Does Thought Really Matter? ‘Kotahitanga: Unity in a Time of Division’ was the theme for the first Thought Matters Theological Symposium in four years. Eighty delegates from both the Australia Territory and New Zealand, Fiji, Tonga and Samoa Territory gathered in Upper Hutt at Booth College of Mission from 29 September to 1 October. For the first time, not only were there significantly more female attendees, but twice as many women presented papers than men, with two papers being the collaborative work of groups of women. Jules Badger was in attendance and offers some observations from this important weekend. I don’t consider myself a theologian. In fact, I was considering breaking up with theology altogether because of what was beginning to feel like an ever-expanding chasm in the capacity of people of faith to find consensus on matters that affect real people. Lately this relentless debate over ‘right’ theology has been doing my head in and hurting my heart—I know I’m not alone in this. But this year’s theme caught my interest because it spoke to that pain. I was even more compelled to attend when I read the abstracts
of the papers being presented. With enticing titles like ‘Living with Difference’, ‘Is Unity the Holy Grail?’, ‘Conspiracy Theories’, ‘Division, Pain and the Transformational Potential of Forgiveness’, ‘A Ministry of Reconciliation’, ‘A Model of Godly Zeal’, ‘Eating our Way to Unity’ and more, I couldn’t stay away. I confess I suffered from information overload, with most papers being re-read reflectively later, but I found myself transfixed by the passion of the presenters. For some the learning process had
Above: Some of the presenters and members of the Thought Matters forum. 16
November 2023
been truly transformative—research and reflection bringing presenters to unexpected and at times uncomfortable conclusions. The work of the Spirit was evident.
Unity in diversity Captain Malcolm Irwin’s paper, ‘One Body, Many Parts’, is one such example. Malcolm explored the confessions of Christian ‘racists in recovery’ and advocated that it is not diversity we fear, but the loss of white privilege. I sat up and took notice. Malcolm’s research
