Cartledge Lecture: Thursday 13th August 2026, 6 pm
Cartledge Symposium: Friday 14th August 2026, 8:45 am – 4:15 pm
More info and tickets – visit this link
Australia’s Leading Pentecostal Scholars to Gather for 2026 Cartledge Symposium
Australia’s leading gathering of Pentecostal scholars is set to return in 2026. The Cartledge Symposium brings together theologians, historians and educators from across the country to explore the enduring significance of Pentecost for church, academy and society.
Hosted by AC, the Cartledge Lecture and Symposium was founded in 2006 in honour of the life and ministry of David Cartledge, a former President of AC and a significant leader within the Australian Pentecostal church. The annual lectures focus on Pentecostal engagement with culture and society and provide a forum for exploring creative ideas relating to Pentecostalism in Australia and beyond. This year’s program spans biblical studies, systematic and practical theology, higher education, and public life, reflecting the breadth of a movement now engaging seriously with its own intellectual tradition.
“This is really the most significant gathering of Pentecostal scholars in Australia”, said Professor Jacqui Grey, Director of the Australian Pentecostal Studies Centre.
On Thursday evening, Professor Craig S. Keener will open the symposium with the keynote address, “Miracles and Healing for Today: How Signs and Wonders Follow the Empowering of Pentecost.” During Friday’s symposium, he will present “The Spirit of Pentecost (Acts 1–2),” while Médine Keener will explore “Miracles in the Congolese Revival.”
Several presenters will explore the question of what makes Pentecost distinctive for the church today. John Griffiths argues that Jesus himself is the first to receive the “fullness” of the Spirit — a fullness now extended to his followers as well. Anne Bakker takes a linguistic approach, applying speech-act theory to the tongues of Pentecost and drawing comparisons with the prophetic call of Ezekiel. Jon Newton frames the Spirit of Pentecost as a revolutionary force, one that unsettles comfortable institutions as much as it empowers them, while Layla Nahavandi examines how Pentecostal “primitivism” — the impulse to recover the life of the apostolic church — can open pathways to engagement with the wider Christian tradition.
Practical and pastoral concerns feature prominently too. Fraser Hannam explores the tension many pastors observe between spiritual gifting and spiritual maturity, arguing for an integration of “gifts and fruit” in a healthy Pentecostal ecclesiology. Karoline Kohl turns to the book of Job for Pentecostal communities navigating unanswered prayers for healing, while Esa Hukkinen proposes a model of “heutagogical,” self-determined discipleship rooted in Pentecost as an ongoing paradigm rather than a one-off historical event.
The symposium also offers constructive reflections on Pentecostal institutions in our time. Narelle Coetzee asks who is really forming Pentecostal identity among faculty in Christian higher education, while Lily Arasaratnam-Smith and David Perry offer a dialogue exploring what a “quadrant of understandings” framework for global competency might mean for Pentecostal pedagogy.
Beyond the walls of the church, Kristy Mills traces the evolution of Australian Pentecostal political engagement from 2010 to 2025, from the “charism”-driven minor-party politics of Andrew Evans to today’s more strategic, ecumenical approach to public life. And in a pair of papers bringing ecumenical perspectives into dialogue with Pentecostal thought, Neil Ormerod considers whether the Spirit can be institutionalised through the lens of Catholic Social Teaching, while Stuart Piggin reflects on the “charism” of local Anglican parish churches, asking what gives any local congregation its distinctive spiritual character.
Across the symposium, scholars, pastors, and church leaders will consider how Pentecostal theology might illuminate the movement’s institutional life, formative practices and public presence, alongside questions and resources drawn from the broader Christian tradition.
The full program and schedule for the 2026 Cartledge Symposium are available here.
