For more than half a century, the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne was unquestionably the most rigorously evangelical and missions-oriented diocese in Australia. The Diocese of Sydney, in that same period, was decidedly broader in theological and liturgical practice. How and why did Melbourne move in one direction, while Sydney in the other? This study suggests that the answers are to be found in four vital contributors: local churches, evangelical societies, theological colleges, and diocesan bishops. For three broad periods of history between 1847 and 1937, the presence of these four contributors is uncovered, described, and evaluated for the Diocese of Melbourne. Evangelical activism, theological reflection, and leadership are each shown in their contemporary contexts to help us understand how people with gospel passion sought to respond faithfully to their times. This is the question of vision, leadership, and strategy at the heart of this study: “What makes for long-term evangelical continuity over a hundred-year period?”

Missionary of Reconciliation: The Role of the Doctrine of Reconciliation in the Preaching of Festo Kivengere of Uganda, 1971–1988 Alfred Olwa (Sydney, Australia) In the period 1971–1988, the Christian doctrine of reconciliation was central to Festo Kivengere’s preaching in Uganda and beyond. This doctrine so gripped Kivengere that it shaped his attitude to life, to others, and even to his enemies. He exhorted his audiences to be reconciled with God and then with their fellow human beings, as part of God’s remedy for a broken world. In his preaching, Kivengere depicts Jesus as a missionary of reconciliation who brings a fresh and alternative life, characterized by the reconciling love and peace from God. He preached the Christian doctrine of reconciliation into a Uganda where Christians lived under the horrors of Amin’s rule and its aftermath. According to Kivengere, the world changes through the preaching of the reconciliation centered in Jesus Christ.

The active agents in the multiethnic, multicultural East African Revival are African leaders who forge a new, distinctly African Christian spirituality that precipitates the moral and spiritual transformation of countless individuals throughout the region.

At a time of unprecedented secularization and declining church attendance, youth ministry in the twenty-first century should be doomed. So why is Protestant youth ministry in Sydney vibrant, and in many places growing? This book sets out to answer this question, which is of such importance for the future of the Australian church. A pioneering model of youth ministry evolved in the 1930s and was already flourishing in churches, schools, and university by the 1950s. Its early high point was the Billy Graham Crusade of 1959, which may legitimately be seen as an Australian youth revival. The new model broke with past practice by cultivating ministry leadership by young people, by promoting peer groups to nurture and share faith, and by fostering ministry collaboration between young men and women. The model, used by theological conservatives and liberals alike, and has proved both enduring and fruitful. This book will engage with the model of youth ministry and the religious experiences of young people in Sydney. By reading it you will not only learn from the significant achievements of young people in the past but be better equipped to creatively consider new methods of ministry for the twenty-first century.

From the 1930s the East African Revival influenced Christian expression in East Central Africa and around the globe. This book analyses influences upon the movement and changes wrought by it in Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania and Congo, highlighting its impact on spirituality, political discourse and culture. A variety of scholarly approaches to a complex and changing phenomenon are juxtaposed with the narration of personal stories of testimony, vital to spirituality and expression of the revival, which give a sense of the dynamism of the movement. Those yet unacquainted with the revival will find a helpful introduction to its history. Those more familiar with the movement will discover new perspectives on its influence.