Baptist colleges launch projects exploring science and ministry 

Cardiff Baptist College and Regent’s Park College are among four theological colleges in the UK and Republic of Ireland to have been awarded funding to develop teaching resources incorporating science, ethics, and theology

The funding is part of the Equipping Christian Leadership in an Age of Science (ECLAS) project, based at St John’s College, Durham University. It has awarded funding of up to £60,000 to each college, to support them to incorporate scientific topics into their core curriculum. 

Cardiff Baptist College will run activities including a campus-wide ‘befriend a scientist’ shadowing programme. 

Regent’s Park College, Oxford, will connect students with a heritage of science-engagement by key Baptist figures, leading classes and producing resources for a wider community.

ECLAS’ Science for Seminaries programme works with theological colleges to equip ministers with a grounding in science to 'preach persuasively, pastor responsively, and spread the gospel.' This is its third round of funding grants - and the first time Baptist colleges are taking part in the scheme.



Cardiff Baptist College - Strengthening Welsh communities of reflection and action on Science and Faith

The funding will see a Science and Religion level 6 module developed for delivery as a core module as part of the BA in Religion and Theology at Cardiff University from September 2024.

The campus-wide activity is a 'befriend a scientist' shadowing programme as the alternative context placement for college students in the 2024/25 academic year.

The college plans to organise a public lecture and seminar in Spring 2025 jointly with Cardiff University and our church partners. It also plans to produce short films, a podcast series and other resources on science and faith. 

The college will also organise a day for Newly Accredited Ministers in the 2024/25 academic year, and for them to write reviews of science and faith books as part of their compulsory CPD days, and plans to introduce cutting-edge science into a number of other modules.

Rosa Hunt and Ed Kaneen, the co-principals at Cardiff Baptist College, said, 'We both have backgrounds in science, and we are both so grateful for the perspective and richness that this background has brought to our faith. 

'Understanding even a little about how science and scientists work has helped us bring an epistemological awareness and a lack of fear to the table when engaging with scientific matters as people of faith. 

'We are so eager to see our students leave College with a similar confidence in and enthusiasm for science and what it can contribute – as well as a more grounded understanding of where its limits lie. 

'We are delighted that we have received this grant, which will enable us to start doing this by running a core module in science and religion, and running campus-wide events.'
 


Regent’s Park College, Oxford - Science and Religion in the Baptist World 

The funding will see:

• Science content added to the first-year courses, ‘Introduction to Christian Doctrine’ and ‘Introduction to Church History’ and to four separate lectures/classes of the second/third-year course, ‘Christian ethics’.
• The digitisation of resources held in the Angus Library and relating to the scientific lives of key Baptist figures, with the intention of using them to feed into course content.
• A two-day symposium on ‘Science and Religion in the Baptist World’, with the aim of producing an edited volume.

The Principal of Regent’s Park College, Professor Sir Malcolm Evans, said, 'I am absolutely delighted that Science for Seminaries will be supporting our project on ‘Science and Religion in the Baptist World’. 

'Our ministerial students will benefit hugely from greater exposure to the wealth of local scientific expertise that is available here in Oxford, and we look forward to showcasing the scientific lives of some key Baptist figures via the resources of our Angus Library. 

'Regent's Park College is excited to be one of the first Baptist colleges in the UK to receive funding from Science for Seminaries, and we look forward to contributing to wider Baptist engagement with scientific concerns.'

 

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This is the third round of Science for Seminaries funding distributed by ECLAS, which is currently supported by a generous grant from the John Templeton Foundation. The other beneficiaries are:

Birmingham Christian College, which will bring rigorous engagement with science and scientists into their module on Environmental Stewardship. 

Trinity College Dublin will bring working scientists into their discussion of hermeneutics and cosmology to examine scientific discovery and interpretation.

ECLAS Director and Durham University theologian Revd Prof David Wilkinson said, 'The aim of Science for Seminaries is to embed science within the mainstream theological curriculum, rather than as an optional extra for those who are already passionate about it. 

'We have supported this already in a large number of theological colleges and courses in the UK and Ireland, and this new cohort have exciting plans to extend this work even further.'


Image | ?A Cranmer student interacting with a robot at an AI and Robotics Study Day in 2022. Cranmer Hall received an ECLAS grant the previous year