St John’s Cathedral, Norwich joins science and faith programme
St John the Baptist Cathedral in Norwich is one of seven churches across England and Wales to share funding of £70,000 to explore the relationship between science and faith through the church engagement programme, Scientists in Congregations.
The awardees have each received grants of up to £10,000 to deliver a project over the next year. Building on the expertise of scientists in their congregations, the churches will host a range of outreach and educational activities focusing on topics from clinical trials to creation care, with the aim of showing how engaging with science can lead to a deeper experience of faith.
Scientists in Congregations is an ecumenical programme, run by Equipping Christian Leadership in an Age of Science (ECLAS). The range of denominations taking part this year includes the Coptic Orthodox, Catholic and Pentecostal Churches as well as the Church of England.
The team at St John’s in Norwich have been awarded a grant for a project that aims to help Catholics who work in the life sciences (defined as Medicine, Biology, Genetics, Biochemistry, Microbiology, Neuroscience, and Biotechnology) to explain their Catholic beliefs in an increasingly challenging work environment.
Entitled ‘Human Dignity’ and Moral Decision-making in the Life Sciences’ the project will be run by Dr Richard Maguire, the Heritage and Learning Officer at the Cathedral, and Professor George Lomonossoff from the John Innes Centre, Norwich, whose work focuses on the molecular biology of viruses and their use in bio- and nanotechnology.
Dr Maguire said: “We are excited and grateful to have received this grant from ECLAS. The project aims to empower the many medical and scientific professionals in our congregation, and also professionals in other Christian congregations, along with those from other faith traditions and none, who share our belief in human dignity.’
The Vatican’s recently issued document Dignitas Infinita states that “every human person possesses an infinite dignity, inalienably grounded in his or her very being, which prevails in and beyond every circumstance, state or situation the person may ever encounter.”
Dr Maguire explained that: “The project will consider how the view of human dignity expressed in Dignitas Infinita and previous Church documents on this topic differs from that being increasingly used in the culture around us, and in the life sciences specifically. We want to see how this is creating challenges for Catholic life science professionals.”
The areas the project is especially focused on are abortion, end-of-life care, gender theory, surrogacy, euthanasia and assisted suicide, the marginalisation of people with disabilities, and sex change.
The project’s intention is to help those professionals as they try to navigate these difficult areas. It will begin by holding a series of workshops, which will be open to anyone of any denomination, faith, or no faith at all working in the life sciences. At these workshops, the attendees will be asked to speak about their working experiences and the challenges they find facing them because of their faith.
Dr Maguire said: “The confidentiality of all attendees will be maintained so that they can speak freely and openly about their experience. The team also want to consider the problems being faced by those using services provided by those working in such fields.
“This information will be anonymised and taken to a panel of Catholic theologians and scientists to consider. Using the latest teachings of the Church the panel will explore ways that such teachings can made accessible to Catholic life science professionals and so empower them to explain their views on these topics to those who do not share our understanding of the universe.”
The work of this specialist panel will then inform a further series of teaching workshops and seminars, along with written materials. Dr Maguire explained that: “our aim is to help Catholics, and all scientists who share our views on human dignity, to explain their beliefs about the sanctity of the human person clearly, but always with love, to the culture around us.”
The dates of the workshops will be released in the coming month, as will the project’s website, which will provide a booking system to express your interest in attending the workshops. In the interim, if you are interested in attending the opening series of workshops or wish to provide details of your experiences working in the life sciences to the project then please contact the team at: heritage@sjbcathedral.org.uk.
Scientists in Congregations is a programme run by Equipping Christian Leadership in an Age of Science (ECLAS). ECLAS is led from St John’s College, Durham University in partnership with the University of York and the Church of England. The project director is Rev Prof David Wilkinson. ECLAS and the Scientists in Congregations grants are currently funded by the John Templeton Foundation. ECLAS has given more than 70 Scientists in Congregations awards since 2016. There will be two further opportunities to take part, in 2025 and 2026.
Rev Prof David Wilkinson, Project Director of ECLAS, said: “It is a joy to see yet again the creativity and imagination that come as scientists work with Church leaders in mission, ministry and serving the community. These awards, given to such a wide diversity of churches across the Christian tradition, demonstrate new and exciting initiatives which consider the vocation of scientists a gift to the Church.”
Find out more at: www.eclasproject.org/congregations
