Imagine Something Else: Communities, Creativity, Resistance
The 2026 ACFT Conference program includes The Annual Janette Gray RSM Lecture delivered by Dr Mary Kate Holman titled: Boldness, Courage, and Truth: Reclaiming a Gift of the Spirit for Our Time. A celebration of the first decade of ACFT, and launch of the 2027 ACFT Art Exhibition based on the theme of this years’ conference, ‘Imagine Something Else: Communities, Creativity, Resistance’.
Dr Mary Kate Holman is a scholar of contemporary Catholic theology. She holds a BA from Georgetown University, an MTS from Boston College’s School of Theology and Ministry, and a PhD from Fordham University. Prior to her arrival at Fairfield, Dr. Holman was Assistant Professor of Theology at Benedictine University in the suburbs of Chicago. Dr Holman’s teaching interests include Feminist Theology, Ignatian Spirituality, Vatican II, and Spirituality & Social Justice. Her research interests encompass Ecclesiology, Nouvelle Théologie, Marie-Dominique Chenu, Vatican II, and Feminist Theology.
Dr Holman published Marie-Dominique Chenu and the Signs of the Times through University of Notre Dame Press in 2025. She published an English translation of Chenu’s Saulchoir: A School of Theology with Joseph Komonchak in 2023. Dr Holman’s writing has appeared in the Journal of Jesuit Higher Education, Theological Studies, and Commonweal.
In a time marked by intersecting crises, narratives of disaster and nevertheless deep possibilities, we invite fresh perspectives to enact and sustain hope and courage.
Where and why does hope flourish? What sustains commitment and resistance in times of trial? What space can be made for dissonance and dissent? How do people engage and encourage others of like mind and heart? What resources can we find in our contexts and traditions? How do communities cultivate creative practices of transformation? To what are we called?
Date
Friday 21 August (evening) and Saturday 22 August (day)
Venue
Pilgrim Theological College, 29 College Crescent, Parkville VIC 3052
Tickets
Range from $30 virtual attendance to $200 for the full conference, see registration link below for more details for day access. Note that if you become an ACFT member as you register a 10% discount on the conference is applied to your registration.
Contact the ACFT conference organisers if you require any further information.
The conference program is not only academic papers but also workshops and creative offerings – academics, ministers, teachers and pastoral carers, lay people and leaders of all faiths and none are welcome to join diverse conversations, thinking and liberative theologies that canvas these themes of ‘thinking otherwise’. Our event poster is available here for distribution to your own networks and workplace.
If you cannot join us on this occasion but want to stay connected, you might like to become a member of the ACFT network, sign up for our very occasional newsletter or consider making a donation or bequest to the Janette Gray RSM Fund that promote education and leadership of women in theology.
