Bible engagement & advocacy

Their Sacrifice Campaign and publications commemorating 200 years since Gallipoli

In 2015, the Their Sacrifice campaign was aimed at celebrating the role of the Bible in supporting peace efforts and recognising its importance during times of war. The Bible Tour visited 11 Westfield Shopping Centres throughout Australia as well as the Launceston LINC, Hope Church Brisbane and Katoomba Christian Convention. In total there has been an estimated 17,840 people who visited the exhibition.

The Bible exhibition is continuing in 2016 with the ADF bases in Nowra and Wodonga very keen to host the tour for the first half of 2016.

In addition, during 2015, Their Sacrifice distributed over 180,000 story brochures through churches, retirement villages and the Bible exhibition, over 4,900 Their Sacrifice Books, over 1,500 The Bullet in the Bible DVDs to churches, retirement villages and individuals, and we have had 499 downloads of the Sunday Schools Their Sacrifice materials. One download was used for 9 schools and churches and many for 2 schools and churches.

The news about the Their Sacrifice Campaign had a reach of over 3.7 million people through 72 separate media coverages. Highlights included the Bullet in the Bible story on Sunrise, Sydney Morning Herald and Channel 10 news as well as the Story of Joe Mullins in The Canberra Times.

Some feedback received from the tour and campaign

“An informative, moving and inspiring display. It demonstrates the power of God’s Word to help in extremely difficult situations. Thank you for your wonderful vision.”
- Andrew and Dawn

“Excellent to see a Bible outreach in a major shopping complex. Fantastic!! God Bless you in your journey.”
- Helen

“The exhibition is a great witness to a world that needs the Bible. What a wonderful idea to show the experiences of soldiers who value the Bible so much in war during this year. We need to help the Bible to be re-introduced to our present world.”
- Clive

The Centre for Public Christianity (CPX)

The aim of CPX is to promote the public understanding of the Christian faith through thoughtful and generous engagement with the mainstream media and in other public spaces explaining the significance of Christianity in contemporary society. Our vision is a Public Square that knows the truth, beauty and goodness of the Christian faith.

In 2015, CPX had 54 articles published 14 outlets, one highlight being Simon Smart on “The role of faith before the firing squad”, (Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, Brisbane Times, Canberra Times).

CPX also had 43 radio interviews, including Miroslav Volf on Conversations with Richard Fidler, speaking about forgiveness, and on The Minefield with Scott Stephens and Waleed Aly.

Staff and CPX-hosted speakers made 12 television appearances, such as John Dickson on The Drum TV to talk about domestic violence within the church, on SBS News to talk about the banning of Scripture books, and on Channel 7’s Sunrise program to talk about an anti-Scripture billboard.

In 2015, CPX staff gave 156 talks, with Richard Shumack debating atheist Peter Boghossian at an event in Melbourne, and Justine Toh participating in Notre Dame University’s QndA panel on marriage, racism, euthanasia, and social media along with many other speaking occasions.

CPX also posted 24 video interviews and 45 podcasts on its website, and is in the process of making a documentary on the impact of Christianity on the world. “For the Love of God: How the church is better and worse than you ever imagined,” is scheduled for release in 2017. CPX staff travelled around the USA in October, speaking with scholars and experts in history and philosophy. They conducted 15 interviews which will be used in the project.

CPX ran events during 2015, including a book launch for Edwin Judge’s Engaging Rome and Jerusalem, the Richard Johnson Lecture (Peter Harrison, “The end of faith: has science made religion redundant?”), and a public lecture by Miroslav Volf, on “Pleasure, Meaning and the Death of God” among others.