Category Archives: Opinion

Why Women Seeking Therapy is Framed as a Spiritual Problem, and Why That Needs Re-Examination: On a Recent Gospel Coalition Article. A critique by Kylie Walls

In recent weeks, an article published by The Gospel Coalition addressed an increased tendency for women to seek psychological or therapeutic support outside of the church

The concern expressed is one that some church leaders have expressed for many years, that people may no longer seek pastoral care, and seeking therapy is a way of displacing faith, Scripture, and the presence of God in people’s lives.

I do not deny that faith communities and church leaders can be powerful places of meaning, hope, and care. Many people do turn to their church and spiritual leaders as a refuge in times of distress, and this can be a genuine source of comfort and strength.

At the same time, the way this issue is framed by Kleinschmidt raises important questions about the appropriateness or benefits of seeking support outside of the church — especially for those (often women) who have experienced harm, silencing, or misuse of authority within church contexts

Jesus Born of Mary, by Jodie McIver

As a midwife, I regularly have the privilege of being involved with the birth of a baby. At the last such occasion, I watched through the dimly lit room as a newborn boy lay against his mother’s chest for the very first time. His parents pored over his every feature: the shape of his ears, were they the same as his Dad’s? Were his toes long like his mother’s? Did this also happen with Jesus?

The Father Who Knew Me, the Father Who Knows Me by Rachel Wilson

I have had occasion recently to reflect on good fatherhood. Two years ago, I woke up to a world without my darling father. After a long and brave battle with cancer, he went home to be with his heavenly Father on October 3, 2023. Though doctors told us we would not have him past Easter, by God’s grace we shared another six months: time for light rail adventures with his granddaughter, maths homework with his grandson, and even one last whisky with me on Father’s Day.

Habemus Archiepiscopum Cantuariensem: First Female Archbishop of Canterbury, by Michael Bird

Dame Sarah Mullally, the Bishop of London, has been appointed as the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury, making history as the first woman to hold this ancient office in the 1,400-year existence of the English episcopate. Her appointment was approved by King Charles III, the supreme governor of the Church of England, following the recommendation of the Crown Nominations Commission, and she will be installed at Canterbury Cathedral in March 2026.

The Common Grace in the Church of Taylor Swift by Amy Isham

I’ve spent the last three months researching the experience of the Taylor Swift fandom through the lenses of philosopher Charles Taylor’s A Secular Age and affect theorist Lauren Berlant’s “intimate publics.”  I have decided they’re two sides of the same coin. They describe the experience of transcendence from two different perspectives. 

Responding to Tragedy with Community: Observations in the Aftermath of the Shooting of Charlie Kirk, by Nathan Campbell

Charlie Kirk’s death is a tragedy. It is particularly tragic that he was shot and killed in a place built for the free exchange of ideas, while promoting the idea that political difference should be approached through conversation.

My teenage daughter came home from school and asked me if I’d heard the news that “Charlie Kirk was killed.” I was taken aback that this tragedy was occupying the mind of a grade 8 girl in Brisbane. I myself had barely heard of Charlie Kirk. This article is not going to focus on him but rather on our responses to this tragedy.

I’ve been watching outpourings of grief for this man I didn’t know and had barely heard of, thinking through why so many Australians are so engaged with politics and violence a world away.

World Humanitarian Day 2025: Dangerous Acts of Compassion by Theo Doraisamy

On 19 August 2003, 22 UN staff were killed by a suicide bombing attack, and every year since 2008, World Humanitarian Day has been observed on the 19 August to honour humanitarian workers who have been wounded or have lost their lives to violence – and served as a valuable opportunity to educate and inform people worldwide on the devastating casualties of war.