Regular news from the research carried out in the area of the social environment in Australia will appear on the Project 217 page and you are invited to add your comments along the way.  We look forward to hearing from you across the year.  Please subscribe to the site so you can be kept informed.

I long for a society where our children our safe from garbage!

Dear eight year old girl. I saw you in Typo..

Michael Schluter A4.pdf

• Urban Conversations with Dr Michael Schluter on ‘Relational Thinking: A Vision for Engagement in Public Life’.  Ross Gittins of the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age recently wrote about Schluter being one of the most influential people in his life.  Read about that  at http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/breakdown-in-relations-is-everyones-business-20111206-1ogwl.html. Our event will be on Jan. 24th at Hamodava Cafe in Melbourne.  I’ll post more details soon.
• This is the year that the Global Atheists Convention hits Melbourne (again).  It happens in April and is titled ‘A Celebration of Reason’.  Atheism is the ‘new cool’ in our Society and it needs some reasoned and respectful responses (1 Peter 3:15-16) from those of us who believe in the existence of God.  Sophia Think Tank is helping to cordinate the many and varied responses that God’s people are planning for Melbourne in and around April.
• We have a few Projects underway for the coming year.  Here’s a brief outline of a couple of them…. I’ll be posting more about these (and others) in coming weeks….
• Project 217:  this is based on Nehemiah 2:17 which talks about the need to repair and rebuild the City so that they can be once again proud of it.  The walls of our City are broken and in need of repair.  Richard Eckersley, a social researcher in Canberra, talks of the brokenness of the Social Environment for young people in Australia.  Project 217 is all about how the various Drivers in our Society are adding to such brokenness and how the Drivers can be a part of the healing process.  This is a big Project for us.  Roundtables are planned in Sydney and Melbourne (15 of them all up) along with 6 Project Updates across the year.  We hope to have a National Summit on the topic in Canberra in early 2013 and release the findings later next year.
• Project City Gates is about engaging with the Bible in the Public Space and inviting conversations around the Bible and current affairs.  The idea is to get a group of people together in a Cafe and to start a conversation around an article in that day’s news and to discuss how the Bible engages with the issues raised.  Anything could happen…. and often does!  Why ‘City Gates’?  In Biblical times the City Gates were places of public disourse, policy making, and dispersing of justice, amongst other things.  The Cafe is a good public space in our cities to get these conversations rolling along.
• Sophia Think Tank, as a part of Bible Society Australia’s Bible Advocacy portfolio is helping to launch a Natiuonal Network for Bible Advocacy.  We had our first meeting in Sydney late last year and are planning a follow up early this year.  The areas of Public Theology and Apologetics are being carried out by many groups in Australia and it is wise to learn from each other, partner together, and work in unity.

Thanks for travelling with us.  we would love to hear from you and see you at any of the public events we have planned across the year….

David Wilson

http://vimeo.com/30401688

http://vimeo.com/30369014

I read an article on the Age website this morning about the State Coalition’s Crime Prevention Minister (Andrew McIntosh) holding community forums and ‘discovering’ that the biggest problems are mental health issues, substance abuse, a lack of stable housing, and domestic violence.  This is what some of us have been saying for years.  Almost sounds like the Communuty has been reading the ‘Smart Justice’ briefing sheets!

Minister McIntosh is quoted as saying that it will take a long time to bring the crime rate down and that to do so it’s everyone’s job.  It’s not just a Policing mater or a Corrections issue, it’s something all of us must be actively concerned with.  I could not agree more.  Read the article at http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/minister-admits-cutting-crime-may-take-20-years-20110924-1kqt1.html.

A couple ofways to advance this:

If a Community forum is coming to town, get involved.  Go along and voice your opinions.

Let’s get a conversation going here.  What do you think of the article?  How can we get involved?  On Novemeber 13th (at 6pm) Sophia Think Tank, in association with the Christian Prison Ministries Forum, is holding a Forum on this topic.  Hugh deKrester will be the keynote speaker on Smart Justice with a panel of respondents.  It will be held at Hamodava Cafe in Westwood Place, Melbourne.  You’re welcome to come along.

Food for thought…..

You can read it at http://eternity.biz/news/and_man_created_god/1109221529/

I picked up this piece of encouragement from Youtube the other day.  Worthwhile watching.  Says some interesting stuff about music and faith and the arts too.  Alice Cooper has a syndicated radio programme that runs on 91.5 here in Melbourne.  It’s good to listen to for his insights into the world of rock and roll and I’ve often thought that he has some decent values behind all the makeup.  I guess I now understand a little more of where those values are coming from.  Good music too!!  Yes Larry, why should the devil have all the good music?  (Sorry…. showing my age….)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3q7ycY9hbk