Reverend Dr Anita Monro

Sessional Lecturer in Systematic Theology

PhD (Griffith), BLitt(Hons) (Deakin), BTh (BCT), BA (UQ), Grad Cert Bus(Philanthr & Nonprofit Stud) (QUT), GAICD

0409 273 059

anita.monro@anglicanchurchsq.org.au

Profile

Anita Monro is an ordained Minister of the Word (Presbyter) of The Uniting Church in Australia. In 35 years of ordained ministry, she has worked in a range of congregations, church agencies and teaching institutions. From 2013 to 2022, she was Principal of Grace College, a tertiary residential college located on the St Lucia Campus of The University of Queensland (UQ).

She is an Honorary Research Senior Fellow in Studies in Religion in the School of Historical & Philosophical Inquiry, Faculty of Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences at UQ. She has previously taught at Charles Sturt University School of Theology, Sydney College of Divinity and Brisbane College of Theology.

Her research interests are eclectic and fall across the disciplines of Systematic Theology, Practical Theology (Liturgy; Personal & Community Formation; Ecclesial Governance), Biblical Hermeneutics, Religious Studies and Philosophy. Her doctoral thesis developed a feminist theological methodology based in the poststructuralist philosophy of Julia Kristeva.

She is currently a member of a cross-disciplinary, cross-institutional (UQ & Southern Cross U) research team for a project entitled “What’s worry young people?: Tuning into and turning up the conversation on consent in tertiary residential colleges”.

Anita, her husband, Russell, and Rudy the krazy kelpie live on the Blackall Range and enjoy immersing themselves in the rainforest.

Publications

Scholarly Monograph

2006. Resurrecting Erotic Transgression: Subjecting Ambiguity in Theology. Gender, Theology & Spirituality Series. London: Equinox.

Edited Collections

With Stephen Burns (Eds). 2015. Public Theology and the Challenge of Feminism. London: Routledge.

With Stephen Burns (Eds). 2009. Christian Worship in Australia: Inculturating the Liturgical Tradition. Strathfield, NSW: St Paul’s Publications.

Book Chapters

2023 (forthcoming). “Stabat Mater: The Birth/Death of the Cross.” In Havea. J. (Ed.) Reframing Liberation Theology: In a World of Crises. eDARE 2022 publication (vol 3), proposed to Fortress, series in World Christianity.

2023 (forthcoming). “When Masters Lie Down with Dogs: Being Church in a Post-Secular Society.” In Myles, R., Colgan, E. & Blyth, C. (Eds) Habitats of the Basileia: Essays in Honour of Elaine M. Wainwright. Sheffield Phoenix Press.

2021. “A Kaleidoscopic Vessel Sailing on a Kyriarchal Ocean: The Third Wave Feminist Theologies of Women-Church (1987-2007).” In Havea, J. (Ed.) Theological and Hermeneutical Explorations from Australia: Horizons of Contextuality. Lanham, Maryland, USA: The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing, 25-42.

2020. “Grace-fully Engaging Young Adults”. In R. Hearn, S.D. Kling, & T.J. Oord (Eds) Open and Relational Leadership: Leading with Love, SacraSage Press, 225-229.

2016. With Clive Ayre, Dave Bookless, Colleen Geyer & David Reichhardt. “Ecology and Service (Diakonia): Putting Words Into Action”. In Ayre, C.W. & Conradie, E.M. (Eds), The Church in God’s Household: Protestant Perspectives on Ecclesiology and Ecology. Pietermaritzburg, South Africa: Cluster Publications, 54-74.

With Stephen Burns. 2015. “Which Public? Inspecting the House of Public Theology” in Burns, S. & Monro, A. (eds), Public Theology and the Challenge of Feminism. Abingdon, Oxon, UK: Routledge, 1-14.

2014. “Of Frogs, Eels, Women and Pelicans: The Myth of Tiddalik and the Importance of Ambiguity in Baptismal Identity for the Contemporary Christian Church”. In Wilkey, G.V. (Ed.), Worship and Culture: Foreign Country or Homeland? Grand Rapids, MI, USA: Wm B. Eerdmans Publishing, 320-334.

