Student Christian Movement Aotearoa

Journey of ex-pastor showcased in film A film about the deeply personal journey of Andre Afamasaga, a Samoan ex-pastor who came out as gay after enduring 15 years of conversion practices will air on ABC Australia’s Compass on 1 September...

Such an exciting and much needed event. Thank you to all the hosts!

🌏✨ WSCF AP proudly announce to hold an event — Consultation, Capacity Building Training, and Immersion on Human Rights in the Asia Pacific!

We’ll dive into critical issues surrounding human dignity, democracy, and fundamentalism.

This is a unique opportunity to enhance awareness, deepen understanding, and unite as students to champion these vital causes.

More than 20 international participants from across the Asia Pacific region are gathering for this meaningful event!

Stay tuned for more updates! 📅🗣️🤝

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Organized by:
World Student Christian Federation Asia Pacific (WSCF AP)
United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP)
Christian Youth Fellowship (CYF)
Student Christian Movement of the Philippines (SCMP)

Supported by:
The United Church of Canada
Global Ministries
National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP)

My reflections on Embracing Hopelessness by Professor Miguel De La Torre -- an important book to wrestle with in an age of cruel optimism, critical pessimism, and contained opposition.

Embracing Hopelessness in Aotearoa – Student Christian Movement Aotearoa The Student Christian Movement is an inclusive and progressive group of people of many faiths, dreamers, philosophers, cynics and theologians.

Loved We Were Dangerous! Some truly beautiful shots, captivating storytelling, and a challenge to so many contemporary struggles.

Out Now: Dangerous Q***r Kiwi Filmmaking The q***r women behind, We Were Dangerous, writer Maddie Dai and director Josephine Stewart-Te Whiu, discuss the personal inspirations behind this timely tale of autonomy, freedom and independent …

If you haven't already, check out Bookworm (2024), a film about the Canterbury Panther, the failure of ideals, and the promise of embracing the alterity of the other.

Bookworm (2024): a theological review – Student Christian Movement Aotearoa The Student Christian Movement is an inclusive and progressive group of people of many faiths, dreamers, philosophers, cynics and theologians.

Great short video on God as being, not God a being! A powerful critique against an image of God that's perpetuated in our myths, minds, and art.

I'm reminded of Thomas Aquinas who said something similar; but Aquinas also realises that sometimes it's helpful for humans to speak in terms of analogy. i.e., it's not wrong per se to think of God as a being, as long as we realise that's an incomplete way of looking at God. I wonder along with Barth, what the conception of God as being does for us, though. Yes, God is being. But not Being in and for itself, but "the God who becomes human is God." (The Word of God as the Task of Theology)

God is not A being - Liturgy Thomas Merton springs to mind when God is treated as "a being" existing alongside and like any other being. He was reading Etienne Gilson's The Spirit of

Merdeka Papua!

It's Olympics time! We'd be remiss if we didn't chime in on the Dionysus / Last Supper controversy! A few quick comments:

1. I've seen a lot of people arguing that it wasn't meant to depict The Last Supper, rather its referent was a painting of Dionysus and a bacchanal. This is plausible (though some sources, including the English version of the Olympic app guide indicate a Last Supper inspiration at least in part). But! Artist intention is only part of a work's 'meaning'. Meaning is produced between artist, artwork, and viewer. In that sense, even if the intention was not to reference the Da Vinci Last Supper, we have to reckon with the interpretation instead of just saying: you're uncultured and read the tableau wrong.' Which leads me to perhaps a more important question to me than artistic meaning:

2. What should Christians be offended at? By this question, I want to be clear I'm not slipping into whataboutism, i.e. don't be offended at this when there are bigger things happening such as wealth inequity, violence, etc. I am genuinely interested in the nature of offense. Is it that something holy has been cast as unholy or sinful? One of the unique things about Christianity is that our God is holy because of God's nature. Human action in no way affects the power or nature of God. How could a parody of the last supper in any way diminish the glory of God? God doesn't need protecting. This was the lesson sword-wielding Peter learned in the garden. Even in Gethsemane, it was never the Christ follower's job to stand in the way of Jesus and those who would lead him down a path of humiliation.

