A major national conference to map out the future of the Anglican Church in Australia in the new millennium will be held in Canberra in February. More than 1,000 Anglicans will be attending.
It will be the first national Anglican conference for 50 years and will mark the 750th anniversary of the founding of the Anglican Province of Australasia - separating Australian and New Zealand Anglicans from the Church in England.
The Primate of Australia and Archbishop of Melbourne, the Most Rev. Dr Keith Rayner, said today that 1997 would mark a milestone in church life in Australia.
"This is a good time to explore and articulate afresh the mission of the Anglican Church within the Australian nation. That is what we aim to do at the national conference," he said.
The Archbishop of Sydney, the Most Rev. Harry Goodhew, said the next millennium would see great changes in Australian society.
"The Anglican Church in Australia is going to have to accommodate these changes in so many ways," he said. "This conference will be an important forum to explore our future together."
The 1,000 Anglicans attending will include Archbishops, Bishops, Priests and lay people from dioceses all over Australia, and some representatives from the Church in New Zealand. The conference will be held from February 8 to 11 at the Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra.
Guest speakers will include Dr John Peterson, former Principal of St George's College, Jerusalem, who is Secretary-General of the world-wide Anglican Communion; Professor Julian Disney, Director of the Centre for International Law at the ANU; the world-renowned Scottish theologian and ethicist Dr Elizabeth Templeton; Professor Bettina Cass, Professor of Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Sydney; and author and social commentator Hugh McKay.
The general secretary of the Anglican General Synod, the Rev. Dr Bruce Kaye, said the conference would help Anglicans to define their place in Australian society.
This would involve stronger links with all sections of the Australian community, including Australians from Europe, the Middle East and Asia who are from a non-English speaking background, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
"As Anglicans we belong to a religious tradition which has been commitedly enmeshed in the society which it is called to serve," Dr Kaye said.
"We are also at the end point of a long period of significant changes in the nature of our relationship as a Church and as a religious tradition to Australian society.
"For many, a vital sense of our identity as Anglican Christians in plural Australia has become less certain and less clear," Dr Kaye said. "The time is now opportune for us to look outwards! A national conference will provide a number of clear opportunities and offer the prospect for a number of significant benefits.
"Our goal is for the conference to be a catalyst in the rediscovery of Anglicanism as a vibrant and relevant force in Australian society."
More information about the national conference is available form the General Synod Office in Sydney - telephone (02) 92651503.