Roundup: Indigenous religion, ideas for Easter, church as performance space, Dawkins, relevance, same-sex marriage

Dawkins claims poll shows religion is largely irrelevant in Britain

“When it comes to belief, practice or even the most elementary knowledge of the Bible, it is clear that faith is a spent force in the UK, and it is time our policy-makers woke up to that reality and stopped trying to impose beliefs on society that society itself has largely rejected.”

Dawkins provides Christians with a positive opportunity

“A positive, post-Christendom perspective suggests that Christianity can and should flourish beyond the demise of ‘big religion’, and that a level-playing field in public life can and should involve both religious and non-religious participants.”

Same-sex marriage and the challenge to the churches

The Uniting Church has been wrestling with this issue since the 1980s. The president of the church’s national assembly is the Rev. Alistair McRae and he explained the current official position of the Uniting Church on same-sex marriage.

Insiders and outsiders

To embrace relevance, mainline churches need to let go of survival.

Sacred venues the holy grail for musicians

Sydney churches, once restricted to  worship and whispered confessions, have been transformed into live performance spaces. But not just any band is allowed to play. They may only perform with the blessing of the church’s council.

Seven awesome ideas for Holy Week and Easter

Lent and Easter are quickly approaching. If you’ve been racking your brain for ideas (or just procrastinating), we have you covered.

Christian self-understanding in the context of indigenous religions

With the help of participants from several regions of the world a World Council of Churches consultation recently looked at Christian self-understanding in the context of indigenous spiritual traditions.