2014. “A Thin Piercing Lament: The Call of God to Elijah In/To/For Community”. In Walker, C. (Ed.), Witness the Glory of God in the Face of Jesus Christ: Papers in Honour of Dean Drayton. Unley, SA, Aust.: MediaCom Education, 162-172.

2010. “‘And Ain’t I a Woman’: The Phronetic Dramaturgy of Feeding the Family”. In Slee, N. & Burns, S. (Eds), Presiding Like a Woman. London: SPCK, 123-132.

2010. “Pursuing Feminist Research: Perspectives and Methodologies.” In Higg, J., Cherry, N., Macklin, R. & Ajjawi, R. (Eds), Researching Practice: A Discourse on Qualitative Methodologies. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers, 289-298.

2004. “Afterword—A Chair in Feminist Studies in Theology in an Australian University: A Continuing Vision”. In McPhillips, K. The Feminist Theology Project: Final Report Prepared for the Australian Feminist Theology Foundation. Sydney: AFTF.

2001. “When the ‘Good’ is Not Enough: The Jouissance of Watching/Reading from/for the Subjection of Ambiguity.” In Biezeveld, K. & Mulder, A-C. (Eds), Towards a Different Transcendence: Feminist Findings on Subjectivity, Religion and Values. Religion & Discourse Series, Vol. 9. Oxford/Bern: Peter Lang, 245-272.

Articles

2023 (forthcoming). “Values, Narratives & Church Agencies: The Grace College (UQ) Experience.” Word & World.

2018. “Embodied Precarity Rather Than Touch Over Sight”. In Kline, P. (Ed.) Symposium on Signs and Wonders by Ellen T. Armour, https://syndicate.network/symposia/theology/signs-and-wonders/

2017. “’It’s such a shame you’re not in a Congregation!’: Reclaiming the Ordered Ministry of the Word in the Uniting Church”. Uniting Church Studies 21(1), 31-38.

2014. “Experiencing Good Worship?” Liturgy 29(2), 9-13.

2012. With Drene Somasundram. “’Third-Space’ Engenders Theological Education”. The International Journal of Religion and Spirituality in Society 2(3), 55-68.

2011. “Why Not Reaffirm Confirmation?” Cross Purposes 24, 17-19.

2010. ““Juxtaposing Dingo and Baby: A Consideration of the Cycle of Light in the Australian Summer”. Studia Liturgica 40(1-2), 94-101.

With Stephen Burns. 2008. “Faithful Prayer on Parched Land: On Being Asked to Provide Liturgies for a Time of Drought”. Uniting Church Studies 14 (2), 51-64.

2006. “From Historicity to Incarnality: Breaking the Nexus Between History and Christianity”. E:Oikonomia 1(1), April, http://oikon.webjournal.org.

2001. “Doing Basket Swamp Theology: A Poetic, Nomadic Feminist Response To The Nature And Purpose Of The Church.” Uniting Church Studies 7(2), 39-52.

With Elaine Wainwright. 1999. “Hermeneutical Crisis/Interpretative Crux: Methods And Meanings After Modernity.” Interface: A Forum for Theology in the World 1(3), 79-92

1999. “Reading Ambiguity: Jouissance As Feminist Hermeneutical Goal.” Series A: General & Theoretical Papers No. 471. Essen: Linguistic Agency University of Duisburg.

1999. “Fearing the (M)Other: A Piece of Conversation the Uniting Church Assembly Sexuality Task Group ‘Did Not Hear’.” Women-Church 24.

1996. “No Resurrection Without Death: A Feminist Poststructuralist Response To ‘Reconstructing Mission In A Postmodern Era’.” Trinity Occasional Papers XV Supplement, 25-33.

1994. “Alterity and The Canaanite Woman: A Postmodern Feminist Theological Reflection On Political Action.” Colloquium 26(1), 32-43.

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