RSS 1.0Theses
This collection contains the Doctoral and Masters by Research theses produced within the department.
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Recent Submissions
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The Vatican's adaptation to new media: an exploration of the strategies, benefits and impacts on the local churchThis thesis investigates how the Catholic Church has adapted to the emergence of new media, its strategies, benefits, and impacts on the local church. Religious institutions such as the Catholic Church have entered the world of new media in an effort to achieve their aims and objectives, emphasizing the power of new media as ‘new spaces for evangelization’. This situation requires a reorganization that takes into account the historic development of the Holy See’s structures of communication, unified integration, and management. As a result, the Dictionary of Communications was created to respond to the current demands of communication by factors of convergence and interactivity. To assess how the new Dicastery of Communications has fared in the face of recent changes, the study traces the historical evolution of the Church’s attitude towards the media, from one of outright hostility in the early decades of the twentieth century to a much more open and progressive stance today. Generally, the study aims to explore how the Vatican has adapted to new media and the strategies, benefits, and impacts on the local church. Specifically, the study identifies how the Vatican uses new media strategies to engage existing audiences and to market to potential adherents; to explore how the new Dicastery for Communications is taking full advantage of the benefits and opportunities presented by the new media and engagement paradigms; to examine the barriers to and dangers of the Vatican's adoption of new media strategies to engage existing audiences and to market to potential adherents; and lastly, to consider how new media strategies from the center cascade and impact local churches. The study employed the use of qualitative research methods, with the elite interview used as the medium of data collection in the research. Interviews conducted with nine elites, including three each of the members of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communications, local Church officials in the developing world, particularly the Archdiocese of Ibadan, and independent experts with knowledge about the Vatican's media, serve as major data employed to discover how successful Pope Francis and the Catholic Church as a whole have been in this endeavor of strategic communications and synodality. The initial stage of the data analysis procedure involved transcribing the interviews, prioritizing the objectives of precision and ethical reporting in documenting the participants' remarks. The transcribed data were further analyzed using thematic data analysis techniques. The study finds that the new media strategies adopted by the Vatican have succeeded in terms of enabling a more coherent internal communications structure but have largely failed to attract new converts to Catholicism. Overall, the findings suggest the church is still finding its way in the new media sphere. Conceptually, the church is on the right track. Its challenge now lies in implementing the practical steps necessary if the digital sphere is truly to become a modern space for evangelisation.
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Missional Capital: Volunteering and Faith CommunicationIn this thesis, I identify missional capital, which is a form of social capital comprising theological capital, bridging capital, and linking capital, collectively underpinned by bonding capital to explain how volunteering provides lay Christians with confidence they can participate with God in mission. Based on qualitative interviews and participant observation, I find that the experience of volunteering can give lay Christians assurance about sharing their faith commitments in their workplaces and communities, despite their general anxiety about sharing their beliefs with non-Christian peers. My participants believe that stories of their volunteering experiences are welcomed by their friends and colleagues and tell these in order to initiate discussions about their Christian beliefs. My research arises from my professional practice as volunteer and leader at a Christian witness and service project I pseudonymously name “The Chapel”. The Church of England recognises the importance of witness and service projects, such as The Chapel, to help address its crisis of declining attendance (Church of England Research and Statistics, 2020; The Church of England, 2022, Oct 22). However, since existing volunteer studies typically focus on recruitment and retention (Wilson, 2012), there has been little research into how Christian witness and service projects might also help the Church of England to equip lay Christians to communicate their beliefs beyond their faith community. My research shows how practices of prayer, listening and storytelling employed by The Chapel leverage the liminality and communitas inherent in volunteer witness and service projects to facilitate theological play. This play strengthens volunteers’ conviction that they can identify and participate in God’s existing activity in visitors’ lives. The attitudes and practices arising from this integrate belief and action creating missional capital. The church is usually conceived as either gathered in worship or scattered in witness and service to the world (Van Gelder & Zscheile, 2011). This study illustrates the service-learning potential of witness and service projects, such as The Chapel, which combine elements of corporate worship with individual witness. I suggest similar practices could be tested in other Christian witness and service projects to teach other lay Christian volunteers to communicate their faith more effectively.
