Curates from across the Diocese of Leeds will be sharing their wisdom with us this autumn.
The ‘Broader Horizons’ series of online talks aims to take advantage of the wide range of specialisms our curates have, and offer opportunities to learn from them and be drawn into their enthusiasm for their subjects.
The Revd Cat Thatcher, Clergy Development Officer in the Diocese of Leeds, said: “As a Clergy Development Officer, it's always a joy to get to know our curates and to find out more about their varied interests.
“I'm delighted that this autumn some of these interests will be shared with a wider audience in the Broader Horizons series of talks.
“I'm sure they will all be very interesting and thought provoking, and I invite you to join us to hear these talks.”
The Rt Revd Nick Baines, Bishop of Leeds, said: “When our curates are ordained, they come to us with a depth of pre-existing knowledge and enthusiasms across a breadth of subjects.
“They continue to develop and refine this knowledge as they continue through their curacies.
“This autumn I am delighted that we will have an opportunity to hear from just a few of them about their expertise.
“I am sure that there is something for everyone in this Broader Horizons series of talks, and I commend it to you and hope you will find time to attend some or all of them.”
The talks will be on Zoom, and booking links to our Digital Learning Platform can be found below.
Details of the talks are below:
Monday, September 26, 7.30 pm
Paul and women - early feminist or mysogynist?
Revd Dr Dorothea Bertschmann
Dorothea Bertschmann grew up in Switzerland and studied Theology in Bern and Oxford before serving as a vicar in the Swiss Reformed Church. She gained her doctorate in Pauline Theology and Political Theology from Durham University and went on to be a lecturer in New Testament Studies at the Department of Theology and Religion in Durham. For the last six years Dorothea has been tutorial fellow in Biblical Studies at the College of the Resurrection, Mirfield.
Monday, October 3, 7.30 pm
Deep Water: Ministry among Victims
Father David Povall
Fr David Povall is in self-supporting ministry and is in his second year of curacy. He was ordained deacon in September 2020 and priest in June 2021, both in the Diocese of Southwark. In November 2021 he and his wife Alison moved from London to North Yorkshire, and he is now Assistant Curate at S. Wilfrid's, Harrogate. Fr David has been a barrister in criminal practice for 22 years. He mostly prosecutes, and his work is overwhelmingly concerned with serious sexual offending, including the sexual abuse of children. In this talk, he will consider the interaction of his priesthood and his professional life. He will reflect on the ethical and pastoral challenges inherent in his area of work. He will look at the effect of vicarious trauma on all those involved in the justice process and on those with pastoral responsibility. He will ask how contact with suffering can affect prayer and spiritual life.
Monday, October 24, 7.30 pm
Attack on Christendom: Lessons from Søren Kierkegaard for ministering in the Church of England today
Revd Dr Josh Cockayne
The 19th Century Danish philosopher, Søren Kierkegaard, spent his life critiquing the established church of his time in his so-called “attack upon christendom”. Kierkegaard strived to call Christians to a life of radical discipleship as those who are “contemporary with Christ”, rather than depending on the authority of institutionalised religion. What, then, can we learn from Kierkegaard in the 21st Century as we seek to lead from within the establishment? This talk will introduce the writings of Kierkegaard and reflect on the relevance of his work to ministry in the Church of England today. Rev Dr Josh Cockayne is the clergy leader of Holy Trinity Boar Lane a new midweek ministry for people working in the city centre of Leeds, and is part of the clergy team at St George’s Leeds. Previously, he was a lecturer in the School of Divinity at the University of St Andrews, and taught philosophy at the University of York, where he received his PhD in 2011. His first book, Contemporary with Christ: Kierkegaard and Second-Personal Spirituality, was published by Baylor University Press in 2020.
Monday, November 14, 7.30 pm
Dark Wood to Heavenly City: Citizenship and Community in Dante's Comedy (and beyond...)
Revd Dr Claire Honess
The Revd Dr Claire Honess is Assistant Curate in the Benefice of Barnoldswick with Bracewell. Prior to her ordination in 2021, she was Professor of Italian Studies at the University of Leeds, where she also held a number of roles, including Head of the School of Languages, Cultures and Societies, Dean of the Doctoral College, and Director of the Leeds Centre for Dante Studies. Her research focused on the writings of Dante Alighieri and particularly on the interface between political, theological and poetic ideas in his work. She is the author of From Florence to the Heavenly City: The Poetry of Citizenship in Dante (2006) as well as of numerous articles and book chapters on the subject, the co-editor of Reviewing Dante's Theology (2013), and the translator of four of Dante's Latin letters. She has spoken about Dante in various academic and non-academic contexts, including appearances on BBC Radio 4 and the World Service. She is passionate about the way in which Dante's poem - written between about 1306 and 1321 - can still speak to readers today, and is keen to rescue Dante from the misconception that he is a poet obsessed with sin, hell and punishment. Her talk will illustrate how Dante's poem speaks to human beings (in the fourteenth century and in the twenty-first) as 'political animals' creatures, designed for life in community with others and called to live that life in a way which anticipates the fulfilled communal life of Heaven. No previous knowledge of Dante or of Italian will be assumed.
Monday, November 28, 7.30 pm
Angels and Dead Sea Scrolls (provisional title)
Revd Judith Clark