The job was to stay with Jesus. There's more to say, but I'd love to hear your opinions and thoughts in the comments below.

Michael Toy
Public Theologian

PS for other reading: https://jesusinlove.blogspot.com/2007/10/q***ring-last-supper.html
https://cassidyhall.com/2023/03/01/lastsupper/

The Last Supper was a Drag Brunch The Last Supper Was a Drag Brunch, and we’re all invited…

Faced with the reality of human sin—our sin as individuals, as a state, and as a church—it is hard to know how to respond. There are no words. There are no apologies that can make things 'okay'. There are no promises that hold any weight.

It's easy to point fingers. It's easy to rationalise with simple narratives (oh, if they just let the priests get married). It's easy to say, 'well at least that never happened in my church."

But as Christians, we're not called down the easy path. We're called to walk the much harder path of reconciliation. Changing our systems and our structures and everything in our power to prevent any individual from experiencing harm in our care.

This week we'll hear lots of calls for a need for listening and a need for work. We'll also hear calls to burn it all down. All of those are valid feelings.

I hope as we hear more that we listen deeply. I hope that we walk away changed.

Michael Toy
Public Theologian

Whanaketia – Through pain and trauma, from darkness to light | Abuse in Care - Royal Commission of Inquiry This Royal Commission is an independent inquiry into abuse in state care and in the care of faith-based institutions in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Some highlights from our annual hui in Te Whanganui-a-tara:
* Friday evening dinner and group discussion with students and senior friends on nourishing resistance (yes! The ambiguity of nourishing as verb and adjective was intentional)
* Saturday guided meditation session
* Double Rainbow all the way across the sky
* Whanaungatanga with friends old and new from all across the Motu!

If you haven’t already, sign this petition from our friends at Common Grace Aotearoa!

Protect families struggling with power prices Electricity is an essential service, necessary for health and wellbeing. Most of us rely on it to stay warm, cook dinner, do our homework and keep the lights on. But lack of action from the regulator - the Electricity Authority, who sets the rules for electricity retailers - is causing unfair hardsh...

Our submission on the Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill linked here! Still 3+ hours to get in a submission.
https://scm.org.nz/submission-on-the-residential-tenancies-amendment-bill/

"Anti-religious negation has no advantage over the affirmations of religion. To destroy temples is not better than to build them." — Karl Barth

"It is not religion but revolution that is the o***m of the people.
Deprivation of this poetry explains all forms of demoralization." — Simone Weil

Next weekend at our annual hui, we face head-on the challenging question: What nourishment, if any, does our Christian faith give us during times of uphill battles, despair, and hopelessness?

(Thanks to Hanna Reichel for bringing the first quote to my attention via After Method, and Matthew Milliner for pointing me to the second via X)

Did not have a theological reflection including "The Spark" by Kabin Crew on my bingo card for the day. Some great thoughts and insights!

Karl, Kids, and the Kingdom of God, Part II Q***ring Barth's Imperative of Childlikeness

Pinch and a punch for the first of the month! We're in July— which means only 11 more days til our annual hui and AGM. It'll be a blast -- and all are invited!

Details/schedule for the weekend here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1832731227235415

“Terrible is the fate of theologies from the margin when they want to be accepted by the centre!” Marcella Althaus-Reid & Lisa Isherwood

“Thinking Theology and Q***r Theory,” Feminist Theology 15, no. 3 (2007): 304

Mānawatia a Matariki!

"Matariki is part of God's unfolding story in this place." Wise words from a great SCMer Michael Wallace!
https://www.shinetv.co.nz/videos/god-within-matariki?

God within Matariki A stunning new documentary produced by Shine TV for the upcoming celebration of Matariki. What does the Bible say about this time in our Kiwi calendar, and how do we navigate the celebrations and complexities of this season as Christian communities? Theologian Dr Brad Haami and church leaders hel...