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A Practical Theology of Religious Difference: the lived experience of Anglican Christians in a religiously plural UK contextThis project constructs a practical theology of religious difference from qualitative research into the everyday lived experience of Anglican Christians in one of the UK’s most religiously plural contexts in Leicester. All too often, and not only in Christian circles, ‘religious diversity is imagined as a problem, even when there is ample evidence of successes – of people working out difference on the ground, in everyday life’ (Beaman, 2017, 3). This project seeks to attend to precisely that negotiation of religious difference in everyday life. The theology of religions discourse, and in particular the exclusivist-inclusivist-pluralist typology, has dominated Christian approaches to religious difference for several decades. It has been robustly critiqued by feminists and postcolonial thinkers for its oversimplification, its treatment of religions as monolithic entities and its lack of attention to hybridity. While alternatives have been suggested, few foreground the practices and everyday lived experience of those living in a religiously plural context other than anecdotally. I used semi-structured interviews with seventeen participants from two of Leicester’s Church of England congregations to generate narratives and reflections concerning their everyday encounters with those of other faiths. Through close reading and coding of the data, I then drew out the practical wisdom of those living with religious difference, bringing it into conversation with existing literature on interfaith engagement, in particular from a feminist and postcolonial perspective. From this process emerge insights on intersectional and intrareligious difference, the polarization of difference and sameness with their outworking in attitudes to conflict and pluralism, and finally the possibility of living with contradiction and mystery, and the role of epistemic humility. These insights, rooted in lived experience, make a valuable, and previously undervalued, contribution to both the theology of religions debate as well as challenging the wider church’s practice in its handling of religious difference today.
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Does GOD not also speak through us? Developing a new pedagogy for the formation of women who preach in the Church of EnglandThis thesis explores the formation of women preachers in the Church of England. My research was carried out with a particular group of women preachers, lay and ordained, who attended a conference in 2018 called Women’s Voices. The data generated suggests that theological education and ministerial formation fail women in two ways. First, ministerial training excludes, minoritizes and silences those who are perceived as ‘other’ than a White, male norm. Among other minoritized voices, women’s voices are absent from classrooms, reading lists and theological critique. Second, I argue that for women, the absence of these voices results in them entering ministry ill-informed about preaching about Bible women or from their own experiences, and ill-prepared for the sexism and misogyny they will encounter. Based on my exploration of these failures, I make some specific proposals about how preachers might be taught, how women ordinands and trainees might be prepared for the ministry they are to embark on, and how Theological Education Institutions might facilitate the flourishing of marginalised groups. I propose that preaching classes should not only include information about developments in preaching, but also practical sessions in which students explore how to preach from their own experiences and understandings. In line with the women who took part in my research, I propose that spaces be made available where women can support each other. My participants perceived a cycle in which women received support and acceptance from each other, realised that they were being silenced and released each other to resist oppression. I suggest that such spaces be opened up in the classroom so that women are better prepared for ministries that will be marked by sexist reactions to their presence and their preaching. In making proposals that I see as life-giving and disruptive of the status quo, I draw on the Hebrew prophet Miriam who was a leader of Israel alongside her brother Moses. She both led women to freedom and challenged male domination. As a result of her challenge to Moses, “does God not also speak through us?” she is afflicted with leprosy and banished from the camp. I believe that Miriam’s experience echoes that of many women in the church who are silenced when they challenge male domination. My research opens up other areas of inquiry I have not had space to pursue, particularly how women’s intersectional experiences might impact their ministerial experiences. My findings among a particular group of women preachers contribute to curriculum development work and to the ways in which women ministers are formed.
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Postmodernism and evangelical theological methodology with particular reference to Stanley J. GrenzAbstract available in hard copy
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Contours of Biblical reception theory : studies in the rezeptionsgeschichte of Romans 13. 1-7Abstract available in hard copy.
