ISBN: 0-522-85003-0

Church History and Religious Studies in Australia entered a new
era with the publication of this finely produced and very interesting
volume of historical essays and reflective interpretative and comment
related analytical and reflective articles. This is a professional
book as shown by the range of professionals involved, both historical
and theological.

It was fascinating to learn of the collective approach to the
writing, whereby the participants in this project were drawn together
in the writing process and engaged through two live-in seminars. They
continued to provide comment on each others' research and
writing in order to develop a coherent and co-ordinated publication.
The use of a general editor and associate editors with different
areas of specialisation has helped to co-ordinate and continue the
collective nature of the liaison and has demonstrated an excellent
contemporary model of academic involvement.

Bruce Kaye, the general editor of the book, is the General
Secretary of the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Australia
and has had wide-ranging involvement in academia including a period
as Master of New College, UNSW, which saw the development of an
ethics (values research) centre.

The associate editors include Tom Frame, an Anglican bishop
appointed to the Australian Defence Forces, a lecturer at St Mark's
Theological College, Canberra.

Colin Holden is a Senior Fellow of the History Department and a
Fellow of the Department of Fine Arts, University of Melbourne, and
an Anglican priest.

Geoff Treloar would be well-known in evangelical circles as the
editor of Lucas: An Evangelical Historical Review and also for
his studies on the English churchman J. B. Lightfoot.

All editors have published widely in Anglican and Australian
related history.

It is helpful to list the chapter contents, particularly because
they illustrate the range of Anglican and Australian historians
involved in the project, and the involvement of specialists like John
Harris (indigenous peoples). The chapter titles also define the theme
which is explored. Most of the people involved would be well-known
not only to Anglicans, but to students of Australian history.

There are two main sections. The first is a historical section
entitled: Narrative. While this is a historical and literary
term, narrative is also known as a theological framework for
presentation of reflection.

Narrative Chapters

• Introduction
  (Tom Frame)
• The Anglican Ascendancy 1788-1835 (Brian Fletcher)
• Secular Advance and Diocesan Response 1861-1900 (Brian Dickey)
• Imperial Fervour and Anglican Loyalty 1901-1929 (Ruth Frappell)
• Local Differences, Social and National Identity 1930-1966 (Tom Frame)
• Pluralism and New Alignments in Society and Church 1967 to the Present (David
  Hilliard)

In the introduction, Tom Frame refers to the last chapter as "the
least definitive and the most speculative", because it is the
most recent. Perhaps because it is contemporary and more speculative,
I found it the most stimulating as the ideas and thoughts refer
Anglicans to a wider church and societal setting.

The second section is based on Themes.

Theme Chapters

• Introduction (Colin Holden)
• The Emergence and Character of Australian Anglican Identity (Bruce Kaye)
• Australian Anglican Theology (Bill Lawton)
• Australian Anglicanism in a World-wide Context (Stuart Piggin)
• Anglicanism and Indigenous Peoples (John Harris)
• Anglicanism, the Visual Arts and Architecture (Colin Holden)
• Anglicanism and Gender Issues (Anne O"Brien)
• Anglicanism and the Shaping of Australian Society (Brian Fletcher)

While this book is oriented to Anglicans in Australia, it provides
far more than historical interest for other Christians. Interwoven
through the chapters, especially in the themes section, is a broader
Australian cultural commentary. An ecumenical dimension helps locate
Anglicanism in the wider church scene. The themes are ones which all
denominations have explored, though in the large and diverse
denomination of Anglicanism, some themes are more pronounced and
vibrant with greater nuances than in other denominations.

A major highlight for research students is the referral to and
development of an incredible wealth of archive resources on
Anglicanism and bibliographical references.

Along with the book, a web based reference collection has been
developed:. The Anglican in Australia Sources Site. This is
especially helpful for the article by Colin Holden on visual arts and
architecture, and for research purposes. This can be explored at:
www.anglican.archive.org.au

The website was co-ordinated and edited by Geoff Treloar,
continuing Geoff"s love of major and mammoth tasks.

One drawback of this publication is the price: nearly $70.00. Of
course this book will be mainly bought for libraries, but perhaps a
paperback or downloadable version may be available in the future?

Overall, as Bruce Kaye explains in
his introduction, this is still "only the beginning".
However, it is splendid to see the development of this way of
modelling the "doing of history" in Australian churches.
I hope that other denominations may explore the encouragement of a
collective organisation of scholars to achieve similar beginnings.
Peter Bentley