I have so many thoughts on this— but most of all, my heart goes out to those bearing the brunt of White Supremacy and the great lie that egalitarianism is treating everyone and every space the same.
~Michael

Samoan academic received death threats It has been revealed that Samoan academic Professor Jemaima Tiatia-Siau was among staff members and students who received death threats over a sign.The University of Auckland has revealed to the New Zealand...

This blogpost from 4 years ago just came across my feed -- and in many ways, echoes the way I thought about politics prior to 2015. The author puts voting in opposition to other forms of activism. This is a false binary. I agree that voting and democracy on its own — to paraphrase Jodi Dean — is insufficient for emancipatory and liberatory politics. But these aren't mutually exclusive. Voting will not save us. And the way some people talk about voting as a sacred activity can be cringe, but That doesn't absolve us from participating in the participatory politics of democracy.

Share your thoughts in the comments!
Michael

Voting Will Not Save Us One of the Quakers’ many peculiarities is their spotted history of abstaining from voting. I have seen and heard others reference this conviction as though it was once widely held, but I have found…

I was privileged to see Takapau at Te Papa the last week it was there -- so excited to see the beautiful work get global recognition.

"It is artists, and specifically Māori and other Indigenous artists, who have prompted me to always consider how I am as a visitor on other whenua, and how I must understand the impact of visitors and foreigners in the same way that I would for people to our whenua, proceeding with respect and graciousness." Wise and challenging words from Matariki Williams.

'There are foreigners everywhere, and I'm one of them' | E-Tangata “It is artists, and specifically Māori and other Indigenous artists, who have prompted me to always consider how I am as a visitor on other whenua, and how I must understand the impact of visitors and foreigners in the same way that I would for people to our whenua.” — Curator Matariki Willia...

The opposite of poverty isn't property. The opposite of both poverty and property is community. For in community we become rich: rich in friends, in neighbours, in colleagues, in comrades, in brothers and sisters. Together, as a community, we can help ourselves in most of our difficulties. For after all, there are enough people and enough ideas, capabilities and energies to be had. They are only lying fallow, or are stunted and suppressed. So let us discover our wealth; let us discover our solidarity; let us build up communities; let us take our lives into our own
hands, and at long last out of the hands of the people who want to dominate and exploit us.”
― Jürgen Moltmann, The Source of Life: The Holy Spirit and the Theology of Life

Rest in peace Professor Moltmann!

We've made our submission on local government! Written in haste -- but there's still a day left to make your own submission!

Ours unfolds in three points:
1) As Christians, we seek to honour the Treaty and bicultural endeavours. The existing legislation removes barriers to allow for Māori representation. That's a good thing. Changing that is bad.
2) As Christians, we seek to promote the flourishing of all people, but especially the last, lost, and least. Māori have been too long excluded from the government and even when given a voice, the majority rarely considers the needs of the few. This helps mitigate the inherent tendency towards hegemony of democracy.
3) Some decisions require moral courage, knowledge, and expertise, hence our system of representational democracy. We elected councillors to make those decisions. Creating Māori wards and constituencies are these kinds of decisions. If there is any political message in the Bible, it's this: people en masse often get these things wrong (due in part to mis and disinformation). Turning back the decisions made in establishing Māori wards and constituencies is not only morally cowardly but enables the public to freely engage in racist politics.

Submission to the ​​Justice Committee on the Local Government (Electoral Legislation and Māori Words and Māori Constituencies) Amendment Bill – Student Christian Movement Aotearoa The Student Christian Movement is an inclusive and progressive group of people of many faiths, dreamers, philosophers, cynics and theologians.

We've locked in our dates for our AGM and Annual Hui! 12-14 July in Pito-one, Te Whanganui-a-tara. Please fill out our registration form to help us with our planning! :) Local branches are able to draw on their accounts to help subsidise travel expenses -- talk to your local rep, me, or Jess if you have any questions. :)

SCM 2024 AGM & Hui: Pito-one We need some details for the SCMA hui. Please note for your privacy consideration, Jordan Redding (SCMA Chair) may have access to this information. Your dietary information will be passed onto Rachel Tombs (responsible for the catering over the weekend).