Who Is My Neighbour?

The Revd Dr Bill Leadbetter, Chair, Anglican Social Responsibilities Commission

Earlier this year, on Palm Sunday the Social Responsibilities Commission hosted its annual “Prayers for Peace” around the theme “Who is my neighbour”. This was the question asked of Jesus that prompted the telling of the Parable of the Good Samaritan.

On Palm Sunday, we explored this question through prayer and reflection on experience.

This question persists. Christians are still asked, and we still ask ourselves, what neighbourliness is and where its limits may lie. In our community today, there are influential voices asking us to reflect upon, and perhaps even redefine what it means to be an Australian. Within our own church community, there are questions about the limits of inclusivity. These are questions that have their own consequences and are deeply traumatic for those on the wrong side of them.

Jesus was asked the question by “an expert in the law” (Luke 10:25, NRSVUE) who was trying to win an argument. It may have been a throwaway question, a kind of deflection to show that Jesus did not know where his argument led. But Jesus took him seriously. He knew exactly where the argument led, and he took the legal expert there. For Jesus, neighbourliness was not so much a quality to be defined as experienced. We continue to be challenged by this parable in a society that seems increasingly determined on the language of blame and the identification of culpable communities.

The Commission will continue to explore these questions in a panel discussion on Saturday 1 August at Wollaston College. The panellists are Dr Meg Warner, Principal of Wollaston Theological College; Associate Professor Mark Jennings, A/Prof of Religious Studies; Professor Robyn Heckenberg, Dean of Teaching and Learning, Centre for Aboriginal Studies, Curtin University; and The Revd Dr Bill Leadbetter, Cathedral Scholar. The panel will be moderated by The Revd Bec Bydder, Director of the Centre for Spirituality and Cathedral Missioner.

Each panellist will address an aspect of contemporary neighbourliness and its social and human implications. The presentations will be followed by a broader discussion engaging attendees as well as panellists.

It is important as Christians that we discuss these kinds of questions openly and not try to treat them as matters secondary to the conduct of our lives. We also need to acknowledge that there may well be disagreement, but the point of panels like this is not to agree with everything that is said, but to disagree well.

Published in Messenger July 2026