Book launch, 30 June 2014
Left to right: Fr Frank Brennan SJ, Julie Edwards CEO of Jesuit Social Services (both book contributors) and Prof John Warhurst (co-editor)
The Hon. Kevin Andrews, Minister for Social Services gathered with staff from Catholic Social Services Australia to launch a book on Catholic identity at Parliament House, Canberra on Thursday 26 June 2014.
The book is entitled ‘Listening, Learning and Leading: The impact of Catholic identity and mission’.
The publication gets to the heart of issues that includes chapters on being Called to Lead, Engagement with Aboriginal Communities, The Challenges of Child Sexual Abuse to Mission and Identity, and The Changing Face of the Catholic Community in Australia.
Each chapter is based on a different paper presented at a conference organised by Catholic Social Services Victoria (CSSV) in 2013. The topic of the conference was ‘Listening, Learning and Leading: The impact of Catholic identity and mission on what we do and how we do it’.
The CSSV conference, which provided the impetus for this book, sought to ‘engage, inspire, challenge and resource around leadership for Catholic identity and mission’.
Editors of the book Gabrielle McMullen AM and John Warhurst AO were thanked during the launch and gratitude was also expressed for the publishers, Connor Court Publishing Ballarat for a stimulating and accessible resource.
Book Co-editor Prof John Warhurst with Minister for Social Services, the Hon Kevin Andrews MP (who launched the book)
A number of staff also attended the book launch representing Catholic Health Australia (CHA), the Australian Catholic University (ACU), the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference (ACBC) and CSSV.
The final section of the book focuses on ‘Mary MacKillop and the One Habit of a Highly Effective Leader’. Jesuit priest and writer Andrew Hamilton provides a chapter on how ‘Mission Shapes Identity’ and the final chapter is about ‘Listening, Learning and Leading – A Continuing Dialogue: Inspiring Us to be Christ in the World Today’.
The book can be ordered at: http://www.css.org.au/Portals/51/CSSflyer.pdf