Spirituality in the Pub: Finding voice in a monological church Heather Suzanne Skousgaard February 2018 A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of The Australian National University © Copyright by Heather Suzanne Skousgaard 2018 All Rights Reserved Declaration I, Heather Suzanne Skousgaard, declare that this thesis, submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the award of Doctor of Philosophy, in the School of Archaeology and Anthropology, College of Arts and Social Sciences, the Australian National University, is wholly my own work unless otherwise referenced or acknowledged. This thesis has not been submitted for qualifications at any other academic institution. © February 2018 Heather Suzanne Skousgaard i Acknowledgements They say that writing a thesis is a lonely business. Yet for me, this thesis has brought many new friends into my life and enabled me to discover untold treasures in both the people around me and indeed in myself. For this, the word ‘thanks’ can never be enough. To my SIP friends – for whom the word ‘participant’ would fail to represent the genuine friendship you offered me – I owe my heartfelt gratitude. It is no accident that I’ve selected my grandparents’ names to represent many of you. In welcoming me to SIP and Catalyst I felt you welcomed me into your family, offering me not only an insight into what made SIP ‘tick’ but an opportunity to discover the deep love and familial-spirit that defines your community. I will be forever grateful for this experience. To my academic community – I owe first my deepest thanks to my supervisor, Professor Christine Helliwell, who has been my steadfast guide throughout all the intricacies and uncertainties of the PhD journey, offering both her insightful critique as well as heartfelt care as we navigated the various stages of this adventure together. Special thanks also go to my other panel members, Dr Patrick Guinness – who welcomed this naïve marketing student without hesitation into the anthropology community of ANU – and Dr Matt Tomlinson – whose encouragement and insight helped me find the courage to tackle the complex interplay of voice and authority in this thesis. Thanks also goes to the many ANU mentors who have fed my love of anthropology over the years, including Francesca Merlan, Phillip Winn, Simone Dennis, and Alan Rumsey. And of course, the stimulating companionship of my fellow PhD student friends, especially Anna Grace, Trent Hennessy, Gabrielle Désilets, Trixie Tangit, Laine Schultz, Gretchen Stolte, Anne Décobert, and Alex Li. To my friends – many of whom have known me only as ‘Heather the PhD student’ – I thank you for the many years of self-restraint you showed by choosing not to ask ‘when will you be finished?’. Special thanks go to those of you who have been my most regular companions in these last few months and years, including my colleagues (especially ii Deb, Dana and Jen), and my regular breakfast crew – who, pineapples not withstanding – have been constant in their support as I vanquished the procrastination dragon week after week – or at least tried to. To my family, especially my parents Gary and Pam, I cannot even begin to express the depths of my gratitude for the woman you have enabled me to become. Having taught me not just a love of words and of learning, but also an appreciation for divine mystery and an understanding of the human frailties of religious belief, you unknowingly gave me all the materials I needed to approach this research project with confidence, empathy and an open mind. But for Tristan, the one who helped me weave all these materials together, who stood by me for the literal decades it took to complete this thesis, I owe my incomparable gratitude. Having brought me endless cups of tea, cuddles, and a listening ear, your support has enabled me to find new strengths and capabilities that the 18-year-old girl you met could never have dreamed of. You are my husband, my soul mate, my best friend; and I can’t wait to discover what the next stage of our ‘PhD-free’ life together holds! ------------------ This research is supported by an Australian Research Training Program scholarship. iii Abstract In July 1994, a handful of devoted but disillusioned Roman Catholics gathered in Sydney, Australia, to explore how they might spark renewal in a Church that simultaneously frustrated their minds and lives yet captivated their hearts and souls. As loyal Catholics, they were determined to avoid being branded rebels, but nonetheless they felt an urgent need for a safe space, beyond church walls, in which they could voice their fears and hopes for the Church they loved. And so, ‘Spirituality in the Pub’ was born – a lay-driven space in which priests, nuns and bishops were welcome, but in which the voices of all participants were to be valued equally, independent of their religious credentials. This thesis explores the outcomes of my ethnographic participation in the ‘Spirituality in the Pub’ (SIP) movement. It introduces a fieldsite that is paradoxically defined by devotion and anger, loyalty and dissent, in which participants (or ‘Sippers’) seek to become ‘honest brokers of conversation’ in a Church that remains bound by a monological imagination – one in which church leaders hold the only voices of authority. Situated within the broader setting of what sociologists have termed the ‘spiritual revolution’ and ‘emerging church’ movements of the late twentieth century, this thesis paints a portrait of one group’s response to the growing crisis of authority they observed in the Catholic Church since the watershed revolution of the 1960s, known as the ‘Second Vatican Council’, or ‘Vatican II’. Choosing not to become paralysed by anger over what they see as the refusal of key church leaders to fully embrace the empowered lay spirituality of Vatican II, Sippers instead attempt to channel this aggrieved passion into a productive energy that maintains their commitment to the spiritual foundations of the Church. Fortifying themselves with the emancipatory resources of the Catholic faith tradition, Sippers draw on the emotional, social and symbolic riches of their religious identity as they strive to remain loyal to the Church, despite the many hurts and frustrations it brings them. Seeking to live ‘imaginatively and creatively’ within the structures of the Church, Sippers form parallel lines in their lives by attending both SIP and Mass; separate but mutually supportive arenas that help them to live within the creative tension of both loyalty and dissent as they work to renew their Church from within. iv This research project advances the body of empirical knowledge regarding the newly developing constructs of ‘loyal dissent’ and ‘religious agency’. At the heart of Sippers’ religious agency lies a conversational methodology that seeks Church renewal by emphasising mutuality and understanding over confrontation and conflict. By fostering a ‘theology of conversation’, Sippers have come to develop their own unique strategies of audibility in an effort to feel heard against the monologic forces of the Catholic Church. In this way, the SIP movement seeks to fulfil its promise to remain faithful to the Church while also fostering a vital spirituality of hope that energises Sippers’ ongoing expressions of loyal dissent. v Table of Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I ABSTRACT III INTRODUCTION 1 Introducing ‘Spirituality in the Pub’ ............................................................................................................. 1 A Catalyst for Renewal............................................................................................................................ 3 Loyalty and Dissent .................................................................................................................................. 7 Conversation as a methodology of renewal ................................................................................ 8 An Evening at Spirituality in the Pub ........................................................................................... 11 Research Methodology ..................................................................................................................................... 15 Reflections on identity – navigating both ‘other’ and ‘us’ in the field ...................................... 19 Outline of Thesis Structure............................................................................................................................. 22 CHAPTER 1: SPIRITUALITY IN A POST-SECULAR SOCIETY 27 1.1 The ‘spirituality revolution’: The rise of the spiritual seeker ......................................... 27 1.2 Defining spirituality .............................................................................................................................. 30 1.3 Secularism and the post-secular church .................................................................................... 34 1.3.1 Defining Secularism .............................................................................................................. 35 1.3.2 Fragilised belief ...................................................................................................................... 40 1.3.3 A post-secular age? ............................................................................................................... 41 1.4 Post-secularism and SIP ..................................................................................................................... 46 CHAPTER