Additional information
by Mersina Papantoniou (Author), Stuart Piggin (Foreword by)
The creation of a little-known department of cross-cultural ministries in the Anglican Diocese of Sydney (DCCM), 1987-2000, straddles the theological/praxis divide of the diocese in regard to ministry with migrants and refugees. The department is placed in what was one of the largest welfare organizations in Australia, the Sydney Anglican Home Mission Society, later re-branded Anglicare. This work exposes its Achilles's heel with regards to evangelism and social welfare debates of the period, alongside examining Australia's social policy of multiculturalism. In what becomes, for the diocese, one of its most turbulent and polarized times in its history, those that are labeled "the purists" are bitterly opposed to the small but extremely influential Australian contingent from the inaugural Lausanne Congress, later becoming a polarized mix. All gloves are off in Sydney's most acrimonious race for archbishop, 1993. This book is intentionally written using a social sciences interdisciplinary approach, exploring contemporary First World, urban missiology with a view from the grass-roots--through the eyes of the laywoman who founded the DCCM. Yet, the theological/praxis and secular social policy debates continue to this day.
Author Biography
Dr. Mersina Papantoniou (Soulos) has lectured in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of NSW and at the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies, U.K. Her research interests include the morphology of evangelical thought and practice of religion, in its various iterations within contemporary culture. The analysis proceeding through sacred (theology) and secular disciplines. Her published works include: Papantoniou (Soulos), Mersina. The Un-Making of a White Jesus: Interdisciplinary Approaches in Cross-Cultural Ministry. Chap. 5 In Theological Conversation on Country: An Aspiration, edited by John Bottomley and Duncan Reid. Series: A Forum for Theology in the World, 45-60. Adelaide, S.A.: ATF Press, 2026, January.
