Who is he now? The Dilemma of Modern Manhood with Simon Smart
What makes a good man? In the wake of the #MeToo movement, terrible domestic violence statistics, odious social media influencers and enormous cultural shifts of recent decades, there are significant and legitimate questions about masculinity today. At the same time men and boys are struggling.
Could ancient, even divine wisdom from Jesus help us with the modern male dilemma? Husband, father, educator and public commentator Simon Smart draws on contemporary research as well as 2000 years of Christian reflection to answer the question, how can boys and men be their best selves and gift to those around them?
About the Speaker
Simon Smart
Simon Smart is Executive Director of the Centre for Public Christianity. A former English and History teacher, Simon has a Masters in Christian Studies from Regent College, Vancouver.
He is the co-author of For God’s Sake: An Atheist, a Jew, a Christian and a Muslim Debate Religion, and was co-presenter and co-writer of the historical documentary For the Love of God: How the church is better and worse than you ever imagined.
His latest book is The End of Men? Simon’s writing has appeared in such places as The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the ABC, The Australian, and The Guardian. He is the host of the Life & Faith podcast. He lives on Sydney’s northern beaches and is an inept but enthusiastic surfer.
The St George’s Henry Baldwin Lecture takes place during the winter solstice week each year and aims to offer a thoughtful, timely and challenging word in the public conversation that highlights the contribution Christian theology can offer to build a healthy society.
2025 Henry Baldwin Lecture - June 11
Who is he now? The Dilemma of Modern Manhood with Simon Smart
Previous Lectures
Watch our 2024 lecture, Rediscovering Hope: How did we lose it? How can we get it back? (Dr Leisa Aitken)
Watch our 2023 lecture, A Secular Comedy: Spirituality and Christianity in Contemporary Australia (Natasha Moore)
Watch our 2022 lecture, Is there no balm in Gilead? Truth-Telling, Lament and Healing, a conversation (Greg Lehman & Tim McCormack)
Watch our 2021 lecture, Taking Wrongs Seriously: The possibility and pain of apology (Dr Michael Jensen)
Listen to our 2019 lecture, Loneliness and the Search for the Self (Dave Taylor)
Henry Baldwin Fellowship
To honour Henry’s desire, St George’s Parish Council created the Henry Baldwin Fellowship which was awarded to a clergy person to work alongside the rector and to grow the congregation of St George’s both spiritually and in numbers. The fellowship ran until 2021 with the recipients being Rev'd Paul Chew, Rev'd Victor Shaw (now Rector) and Rev'd Tristan Dallas. Since 2021 the Baldwin Fellowship has continued to underpin the ministry activities of the parish including the annual Henry Baldwin Lecture named in Henry Baldwin's honour.
Henry Graham Baldwin (1919-2007) was a lifelong parishioner at St George’s Battery Point. Even when he worked as an engineer at the Inveresk Railway Yards in Launceston for many years, he would travel home each weekend so he could worship at St George’s. He would often offer lifts to friends wanting to travel in either direction and he held the only gold pass given by Tasmanian Redline Coaches. On one occasion, he caught the special steam train excursion to Launceston but had worked out the closest point up the line where he could have the train stop in the middle of nowhere south of Conara, stroll across the field to the Midlands Highway where the Redlines bus pulled up to collect him and transport him back to Hobart so that he could carry out his duties at St George’s the next day. He was probably the only person who could stop both the bus and the train on its tracks!
He became rector’s warden to seven rectors at St George’s over many years and he got along well with all of them. He was generous to his many friends and to many charities during his lifetime and his burning desire was to see the congregation at St George’s grow.
Henry inherited from his family who included first settlers in Hobart in 1804 and was a careful steward of his assets and his income during his lifetime. St George’s was one of the many organisations to benefit under his Will. We received just under $1.2 million, mostly in blue chip shares. To honour Henry’s desire, St George’s Parish Council decided to create the Henry Baldwin Fellowship to be awarded to a clergy person to work alongside the rector and to grow the congregation of St George’s both spiritually and in numbers.
The first recipient of the Henry Baldwin Fellowship was Rev’d Paul Chew. Paul grew up in Hobart and studied at Moore College in Sydney. Paul and his wife, Jo, particularly reached out to families and young people. They established St George’s Playgroup and grew our Kids Church. Paul provided an exciting program for Scripture in School at Albuera Street Primary School and he encouraged the establishment of After School Club for primary school children. In 2013, Paul and Jo reorganised the church archives and re-curated our museum in preparation for celebrating our 175th anniversary.
The second recipient of the Henry Baldwin Fellowship was Rev’d Victor Shaw who grew up on the mission field in Papua New Guinea and also studied at Moore College. Victor and his wife, Claire, are particularly interested in bringing adults to faith and encouraging them in study of the Bible and to recognise and use their gifts to serve God, his church and his world. Victor has a passion for looking at the intersection between the Christian faith and contemporary culture. In 2015 the then rector John suffered a serious accident. Victor was locum during John’s recovery and in 2016 was installed as rector.
The third recipient of the Henry Baldwin Fellowship was Rev’d Tristan Dallas from 2018-2021. Tristan grew up in country NSW and then Sydney. He studied Classics and French at the University of Sydney and Theology at Moore College. Tristan developed our Bible Study and Kids Church ministries.