It’s easy to persuade Christians in the UK that we need more pastors to reach more people in our nation with the good news of Jesus. But the need for more academic theologians is perhaps harder to contend for. In a context where theological education is sometimes seen as a luxury, we are seeing more and more evidence that the church in the UK needs to encourage and nurture the next generation of pastor-theologians. For those in ministry to be equipped with the theological depth needed to minister for Christ in a complex and suffering world, the church needs more options for those wanting to study in this way.
To this end we have created Crosslands research fellowships. Knowing that this could only ever be a part of the solution to the problem we have laid out, we pray that God will use Crosslands research fellowships to equip the church and grow God’s kingdom. They will provide a co-ordinated wrap-around programme to encourage PhD students in their studies, providing a forum for discussion and dissemination of research, with a specific focus on how their research will serve theological education in the church and its mission.
At our 2024 Winter Conference we were delighted to present and interview our first two Crosslands Research Fellows, James Morrison and Nathan Weston.