A MARRIED couple who received their doctorates in theology and practice together, at a University of Winchester graduation ceremony last month, have credited their academic research with helping to build their congregation, and their ministry with illuminating their research.
The Revd Dr James (Jim) Binney, who is 81, and officially retired, and his wife, Julia, who is 66, share leadership of Abbey Baptist Church in Reading. They moved to the town from Surrey in 2018, during their first year of study, to minister to a congregation that numbered about 20 at the time.
They shared a vision for transforming Abbey Church into an inter-cultural church — its congregation was mainly white — and prayer centre, and chose to reflect on the same subject from two different angles. Dr Jim Binney chose to study the theories of the Anglican theologian Michael Moynagh, a pioneer of Fresh Expressions. Dr Julia Binney chose to study places of prayer, and the location of Abbey Church within the medieval footprint of Reading Abbey.
When lockdown came, they printed and distributed weekly service sheets in different languages, for people in the community to follow at home. These thrived, and continued after lockdown. The congregation now numbers about 150, with members from Iran, Hong Kong, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Malawi, Ukraine, Kurdistan, Hungary, and Gaza, as well as the UK. Many bring with them the printed order of service which they received. The church’s strapline is “A Place of Prayer. A Place of Discovery. A Place of Refuge.”
“Our doctoral studies reflect our passion for the contextual church, and have been just as much a practical project as an academic one,” Dr Julia Binney said: a view endorsed by her husband, who said, “It’s been rewarding to reflect on the same subject from two different angles.”
Dr Timothy Secret, senior lecturer in philosophy and religion at the University of Winchester, commented: “It is always a special moment for us as lecturers when our students’ journeys culminate in a graduation ceremony held in the majesty of Winchester Cathedral. But there was something truly magical about witnessing a husband and wife ascend together on to the plinth to sit among the lecturers as new Doctors of Theology.
“It’s heart-warming to see how the research projects they have engaged in here have already had such tangible effect in cultivating their thriving congregation in Reading, working to integrate such a wide range of immigrants from all around the world into a truly multicultural community.”