How do you hope? It’s a question the Australian church is tackling after Easter with a nationwide venture, Hope25.
Australian churches will be preparing during Lent, but the Diocese of Adelaide made an early start, staging a week-long curtain-raiser, Festival of Hope in Theology and the Arts, on February 10-16.
The festival is a natural fit — South Australia calls itself the Festival State, and its capital, Adelaide, the “City of Churches,” kicks up its heels, from festivals of highbrow arts to ideas to sports.
The festival was the brainchild of staff at Adelaide’s theological college. The Rev. Dr Joan Riley, principal of St. Barnabas, told TLC that a wide range of events encouraged people not just to think about hope, but to be creative about it.
There were serious discussions about hope by theologians and the nation’s Indigenous bishop after Australia’s rejection of the Indigenous Voice to Parliament.
There was a poetry session, and a choir practiced songs written for a competition to inspire tunes and lyrics on hope. Participants explored art and stained-glass windows.
One presentation imagined an encounter between the Beatles and Jesus Music, and one parish gathered its many multicultural groups to share worship and a feast of their nations’ flavors.
Why is hope so needed? Riley said it is critical in a sad and confusing world.
“There is just so much going on at the moment which is hard for people,” she said. “We are hearing about anti-Semitic attacks on people, people dealing with economic crisis, the cost of living, … trade sanctions, violence, particularly domestic and family violence.”
She added: “We are living in uncertain times — and uncertain technologically as well. Everything is changing so quickly, like AI and cyber bullying. Young people are growing up in a world which is probably really frightening. We need hope and we believe that with Jesus we have our hope and salvation.
“One way we can express our delight in our hope in Jesus is through the theology and the arts.”
The Rev. Canon Jenny Wilson was one of the theologians speaking at a formal session on theology and hope.
Wilson said hope is not about certainty, a method, or maps. It is about recognizing a sense of God’s presence “in the midst of what looks so awful, of political power and aggression, when we seek peace or want to care for the planet, for example,” she told TLC.
“Jesus spoke of a mustard seed, and I often ask people to imagine a patch of ground with absolutely nothing in it.
“But a patch of ground with even only one seed has a different presence, a different possibility.”
Riley hoped people would leave the festival with a “sense of renewed energy and hope in the belief that faith is something we can hold on to as we move forward.”
“We are strong together, and when we gather, we can celebrate and do diverse and creative things, and keep our faith alive.”
Robyn Douglass grew up in Sydney and Melbourne, completing a journalism cadetship at the Anglican newspaper in Victoria. In South Australia, she has worked for church, local, and national media.
