Biography
I'm a part-time PhD student working on the theology of intercessory prayer. My first degree was in History and Politics, after which I worked in Westminster for a couple of years. I then trained for ordination in the Church of England at Ridley Hall, completing the Theology Tripos and MPhil during my training, both through Corpus Christi. I am working on my PhD alongside a part-time curacy at a church in Islington.
Research
PhD in Christian Theology (part-time) working on intercessory prayer. I ask why so much contemporary theology struggles to give a meaningful place to intercession, instead defaulting to accounts of contemplation or 'attunement'. In light of those answers I try to construct a theology of intercession. Charles Taylor's account of the secular age has been particularly useful in understanding some of the cross-pressures acting upon those who do theology in what Taylor calls the immanent frame.
Part of the inspiration for this project was my experience working in politics and struggling to find useful resources to think through the spiritual dimension of political struggles. I was also struck by studying theology in Cambridge how removed so much contemporary theology seemed to be from the lived faith of charismatic and Pentecostal Christians; without work to bridge this gap there is a risk that these groups will look instead to process or open theologies. I remain interested in prayer's relation to politics and to the history and future of charismatic renewal.
