Pastor Shaun White to explain why his Pentecostal during Dark + Dangerous Thoughts

A Pentecostal pastor is set to give a sermon about his faith as part of Dark Mofo’s Dark+Dangerous Thoughts program.

IN a Dark Mofo first, a Pentecostal pastor will give a sermon about his Christian faith as part of the Dark+Dangerous Thoughts program.

C3 Church Hobart senior pastor Shaun White will deliver his presentation “Why I’m Pentecostal” to an audience at the Odeon Theatre at 2pm tomorrow.

Earlier this week the Australian Christian Lobby hit out at the winter festival for using red crosses on the Hobart waterfront to promote its “pagan practices and demonic activities”.

RED CROSSES FLIPPED TO CONVENTIONAL CHRISTIAN DIRECTION

But Pastor White yesterday told the Mercury he wanted to use his 20-minute timeslot to “be a light in the darkness”, despite not “openly supporting” every element of Dark Mofo.

“There is a lot of pain and hurt in our world and a lot of people seeking out something to believe in,” he said.

Shaun White is a Senior Pastor at the C3 Church in South Hobart. He is speaking at the Dark Mofo Dark+Dangeorus Thoughts. Picture: LUKE BOWDEN

“Church is not just about 90 minutes on a Sunday morning. It’s about walking the journey with people from where they’re at and building a community.

“Not everyone who comes into church is a perfect Christian. We actually have a lot of people who come in broken and busted up, so our message every week is a message of hope. We don’t do messages of condemnation and judgment.”

Dark Mofo executive director Kate Gould said this year’s Dark+Dangerous Thoughts program would explore the question: has identity become our new religion?

She said Pastor White was invited to be part of the program because Dark Mofo was always keen to offer audiences a diverse range of views.

“Normal ideas festivals don’t invite a pastor to come and speak, and we asked why would that be?” Ms Gould said. “The Christian population is such a big part of our community and we need to hear their voices.

“This year is all about identity politics and whether it’s replacing religion as we knew it before. People are wanting to find their groups and identify to give themselves meaning in life, but at what cost? And what does that actually mean?”

Ms Gould said speakers from around the world would discuss topics of race, class and religion throughout the three-day Dark+Dangerous Thoughts program.

For more information visit: darkmofo.net.au