Revd Dr Howard Worsley, BA, MA, PhD

Tutor in Missiology

Lead Tutor for Academic Inclusion

MA Course Leader

 

A bit about me

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I’ve been married to Ruth for 39 years (she is Bishop of Taunton)–we have three sons and five grandchildren. I came to faith in Christ as a child and those early experiences have been dominant in my life journey leading me to work as a secondary school teacher, a Scripture Union worker, an Anglican vicar, a university teacher of theology, a director of education (in the Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham and then in the Diocese of London), a chaplain in both the HE and FE sectors, and now as a theological educator.

My connecting themes are Contextual Theology and young people, and my interests are mainly to do with sport and travel. For sport I will be happily engaged talking rugby (a game I no longer play) or planning an expedition over a mountain or down a river. For travel I am happiest going by motorbike (preferably off-road and in remote places) or under sail.

My research interests

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I am a contextual theologian and an educationalist looking to span two major disciplines (theology and education) and to bring fresh eyes to the different contexts. These studies feed into my teaching on mission, apologetics, ethnography, and ‘learning for a learning Church’ and I publish regularly for academic journals in Christian education and in children’s spirituality. Currently, my doctoral students are researching public theology, church school education, the legacy of Lesslie Newbigin, children’s understanding in reading the Bible and the discovery of a precolonial African spirituality.

 

How to get in touch with me

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Email me on howard.worsley@trinitycollegebristol.ac.uk.

Some highlights of my work

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Anxious Tribalism and the Loss of the Metanarrative Seen in Daniel Everett’s Mission Amongst the Pirahã (Tribal Religions, Universal Language and Universal Faith) Journal of Missiology, Vol 45, Issue 2, pp 169-179, April 2017

Sleeping Beauty Awakens (A Theological Response on How the Curse of Separation Can Be Removed from Christian Education) Blessed Hope Publishing, March 2017

How different atonement theories at Easter speak to children about the Meaning of Jesus’ Death and Resurrection Childswork Magazine Spring 2018

Bridging the Worlds of Mission and Religious Education (RE) in Church of England schools. (Mission as Public Theology that Enhances Community Cohesion and Religious Literacy in the UK Context.), Missiology Volume 46 Issue 2, April 2018

An autoethnographic perspective on the broadening of missiological perspectives in teaching mission in Anglican TEIs in England Missiology Volume 46, Issue 4 pp 374-387 October 2018

Favourite teacher – learning the tenets of our faith, chapter 10 in Re-thinking Children’s Work in Churches: A Practical Guide (ed S Nash), published by Jessica Kingsley 2019

How Not To Totally Put Your Children Off God -A Conversation on Christian Parenting between a Father and his Sons, Howard Worsley & Sons- Book on Parenting Christianly, published by Lions Publishers Spring 2020.

Parenting for Faith Without Being Coercive, Progressive Voices Autumn 2020

Parenting for Faith in the Church of the Future Preach magazine, winter issue 2020

The movement within faith towards adulthood in children who have been nurtured in a Christian context: a longitudinal account of how children develop perspective in interpreting the biblical creation narrative Journal of Religious Education Volume 69 Number 1 69:107-125, January 2021.

A Wild Goose Chase, Exploring the Celtic Saints by Sea, Blessed Hope Publishing, May 2021