Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

Unpacking the History of the Catholic Church in Australia

The first module in Garratt Publishing’s groundbreaking REconnection.online platform reimagines relevant religious education topics for today’s secondary students.

Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow has been designed to stimulate and support an inquiry approach to the teaching of Australian Catholic Church history within a Year 9 or 10 Religious Education curriculum.

Discover the impacts of Church on society – then and now, and even its future

Who could have known that the first Catholics in Australia, mostly convict and mostly poor, would begin a fascinating story that has helped shape the people and character of this country?

From humble beginnings, the Catholic community has since emerged as the largest religious organisation in Australia and runs more schools, hospitals and welfare services than any other group except the government itself. How did this happen?

Join us as we pursue some “Big Questions” on a journey of discovery where you will meet the saints and sinners, the powerful and the poor, the courageous and the committed, who have played their part in the vibrant history of the Australian Catholic Church.

What’s covered?

Take students on a journey to discover:

  • The Church and its links to Australia’s First Peoples
  • The ‘Catholic Tribe’ as a powerful bonding agent in a Protestant colony
  • Catholic Schools’ and students’ own role in a continuing story
  • Women and the Church and how many have challenged stereotypes
  • Australian Catholics in Times of War
  • A Multicultural Church
  • A Changing Church
  • The Eucharist, how we worship, and the changes brought by Vatican II
  • A tradition of service and commitment to social justice
  • What is required of the Church to thrive into the future

Discover more on each topic here

What’s included?

All content developed by author, Dr Gavin Brown, has been thoroughly vetted by Australian Church historians, teachers, and other experts, and carries an Imprimatur and Nihil Obstat.

Educators have a full suite of multimedia content, detailed learning intentions and success criterias, links to select Diocesan curriculum and National (ACARA) links, glossaries, references, links to further detailed reading material and more.

Be assured, REconnection.online offers educators everything they need to confidently, charismatically, and conveniently engage their students in their learning.

Explore The Topics

About the Author

DR GAVIN BROWN

Gavin completed his PhD in history at the University of Melbourne in 2003, investigating the history of the Eucharist within the Australian Catholic Church before the Liturgical Reforms of the 1960s. He has subsequently published articles on Australian Catholic history in a range of journals, both local and international. While he is currently a lecturer at Yarra Theological Union, a Catholic College within the University of Divinity, he spends most of his professional life as a specialist teacher in Religious Education in Melbourne. In this role, Gavin combines his passions for history, theology and religion with the many challenges and rewards of teaching—and learning from—young people as they discover and wrestle with the Catholic tradition in contemporary Australian society.

Meet Dr Gavin Brown