SCHOOL OF FAITH
ASSEMBLY OF CONFESSING CONGREGATIONS
OF THE UNITING CHURCH IN AUSTRALIA
DR KATHERINE ABETZ
Katherine Abetz became a Christian as a university student. Most of her adult life has centred on family, the sometimes uneasy combination of minister’s wife and lay preacher and, more lately, the experience of living in Poatina, a Christian village under the auspices of missionary organization for youth and community work, Fusion Australia. Her role as lay preacher raised the question of women’s leadership in the church. This led her on a theological journey resulting in a doctorate of theology. She has had two articles published in the areas of gender, metaphorical language, frame of reference and moral projection, arising from her doctoral question: ‘What does it mean for a woman to be created in God’s image?’* She has two songs on Youtube also arising from the doctorate, ‘The Gender Dance’ and ‘The Postmodern Song’.
ARTICLES
A response to ‘Believing in Jesus Christ’
(from Our Faith vimeo series on the UCA Assembly Vimeo web-site,
Katherine Abetz
If you were asked to explain what the Uniting Church believes about Jesus Christ, what would you say?
BOOKS
Swimming between the Flags: Reflections on the Basis of Union,
Walter and Katherine Abetz
Edited jointly with my husband, Walter, and self-published, (Bendigo: Middle Earth Press, 2002).
Some entries are reprinted from various sources while others were solicited with the intention of representing the Uniting Church in its diversity within the boundaries of the Basis. This book has been reviewed twice in Uniting Church Studies, firstly by Dr. Geoffrey Barnes. On the second occasion, Walter and I were allowed the right of reply. Some Uniting Church colleges have it on their reading list. It should be available in college libraries.
The book is available for purchase as a print on demand book from the editors (10 Denison Ave, Poatina, Tasmania, 7302; wkabetz2@bigpond.com).
PUBLISHED ITEMS AND DOCTORAL THESES
Walter and Katherine Abetz
Published in ACCatalyst Volume 4 Number 2/ April 2010
Prepared for ACCatalyst in the lead up to the UCA conference on “Engaging the Basis” in Melbourne July 2010. The UCA basis of Union is such an important topic that ACCatalyst wanted to start the discussion early, with three short essays on the UCA’s founding document.
SONGS ON YOUTUBE
'The Gender Dance'
Katherine Abetz
"The Gender Dance" illustrates the relational gendered aspects of the Godhead (the Son in relation to the Father) and the reflection of that relationship at the divine-human and human levels. (The divine-human level comprises both Christ in relation to the Church and to his human mother
'The Postmodern Song'
Katherine Abetz
'The Postmodern Song' highlights the predicament of the soul/body divide and loss of linguistic meaning.