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The theological hermeneutics of homiletical application and Ecclesiastes 7: 23-29Abstract available in hard copy
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The wisdom of Torah: epistemology in Deuteronomy and the wisdom literatureAbstract available in hard copy
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How do Baptists discern the 'mind of Christ' at the Church Meeting?At the heart of every Baptist church is the Church Meeting, where church members make decisions for their local congregation by discerning the mind of Christ. As a Baptist minister, I operate as a practitioner-researcher in this project by observing four local Baptist churches in north London and interviewing twelve members on the practice of discernment. As a relatively unexamined area of church life, this project aims to articulate Baptist discernment to renew the Church Meeting. Through the data collected and analysed by thematic and axial coding, Baptist discernment is identified, articulated, and named as slow wisdom. Slow wisdom is slow, listens to all members, and seeks consensus agreement through a prayerful and prophetic atmosphere. The theological emphasis on participation, described as ‘this body life’ is shown to be based on biblical images of the church as the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12.4-27) as the priesthood of all believers (1 Peter 2.4-5). By comparing slow wisdom to bell hooks’ practical wisdom (1994, 2003, 2010), slow wisdom finds broader terms of expression and rationale for participation and the Church Meeting is recast as a radical place. Slow wisdom uses embodied knowledge to form Christian practical wisdom (Miller-McLemore, 2016) that long-standing members use as an epistemological source to verify discernment. Therefore, knowledge of Baptist discernment is expanded from a biblical basis to recognise phronesis in the lived experience of faith and bodily practice of attending the Church Meeting as fundamental to discernment. Slow wisdom is not present when the Church Meeting fails to listen to all members. The project shows how members who are different to the habitual norm of the church are excluded. The low attendance of younger members and members from other denominations is shown to be effectively addressed by examples of best practices, alongside the project recommendation of sharing slow wisdom as a model for reflection. To explore Black and Brown members whose voices have been overruled in Church Meetings, Willie Jennings’ (2010, 2020) work on challenging racism in education provides a contrasting analysis. Through Jennings’ example, the project demonstrates how the design of the Church Meeting can be changed to be inclusive of all members to increase belonging among Black and Brown members. Having articulated slow wisdom, this new knowledge contributes to other denominations' discernment approaches and provides a pathway for renewal of practice and a revitalisation of the Baptist Church Meeting for Baptists. The portfolio submitted before this thesis shows a reflective research journey in Practical Theology as a Baptist minister. At the beginning of the professional doctorate programme, my research question concerned a critical discussion held at my first church in London. At the Church Meeting, church members shared their different views regarding whether the church building was a sacred space. My focus throughout the programme has been to understand how Baptists hear varied opinions and make decisions together at the Church Meeting. In my literature review, I examined the concept of churches as sacred spaces and places in Baptist research and other Christian traditions. By using a modified pastoral cycle, I reflected on the critical Church Meeting discussion, followed by an exploration of biblical models of revelation, churches understood as storied and incarnational places, and sociology and place. The review highlighted that while the content of the original discussion on sacred places was important, the context of the Church Meeting in which it was held was critical for Baptists. For my publishable article, I reviewed a contrasting sample of literature on unholy places. Now in my second pastorate in Cheshire, I explored ‘Mischief Night’ and the practice of charismatic Christians to prayer walk outdoors to reclaim the local streets from an unholy environment into a sacred place. I identified parallels between Baptist charismatic views regarding place and Celtic views on liminal places. I argued that determining good from evil through testing in prayer was believed by Baptists as a factor in discernment practice on Mischief Night. To complete the first stage of the professional doctorate, I returned to reflecting on decisionmaking within the Church Meeting to form the basis of my research proposal. Now in my third pastorate, I sought to make generalisations about the practice of discernment for Baptists at the Church Meeting. I selected a qualitative research approach to analyse a set of Baptist churches using the tools of observation, interviewing and coding. With a concern to express the lived experience of faith for Baptists, these methods were chosen to generate fresh data concerning an unarticulated discernment practice to existing discernment literature. I sought to articulate how Baptists discern together at the Church Meeting with an interest in revelation, testing or judging good decisions in discernment, the role of prayer and the significance of the Church Meeting for members. The project began with a specific question of revelation and sacred space in a multi-ethnic Baptist church. Through stage one, a broader topic emerged of how Baptists search for revelation from God to make decisions together which led to the final research question of ‘How do Baptists discern the mind of Christ at the Church Meeting?’
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Examining human-technological relationships and the pursuit of godhood in Battlestar GalacticaThis thesis explores the extent to which science fiction conveys latent sociocultural attitudes about the human pursuit of godhood through technology. The use of myth as a conceptual lens becomes a means to negotiate different strategies for analysing popular culture, providing a rationale for the selection of methods which prioritise and emphasise certain narrative traits. The entities in this field (humanity, technology, God, culture) are located within a unifying framework and ontological scheme of process (process studies, process theology, and process philosophy). This thesis undertakes a theological engagement with fictional speculations about human divinity obtained, emulated, or performed by technological means. Theological appraisal of these exemplars against alternative conceptions of divine nature (such as those of process theism) exposes their (problematic) potential. Conceiving divinity solely in terms of creative provenance, ownership, dominion, and control alludes to the need for alternative configurations of human -technological relationships. The metaphor of myth-as-lens (described by Wendy Doniger) helps frame science fiction narratives for engagement at the level at which they are consumed. Using principles of processual research, a conception of myth is articulated to emphasise points of interest, and to facilitate both interdisciplinary dialogue, and theological research performed from an agnostic perspective. This approach recognises how some narratives seemingly solicit or call for engagement as though they were myth (in a mythical mode or manner), and how the use of myth (as a concept) is already established in theological engagements with popular culture. In this case, the mythoanalytical lens oscillates between broader genre analysis of science fiction, and more focused case study of Ronald D. Moore’s 2004-2009 re-imagined television series Battlestar Galactica. Theological appraisal of these fictional examples of relatedness exposes the truth they conceal and contain. This reveals the damaging potential of relationships conceived in techno-demonological terms of lost control, and the need for refigured relationships constituted through openness to technological agency and a nurturing encouragement of technology towards an optimal aim.
