A report on the development of the Modern Church South West group:
The group had its roots in the event commemorating the 50th anniversary of the publication of Honest to God by John Robinson in Bristol in September 2013, when it became apparent that there could be sufficient interest for a local Modern Church group. Our first event was in October 2016 when Lorraine Cavanagh led a day considering the question ‘Do we need a New Reformation?’ Since then we have considered Populism and the Post-Truth Society, Sceptical Christianity, environmental questions, a study of Mark's Gospel and local spirituality.
As Modern Church enters its 120th year (it was founded on 27th July 1898), we have much to celebrate: a long history of publishing quality theological work that has contributed to and, from time to time, shaped the national theological debate, in the Church of England and beyond.
Modern Church has always been about communication: of ideas, critique, a theological method, and scholarship. How we continue and communicate that heritage and continuing work in a digital age and new context has become a pressing question.
Modern Believing is Modern Church's journal, published quarterly by Liverpool University Press, with articles promoting theological liberalism.
Students in universities, colleges and theological institutions which subscribe to the EBSCO database, can access Modern Believing online. Subscription to the journal is included for Modern Church members.
- Editor: Revd Dr Steven Shakespeare
- Assistant Editor: Dr Katharine Sarah Moody
- Reviews Editor: Revd Dr Michael Brierley
Current issue: 'Getting God'
Vol 59:3 July 2018 - Editors: Jane Shaw and Linda Woodhead
You can get involved with Modern Church in three ways:
Modern Church is the main advocate for liberal theology in the British churches.
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By ‘liberal theology’ we mean that religious beliefs can and should develop in the light of new insights.
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Divine revelation has not come to an end. God invites us to believe in ways appropriate to 21st Century.
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New ideas should be judged on their merits. They may be true today even if they have not been officially accepted by church leaders in the past.