Dr Karen Pack

Lecturer
PhD, M.Div, M.Teach (Hons), BA

  • Biography

    Dr Karen Pack is a Lecturer in History at the University of Notre Dame Australia. She has lectured in Australia and internationally for over twenty years, including training leaders in leadership, pastoral and spiritual care throughout Africa, Asia, North America, and the Middle East. Karen is a Religious Historian specialising in the intersection of gender, faith and sexuality.

    Prior to this she was involved in pastoral and spiritual care for over thirty years as a chaplain and pastor, and is the outgoing President of Spiritual Care Australia. She has worked as a lecturer in Chaplaincy and Spiritual Care, having written core subjects for postgraduate degrees in this field, and oversaw the development of the SCA Capabilities Framework.

    She was a founder and co-Pastor of New City Church, a place for “spiritual refugees” who were cast out of churches or experienced abuse which previously left them feeling unsafe and disoriented about re-engaging with faith. She has a particular interest in Lived Religion and historical erasure in the context of religion.

  • Teaching areas

    • History
    • Australian History
    • Religious History
    • Modern History
    • Gender History
    • Queer History
    • Academic Writing and Communication

  • Research Expertise and Supervision

    • Religious history, protestant and evangelical history, LGBTQIA+ history, historical erasure, intersections of gender, faith and sexuality.

  • Books

    • Pack, Karen M. Queer Omissions: Unmarried Women and Social Justice Activism in the Church. Routledge, 2025.

  • Book chapters

    • Pack, Karen M. ‘The Single Strife: Nurturing Wholeness in the Lives of Single Christians’. In Justice, Mercy, and Well-Being: Interdisciplinary Perspectives, edited by Peter G. Bolt and James R. Harrison. Pickwick/Wipf and Stock, 2020.

  • Journal articles and proceedings

    • Pack, Karen M. ‘Mateship – a Holy Alliance: Rediscovering Covenant Friendship in the Contemporary Australian Church’. Zadok Perspectives, no. 133 (Summer 2016): 13–16.
    • Pack, Karen M. ‘Single and Sexual: The Challenge of Holiness for Unmarried Christians’. Crux 46, no. 2 (2010): 13–18.

  • Conference papers

    • Pack, Karen M. ‘“A Propaganda of Kindness”: Frances Levvy and the Animal Protection Movement in NSW’. Paper presented at The Seventh Annual HEX Conference: Historicizing Experiences, Tampere University, Finland. Historicizing Experiences, 10 March 2025.
    • Pack, Karen M. ‘The Future Church Is...LGBTQIA+ Inclusive’. Paper presented at Future Church Conference, Sydney, NSW. 25 January 2024.
    • Pack, Karen M. ‘Gendering Kindness: Frances Levvy and the Bands of Mercy NSW’. Annual Conference  of the Australian Association for the Study of Religion (University of Notre Dame Australia, Broadway), Australian Association for the Study of Religion, 30 November 2023.
    • Pack, Karen M. ‘Trajectories of Hope and Narratives of Inclusion: Why Telling a Bigger Story Is Good News for Everyone’. Paper presented at Spiritual Care Australia National Conference 2023, Melbourne, Vic. Trajectories of Hope: Sustainability and Justice in the Practice of Spiritual Care, Spiritual Care Australia, 19 June 2023.
    • Pack, Karen M. ‘The Myth of Heteronormativity in the Australian Church: Looking to the Past to Find Hope for the Future’. Paper presented at MCCALL HDR Conference, Macquarie University. Myth Making and Future Possibilities: How the Humanities Can Offer Hope in Times of Crisis, 9 December 2022.
    • Pack, Karen M. ‘The Religious Is Political: The Influence of Religious Histories on Discrimination Legislation, and the Erasure of LGBTQ+ Christians’. APSA Symposium on Religion and Politics After Marriage Equality (Macquarie Park, NSW), Australian Political Studies Association, 16 November 2022.
    • Pack, Karen M. ‘A Crisis of Faith: The Gendering of Australian Religious History and the Marginalisation of Women and Sexual Minorities within Australian Protestant Churches’. Paper presented at Australian Historical Association Annual Conference 2021, Online. Australian Women’s History Network: New Agendas for Women’s and Gender History, Australian Historical Association, 1 December 2021.
    • Pack, Karen M. ‘The Unfinished Business of Constance Duncan (1896-1970)’. Paper presented at ASCM Discussion, Sydney, NSW. Australian Student Christian Movement, 20 June 2021.
    • Pack, Karen M. ‘The Distinctiveness of The Salvation Army within Nineteenth Century Evangelicalism: The Unique Vision of Catherine Booth’. History of Christianity (Vancouver, BC), Regent College, 2007.

  • Recorded or Rendered Works

    • Pack, Karen M., guest. ‘The Drum Thursday 9 December’. The Drum, hosted by Julia Baird, with Craig Emerson, Ian Hickie, Feyi Akindoyeni, and Semara Jose. ABC News, 9 December 2021.

  • In the Media

    • Dickson, John, Vrasidis Karalis, and Karen M. Pack, guests. ‘Was Jesus a Real Person?’ God Forbid, produced by Amanda Roberts, directed by James Carleton. ABC Radio National, 17 October 2025.
    • Sheridan, Greg, and Karen M. Pack, guests. ‘Why the Origins of Christianity Still Matter Today’. God Forbid, directed by James Carleton. ABC Radio National, 12 September 2025.

  • Professional Affiliations

    • Australian Historical Association
    • History Council of NSW
    • Australian Association for the Study of Religion
    • Australian Women's History Network
    • Spiritual Care Australia

  • Community Engagement

    • President and Board Chair, Spiritual Care Australia (2022-2025)

  • Awards

    • Visiting Fellow - 2026, State Library of NSW
    • Early Career Research Showcase 2022
    • Winnifred Rennie Scholarship
    • P.F. Yong Award
    • L. Holert Award
    • MCWM Student Exchange and Regent College Bursary