A message from Common Awards

Tickets are now 'live' for the latest Common Awards webinar, entitled: 'The Church and the Working Class: A Dialogue'. 

You can find the recordings of previous CA webinars here

The February webinar in the CA series will take place 25 February at 11am (GMT), via zoom.

Tickets are available here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-church-and-the-working-class-a-dialogue-tickets-254503395507 

The webinar will explore questions such as:

• Does Scripture speak to class struggle?

• What is the relationship between the Church and the Working Class?

• How can Church leadership enable solidarity with the poor?

• How might the history of class struggle be relevant to the mission of the church today? 

The webinar will be an opportunity to engage with New Testament scholar, Dr Robert Myles, who has written on the historical formation of the early Jesus movement and the socio-economic realities of first-century Palestine. His recent publications include, Jesus: A Life in Class Conflict co-authored with James Crossley (OUT SOON with Zer0 Books, 2022) and Class Struggle in the New Testament (Lexington Books, 2019.). Dr Myles is from New Zealand, and is Senior Lecturer in New Testament at Wollaston Theological College, Perth, Australia.

Dr Myles will be joined by the Dalit Womanist Theologian and Old Testament Scholar, Dr Monica Jyotsna Melanchthon, who has explored the intersections of class, caste and gender in her work. She has written extensively on the importance of context in reading Scripture and the implications of Indian women’s experiences for Christian theology. Dr Melanchthon will speak to the lived reality of women who struggle against caste, class, and gender discrimination in the context of India and consider the role of the Church. Dr Melanchthon is Associate Professor of Old Testament at Pilgrim Theological College, within the University of Divinity, Melbourne, Australia.

We will also be welcoming Dr Chris Shannahan, who has researched and written on Christian action on poverty, theology and racism and faith-based political activism. He has been the Principal Investigator on a major three year urban theology project, entitled 'Life on the Breadline - Christianity, Politics and Poverty in the 21st century city' [2018-2021] which has been funded by the Economic and Social Research Council. Dr Shannahan will bring vast experience into this dialogue, he has worked alongside young gang members in Trenchtown Jamaica, HIV+ homeless people in San Francisco, unemployed young men on urban housing estates, inter-faith community organising networks and British-Muslim youth in inner city Birmingham. Dr Shannahan is Associate Professor at the Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations, at Coventry University, UK.

The webinar will be hosted by Rev Ray Gaston, Team Vicar of St Chad & St Marks in the Parish of Central Wolverhampton and Inter Faith Enabler for the Wolverhampton Episcopal Area and Advisor on Inter Faith relations to the Bishops of Wolverhampton and Lichfield. Rev Gaston writes and teaches on practical and political theology with a focus on the positive impact on Christian self-understanding of transformative grassroots interfaith engagement, he is also an associate tutor at Ripon College, Cuddesdon.

The event will take place via Zoom, 25 February 2022, at 11am (GMT)

Please note that a BSL interpreter will be present at this event.

If you have any questions about the Common Awards webinars please get in touch with Dr Eve Parker at: eve.r.parker@durham.ac.uk