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Paul’s Subversive Leadership: Gift-Giving, Patron-Client Relationships, and Leadership in the Pauline CorrespondenceThis thesis presents the argument that Paul deliberately subverts normal practices associated with gift-giving and with patron-client relationships, which he expects to be adopted by the communities to whom he is writing. As such, contrary to other studies, I argue that there is no tension between Paul’s egalitarian vision, and with the hierarchical language that he employs elsewhere. Whilst there is equality between members of the church, leadership and authority are necessary functions to help create healthy churches, and mature and Christ-like individual members. I bring together two distinct areas in this study. Primarily, this thesis is concerned with the social world in which the Pauline congregations lived, specifically customs related to gift-giving and the various relationships through which gifts were exchanged. The second chapter situates my argument within the wider body of literature offering both an analysis of contemporary scholarship, and Paul’s historical context. Although the vertical dimension has been given significant attention, the horizontal dimension is less explored. The third chapter outlines the various ways in which Paul subverts the normal patterns of gift and reciprocity. I demonstrate this by considering the three gift lists – Romans 12:6-8 and 1 Corinthians 12:7-10, 27-28 – showing that Paul offers the congregations a different way of sharing gifts with each other. Chapters four and five address the apparent tension that exists between that subversive, egalitarian approach, with the hierarchical approach expressed elsewhere. Although Paul appears to remove status differences, and flattens hierarchy, he maintains a position of authority for himself (and others) at other times. Chapter four addresses the wider issues of power, authority, and leadership, arguing that Paul presents himself as a patron of the congregation, as well as shifting the focus away from the structures to the nature and character of leaders. Chapter five surveys several letters where issues of authority and leadership arise and I demonstrate that there too, Paul offers several subversive moves that transform the way his patronal position functioned. He is in no doubt, however, that such authority is necessary so that the Gospel is protected and so that the congregations continue to function as they should. The conclusion summarises the main findings ultimately showing that the concepts of equality and hierarchy, for Paul, work in harmony for the benefit of all. I also offer suggestions for further study, as well as offering thoughts on how some of the issues raised might inform conversations about church leadership today.
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Seeking an Honest Word A Theological Reflection on Anna Carter Florence’s ‘Preaching as Testimony’This thesis grew out of the dilemma of how to respond to the tension I experience when my biblical interpretation and theology differ from dominant interpretations within my context as a minister and leader in an evangelical church and denomination. This affects my public ministry, particularly preaching, leading me to seek a homiletic that enables me to speak honestly and passionately about my understanding of scripture within this setting. Florence’s Preaching as Testimony appears to offer such a homiletic. Building on historical case studies, philosophy, biblical studies, and feminist theology, Florence responds to the insights of postmodernism regarding truth and knowledge, providing practical exercises to illustrate and apply her approach. This research uses methodology based upon Graham’s ‘theology by heart’, alongside a description of the research context. Nine sermons were prepared and preached, implementing Florence’s homiletic across Acts. Chadwick and Tovey’s reflective cycle was applied to reflect upon what this revealed about her homiletic, and assess if it did indeed enable me to speak as desired. These reflections revealed the importance of Florence’s exercises. They encouraged the attentive listening she describes, and creative sermon forms, whilst applying a hermeneutical lens informed by and speaking to the contemporary world and daily life. Their application moved me as the preacher away from a presumed objective periphery to the subjective heart of the sermon, open and honest about my encounter with God in the text and life and what I believed about that, yet maintaining scripture as the heart of the sermon, taking its interpretation and application seriously. These findings indicate that in this instance, Florence’s homiletic did indeed enable me to speak honestly about my understanding of scripture within my context, offering me a way forward as a preacher and leader.
