16th October 2025, 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Southampton Regional Theology Forum of the Methodist Church
Our discussion will be led by Revd Anna Bishop, Program Leader at Sarum College.
Anna’s talk relates to her PhD research:
"God's Forgotten Theologians: Practical Theological Research as Justice-Seeking in the Spiritual Lives of Intellectually Disabled Children Who Don't Rely on Spoken Language"
Can academic research be the outworking of a vocation to justice-seeking? This is one of the things I hope to find out through a doctoral project that aims to give "theological dignity" to intellectually disabled children who don't rely on spoken language, by finding ways to respectfully receive their rich epistemological gifts. Along the way I face major theological questions about what can be known about God and others and disruptive ways of knowing, disciplinary issues about the assumptions made by Practical Theology and methodological challenges about gathering and interpreting non-verbal data.
This will be a morning-only meeting. We start with a welcome drink available from 9.45, and the discussion will be in a cafe-style environment, aided by the products of a Swedish Bakery from Hedge End, thanks to the help of our local zero-waste shop and cafe, Lemon and Jinja. We also hope to have a table of related books for sale through the Oasis Christian Centre (https://oasisromsey.co.uk/)
The succeeding meeting of the Forum is now planned at Romsey for:
Thursday, February 5, 2026 to be given by Revd Dr Helen Paynter (Centre for the Study of Bible and Violence, Bristol Baptist College)