Standing in the middle of the ocean: Time for a public theology

The present is a kairos moment for the islands of ‘the liquid continent’: the prospects of mitigation, adaptation and resilience in response to the climate emergency must now wrestle with the implications of the Anthropocene. The most recent communiqués coming out of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (2019) address multiple ‘geostrategic’ issues: there is no reference to the biblical and theological traditions which indwell the lived experience of island communities. For future policies to be well-grounded in communal life there is a pressing need for scientific, political and sociological discourses to be matched with the best contemporary theological thinking. The works of ecumenical bodies recognize that an appropriate theology must be set alongside the building of social capital and disaster relief. It is time to move beyond the ways in which biblical texts like the rainbow covenant with Noah and the plight of the innocent victim to be found in Job are employed. The reference to a kairos moment is an invitation to construct a public theology relevant to island experience and future challenges.