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Nazareth Then and Now
Ancient Nazareth lacked the critical advantages for its development as a significant settlement: abundant water supply, an elevated site for defensive purposes, and strategic location adjacent to a major highway. The most comprehensive recent study of the archeology of ancient Nazareth and its local region was completed by Ken Dark over several seasons between 2004…
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The oldest hatred
Presentation to a panel discussion sponsored by the Jewish Council of Australia at St John’s Cathedral, Brisbane on Monday, 29 September 2025. The topic of the event was: Should anti-Semitism be exceptionalised or should we combat all forms of racism together? Co-hosts for the event included: Doykeit (a local Jewish group in Brisbane), St John’s…
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The spirit that transforms
Pentecost SundaySt Paul’s Church, Ipswich19 May 2024 In place of notes for a sermon this week, I am offering some reflections on the dynamics of the Spirit in our lives as people of faith. These reflections are grouped under a series of headings: watery chaos, dry bones and freedom. Watery chaos One of the primal…
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Mothers Day and domestic violence
A sermon for St Paul’s Church, Ipswich on the Seventh Sunday of Easter, 12 May 2024. Around the country today and in many other parts of the world people are observing Mothers’ Day. This year that celebration coincides with a growing awareness of the scourge of domestic and family violence, and indeed the whole of…
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While we wait
St Paul’s Church, IpswichEaster 6B5 May 2024 Waiting can be a difficult time. “Are we there yet?” may only be expressed by the children, but the adults know the feeling all too well. “How long, O Lord?” is a cry of despair within the Scriptures themselves. How long indeed! It has already been several months…
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A truth deeper than historicity
Annunciation to BVMHoly Trinity Church, Fortitude Valley14 April 2024 [https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/4942823] On this principal Marian festival—Lady Day—we celebrate Mary in both Scripture and Tradition. One of the key principles for hermeneutics that I seek to inculcate in my students is the idea that we do not mortgage truth to history. That is a particular weakness of…
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Radical transformation
Easter 2 (B)St Catherine’s, Centenary Suburbs7 April 2024 Explanatory note: The liturgy planning for this Sunday at St Catherine’s where I am presiding and preaching tomorrow has listed the NT reading actually set for next week, but I have chosen to prepare a sermon based around that passage rather than correct the arrangements at this…
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of back stories and afterlives
St John’s Cathedral, BrisbaneChoral Evensong20 August 2023 Of back stories and afterlives In a majestic edifice such as this Cathedral we are reminded that Christianity has a back story. As we participate in the beautiful liturgy of Choral Evensong, we are experiencing a form of worship that has sustained faith for hundreds of years and…
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