Program at a glance

Sunday 14 July 2024 Location
5pm Registration Opens Level 2 Foyer
6pm-7pm Conference Opening Service Riverside Theatre
7.30pm Welcome Reception (invite only) Liberty Cafe
Monday 15 July 2024 Location
8.45am Welcome to Country

Devotion
Julia Verdouw 		Riverside Theatre
9.45am Keynote 1
David Smith
Everyday Christian Teaching
(Part 1)
There are moments in teaching that are easy to see as emerging from Christian faith, such as the moments when we pray, consult Scripture, or take a visible stand on some disputed question of truth or ethics. Yet most of our teaching consists of the everyday. We start and end classes, give instructions and assignments, repeat information, announce topics, pause for breath. How does faith shape the texture of the everyday? We will explore together how the mundane moments that make up a teaching day, a teaching week, a teaching semester can be ways of living out our faith. 		Riverside Theatre
10.45am Morning Refreshments Riverside Theatre Foyer
11.15am Snapshot Riverside Theatre
11.45am Keynote 2
Max Jeganathan
Salt and Light in the marketplace of ideas
We are more interconnected, advanced and technologically sophisticated than ever before. However, the global free-flow of ideas has been accompanied by division, confusion and hostility. How can 21st century Christian institutions and educators navigate the marketplace of ideas in a way that is faithful, thoughtful and insightful, and reflects the truth, beauty and goodness of the Christian message? 		Riverside Theatre
12.45pm Lunch Riverside Theatre Foyer
1.45pm Strands
  1. Darren Spyksma
    Christ in the Classroom: Can spelling tests, secondary exams, and “show and tell” actually help shape a student’s walk with Christ?
    All of life is worship to something. Explore how the daily, weekly, and monthly routines and practices inside a school and classroom can be intentionally faith formational. Hear stories of elementary and secondary educators adjusting their practice to more intentionally invite students into seeing their way of being in the world as a response to Christ’s call on their life. Leave with suggested prompts that educators can use to move their practice forward in this way.
  2. Roshan Allpress
    The Gospel and Social Reform: Reframing the Clapham Sect.
    What does it look like to claim that the Gospel leads Christians to engage in reforming the societies and cultures in which we live? What lessons can we learn from how past Christians – in this case, eighteenth and nineteenth century British Evangelicals – did just that across multiple generations? The Clapham Sect – and the wider networks around them – developed new institutional models, invented new vocations, and engaged in intergenerational formation. This session will both explore these stories, and unpack what it means for our own institutional forms, Christian formation and callings.
  3. Sam Burrows
    A Theology of Knowledge Amidst a Meaning Crisis
    Our internet driven age has been described as one in which we are undergoing "algorithmically directed human development." This presents us with a crisis of culture building with the human element of formation increasingly pushed out. What might be a theology of knowledge and how might this direct us to hold on to the aspects of teaching that have to remain relational for meaning to be shared?
  4. Max Jeganathan
    Education in an age of uncertainty
    In a world that is increasingly volatile, complex and unhinged, educators are being called on to speak to the deeper existential questions of identity. Spiritual, psychological and social formation is as present in the classroom as it is at the dinner table. What distinctives can Christian education offer in response? How can the Christian message speak to the cultural and psychological needs of the moment, that young people face today?
Level 2 meeting rooms
2.45pm Afternoon Refreshments Riverside Theatre Foyer
3.15pm Electives Level 2 meeting rooms
4.15pm Close
Tuesday 16 July 2024 Location
8.45am Devotion
Julia Verdouw 		Riverside Theatre
9.45am Keynote 3
Danielle Strickland
Disruption as invitation to FAITH
What if the primary way of transformation was connected to the measure of discomfort we were willing to embrace? What if Jesus leads us towards uncertainty so we might discover Gods ultimate peace and purpose in the exposure of our fear? What if the revelation we most need is a confrontation of our own capacity to become entrenched in the status quo? These are questions we will explore together as we look to Jesus and strengthen our faith! 		Riverside Theatre
