel will address “Faith in Action: Past, Present & Future” and will be chaired by Meredith Lake (ABC) and include fellow STCPE speakers Sarah Williams and Tim Costello.

Grace Lung

Grace is a trainer and writer on Asians Between Cultures, helping people to see how cultural, racial and sociological contexts intersect with faith. She is a Research Fellow and Board of Reference member with the Centre for Asian Christianity at the Brisbane School of Theology. She is also the Director for Asian Contextual Engagement at the RICE Movement, a team member at Interserve Culture Connect and OMF Queensland, and was a 2019 ADM Summer Fellow. Her writing has appeared on the Gospel Coalition Australia, Centered: Resources for the Asian American Church, Common Grace and Ethos: EA Centre for Christianity and Society. She is a graduate of Fuller Theological Seminary and SMBC. 

Grace’s STCPE masterclass “Reaching the Nations in a Broken World” will explore the awkwardness, difficulties and opportunities of working alongside other cultures against the backdrop of the Asian Century and the Post Christian West.

Rev. Dani Treweek

Dani holds a B.A. from the University of Sydney, a B.Div (Hons) from Moore Theological College and is currently undertaking PhD research through St Mark's Theological Centre, Canberra. Her research develops a theologically and pastorally integrated ethic of singleness. Dani is also a 2019 ADM Senior Fellow, where she has been researching how to equip the evangelical Christian community in Sydney and beyond to rediscover a biblically faithful understanding of a single Christian’s identity, purpose and place of belonging.

Dani writes and speaks regularly on singleness and related topics, and is the chair of www.singlemindedconference.com which aims to equip Christians to better understand the Bible's teaching on singleness (and marriage!) and to truly embrace what it is to be brothers and sisters together in the family of God.

Dani's 2020 STCPE masterclass will focus on "The (Surprising) Contours of Singleness in Christian History."

Rev. Dr Michael Jensen

Michael is the rector of St Mark's Darling Point in Sydney. He is the author of a number of books including “Theological Anthropology Through the Great Literary Genres” (2018), “Martyrdom and Identity” (2010), and “My God My God - Is it Possible to Believe Anymore?” (2013). He is a frequent media commentator and teaches theology with the Sydney College of Divinity and the Australian College of Theology. Michael is co-host of the With All Due Respect podcast by Eternity News with Rev. Megan Powell du Toit. He is married with four children.

Michael will teach two masterclasses: one on Theological Anthropology & Genre and one with his With All Due Respect podcast co-host Rev. Megan Powell du Toit. Their practical masterclass is titled Podcasting: a medium for intimate public conversation. 

Dr Roberta Kwan

Roberta teaches English literature at Macquarie University and the University of Sydney. She completed her PhD at Macquarie University. Roberta’s research explores the intersections between early modern literature – especially Shakespeare’s works – religion and theology, and the history of ideas. She is currently completing a book on Shakespeare, Reformation hermeneutics and the interpreting self (under contract with Edinburgh University Press), and working on a new project on Shakespeare and neighbourliness. In 2019, Roberta was the recipient of a Humanities Travelling Fellowship from the Australian Academy of the Humanities, and is an ADM Senior Research Fellow.

Roberta will be teaching a masterclass on Shakespeare, the self, and theological anthropology.

Dr Nathan Lyons

Nathan is a Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame Australia in Sydney. His research focuses on the philosophy of nature, especially the ways that contemporary evolutionary theory can be brought into conversation with philosophers and theologians from the medieval period. He also works on topics in semiotics and the philosophy of religion. Nathan's first book "Signs in the Dust: A Theory of Natural Culture and Cultural Nature" was published in 2019 by Oxford University Press. Prior to his appointment at Notre Dame Australia, he was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Cambridge and the University of Durham.

Nathan will teach one masterclass: Nature and Culture: How Matter and Meaning Go Together

Sarah Condie

Sarah is Co-Director/Founder with her husband Keith of the Mental Health & Pastoral Care Institute at Anglican Deaconess Ministries in Sydney, Australia. She is also a women’s pastor and Director of Wellbeing & Care at Church by the Bridge, Sydney. Before serving in full-time vocational ministry, she worked as a law librarian at the State Library of NSW for many years and loved it. Sarah loves to read, walk, quilt, drink cups of tea with friends at the kitchen table, and write on her blog when she can.

Rev. Dr Keith Condie

Keith is Co-Director/Founder with his wife Sarah of the Mental Health & Pastoral Care Institute at Anglican Deaconess Ministries. He has degrees in psychology, theology and history, and for his PhD, he looked at meditation in the thought of a seventeenth-century Puritan pastor, Richard Baxter. Keith has worked in child welfare for the state government as well as serving as an Assistant Minister in two churches in Sydney. For nearly 20 years, he was on the faculty at Moore Theological College as Dean of Students and lecturer in ministry and church history. Keith enjoys reading, keeping fit, cooking and the ritual of Thursday night family dinners, while escaping occasionally to the coast to walk along isolated beaches.

