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Perhaps one of the least appreciated aspects of Rowan Williams is his theology of imagination. Seeking to fill this gap, this book explores the imaginative impulse operative in Rowan Williams' theology and poetry, which centres around the notion of 'divine desire', and the way in which imagination can reveal possibility even in the bleakest of circumstances. Drawing on his poetic work as well as his theological writing, the book explores how Williams' theology leads us to a fresh understanding of the ways in which the renewing and enabling energy of the Holy Spirit is ever active, within and beyond the Church, in enabling human imaginations to cooperate with the divine energy of love in bringing creation to fulfilment.

Feminist Theologies: A Companion explores the contemporary contours of the field. With contributors from a diverse range of settings the volume captures the current diversity and richness of feminist theologies both in and beyond the academy. Focusing both on theory and praxis, chapters move from considering the outlines of the feminist agenda, to exploring the relationship between academic feminist theology and ecclesial or personal spiritual, and finally articulating how feminist theological outlooks manifest themselves in a variety of settings. With contributions from Gina Zurlo, Nancy Bedford, Agnes Brazil, Cathryn McKinney, Rebekah Pryor, Gale Yee, Heather Eaton, Al Barrett, Simon Sutcliffe, Hannah Bacon, Lisa Isherwood, Karen O'Donnell, Jane Chevous, Alana Harris, Antonia Sobocki, Tina Beattie, Janice McRandal, Stephen Burns, Cristina Lledo Gomez, Michael W. Brierley, Claire Renkin, HyeRan Kim-Cragg, Kerrie Handasyde, Gail Ramshaw and Anne Elvey

In recent years, far-right organisations have invaded mosques across the UK with army-issued Bibles, declaring their actions a 'Christian crusade'. Others have paraded large crosses through Muslim-majority areas, and invaded 'migrant hotels, ' harassing residents in their so-called crusade. Far-right appeals to 'clean up society', and 'restore Christian Britain' can be quite attractive to some Christians. However, what they may fail to appreciate is that this rhetoric may be cynically employed by those whose allegiance and values are quite contrary to Christian ones. Despite all this, the response from official church sources in the UK has been notably subdued, and resources to help churches address hate crimes or racial tensions are scarce. This book aims to fill that void. Bringing together insights from theologians, church practitioners, and leading experts, this volume examines the church's response to the rise of far-right thinking in UK society and explores how it can respond more effectively. With a foreword by David Gushee, this book offers critical and constructive perspectives for the church to confront these challenges.

What are the key questions of the First Letter of Peter, how does it offer questions and challenges for us today and ultimately how does it speak to readers 2000 years after it was composed? Justin Welby, Jennifer Strawbridge and Abigail Harries Martin develop the expositions offered by Archbishop Justin at the 2022 Lambeth Conference to explore the key themes from 1 Peter and draw out questions and challenges from 1 Peter for today's church and world. Acknowledging that key words and phrases from 1 Peter are understood differently in different contexts - such as language of suffering, definitions of holiness, and how we describe hope - this volume also innovatively draws in voices from more than 20 countries including Kenya, Mozambique, the USA, Malaysia, DRC, Pakistan, and New Zealand. The volume concludes with five short reflections on the epistle from Isabelle Hamley, Paul Swarup, Esther Mombo and Godfrey Adera, Paulo Ueti and Jennifer Strawbridge.

Caribbean Contextual Theology introduces readers to the robust theological conversations taking place in the Caribbean region since the early 1970s, and the region's key theologians and texts. Attempting to bring a contextual theological gaze to what is a fascinating and often understated context, it offers readers an introduction to the unique and important contribution that a Caribbean theological lens can bring to the broader theological landscape.

Celebrating ten years of the annual Sam Sharpe Lectures, this text is a collection of a decade's contribution from scholars, thinkers, activists, and ministers responding to the legacy of Sam Sharpe, a Jamaican National Hero. This text documents these moving, insightful and mobilising contributions and seeks to capture how Sharpe's legacy inspires action for justice in the 21st century. Rooted in a radical Jamaican narrative, The Sam Sharpe Lectures collectively demonstrate how Sharpe's legacy can inspire all people to be game-changers despite life's challenges. Sam Sharpe was enslaved, yet through a grounding in Christian faith, compassion, justice, and self-determination became an agent for transformation, and these lectures translate his legacy into tools for today's injustices.

