Edwin Stephen Griffiths Lectures 2011

Edwin Stephen Griffiths Lectures

Wednesday, 2^nd March 2011

1.30 & 3.30pm,

at South Wales Baptist College

Given by: Revd Dr Anne Phillips MA, PhD (Co-Principal, Northern Baptist Learning Community)

Lecture 1 Daughters of God: Girls Growing in Faith

Children’s spirituality is a growing area of interest and research. However children come in two varieties, and gender differentiation increases at puberty; we therefore do girls (and boys) a disservice by ignoring, as most popular studies do, that they may ‘do faith’ differently. In this lecture, Anne will explore the ways early adolescent girls understand themselves, God and their faith within the contexts of home, church and school, setting their self-understanding within a framework of research into a spectrum of developmental theories.

Lecture 2 The Power of Un-naming: Girls and the Bible

Why are so few biblical girls named? Is motherhood a girl’s only God-given purpose and destiny? How does it feel that ‘there aren’t many parts for girls’ in biblical drama? Where do girls find their biblical role models?

These questions identify some of the issues many girls and women face when they read the Bible. This second lecture breaks new ground in taking a scholarly look at pre-adolescent girls in scripture, and through studying their place in God’s story argues for a ‘theology of girlhood’ that defines their distinctive role in salvation history.

After graduating in Theology from St Hugh’s College, Oxford, Anne worked for several years as a secondary school teacher and mother. After her call to Baptist ministry, she served in a local pastorate before joining the staff of Northern Baptist College (now Learning Community) where she is now Co-Principal. She has for many years been involved in the Baptist Union of Great Britain’s work on children in the church, abuse and domestic violence, and women in leadership, interests which demonstrate her passion to seek justice for people the church too often marginalises. Her book, The Faith of Girls, is due to be published by Ashgate in 2011.

We extend a warm welcome to all ministers and church members who would like to join with us for these lectures