Lincoln Theological Institute Work-in-Progress Meeting

Researchers associated with the Lincoln Theological Institute met at the University of Manchester on Monday 1st July for a work-in-progress afternoon.

Susannah Cornwall, LTI postdoctoral research associate, reported on the work of the Intersex, Identity, Disability project, including the production of four briefing papers, and the forthcoming publication of papers in Theology and Practical Theology drawing on her interviews with intersex Christians in Britain.

John Rodwell, LTI honorary research fellow, shared progress on the book forthcoming from the Belonging and Heimat project, entitled At Home in the Future: Place and Belonging in a Changing Europe. He also discussed other work in progress, including his leading of a workshop for DEFRA to consider overlaps between spiritual and aesthetic accounts of place and environment.

Anne Marie Sowerbutts, LTI honorary research fellow and leader of The Common Good project, shared developments arising from the project among community groups in Wythenshawe, including discussions about provision for elderly people, leading to the convening of a local support and friendship group. Anne Marie also noted the recent publication of her paper in Christian Bioethics 18.2 entitled "Germ-line Genetic Engineering in Light of the Theology of Marriage", and her work with a group of Carmelites.

LTI honorary research fellow Paul Vallely shared updates on his own work, including the forthcoming publication of his biography of Pope Francis (Pope Francis: Untying the Knots, Bloomsbury, August 2013), and his involvement with the development of an MA in Theology, Media and Communication at the University of Chester.

LTI students Charlie Pemberton, Rohan Gideon and Scott Midson gave updates on their PhD projects: a theological critique of Christian charities' work with homeless people; a developing account of agency in Child Theologies in India; and a theology of the cyborg.

LTI Director Peter Scott reported on the work of other LTI projects, including Systematic Theology in a Changing Climate (a multi-authored systematic theology of climate change); the ongoing conferences in the A Shaking of the Foundations? Reconsidering Civil Society strand, including Churches, Communities and Society (25th-26th October 2013); and the launch of a new project, Theology, Plurality and Society.

At the conclusion of the meeting, Director Scott commented: "It's been great to review the range and depth of the work going on at LTI--some truly remarkable theological work is going on here, and I'm delighted by these achievements."