E16 - My Favourite Book of the Bible: Recent Episodes
Cambridge University
Our sermon series this term is ‘My Favourite Book of the Bible’. Preachers are invited to reflect on their favourite book of the bible; why it inspires, moves and challenges the reader.
Preacher: The Rt Rev’d Stephen Cottrell, Bishop of Chelmsford
Stephen Cottrell is the Bishop of Chelmsford, serving Essex and East London. He is a well-known writer and speaker on evangelism, spirituality and catechesis. His latest book tells the Christmas story backwards. He is a member of the House of Lords and is on the Select Committee for Communication. He also serves on the Church of England’s Committee for Minority Ethnic Concerns, and is Chair of Church Army an Anglican society for evangelism and social outreach. He is married to Rebecca who is a potter, and they have three boys.
Preacher: The Rev’d Dr Rosalyn F T Murphy, St Thomas’ Church, Blackpool
Dr Rosalyn Murphy is the incumbent of St Thomas’ Church located in central Blackpool. Born in America’s southwest (Texas), Dr Murphy spent most of her life in America’s Midwest (Wisconsin). After a brief career in U.S. Naval Communications, she worked as a senior executive in marketing and public relations in Wisconsin and Virginia. Dr Murphy came to England in 1999 to continue her postgraduate studies after receiving a Master’s degree in Divinity from Union Theological Seminary. Her biblical scholarship encompasses the Old and New Testaments, the Pseudepigrapha, Dead Sea Scrolls, and writings of Philo and Josephus. She has lectured at Birmingham, Cumbria, Durham, and Lancaster universities, as well as the Queen’s Foundation where she is an honorary Research Fellow. She holds the distinction of being the first woman to speak at the Muhammad Ali Mosque in Cairo, Egypt. Dr Murphy has contributed to academic journals and monographs, as well as ecclesial reports, reflections, and prayers. Her scholarship often brings a Liberation and Womanist theological perspective, which she applies to her research, lectures, writing and preaching. Dr Murphy serves on the Archbishop’s Council – the governing body for the Church of England.
Preacher: Dr Nathan MacDonald, Fellow St John's College, Lecturer in Hebrew Bible
Nathan MacDonald is University Lecturer in Hebrew Bible and Fellow in Theology at St John’s College. After completing his studies at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and Durham University, he taught Old Testament at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. In 2009 he was awarded a Sofja-Kovalevskaja Research Award which allowed him to lead an international research team at Göttingen in Germany. He returned to Cambridge in 2013. He is the author of several books, most recently Priestly Rule: Polemic and Biblical Interpretation in Ezekiel 44. He is under contract to write the Old Testament Library commentary on the book of Numbers.
Preacher: Jayne Ozanne, Writer, campaigner and member of General Synod
Jayne Ozanne is a leading gay evangelical who works to ensure full inclusion of all LGBTI Christians at every level of the Church. Having been a founding member of the Archbishops’ Council for the Church of England (1999 – 2004) she is now once again a member of General Synod where she is involved in campaigning for a range of issues – particularly the poor and the marginalised. She is actively engaged through her writings and broadcasts in helping the Church develop and promote a positive Christian ethic towards lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people.
Following a career in international marketing, where she managed many well-known household brands – such as BBC Television, Fairy Liquid and Kleenex - Jayne has worked as a strategic consultant to the charity sector. As such she has set up two charities for Canon Andrew White, the Foundation for Reconciliation in the Middle East, and Baroness Caroline Cox, the Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust. In addition, she has overseen fundraising for large non-governmental organisations such as Oxfam GB, the Tony Blair Faith Foundation and the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts.
Jayne has academic qualifications from both the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford. In order to mark her success as the first British national on the Foreign Service Programme at the University of Oxford she was invited to continue on as a Visiting Research Fellow, and conducted research in International Relations and Religion. She has served on the Steering Committee of Trinity Theological College, Bristol and the Advisory Council of the International Centre for Reconciliation at Coventry Cathedral.
In January 2016 Jayne orchestrated a letter signed by over 100 senior Anglicans to the Archbishops of Canterbury and York regarding the Church’s treatment of LGBTI Christians. This resulted in a full apology by Archbishop Justin at the 2016 Primates Meeting. She is committed to modelling Good Disagreement with those with whom she holds differing views, and has created a variety of platforms to enable people to discuss their differences – the most recent of which is a weekly blog, ViaMedia.News with a range of senior Anglican guest contributors.
Preacher: The Rev’d Malcolm Doney, Freelance Writer and Editor
Malcolm Doney trained as a painter at St Martin’s School of Art, London, but went on to pursue a writing career in journalism, advertising and broadcasting; he is the author of ten books and, until March 2015, was Features Editor of the Church Times. He was ordained in 2005 as a Non Stipendiary Minister in the Church of England, and helps out at his parish church, Holy Trinity, Blythburgh, Suffolk, known as ‘the Cathedral of the Marshes’. He is a regular contributor to BBC Radio 2’ Pause for Thought. He and his wife Meryl – a contemporary art curator – live in Blythburgh, but they also have a flat in Whitechapel, London. They have two adult children, and Malcolm has a horse, called Neville.
Preacher: The Rev’d Canon Vernon White, Canon Theologian, Westminster Abbey
Vernon White is Canon Theologian at the Abbey, with particular responsibility for academic and public theology in the Abbey’s mission, and a member of the steering group for the Westminster Abbey Institute on Parliament Square. He is also Visiting Professor in Theology at King’s College London. His most recent book is an essay on ‘Purpose and Providence’, one of a number of publications in philosophical and moral theology. After studying at Cambridge and Oxford he has held posts as a Theological College Tutor, University Chaplain and Lecturer, Parish Priest, Cathedral Canon, and Principal of an Ordination Training Institution. Vernon is married, with one adult son.