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Homiletical Apologetics and the Local Church: Equipping believers through holistic apologetic preachingThis thesis researches the question, ‘To what extent does apologetic preaching equip evangelical believers to defend and share their Christian faith today?’. It argues that a holistic approach to apologetics and a textual approach to apologetic preaching are helpful to evangelical believers to understand their Christian faith deeply, and to defend and share it in a relevant and contemporary manner. The three main motivations that led to this project were 1) a lack of apologetics in preaching during Sunday worship services, 2) a dearth of academic literature on apologetic preaching (and none from a British perspective), and 3) to develop professionally both ministerially and academically in this subject area. The research was conducted at Apologia Baptist Church (anonymised), a small evangelical Baptist church in the UK. Ten participants were chosen through purposive and maximum variation sampling. Norton’s pedagogical action research methodology was employed for the research, and it included two sermon series: Topical Apologetic Preaching (TAP) and Holistic Apologetic Preaching (HAP). Kemmis and McTaggart’s Spiral was used for individual sermon reflections. Originally, ten topical sermons were planned for the TAP series. However, critical reflection and reflexivity as part of my action research methodology resulted in major issues being identified. The two major issues (dominance of the intellectual nature of apologetics and the weaknesses of the topical approach to apologetic preaching) halted the TAP series after six sermons. My response to these TAP inadequacies was to develop three original ideas. First, I made a case for a holistic understanding of Christian apologetics. I argued for the inclusion of spiritual gifts alongside intellectual apologetics (moral arguments, proofs, contradictions), and I encouraged the use of action-oriented forms of apologetics (fighting injustice, solidarity, compassion). Secondly, I made a case for the HAP model with a textual approach. HAP sermons encourage believers to defend and share their Christian faith intellectually and spiritually, embracing imagination and creativity through action-oriented apologetics. Thirdly, I developed a HAP homiletical framework that enables preachers to develop holistic apologetic sermons. Six textual sermons on the Book of James were subsequently developed using the HAP homiletical framework. I employed a SWOB (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and barriers) analysis to the results of my thematic analysis. Participants reported that holistic apologetics provided opportunities to defend and share their faith in imaginative and holistic ways, and that textual apologetic sermons helped them understand their faith more deeply. The HAP Homiletical Framework was useful in generating holistic and relevant apologetic sermons. Finally, the micro, meso and macro changes for further development are presented in this thesis.
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God with Child: A Comparison of the Respective Theologies and Pedagogies of Godly Play and EvangelicalismThis thesis notes the use of Godly Play in evangelical settings for children’s ministry. The processes of each are examined with attention paid to their pedagogical approaches and the theology which informs them both. Evangelical authors recommending Godly Play are examined and discovered to appreciate the non-directive approach, the two-way learning and the focus on awe and wonder in the process. As Godly Play raises the question of divine-child encounters this becomes the focus of analysis around four aspects of God, the child, impediments to an encounter and how those are overcome. An examination of divine communication is undertaken which examines three key differences between the two approaches in general and verbal revelation, the possibility of divine speech and language and the interpersonal engagement of God with humanity. Three key differences around the child concerning the nature of humanity, the child in Scripture and developmental approaches are then examined and analysed. This is then followed by impediments to such encounters in each circumstance examining and analysing contrasting approaches to personal sin, original sin, and the effect of sin on said encounter. How those impediments are overcome are examined with reference to the basis and process of overcoming impediments, how salvation is actualised and the possibility for the child to actualise that overcoming. This thesis finds that Godly Play is a consistent and coherent process that must be taken seriously by evangelicals, yet there are certain incongruities suggesting Godly Play would be incompatible with evangelical settings. Instead, evangelicals must take each of these four aspects seriously and reflect on how these should affect a children’s ministry process.
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What is Working Well? Exploring a Theology of Work at Urban Community Church, BelfastThis thesis argues that there is a need for a rehabilitation of the Reformed doctrine of vocation within the area of practical theologies of work. Theologians and Church leaders in this tradition have paid limited attention to the practice and purpose of work, despite most people spending more time at work than in any other activity (Archbishops’ Council, 2017, p. 4, Forster, 2018, p. 145). I make two contributions by advocating for an interplay of agency between God and humanity in the ordinary elements of working. First, this resets the purpose of working within the wider context of missio Dei, where human and divine action collaborate in work, rather than in private piety, ecclesiastical identity, or ethics. Second, I rehabilitate the language and performance of vocation by using the term ‘callings’ to consider work as a purposeful intrinsically valuable component of human flourishing. The study draws on qualitative research with twenty interviews conducted in a contemporary Charismatic-Evangelical church network known as Urban Community Church (UCC), which has its theological roots in the Protestant, Reformed tradition of Northern Ireland. The study critically interrogates Evangelical interpretations of vocation, and how it informs contemporary practice at UCC. The research suggests inequalities in the public validation of work in Sunday services, including the promotion of church planting, overseas mission, and paid church work to the detriment of other forms of employment. The thesis reveals how individuals attach meaning to their work through callings which are multiple, evolutionary, and less well defined than that traditional understanding of vocation as a call from God to work for the church or in a specific role. Participants in this research imagine work to have lasting significance in Christian redemptive purpose in society, beyond the promotion of the work of the church.
