We’ve been attending the National Folk Festival (NASH) in Canberra every year (except the Covid ones) since 2014. It's held over the long Easter weekend and has the idealistic slogan “Five days in a perfect world”. That might not be strange for long-time folkies like us but during most of those years we were pastors of a church, and some people were surprised (horrified?) we weren’t in church for all the Holy Week activities. How could we go off to a folk festival and not be in church? Well, we must admit we found more spiritual nourishment in the music, dance, storytelling, and celebration a ..read more

By Vinnies, as shared at 1st Saturday, 3rd February 2024 https://mavs.vinnies.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/ACKNOWLEDGEMENT-OF-COUNTRY-AND-PRAYER_A4_FIN-2.pdf ..read more

Members of AAANZ, The Northern Beaches Table-gathers and The Avalon Baptists joined together on October 21, 2023 for The Basin Track Aboriginal Site Tour in the Ku-ring-ai National Park at West Head. The weather was absolutely perfect and our tour guide and leader was Laurie Bimson who gave us a wealth of information on our First Nation’s Peoples and the cultures in and around the local area. It was also a time to reflect as it was just a week after the “No” result in the Referendum. Link for the tour information : Basin Track Tour - Guringai Tours Reservations (https://guringaitoursau.rezdy.c ..read more

What: we are hosting a tour of an indigenous site in northern Sydney as a way for us to engage with issues of indigenous justice. The tour will be led by Guringai Aboriginal Cultural Tours When: Sat 21 October 2023, 10am-1:30pm Where: Kuringai Chase National Park, 45 min drive north of Sydney CBD, (West Head). Details: Meet at the Resolute Picnic Area (RPA) just before the Lookout (which is presently closed for a major upgrade). This is 13 kms (North) past the NPWS toll booth along the West Head Rd. We are at the picnic area till after lunch. We start with a talk about artefacts then boomeran ..read more

Press release circulated on 22 Sep 2023. The full statement is at the bottom of this page, and can be downloaded from here. The Executive Committee of the Anabaptist Association of Australia and New Zealand (AAANZ) calls on the Australian church to support the aspirations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. In a detailed position statement from an Anabaptist point of view, they give clear reasons for Christians to support the requests in The Uluru Statement from the Heart, which include “a First Nations Voice enshrined in the Constitution”. The AAANZ emphasises that Jesus is the ..read more

Grace Koch Campbell, Constantine R. 2023. Jesus vs Evangelicals: A Biblical Critique of a Wayward Movement. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Reflective. If you want a challenge to your personal walk with God, read this book. The introductory paragraphs alone will shock you, especially if you are a citizen of the USA. Con Campbell is a theologian, Biblical scholar, author, musician, and former pastor who is professor and associate research director at Sydney College of Divinity and does sessional tutoring at the Canberra School of Music. When his busy schedule allows, he and his wife, Niah, at ..read more

What do the three Anabaptist centralities – Jesus, community, and reconciliation – have to do with how we think about our finances? Ted Sherwood has given some thought to this subject and is going to lead us through an introductory discussion of this topic. Our discussion will be on Saturday, 6 May 2023, live-streamed via Zoom between 4:00 and 5:00pm. Join earlier to mingle with other participants. Contact aaanz.info@gmail.com for the Zoom link ..read more

Dr Drew J. Strait is Assistant Professor of New Testament and Christian Origins at the Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS) in the USA. We will be discussing his work on “Christian Nationalism”.  We will view a 30–minute video intended for use in small group study to “break silence” in your community. Later this year Drew is leading a short course online called Resisting Christian Nationalism with the Gospel of Peace with this video as an introduction to the course. Our discussion will be on Saturday, 4 March 2023, live-streamed via Zoom between 4:00 and ..read more

The AGM will be held via Zoom on the evening of Thursday 3 November, starting at 7:00pm. If you plan to join us, please email aaanz.info@gmail.com for the Zoom link. If you are not a registered member and would like to be part of the AAANZ, please fill out the membership request form before the meeting ..read more

Dr Doug Hynd Dr Douglas Hynd is Adjunct Research Fellow, Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture. The post-Christendom era in the English-speaking world has seen a significant reduction in access to political power by the churches, a slow loss of their social and cultural influence, and a shredding of their moral standing from abuse scandals and other public failings.  Doug's new book Community Engagement after Christendom directly addresses these challenges, proposing a different approach to the relationship between church and society. On Saturday, 1 October 2022, Doug will ..read more