The Undeceptions Conference
in partnership with City Bible Forum
Making sense of Christianity
Hosted by acclaimed author, historian, and podcaster John Dickson, this one-of-a-kind event will feature a world-class line-up of speakers, mediated Q&As, a live recording of the popular Undeceptions podcast, and opportunities to spend more focused time grappling with our theme: making sense of Christianity.
SYDNEY: Friday 28th July 6pm – Saturday 29th July 5pm
MELBOURNE and Livestream: Friday 4th August 6pm – Saturday 5th August 5pm
Location
SYDNEY
Friday Evening: Scots Church, 44 Margaret St, Sydney
Saturday All Day: Presbyterian Ladies’ College (PLC), Meta St, Croydon
MELBOURNE
Scots Church, 156 Collins St, Melbourne
Program
Please note that times of sessions are subject to change.
6:00PM Welcome refreshments
Drinks and canapes in the foyer.
7:00PM SESSION ONE
Rebecca McLaughlin – Making counterintuitive sense of Christianity.
When many people look at Christianity today, all they see are roadblocks. They see racism, the denigration of women, a refusal to accept that ‘love is love’. But what if these roadblocks were actually signposts to Jesus?
Rachel Gilson – Making personal sense of Christianity
Rachel used to think Christians were stupid and bigoted. She knew she was attracted to women, and she knew that Christians were NOT ok with that. This is the story of Rachel’s quest to understand God and his opinions of her desires.
Q&A hosted by John Dickson
9PM Close
7:30AM Undeceptions Plus and special guest breakfast
9:00AM SESSION TWO
Sam Chan: Making reasonable sense of Christianity
Believing in Jesus seems to be completely irrational. People simply don’t rise from the dead. Does Christianity require blind faith?
With All Due Respect with Megan Powell du Toit and Michael Jensen
Christianity and the Woke: Oxymoron or soulmates?
Is it even possible to be believe in Jesus and also be ‘woke’? Plenty would say no … and quite forcefully! But in their typical style, Megan and Michael believe it’s possible to have a deep conversation about this without it descending into chaos.
Rebecca McLaughlin: Making psychological sense of Christianity.
There is increasingly well-documented evidence of the mental and physical health benefits of attending church regularly. Is it possible that Christianity might actually be good for us?
11:00AM Morning tea
11:30AM SESSION THREE
Small Wonders with Laurel Moffatt (Part 1)
Take a trip with Laurel to Joshua Tree National Park from your conference seat, to lie under the stars in the sky and consider what darkness can teach us.
Sarah Irving-Stonebraker: Making historical sense of Christianity
Uncovering Christianity’s influence on science, human rights, and the Western Tradition.
Q&A with Sarah Irving Stonebraker and Sam Chan
1:00PM Lunch
2:00PM SESSION FOUR
Breakout 1
Breakout 2
3:30PM Afternoon tea
4:00PM SESSION FIVE
Small Wonders with Laurel Moffatt (Part 2)
Take a trip with Laurel to Joshua Tree National Park from your conference seat, to lie under the stars in the sky and consider what darkness can teach us.
Rachel Gilson: Making sense of the Christian sexual ethic
When it comes to Christian sexual ethics and Christianity, we can often just hear a drum beat of ‘No’. But Rachel will help us discover God’s beautiful and powerful ‘Yes’.
Live Undeceptions podcast with Rebecca McLaughlin
She believes.
Jesus’s treatment of women was revolutionary. That’s why they flocked to him. What was it that they saw? And why might it be helpful for us to look through the eyes of these ancient women today?
5:30PM Conference closes.
7:30AM Undeceptions Plus and special guest breakfast
9:00AM SESSION TWO
Sam Chan: Making reasonable sense of Christianity
Believing in Jesus seems to be completely irrational. People simply don’t rise from the dead. Does Christianity require blind faith?
Rebecca McLaughlin: Making psychological sense of Christianity.
There is increasingly well-documented evidence of the mental and physical health benefits of attending church regularly. Is it possible that Christianity might actually be good for us?
Q&A with Sam Chan and Rebecca McLaughlin
10:45AM Morning tea
11:15AM SESSION THREE
Small Wonders with Laurel Moffatt (Part 1)
Take a trip with Laurel to Joshua Tree National Park from your conference seat, to lie under the stars in the sky and consider what darkness can teach us.
Christopher Watkin: Making social sense of Christianity.
What if the Bible wasn’t just an ancient book, but could actually help us make sense of modern life and culture?
Q&A with Christopher Watkin
12:30PM Lunch
1:30PM SESSION FOUR
Breakout 1
Breakout 2
3:00PM Afternoon tea
3:30PM SESSION FIVE
Small Wonders with Laurel Moffatt (Part 2)
Take a trip with Laurel to Joshua Tree National Park from your conference seat, to lie under the stars in the sky and consider what darkness can teach us.
Rachel Gilson: Making sense of the Christian sexual ethic
When it comes to Christian sexual ethics and Christianity, we can often just hear a drum beat of ‘No’. But Rachel will help us discover God’s beautiful and powerful ‘Yes’.
Live Undeceptions podcast with Mike Bird
Many gods
At the time of Jesus, the culture was saturated with gods. So when early Christ-followers said ‘Jesus is God’, did they mean him to be one of many or the one and only? And how did Jesus measure up to the ‘gods’ who came before?
5:30PM Conference closes.
Attendees select two breakout sessions to attend during Session Four.
1. REBECCA MCLAUGHLIN
Drawing from her book ‘The Secular Creed’, Rebecca will tell us more about the current cultural critiques of Christianity – especially around diversity, equality, and justice. She’ll teach us how to take the critiques seriously and avoid simply defending our “tribe”.
2. JOHN DICKSON
Twenty or so years ago a frequent complaint against Christianity was that it was too moralistic, holier-than-thou, or “goody two-shoes”. Today it is just as common to hear people say that the problem with the church is that it is immoral, violent, and hateful. So, has Christianity done more harm than good?
3. RACHEL GILSON
This an opportunity to hear Rachel answer your questions in a more intimate setting on same-sex attraction and gender issues. This session will be limited to 50 people.
4. SAM CHAN
Join Sam for a practical session on how to talk to people about Jesus in a sceptical world.
Meet our speakers
Our Sponsors
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