Vile Bodies are bodies that have been vilified by Christian thought, often with catastrophic consequences. The bodies of women, Jews, Muslims, slaves, Blacks, LGBT people, children, wives have all been harmed by negative Christian teaching about bodies. This book sidesteps the endless controversies in the churches about sexuality and gender and goes deeper - unmasking instead the abusive theology that ensures these controversies and their harmful outcomes persist.Drawing extensively from scripture, and from two millennia of church history and theology, Vile Bodies slowly exposes how churches have preferred doctrine to compassion, orthodoxy to justice, and legalism to love, culminating in the global abuse crises in the churches that have largely destroyed their moral credibility.

How do Christians go about understanding their cultural context in twenty-first century Britain?What is the relationship between faith and the culture in which it is lived?Considering the most formative influences for people of faith in our culture, and the forces at play in competing for their attention, Cultural Hermeneutics equips those in ministry, and those in formation for roles within the church, to better 'read' the times in which they serve.

In an age of carefully managed public profiles presented via Instagram or BeReal, or even the public presentation of our churches, Paul's stories of hardship in his letters to the Corinthians draw us to a different relationship with ourselves and our communities - one which enables to tell authentic stories about ourselves, warts and all.In his deep and careful study of the epistles to the Corinthians, Philip Plyming demonstrates how Paul calls the Corinthian Christians to a way of living which stands in stark contrast from the prevailing culture of Corinth, and argues that there are profound lessons to be learnt for faithful Christians and churches today.

What does it mean to be a prophet in queer times? Considering first the queerness of the prophet Jonah, this volume then broadens its scope to the queer prophetic in our own time, reflecting on what makes a prophet 'queer', and considering how public theology is itself, an example of the queer prophetic. With a broad range of international contributors, this book offers a bold and essential new addition to queer biblical studies literature.

Academic theology is in need of a new genre. In Transgressive Devotion Natalie Wigg-Stevenson articulates a theological vision of that genre as performance art. She argues that theology done as performance art stops trying to describe who God is, and starts trying to make God appear. Offering a daring vision of theology which will energise anybody feeling 'boxed in' by the discipline, Wigg-Stevenson blurs borders between orthodoxy, heterodoxy and heresy to reveal how the very act of doing theology makes God and humanity vulnerable to each other. This is theology which is a liturgy of Divine incantation. In other words: this is theology which is also prayer.

'Love has its speed. It is a spiritual speed. It is a different kind of speed from the technological speed to which we are accustomed. It goes on in the depth of our life, whether we notice or not, at three miles an hour. It is the speed we walk and therefore the speed the love of God walks.' Once we grasp that in Christ God chooses to walk amongst us, it changes our whole understanding of the speed of love, and the speed of theology. In Three Mile an Hour God, renowned Japanese theologian Kosuke Koyama reflects beautifully on a theme lost to western theology and western culture in general - the need for slowness. With a new foreword from John Swinton.

Whilst things have arguably moved on in the last decade, the church continues to discriminate against people on the grounds of disability, economic power, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, learning disability, mental health, neurodiversity, or sexuality.Drawing from ten years of lectures and essays from leading figures associated with the movement such as Loretta Minghella, Anthony Reddie, and Michael Jaggesar, this book marks the 20th anniversary of the Inclusive Church network. Together the essays offer a unique and inspiring account of what an inclusive church is, why it matters, and where it is going.

It is long past time for the church to talk seriously about social class. Bringing together the stories of eight contemporary Christian ministers and theologians from working-class backgrounds, and putting their own life experiences into conversation with theological reflection, Confounding the Mighty explores what role class plays in the life of Churches, education establishments and social justice movements in 21st Century Britain and beyond. Written from a diverse variety of social locations, chapters explore how class relates to faith, Church, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, education, leadership, work and wider social justice issues. While lamenting injustice and personal experiences of oppression, this book suggests radical changes in how Christians, churches and theologians relate to class issues, pointing towards renewed structures and practices to bring class justice in churches and wider society. Recognising that class is a thorny issue, the book seeks to bring a progressive theological perspective on class which pays close attention to related issues and promotes liberation for all.

It feels like the world is ending. In the midst of apocalyptic times it's tempting to cling on tightly to what we still have. But what if our desire to save the world is part of the problem?Theology for the End of the World suggests that in responding to the deeply entwined systems of capitalism, racism and patriarchy we should stop trying to unearth a 'good version' of Christianity which stands opposed to these forms of violence and seek instead to reckon with the role that Christianity has played in making the world we now inhabit. How has Christianity shaped the histories of marriage and the family? How did Christianity invent race and give birth to capitalism? Grappling with the ambivalent inheritance of Christianity, a tradition passed down by enslaved people and enslavers; by violent husbands, resourceful wives and courageous sex workers; by rich people and the dispossessed, the book suggests Christians should give up on trying to redeem the world - a social order founded on violence and exploitation - and seek instead to end it.

