ADELAIDE BONHOEFFER CONFERENCE

“YES” FOR TODAY AND TOMORROW

80 years after Dietrich Bonhoeffer was hanged by the Nazi regime, people from all walks of life and scholarly disciplines continue to mine his deep insights and his “Yes” for today and tomorrow. Out of the disillusionment of the first half of the 20th century, especially the two world wars and the depression, Bonhoeffer distilled much ‘gold’ out of that crucible: Who are we as humans and what is our relationship to both ultimate and penultimate matters?

You are invited to be part of the community that will gather at Immanuel Lutheran Church in North Adelaide, on April 26 and 27, to hear and discuss some of this ‘gold’ as shared by our two key note speakers Rev Dr Mark Worthing and Rev Professor Mark Lindsay, along with the electives being offered. A panel will also consider “The ‘strong man’ political phenomenon in the world today” and Rev Dr Maurice Schild will preach at the worship service on Sunday.

DETAILED PROGRAM

ADELAIDE BONHOEFFER CONFERENCE 2025

God's YES for today and tomorrow

SATURDAY 26 April

8.30 am Registration/ coffee

9.00 am Welcome

9.15 am First Keynote lecture: Rev Dr Mark Worthing

Why Bonhoeffer is still growing in popularity 80 years after his death

10.30 am Morning Tea

11.00am Second Keynote lecture: Rev Professor Mark Lindsay

Bonhoeffer, Babylon, and the ‘Eternal Gospel’: Today’s ‘No’ Meets Tomorrow’s ‘Yes’

12.15pm Lunch

1.15pm Panel: Dr Jenny Tilby Stock, Rev Dr Lynn Arnold, Dr Anna Nuernberger

Dietrich Bonhoeffer: The Fuhrer Principle and the Rise of the ‘Strongman’: then and now

2.30pm Elective Session 1 (choose one of the following four)

Rev Dr Mark Worthing: Lessons on Christian Community gained from the Finkenwalde experience

Rev Dr Jonathan Barker: Bonhoeffer and discerning the necessary deed

Peter Schulz: Christian or Christ-like? Euthanasia as responsibly bringing God’s love to a suffering neighbour: in  conversation with Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

Pastor Mike Pietsch: Bonhoeffer 101 - All questions welcome!  

3.45pm Afternoon Tea.

4.15pm Elective Session 2 (choose one of the following four)

Rev Professor Mark Lindsay: The Question of Church Communion - Bonhoeffer’s Ecclesiology in a Divided World

Rabbi Dr Aviva Kipen: The personal price of costly grace - Journeying in theological reflection

Rev Assoc Professor John Capper: Barth and Bonhoeffer - Freude (Joy) and Hilaritas

John Young AM: Situational Ethics - On contemporary art making and the transformational nature of the Bonhoeffer in Harlem Project  

5.30pm Close

6.00pm Dinner at a nearby restaurant in North Adelaide

SUNDAY 27 April

9.30am Worship service

Preacher: Rev Dr Maurice Schild, with Holy Communion including several of Bonhoeffer’s hymns - in remembrance of Bonhoeffer’s life and with petitions for God’s world.

11.00am Morning Tea

11.30pm Highlights and issues raised by the weekend: responses from a panel, followed by questions and discussion.

12.30pm Conclude the Panel Session

1.00pm Lunch in O’Connell St North Adelaide