Welcome

The Ancient Futures Conference committee have decided to postpone the 3 – 5 March 2022 Conference due to the considerable uncertainty surrounding the COVID situation. 

The organising group will be meeting in March 2022 to regroup and plan holding another one-day online seminar (with online content and regional hubs) on 5 November 2022, and then an in-person three-day conference in Canberra from 18 – 20 May 2023.

We hope to see you online again in November 2022 and/or here in May 2023. Please see the Living Memory: Learning from the Legacy of Australian Religious Communities online seminar held 6 November 2021. Videos from the day's events are now available to watch.

In March 2022 the Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture is welcoming more than 100 members of traditional, modern and emerging Religious Communities to a three-day ecumenical conference titled “Ancient Futures: The Renewal of Religious Life in the Australian Church”.

Religious Communities have been a vital element within the Church since its earliest centuries, and their flourishing will be indispensable to its future. Archbishop Justin Welby recently described them as “the canary in the coal mine” of the contemporary Church, and called for “a wild burst of fresh and Spirit-fuelled imagination” about Religious Community life in the 21st century.

The purpose of the conference is to reflect on the distinctive role played by religious communities during the first two centuries of Christianity in Australia; assess the history of new communities in Australia over the past 50 years; and consider how God may be calling 21st century Australians to various forms of religious life.

Supporting organisations and groups: