The Seminary of the 3rd Age theme for 2022 is Faith and Religion relating to the present age. In the March series of seminars, we examine The Relationship between Religion and Culture. Ken Sumner will present tonight on the topic The influence of colonisation on faith.

Rev George Taplin, the pioneer Congregationalist missionary at Point Macleay has been considered by some to have been more enlightened than other missionaries. However, his Christianity reflected the social Darwinist views much accepted at the time and he assumed that Europeanisation would inevitably replace traditional culture. He thus promoted literacy and numeracy which enabled many to acquire trades which enabled them to survive and flourish briefly. Ken will share his conviction that the colonial package which enwrapped the gospel has to be unwrapped and re-expressed in ways that reflects resilient Ngarrindjeri cultural wisdom.

Ken Sumner is a Ngarrindjeri man who grew up at Ruakkan near Lake Alexandrina. (formerly Point McLeay Aboriginal Mission). He was ordained as a Minster of the Word in the Uniting Church in 1998. Currently he is the Covenanting Coordinator based at Uniting College. Ken has ministered with the Congress congregation in Salisbury; has been National Chair of the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress (UAICC) and director of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Ecumenical Commission (NATSIEC).