Fifteenth International Conference on Religion & Spirituality in Society

Abstract

This paper reflects on how structures of power and violence of colonial Christianity continue to influence Christian communities and thought within Australia. The two authors are an Aboriginal Australian and a survivor of clerical sexual assault; the paper discusses how the ongoing presence of violence and sexual coercion affect spiritual spaces within the Australian church. The paper engages the thoughts of contemporary aboriginal theologians Garry Deverall and others who analyse the interdependence between Christian colonial power and Australian church life and theology. The paper then draws on stories of contact between Aboriginal Australians and colonial Christians and identifies how colonial Christianity expressed itself via physical and sexual abuse. The persistence of the sexual abuse crisis shows that colonialism acts as a wound, not a scar, upon Australian Christianity. The paper discusses how spaces of spiritual practice benefit and support reconciliation work; it argues that work within these spaces has helped and can continue to help Australian churches deepen their connection with place. The paper feels that Christian spirituality is grounded in the practice of vulnerability and love. Hence, violations of vulnerability need to be acknowledged and healed to allow spirituality and theological reflection to emerge. Drawing on historical and contemporary examples, the authors argue for curating spaces at the heart, not just the periphery, of Australian spiritual practices. It argues that practical and ritualised spaces for ‘sorry business’, rather than theology, are a condition of a decolonised Australian church and a condition for any truly Australian Christian theology.