What happens when 'go, make disciples' meets 'Black Lives Matter'? Arising from the Council for World Mission's "Legacies of Slavery" project, this book offers an unapologetic exploration of Christian Mission and its history, and the ways in which this legacy has unleashed notions of White supremacy, systemic racism and global capitalism on the world. Contributors reflect on the past and consider the future of world mission in an age of renewed understandings of empire and its impact. Contributors include Mike Higton, David Clough, Eve Parker, James Butler, Cathy Ross, Jione Havea, Peniel Rajkumar, Victoria Turner, Carol Troupe, Michael Jagessar, Paul Weller, Jill Marsh, Kevin Ellis, Rachel Starr, Kevin Snyman, Al Barrett and Ruth Harley.

Convened by the Archbishop of Canterbury in 2022, the Lambeth Conference was an international meeting of Anglican bishops. The conference discussed church and world affairs and the global mission of the Anglican Communion for the decade ahead.The Lambeth Conference 2022 Report God's Church for God's World offers a detailed record of the conference, and full outlines of the major addresses and departmental reports. It also presents the final wording of the Lambeth Calls and Statements.

This is not a theology of neurodiversity. It is a theology from neurodiversity. In her ground-breaking and daring theological exploration, Claire Williams considers how the experience of God for an autistic person challenges and interrogates our normal theologies about knowing God. Demonstrating how her autistic perspective offers a distinct and fresh hermeneutical lens, Williams shows that a liberation theology of neurodiversity can gift the church a new way of understanding worship, practice, ethics and even the nature of Christian hope itself.

Now widely recognised within palliative care, the concept of 'total pain' is an intensely theological one at heart. In Light to those in Darkness clinician and theologian Dr Charlie Bell holds up the concept to theological scrutiny. Bell reflects on the ways that the doctrine of 'the communion of saints', might be used to help the church understand how it can address "total pain" within individuals, and collective trauma within the wider community. As such the book offers both an important theological reflection for those in pastoral care roles and a broader challenge to the church to become a place of solidarity and accompaniment.

As debates around sexuality rumble on within certain sections of the church, and become increasingly entrenched and embittered, there is an increasing need from non-evangelicals and evangelicals alike to grasp the historical and cultural context in which current debates about sexuality are happening. Offering a detailed examination of the development, consolidation and fracturing of an evangelical anglican consensus on the sexuality, Defusing the Sexuality Debate seeks to explain why current disagreements are so intractible and offer some suggestions as to how all sides could facilitate a more constructive conversation. Building on an exploration of the development of tradition and biblical scholarship in evangelical anglicanism during the twentieth century, the book makes the case that conflicts over sexuality are symbolic of deeper disagreements over the place of christianity in the modern world.

What is the biggest threat facing churches today? Not enough young people? Too little mission and evangelism? Unsustainable buildings? Unappealing styles of worship? Not enough diversity? Whatever the reasons, the church today seems to exist in a state of anxiety, concerned with its self-preservation. In this bold and hopeful book, Martyn Percy argues that a being a broken church is in fact good news, as it is only through the cracks that the overwhelming abundance of God can shine through. This collection of essays and reflections considers what it means to be a precarious church. The term suggests uncertainty and peril, yet it is rooted in the Latin precatio, meaning prayer. It argues that the Church's vocation is not to be successful or even to survive but to be precarious, liminal, unpredictable and mysterious - a place of encounter with the holy. The questions that should consume us are not, "how shall we remove the risks and alleviate our anxieties?", but rather "how shall we live in this age of uncertainty?" Every age has had its uncertainties and this inspiring volume explores what faithfulness to each other and to God looks like in an age of anxiety.

Whether through suspicion or ignorance, serious consideration of what Mary can teach us has been lacking in large swathes of the church for some time.Drawing on careful biblical exegesis, church history and ecumenical thinking, this book suggests how a serious understanding of Mary might influence our ethical thought, and considers some of the key theological tensions at the heart of the church's engagement with Mary.

The recent pandemic has highlighted an increasing need for support for those experiencing mental health challenges and those caring for them. There is an urgent need for clergy and others involved in pastoral care both to attend to their own well-being and to develop resilience.The role of pastors in accompanying those grieving, planning, and conducting funerals carries a toll of emotional and psychological resources which need to be replenished routinely. Showing how everything from singing in choirs or joining theatre or dance groups to painting or sculpting can help those in leadership to develop a flexible mindset and give relief to the pressures of responsible roles, Creative Repair is essential reading both for those who train others as pastors and those who are themselves in training and preparing to take on pastoral responsibility themselves.

