Introducing the Living Theology Forum
Developed by our 'Bishop in Residence', +Adrian Newman, as a participatory tool to renew our parent charity's core mission, the Living Theology Forum is a meeting place for the mutual exchange of shared theological ideas about Christian social action.
This forum is dynamic rather than static, one that can be built on, added to, developed, critiqued over time, where the theology can flex according to context, audience, perspective, or critical moments.
To see the first contributions, from the Archbishop of York, ++ Stephen Cottrell, to Hannah Rich, the researcher at Theos who wrote the GRA:CE report, click here. We welcome diverse voices to help build a good library of material and shape the forum as a valued reference source for the wider church.
If theology is the yeast that activates and animates our work and identity, this forum can become an interactive ‘laboratory of ideas’ exercising influence on all we do and how we operate.
We hope you find the contributions stimulating, thought-provoking and encouraging, and that you will visit it often and leave your comments.
Meet Church Urban Fund's Bishop in Residence, the Revd Adrian Newman
The Rt Revd Adrian Newman is CUF’s ‘Bishop In Residence’, a title constructed with the aim that he will support CUF as it develops a refreshed role in church and society over the coming years.
+ Adrian did an economics degree at the end of the 1970s and worked in industry as an economist for a few years before being called to ordination. He was a curate in East London in the mid-80s, and then Vicar of an outer-estate church in Sheffield for 7 years. In 1996 he was appointed Rector of St Martin in the Bull Ring, Birmingham, and led the redevelopment of St Martin’s when the Bull Ring was demolished and rebuilt. In 2004 he became Dean of Rochester and in 2011 he returned to his beloved East End as Bishop of Stepney until he took early retirement at the end of 2018.
The main emphasis of ministry for +Adrian has always been justice, peace and social transformation in urban areas – he is part of a generation of priests hugely influenced by “Faith In The City” in 1985, and he continues to be motivated by a vision of ‘the city which is to come’. Since 1985 we have witnessed the increasing suburbanisation of the church, but he believes that the health and vitality of the church will always be propagated in an urban environment, which is why – despite living in the country for the first time in his life – he remains connected with urban issues and ministry.
Visit the Living Theology Forum
Have a read of the submissions so far, and find out how to contribute.