The Purpose of TCMA Conferences
TCMA conferences have two purposes - to enable professional development and to provide opportunities for networking between chaplains. Thus, the programme always contains keynote speakers and workshops led by practising chaplains to facilitate professional development as well as social activities and free time to facilitate networking. Since the first global tertiary chaplains' conference in 2000, the TCMA has organised conferences in Australia for three years in every four, and has encouraged members to attend the international conference in the fourth year. The venue for local conferences varies from year to year as groups of chaplains in particular locations volunteer to organise a particular conference.
2009 Conference: 30 Nov - 3 Dec
The 2009 Conference will be in Melbourne from mid-morning Monday 30 November to late morning on Thursday 3rd December. The theme is "Forging the Future" , exploring the future of chaplaincy.
Past Conferences
In 2008, TCMA did not hold an annual conference. Instead, members were being encouraged to attend the global conference:
- Finland, at the University of Tampere, 30 June - 4 July, 2008 - "Reflecting Light". Five subsidies were awarded to members of TCMA and we look forward to hearing more from them in the next edition of the Journal.
Past conference websites still available are:
- Melbourne, 24-28 September, 2007, Trinity College, University of Melbourne, "Meeting, Meals, Mystery - Building Community"
Download a copy of Geoff's President's address from this conference - Perth 2006 -
"Spaces in Between"
Two short papers by Fr JoJo Fung, SJ, our guest from Malaysia, are also available for download: - Sydney 2005 - "Growing Tertiary Chaplaincy: Vulnerable Partnerships"
- Brisbane 2004 (global) - "Dreaming Landscapes"
- Armidale 2002 - "Australia, You're Ministering In It!"
- some Australian chaplains also attended "Mission Impossible!? The Art of Chaplaincy in a Secular and Pluralistic Context": 5 - 10 June 2007, at Woudschoten Conference Centre, Zeist, The Netherlands. This is the annual conference of the Conference of European University Chaplains (CEUC).
Conferences of Other Tertiary Chaplains Associations
Australian chaplains are also made welcome at the conferences of chaplains'/campus ministers' associations in other countries. In particular, TCMA members often attend Aotearoa/New Zealand Tertiary Chaplains Association (ANZTCA) conferences and vice versa.
- The 2008 ANZTCA Conference will be held in Wellington and will start with Registration at 4pm on Monday 17th November 2008 and finish with the Conference dinner on Wed 19th. The keynote speaker will be Alison Phipps from Glasgow University and Joy Cowley (NZ) will provide Spiritual Input. Joy will also offer a Day Retreat on Monday 17th for those interested. Conference brochure, registration form and info about an additional public conference, the theme of which is "Critical Thoughts: Recovering Higher Education," are now available. "Critical Thoughts" will follow on the Thursday and Friday, where Alison will be joined by Wilf Malcolm, former Vice-Chancellor of Waikato University. All TCMA members are very welcome.
- The 2007 ANZTCA conference Walking Alone - Together was in Invercargill, 21-25 November.
Subsidies
The TCMA is aware that while some chaplains are paid for by either their religious body or their university to attend conferences, others are not able to access this kind of financial support. Subsidies are therefore made available to help those who cannot afford to attend. We provided five subsidies for members to attend the 2008 Global Conference. Information is made available before each conference through the TCMA email list and on this website.
Hosting a TCMA Conference
For those who have agreed to be part of a conference planning team, a range of useful information will soon be available.