The term 'witness' has become synonymous with evangelism, but true witnessing is usually found in dissenting: it refuses to bow to idols, or to take the easy road, or deny Christ and all he died for. This collection is rooted in that belief that having the mind of Christ means we will do things differently.It offers practical resources for pastoral care that celebrates people on the margins of the church, and provides liturgies for those who suffer racism or injustice, who experience tragedy and loss, who raise their voices in protest or lament, and more. These texts do not carry the stamp of approval of any church body, but will bring the light of the gospel where it is needed. Arranged in six sections, it includes contributions from well-known and new voices covering the themes of:¿Witness in Ordinary Time¿Communion¿Birth and Baptism¿United in Love¿Suffering Presence¿Death and Resurrection

Amidst a world of seemingly endless movement and change many of us feel a longing to be rooted. It is this instinct that has led many to value the parish system, and to question the place of new churches, be they fresh expressions or church plants.This book is about the instinct to form churches that are of and for a particular place, and what this might mean in a world where place is contested, interconnected, and ever-changing. Above all it is an attempt to move the conversation beyond the binary choices of parish or non, new or inherited. It offers a powerful and persuasive vision for a Church that is national only by being local; a vision that can only be realised as churches continually become present to their places.

Why does bad theology happen to good people?Is it even possible for theology to go "bad"? On the one hand, the answer ought to be 'no'. It comes from God, so how can it be bad? Yet theology is predominately human construct, and as a result, humans can influence their theological conclusions with their own desires and beliefs. The result, more often than we care to admit, is 'bad theology'.Drawing on a careful definition of 'bad theology' as theology which denies human flourishing, avoids self-reflection and doesn't seek justice and equality, Leah Robinson offers a series of penetrating case studies which show what bad theology can look like when put into action. As we look at how theology can be bad, she argues, we might begin to understand how it might be better.

(Un)Certain: A Collective Memoir of Deconstructing Faith uncovers the courage and vulnerability of over 150 individuals from around the world as they navigate through their unravelling beliefs. Olivia Jackson weaves together stories of deeply committed believers who reached a breaking point with the Christian certainties and doctrines they once held dear. Exploring tales of abuse, exclusionary or harsh theologies, and a slow crumbling of conviction as interviewees share their journey towards a carefully considered expansion of faith, the book offers a glimpse into the nuanced and diverse experiences of those who reached the end of the road and dared to keep walking.

Jonah's radical and enigmatic nature calls for deeper exploration and engagement. Given its brevity, it is also an ideal text for multiple readings from a range of perspectives that complement, build upon, or challenge and critique each other. In Jonah's Story, Our Challenge, each chapter brings a different hermeneutical tool to the text, to demonstrate the wealth of fresh readings and new vistas which can open up, and the rich resources for ministry which can come from these multiple readings.

What might it mean us to be formed as disciples not only by the church but also by the world? In Political Formation: Being Formed by the Spirit in Church and World, Jenny Leith argues that ethical and political formation of Christians takes place through the work of the Spirit both in the church and in civic life, and the church, too, has something to learn from wider political practices and movements. This account of formation places centre stage a reckoning with the forms of exclusion and marginalisation that mar the church, and yields an understanding of the church as not only ethically formative but also in constant need of being formed itself.Offering a fresh vision for ecclesiology, which grapples with the ethical failings of the church and takes seriously the need for the church to keep on recognising and repenting of its sins, the book offers a major new contribution to discussions around Christian formation and the relationship between discipleship and ethics.

Feminist practical theology has emerged in the gap between wider feminist and wider practical theology. It celebrates distinctive concerns, arguments, emphases, and questions - unafraid to re-form practical theology in shape and substance, and to guide feminist theology towards the silences and stories of human lives that some professional theologies (including those shaped by feminist commitments) sometimes overlooks. Feminist practical theology is bold in exploration of doctrinal themes in poetic and prayerful modes, characteristically collaborative and in search of alliances with other advocacy perspectives.In the UK, such commitments have been exemplified by Nicola Slee, whom this volume honours. Chapters invite readers into wide ranging conversations that flow from young women's experiences at university, poetic practice as theology, queer priesthood, theologies of critical masculinities, women presiding in worship, Black and decolonial theologies adjacent to feminist convictions, confrontations with sexual violence, rest and rewilding, and a post-menopausal Mary. Contributors are: Al Barrett, Gavin D'Costa, Deborah Kahn-Harris, Michael N. Jagessar, Sharon Jagger, Rachel Mann, Jenny Morgans, Eleanor Nesbitt, Karen O'Donnell, Mark Pryce, Anthony G. Reddie, Ruth Shelton, Anne Phillips and Alison Wooley.