Sarah and Keith are jointly presenting a masterclass on Theological and Practical Perspectives on Wellbeing.

Rev. Megan Powell du Toit

Megan is Publishing Manager for the Australian College of Theology, the largest consortium for theological education in Australia. She has worked as a pastor, editor, preacher, lecturer, writer, and podcaster. She is editor of the academic theological journal Colloquium, and co-host of the With All Due Respect podcast by Eternity News with Michael Jensen. An ordained Baptist minister, her current doctoral research is on tensions within Evangelicalism, so she is particularly interested in how we can respond constructively to difference.  With degrees in both English and Theology, she is also fascinated by the intersection between the imagination and experiences of God. 

Megan will be teaching an STCPE masterclass with her With All Due Respect podcast co-host Michael Jensen. Their practical masterclass is titled: “Podcasting: a medium for intimate public conversation”. 

Erica Hamence

Erica Hamence is Senior Associate Minister at St. Barnabas Anglican Church, Broadway. She holds a BA/LLB and an M.Div, and has worked in both campus and church ministries for the past twelve years. Alongside her church work, she is also the team leader for Common Grace's Domestic and Family Violence Justice team, and one of the founders of Sydney Women Preaching, a group aimed at equipping women in preaching, and connecting them with opportunities to do it. She preaches regularly in her own church and at conferences and events. 

Erica will teach one masterclass: Crafting Sermons that Connect with Real Life.

Stephanie Dunk

Stephanie is the COO at ADM. She comes to this role from lecturing in Strategy and Organisational Behaviour at the University of Sydney and at Alphacrucis College, and mentoring in the University of Sydney startup incubator Genesis. She has also previously worked at the Australian College of Theology in quality management and at the University of Sydney Vice Chancellor’s Strategic Planning Office.

 Stephanie has a Masters of Commerce in strategy and entrepreneurship and is also completing a PhD on ethical food and on community economies, ventures and individuals trying to use their powers of choice for the good of the world.

Stephanie will be teaching one STCPE masterclass: Goal Setting & Year-Planning

Dr Mark Stephens

Mark is Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Public Christianity. He studied for his doctorate in Ancient History at Macquarie University, and has worked in both the church and in higher education. Mark speaks and writes about the relevance of eschatology, the value of creativity, the formative power of culture, and the ethics of the New Testament.

Mark will be teaching a masterclass on public Christianity: Meekness and Weakness in an Argument Culture.

Amelia Schwarze

Amelia Schwarze is Area Specialist for Domestic and Family Violence and Program Officer in ADM’s Mercy & Justice Programs. Prior to coming to ADM, she worked for more than a decade in the public sector in analytical and management roles, and has acted for some years as an advocate for those suffering from Domestic Violence within church communities. During her 2017 ADM Research Fellowship, Amelia completed the majority of her first book on the topic of domestic violence in the church. She  is currently developing this research into short courses and training resources. She was invited to participate in the Australian College of Theology/Common Grace workshop aimed at developing the ACT’s strategy for equipping Christian leaders to prevent and respond to domestic violence in the church. In 2018, she presented her research at the Evangelical History Association Conference, where she was also an invited speaker on the Q&A panel alongside the conference keynotes. In 2019, her paper “Bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh” was presented at the Ridley College Evangelical Women in Academia Conference.

Amelia will be presenting a STCPE masterclass: What Have we Misunderstood about Domestic Violence as the church and as a society? And how can we help address it?. 

Jo Kadlecek  

Jo Kadlecek is the Creative Director at ADM. Her primary role is to help shape ADM’s organisational story while also creating content that advances ADM’s mission: helping Christian women flourish in Kingdom work. Most recently, Jo served as coordinator of women in ministries at the Anglican Church of Noosa on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. Before relocating to Australia, she spent over 25 years teaching, speaking and writing for various publications, churches and Christ-centred universities across the U.S. (She’s worked as a reporter, author, journalism lecturer, public relations officer, waitress and bad soccer coach.) Her most recent book is “Woman Overboard: How Passion Saved My Life” (Fresh Air Books/Upper Room). In 2018, she co-founded Joining the Dots Theatre Company in Sydney. “Speak . . . easy”, her new play about writers, women and wisecracks, was produced as part of the 2019 Sydney Fringe Festival and explores the literary contributions of Dorothy Day, Dorothy Parker and Dorothy L. Sayers.

Jo will be teaching a masterclass on the theology of creativity: The Witness of Wonder: Forming Creative Disciples for the Public Square