Revd. Rex AE Hunt
The Fountains is excited to have Rev. Rex AE Hunt as our special guest and speaker on Sunday, Sept. 6th at 9:30am. A leader in the global movement of “Progressive Christianity,” Rex has served as a pastor in the Uniting Church of Australia, organized a number of conferences furthering the ideals of progressive Christianity, and is author of multiples books (see below).
Rex is also an “aggregator” of progressive liturgical resources, offering his work to the wider community at his comprehensive website, RexAEHuntProgressive.com Thousands of clergy and worship teams from around the world reference his website on a regular basis.
At The Fountains, Rex will be Applying it to Life with “Celebrating the Reality that People Matter” with Words of Wisdom from Mark 7:24-30.
Rex will also be offering workshops on liturgy and the Parables on Tuesday, Sept. 8th at The United Methodist Conference Center and the Beatitudes Campus in Phoenix. See flyer below and visit the AzFCT website for more info.
Who is this Rex Hunt, anyway?!
Rex A E Hunt is a “Religious Naturalist” (yes, he’ll tell you what this means!), a Progressive Liturgist, a Social Ecologist, and a retired minister of the Uniting Church in Australia, his last placement being at the progressive Church of St James, Canberra ACT (2000-09), having served in parish settings in Victoria, Tasmania, New South Wales, and the Australian Capital Territory.
While in placement in Hobart, Tasmania, at Hobart City Centre/Scots-in-the-City (1995-97), Rex served as Uniting Church Senior Chaplain at the Royal Hobart Hospital. It was during this appointment that the Port Arthur massacre occurred with both victims and the accused brought to the RHH. As a chaplain he ministered to families and victims (from Australia and overseas) over a very intense 10 days.
In a previous life he was also the Director of Communications within the National Assembly of the Uniting Church for nine years, and has done a short stint as Acting Director, School of Continuing Education at the NSW Synod’s Centre for Ministry, in North Parramatta, NSW.
He was honorary part-time editor of Ministry: A Journal of Continuing Education (a Uniting Church professional development magazine) for 10 years (1992-2002), Founder and National co-ordinator of The Network of Biblical Storytellers Australia/New Zealand (1990-96), and Founding Director of The Centre for Progressive Religious Thought, Canberra (2002-09). He is now a Life Member of both organisations.
As part of his continuing commitment to the progressive religion movements in Australia and New Zealand he was Chair of the Common Dreams Conference of Religious Progressives, Australia/South Pacific for seven years. Three Conferences have been held: Common Dreams1 Conference, with the theme “Progressive Religion as a Transforming Agent”, in Sydney (2007), Common Dreams2 Conference, in Melbourne (2010), with the theme “Living the ‘progressive’ Religion Dream”, and Common Dreams3 Conference, in Canberra (2013) with the theme: “Midwives of Change: Progressives Shaping Religious Communities”.
He is an Associate of the Westar Institute – a progressive theological ‘think tank’ in biblical literacy within Willamette University (USA). For four years (2005-09) he was a member of its Literacy & Liturgy Seminar.
A “progressive theological” thinker for more than 40 years, his sermons and liturgies are, each week, spread far and wide via his personal web site: www.rexaehuntprogressive.com While his personal network of religious progressives extends globally.
He was the principal author/editor of The Canberra Affirmation (2008), author of Cards, Carols, and Claus. Christmas in Popular Culture and Progressive Christianity (Morning Star Publishing, 2013) and Against the Stream: Progressive Christianity between Pulpit and Pew (Mosaic Press, 2012), as well as editor of When You Come Together. A Study of the Place and Practise of Worship and Liturgy in the Presbytery of Barwon (UCA Presbytery of Barwon, 1985), and New Green Shoots and Other Story Sermons (JBCE Press, 1994).
With fellow Australian John W Smith, he has edited two additional progressive collections: New Life: Rediscovering Faith. Stories from Progressive Christians. (Morning Star Publishing, 2013) and Why Weren’t We Told? A Handbook on Progressive Christianity (Polebridge Press, 2012).
He was made a Paul Harris Fellow by Rotary International in 2005.
Rex and spouse Dylis are now living on the NSW Central Coast, an hour north of Sydney. They have two adult married children and three grand children: Elsie, Romeo, and Lenna. They also have a mob of kookaburras that live in their yard. Seriously.