10.45am Morning Refreshments Riverside Theatre Foyer
11.15am Snapshot Riverside Theatre
11.45am Keynote 4
Lynn Swaner
Flourishing Together: Research & Practice in Christian Schools
Amid sustained challenges, Christian school educators can find renewed encouragement, hope, and vision in the psalmist’s blessing, “May the Lord cause you to flourish, both you and your children” (Psalm 115:14). Drawing on the book Flourishing Together: A Christian Vision for Students, Educators, and Schools, Dr. Swaner will engage participants in exploring the five domains of educational flourishing: Purpose, Relationships, Learning, Resources, and Well-being. Through research-based insights, reflection, and discussion, educators will be encouraged to create flourishing school ecologies where adults and students can truly flourish—together. 		Riverside Theatre
12.45pm Lunch Riverside Theatre Foyer
1.45pm Strands
  1. Danielle Strickland
    True Transformation
    In an age of cheap information available to everyone, everywhere, how do we experience and discover transformative knowledge? Abundant Life is Jesus’ invitation but how do we experience it and how do we teach others? Let’s explore how facilitating encounter might be the primary means of spiritual revelation and true transformation in this age.
    Infinitum Life
    Explore a way of life that puts Jesus at the center and offers a framework for holistic discipleship. Find out how this tool has been a game changer in real life and brings a deeper level of spiritual vitality. Be warned: It’s simple, but not easy
  2. Lynn Swaner
    Flourishing Together: Research & Practice in Christian Schools
    Amid sustained challenges, Christian school educators can find renewed encouragement, hope, and vision in the psalmist’s blessing, “May the Lord cause you to flourish, both you and your children” (Psalm 115:14). Drawing on the book Flourishing Together: A Christian Vision for Students, Educators, and Schools, Dr. Swaner will engage participants in exploring the five domains of educational flourishing: Purpose, Relationships, Learning, Resources, and Well-being. Through research-based insights, reflection, and discussion, educators will be encouraged to create flourishing school ecologies where adults and students can truly flourish—together.
  3. Trevor Cooling
    Biblically-rooted education - what does that mean?
    Christian educators agree that being Biblically-rooted is a fundamental feature of Christian education. However sometimes we struggle to know what that means in the everyday hurly-burly of school life. In this strand we will engage with some recent evangelical scholarship on how the Bible should be read and its implications for the day-to-day work of teachers who want to live under the authority of the Bible.
  4. David Smith
 Level 2 meeting rooms
2.45pm Afternoon Refreshments Riverside Theatre Foyer
3.15pm Electives Level 2 meeting rooms
4.15pm Close
Wednesday 17 July 2024 Location
8.45am Devotion
Julia Verdouw 		Riverside Theatre
9.45am Keynote 5
Dave Loewen
As we enter a new day in Christian Education, we need to sharpen our vision and practices. In a world of seemingly limitless division and acrimony we need to re-orient ourselves as educators and followers of Christ to a way of being that is centered on a rich understanding of the Gospel. As people of the cross we need a fresh vision that avoids, on the one hand, engaging in triumphalist attempts to take back ‘our’ culture with power and force, and on the other retreating into bubbles of protection that cultivate fear. Let’s explore together how the Gospel calls us to align our lives, our students, and our schools in the way of Jesus! 		Riverside Theatre
10.45am Morning Refreshments Riverside Theatre Foyer
11.15am Keynote 6
David Smith
Everyday Christian Teaching
(Part 2)
There are moments in teaching that are easy to see as emerging from Christian faith, such as the moments when we pray, consult Scripture, or take a visible stand on some disputed question of truth or ethics. Yet most of our teaching consists of the everyday. We start and end classes, give instructions and assignments, repeat information, announce topics, pause for breath. How does faith shape the texture of the everyday? We will explore together how the mundane moments that make up a teaching day, a teaching week, a teaching semester can be ways of living out our faith. 		Riverside Theatre
11.45am Conference close 12noon Riverside Theatre
Thursday 18 July 2024 Location
9am National Institute Research Symposium

Subject to change