As I write this editorial from the lands of the Kaurna people, I feel grateful for the opportunity to have engaged with so many thoughtful, generous, and intellectually stimulating people involved in the production of the June 2026 issue of Colloquium. My thanks go to the authors who have offered their work, to our copyeditor Greta Morris for her meticulous attention to detail, and to all the reviewers who generously gave their time and expertise. I am also deeply grateful to the Editorial Board and the ANZATS Council for their support, guidance, and confidence in entrusting me with the role of Interim Editor. I am excited by both the quality of scholarship and the diversity of voices and perspectives represented in this issue, which brings together conversations ranging from early Christianity and twentieth-century history to contemporary questions of identity, responsibility, belonging, and theology.
In the opening article, “Were There House Churches in Early Christian Times?,” Robert Nelson engages recent challenges to the widely held view that early Christian worship took place in houses and defends this position, showing that long-held conclusions remain well supported. The article also reminds us that many traditions and practices were still in flux in the early centuries of Christianity and invites us to revisit the church at its origin as a community rather than a building, with worship embedded in everyday life and hospitality at its centre, prompting reflection on the implications for the church today.
David Cashmore’s article, “Welcoming the Stranger: The Sheltering of Jewish Refugees at Le Chambon-sur-Lignon,” employs an innovative conceptual lens on the remarkable story of how a village community in WWII France courageously protected thousands of persecuted Jews during German occupation. By combining historical sources, testimonies, and the concept of social imaginary, Cashmore demonstrates how the community’s Protestant heritage, traditions, and practices of benevolence shaped a sustained moral commitment. The case exemplifies principled action under extreme circumstances and raises questions about contemporary responses to refugees and compassionate generosity.
As communities across the Pacific and Australasia mourn the recent passing of Jione Havea, a leading advocate for decolonial biblical interpretation and a highly influential voice in the development of Pacific contextual theologies, Nāsili Vaka‘uta’s article, “When Dogmatics Colonises Theology,” offers a fitting reminder of the importance of Pacific and Indigenous agency in shaping theological discourse. Questioning long-held Western assumptions about authority and theological normativity, Vaka‘uta engages critically and constructively with opposing viewpoints. In doing so, he demonstrates that Pacific theology is Christ-centred, biblically grounded, situated in the life of the church, and guided by ethical responsibility.
In “Towards a Decolonial Eco-Theology: An Asian Contrapuntal Reading of Ecojustice,” Toar Hutagalung expands the decolonial conversation to ecology, economy and global justice. Attending to material realities of extraction and environmental degradation, his article questions whether the much-celebrated greenness of electric vehicles is indeed green for all, or primarily for the privileged who live far from the communities required to sacrifice their land and livelihoods to supply the resources on which such technologies depend. By drawing on Edward Said’s concept of contrapuntal reading to challenge dominant global narratives, Hutagalung invites us to listen to the stories of those making the sacrifices so that these voices are heard alongside, rather than obscured by, greenwashed narratives of progress.
Samuel Curkpatrick’s contribution similarly explores the benefits of attending to relational forms of responsibility in which meaning is formed through engagement with voices, stories, and experiences of lived realities in a variety of cultural contexts. In “From Unknown to Known: Wantarri (Gift) and Interpretive Responsiveness across Warlpiri and Indonesian Contexts,” Curkpatrick draws on insights gained through long-term personal encounters and relationships as he places Warlpiri concepts from Central Australia into dialogue with Pancasila, Indonesia’s foundational philosophical framework. The commonalities that emerge through this encounter evoke Paul’s image of the church as a body, with many parts, each with its own contributions, distinct yet interdependent, working together as a whole.
Nicola Hoggard Creegan’s article, “A Pākehā Whakapapa Deficit and a Dialogue with Science as Whakapapa of the Mind,” carried over from an earlier editorial stage, concludes this issue of Colloquium. Gathering many themes present across the other contributions including identity, community, alienation, belonging, and Indigenous knowledge, it courageously asks what happens when someone stands outside the First Nations framework they appreciate. Hoggard Creegan concludes with a theological vision of connectedness amid entangled histories of migration and reconciliation in Christ.
As I conclude as Interim Editor, I hope that the visions emerging in the contributions of this issue continue to challenge and inform communities in Australasia and beyond: visions marked by respectful questioning of long-held assumptions and dominant traditions, by attentiveness that avoids anachronistically imposing contemporary ideas onto early Christianity or appropriating other cultures, and by a willingness to be self-critical, to listen to and learn from vulnerable communities and others often silenced by the noise of hegemonic discourse. In this spirit, I am delighted to hand the journal over to Steve Taylor as new Editor, assured that Colloquium will be in experienced and caring hands.