An international conference in Canberra this week will explore how the Christian message speaks in public and civic life in Australia and globally. The Christian Mission in the Public Square conference will be held at Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture (ACC&C) from Thursday 2 October to Sunday 5 October. About 80 participants from across Australia, Asia and New Zealand will attend the conference which is co-sponsored by the Australian Association for Mission Studies (AAMS) and CSU’s strategic research centre, Public and Contextual Theology (PACT). Director of the ACC&C and Chairman of the Global Network for Public Theology (GNPT), the Reverend Professor James Haire, AM, said “This conference will discuss the history, theology and practice of the Christian mission, and public theology in word and action. For example, some could argue that there is a contradiction between the Christian mission and public theology, while others might assert that public theology is the most legitimate way of engaging civil society with the claims of Christianity in our time.” The conference’s keynote speaker, South African theologian Professor Nico Koopman, will discuss the Christian mission in the public arena of South Africa, and its implications internationally.