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Millikan to head Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture


25 Nov 1999


Reverend Dr David Millikan, former head of religious programming with the ABC, founding director of the Zadok Centre, commentator and filmmaker has been appointed as the first Executive Director of the Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture.

The Governor General, Sir William Deane will launch plans for the centre and open a Visitor Pavilion and Project Office at a special function to be held on the Canberra site on 7 December.

The joint initiative of the Anglican Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn, and Charles Sturt University, with active participation of other denominations to emphasise its interdenominational character, the centre is planned as a new concept for ecumenical activity in Australia.

Millikan says that he looks to the centre as being a focal point for Christianity in the 21st century.

"This will be a religious centre for the nation. In part, the centre is about Christianity reinventing itself, about being able to look into our belief systems and worship as well as our creative endeavours.

"Traditionally the focal point for a Christian community has been the great cathedral or a monumental structure that becomes a repository for the community's images, ideas and history. We don't have that here in Australia so this centre will take on that role," Dr Millikan said.

The centre will be built on a prominent site adjacent to the parliamentary triangle, which was initially part of a grant to the Churches in the conception of Canberra.

Vice-Chancellor of Charles Sturt University, Professor Cliff Blake said this was a key project for a university that now has three major initiatives in the ACT.

"The University's presence in Canberra has a strong national focus with our involvement in St Mark's National Theological Centre, the new National Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics [one of 11 new special centres recently funded by the Australian Research Council] and now this Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture," Professor Blake said.

Planned as a resource for all Australians, the centre will be a focus for liturgical events, exhibitions, convocations and conferences in the next century.

Dr Millikan will take up his appointment with the centre in early December leaving his position as a Minister of the Uniting Church in Redfern, Sydney.

Click here to see background notes on Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture





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Media Officer : Fiona Halloran
Telephone : 02 6933 2207

Media Note:

The Centre aims to encourage the study of the history, diversity of expression and cultural impact of Christianity in Australian culture, and to be a focus for the development of contemporary Christian liturgical theory and practice. It will promote theological research in the Australian context, including the public significance of religious symbols and ideas in politics, economics, art, literature, music and dance.
The Centre aims to foster inter-faith dialogue, and offer hospitality to all major religious groups and denominational traditions that are part of Australian society.
A major theme of the Centre is reconciliation with the indigenous peoples of Australia, the exploration of their spiritual life and history and a constructive engagement with issues related to injustices perpetrated against them.
The Centre was established under the authority of the Diocese in collaboration with Charles Sturt University, and with the approval of the National Council of Churches.
The Commonwealth Government Centenary of Federation Program has contributed a $5 million grant for construction of the Centre, several large private benefactions have also been made by prominent citizens.
Construction of the first stage of buildings for the centre is expected to be completed by 2001, with the 'turning of the sod' planned for March 2000.
The Governor General the Hon. Sir William Deane, is Patron of the Centre. President of the Senate, the Hon. Margaret Reid is Presiding Member of the Centre's Board.
Dr Millikan, as the first Executive Director of the Centre, was educated at Geelong College. He holds a BA in Philosophy and English from Monash University, a Bachelor of Divinity (Hons) in Theology from the Melbourne College of Divinity, and a PhD in Theology from Fuller Theological Seminary.
Dr Millikan was Head of Religious Broadcasting at the ABC from 1985 to 1993, he resigned to become the Uniting Church Parish Minister at Bondi Junction, later moving to his present position at Redfern.
The Zadok Centre, of which Dr Millikan was founding director, is a national Christian study and resources centre. This centre established an active publication and seminar program, issuing papers on economics, law, ethics, medicine and the arts. Because of Millikan's own interest in the arts, the Zadok Centre was central in assisting the formation of many of the Christian arts groups and communities in Australia.