church

Guest Post – Magnificent milk: A biologist reflects on one of the unique experiences of motherhood

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pexels-photo-235243.jpegAs a new mother, I am awestruck at the ability of my body to produce milk that can nourish my once tiny, now rapidly growing baby. For the first six months of life, this incredible substance was all the food and drink he needed. My body can change the milk’s composition depending on factors such as Continue reading →

Guest Post: Messy Science

davecgregory3 Comments
IMGA0939 crop
© D Gregory

My earliest scientific memory is from when I was about five, in the mid-1960s. At school we watched a black and white TV broadcast of what must have been a Gemini rocket launch – the precursor of the Apollo moon landing programme. These events of my Continue reading →

Worshipping God with Science: Beauty from the Earth

Ruth M. Bancewicz3 Comments

Grossmünster_-_Innenansicht_IMG_6435-crop
Grossmünster in Zürich By Roland zh (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
 I’m always keeping my eye out for ways to bring science into a church context, and I recently found a new one in Switzerland. Two buildings in the centre of Zurich, the Grossmünster (great minster) and Fraumünster (women’s minster) are decorated with the most incredible stained glass, designed by the artists Marc Chagall, Augusto Giacometti and Sigmar Polke. I had already seen examples of scientific themes in stained glass, such as the windows by David Hunt in St Crispin’s, Braunstone, but some of Polke’s windows took this idea to a new level. Continue reading →

Christ, the Kirk, and the North Sea

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Hannah Mary Goodlad © Hannah Mary Goodlad
Shetland Cliffs. Flickr. (CC BY 2.0)

What types of experiences take someone from “wanting nothing to do with organised religion”, to leading the Church of Scotland’s National Youth Assembly? Today we get to chat with a scientist who has taken that very journey and is able to give personal testimony about how the Church of Scotland is inspiring and including young adults today Continue reading →

Parks in the Parish: Churches that take science seriously

Ruth M. Bancewicz1 Comment
JenniferBrown
Photo courtesy of the Churn Benefice

Churches often employ ministers with various remits, but what about science? A group of churches in Oxford decided to do something for the science and technology parks in their area, and created a post for a ‘Science Missioner’. I spoke to Reverend Jennifer Brown, who explained what she does in this role. Find out more in this podcast (transcript below). Continue reading →

Pilgrimage: Exploring Science and Theology outdoors

Ruth M. Bancewicz2 Comments
© Vineet Agarwal
© Vineet Agarwal

David Atikinson_largeI recently met someone who runs pilgrimage walks with a science and theology theme. At the Scientists in Congregations conference in St Andrews, I spoke to Revd Professor David Atkinson, a retired plant scientist who is now Continue reading →

Communities of Practice: Scientists in Congregations

Ruth M. Bancewicz4 Comments

Figure 1: License: CC0 Public Domain Figure 2: By Unknown photographer [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Figure 1 (left): License: CC0 Public Domain
Figure 2 (right): [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
What do congregations have to teach scientists? This was the question that James K. A. Smith, Professor of Philosophy at Calvin College, asked at the Scientists in Congregations conference in St Andrews last month. The theme of the conference was ‘Christ and Creation’, and the aim was to draw the conversation on science and religion beyond ideas of a generalised God to a discussion about science and Christianity. Continue reading →