This is a text-only version of an article first published on Monday, 10 April 2017. Information shown on this page may no longer be current.
THANKS to a grant of £128,042 from the Templeton World Charity Foundation, awarded to the Ian Ramsey Centre at Oxford University, the work of Revd Jennifer Brown as Science Missioner at the Churn Benefice will be continued and extended.
The role of Science Missioner was created in 2014 as a means of creating greater engagement between the Church and those engaged in science and technology within the local community. The three year grant is intended to develop links between the Church, Oxford University's Faculty of Theology, and the growing technology community located around the UK Science Vale Campus.
Jen will continue her work as Science Missioner, while also working for the Ian Ramsey Centre in developing its interest in theological reflection on new developments in technology. As well as beginning to develop links with individuals working locally at some of the area's major science and technology centres, the Science Missioner project has sponsored events designed to engage with the wider public on issues of science and theology.
These have included working with a local parish on an event centred on the churchyard, connecting the science of ecology and conservation with the Christian perspective on stewardship and creation care, and partnering with Dorchester Abbey and Ripon College Cuddesdon to sponsor a series of public lectures on different issues in the area of science and religion. The resources provided in the current grant will provide for the development of future projects like these, as well as some larger events. The Revd Professor Alister McGrath, Director of the Ian Ramsey Centre, expressed delight at this new grant, and looked forward to working with Jen over the next three years.