THE Revd Dr Casey Strine has been appointed Secretary for Theology and Theological Adviser to the House of Bishops.

An associate professor in ancient and Near Eastern history and literature at the University of Sheffield, he is a Minor Canon Theologian of Sheffield Cathedral, and the Bishop of Sheffield’s interfaith adviser. He will lead the dedicated theology team within the Faith and Public Life department at Church House, Westminster, overseeing the work of the national liturgical adviser and a second theology adviser, who is to be appointed soon.

A significant part of the position is to offer theological support to the Living in Love and Faith (LLF) programme. Dr Strine is expected to start on 9 September, taking over from the interim theology advisers, the Revd Dr Tom Woolford and Revd Dr Jessica Martin, who have been in post since April (News, 9 February).

In February, the Bishop of Newcastle, Dr Helen-Ann Hartley stood down as co-chair of the LLF process over “serious concerns” about the process by which Dr Woolford was appointed (News, 1 February). The appointment of a second adviser, illustrating a commitment to “working together across difference”, was among the conditions that the Bishop of Leicester, the Rt Revd Martyn Snow, stipulated for continuing as co-chair.

Dr Strine was appointed after “open advertisement of the post and a rigorous process led by a diverse panel”, a Church House press release said. Ordained priest in 2019, he served his title at St Thomas Crookes, Sheffield, a large Anglican-Baptist local ecumenical partnership in the Charismatic Evangelical tradition.