Carey Conversations

How Churches are Responding

The cost of living and housing crisis is having a significant and ongoing impact on individuals, families, and communities. In this conversation we hear from a range of churches who are responding to the housing and cost of living crisis. Each church shares what they are doing to respond to the crisis, and the practical steps they have taken to develop their response.

Understanding Issues and Responses

The cost of living and housing crisis is having a significant and ongoing impact on individuals, families, and communities. The issues involved are complex and multifaceted and can leave us wondering what, if anything, we can do in response. In this Carey Conversation we were joined by leaders from Visionwest Waka Whakakitenga as we seek to better understand the scope of the issue, the disproportionate impact it is having on some of our communities, and the range of forces at play.

In March, Carey hosted a conversation exploring the question “Does God care if we flourish?” In this event, Christa McKirland (Carey Baptist College) and Joanna Leidenhag (University of Leeds) discuss how we might answer this question from a theological perspective.

In the interview, Christa and Joanna explored our understanding of who God is, the nature of God’s flourishing, how this informs how we define flourishing for all of creation (including humanity), and some of the barriers to human flourishing. We were challenged to reconsider the metrics that we use to measure flourishing, to consider a definition of flourishing as “A wholehearted orientation toward God,” and how this definition might help us to be more inclusive of diversity in our churches.

A biblical and theological reflection on the nature of church and leadership in Aotearoa and across the world today.

In this conversation, Jonny Weir (Carey’s Director of Ministry Training) interviews Frank Ritchie (A Wesleyan Methodist minister and one of the authors of the Arise Church report), and they explore some of the potential problems with models of church and leadership being adopted today.

In a panel discussion, Dr Christa McKirland (Lecturer in Systematic Theology), Dr Michael Rhodes (Old Testament Lecturer), and Luke Kaa-Morgan (Te Pouarataki mō te hikoi) also provide some biblical and theological reflections on what it means to be the church, providing some models of leadership that we could aspire to.

Dr Willie Jennings is a Yale University professor and leading Baptist theologian in a host of areas, including race, cultural identities, creation, and the church.

“We Christians have inherited a faith that has been damaged and diseased by race and racial reasoning. We need a renewed vision of what it means to be Christain that grasps the gospel power of radical life together. This Carey Conversation will explore both the problem of racial faith and the possibilities of joining that is at the heart of the gospel.”

-Dr Willie Jennings

A panel discussion led by Dr Andrew Picard focusing on how our churches might respond in a biblical, theological, missional, and pastoral way as restrictions around gatherings are lifted.